Martha Williams and John Scilipote talked about how their BreakBread project developed at our August meeting which was appropriately held in the outside courtyard of the Greenhouse. BreakBread grew out of the isolation of the pandemic and the need to have mindful conversations with others, where creativity and imagination can flourish and real interpersonal connections made. They did this both online, including internationally, and face to face. Martha and John developed a structure that involved giving the participants broad prompts that helped to build trust, empathy and the ability to listen deeply. In time they have taken this model to businesses and organizations with the goal of creating organizational cultural change by building trust, connection and empathy.
The American Series, which they hope to pilot in Kingston, is a face to face version of BreakBread with a goal to inspire conversation and rebuild community in towns and cities throughout the country. By bringing representatives from diverse community interests together, and by using the BreakBread model, they hope to create an environment of trust and respect, with meaningful conversations about values and ideas, rather than issues and solutions. By experiencing mindful conversations around these topics, the community can rethink what their community is and what the future may be.
Martha and John will host the initial pilot series of three dinners over two months, involving enthusiastic participants who will become advisors and future evangelists for the program. To launch the program in Kingston they will need sponsors, a location for dinners and catering, as well as artists of all kinds to record and create stories around the reclaiming of shared community. Anyone interested in getting involved should email Martha and John at connect@breakbread.world. Click here for their website.
