Appreciative Inquiry gets underway

For the past couple of months our congregation has been talking about the appreciative inquiry process. Interview sheets have been going around the church. People have been given a chance to share their thoughts on where life is most apparent in our midst. They have also been invited to reflect on their talents, skills, and their dreams for the next ten years.

On Sunday, December 13, several members of the church got the chance to discuss the results of these interviews. We began with a lunch after worship in Disciples center. Anyone who had not yet been interviewed was given a chance to share. Then the results of those questions were summed in one or two words placed on post it notes. Those results were then placed in one of three categories:

1. Signs of life
2. Assets we possess
3. Dreams for the future

Unfortunately, in most organizations change efforts are an inherently negative process. Usually we are programmed to look at what is broken. We see problems and try to fix them. Appreciative inquiry begins with exactly the opposite premise. It starts with the idea that good things are already happening within every human organization. The key to growth and change to is to identify what works and do more of what people find to be most life-giving. This is a very grace-based approach. As is clear from the photo above, the Holy Spirit is already doing great things in the life of our church. Sometimes we need to remind each other of what is going on.

Appreciative inquiry also operates from the perspective that each group of people is specifically equipped for a particular kind of work. The apostle Paul reminds us that there are many gifts, but one Spirit. We do not have to try to do everything. It is enough to be faithful stewards of the talents that we have been given. We got a chance to spell out the talents that God has given First Christian Church.

Because we are made in the image of God, people are inherently creative creatures. We have dreams for the future.  The members of our church were asked to envision what our congregation would look like ten years from now if God were to answer our prayers exactly the way we wish. They were also asked to describe the first baby step that would move us in that direction.

Once the summaries of the interviews were placed on the appropriate table, the participants were divided into three groups, one for each table. These groups were asked to silently group the assets or dreams within each category. Doing this process silently forced us to “listen” to each other in different ways. It gave people who are not always the most forceful in spoken conversation a chance to be “heard.” After the silent sorting, each group was asked to create a poster that described the results of their sorting to the rest of the congregation.

More specific details of each category will be shared in a later blog post. However, it is clear from each group’s efforts that our congregation has a lot of life in it already. It is also clear that we have a lot of assets with which to work. Our love, leadership, worship, fellowship, and service are just some of the ways that God has blessed us.

Building on what God has already done, there are many things that we would still like to do and to become. Our dreams for the future are real, and important. God has called us to grow in our discipleship and to share the love of Jesus with the world around us. The poster describes some of the ways that we would like to do exactly that.

The challenge is that we cannot fulfill all of our dreams at one time. We are too easily distracted. Time, efforts, and resources are not limitless. Sometimes is necessary to prioritize. As the final step of the afternoon participants were asked to look at where life is already happening and put that together with the assets we posses in order to discern what might be the most realistic next step for our congregation. It is not to say that other dreams were unimportant, but that certain things might be higher priorities for the organization as a whole.

For example, my personal pet project might be incredibly important to me individually. However, it might become clear through the discussion that I am the only one concerned about that particular issue. It’s not that my dreams are unrealistic or not valuable, but more people are fired up something equally valuable. While my personal ministry will continue, it only makes sense for the church as a whole to focus primarily on the areas where God has blessed us with the most talent, energy, and interest.

In many ways, this was the most difficult part of the afternoon. It was difficult because it required us to get specific and make hard choices about the ministries we were personally willing to invest our time and effort in.

It was also hard because we are so used to thinking in terms of problem solving. Asset based (or grace-based) planning is something completely different. Because it requires retraining our brains to think in a new way, it takes far longer at the beginning. Eventually the process becomes second nature. Instead of being reactive to problems, through appreciative inquiry organizations become proactive and learn to build off the success that is already occurring.

Sunday was not the end of this retaining process. It was a way of breaking the ice. In the end, the first three baby steps chosen were:

1. Creating a church-wide calendar of events to facilitate better communication
2. Creating new channels of social media communication
3. Intentional conversation among the musicians on the future of music in our church

Volunteers stepped forward to spearhead each of these efforts. Specific plans were drawn up on how to proceed. It was a question of how to best balance the priorities of the entire group. Once those ministries have taken hold we will have the chance to come back and revisit some of the other areas of conversation. The next subject after this will be in the area of youth and Christian education.

Closing comments:

More than anything, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who took part in the first round of the appreciative inquiry process. I know that it was a big effort. It took a lot of time. It was the holiday season. Your time is especially valuable at this time of year. Unfortunately, there are a lot of decisions coming up in the near future and it was necessary to get the discernment process started.

It required us to step outside of our comfort zone and look at organizational change in a new way. Through years of training, both formal and informal, we are used to a problem-solving approach. This makes sense. While problem solving is helpful for many things, it does not necessarily bring about the kind of sustainable culture change that we are trying to create in our church. Some of that tension between problem solving and appreciative inquiry was noticeable during Sunday morning’s discussion.

To learn a little more about what an appreciative inquiry discernment process led by Case Western Reserve University’s Dr. David Cooperrider looked like in a congregation similar to ours, you might want to look at the following video summary:

Federated Church UCC in Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Thank you, again, to everyone for their time and their willingness to wrestle with the newness of the appreciative inquiry process. I give thanks to God for the opportunity to be a part of such a faithful and talented congregation of Christ’s Disciples.