Why your congregation shouldn't work with me for visioning
Here's how to know whether I might be a good-fit facilitator for your process.
I really enjoy working with congregations that are dreaming about their next season of ministry. This can be a joy-filled, encouraging process, no matter the size or circumstances of the church. In the visioning I facilitate, we focus on the congregation's DNA, which consists of the threads that are consistent across the church's history. We take stock of the individual and collective gifts that are available for use, both the tangible and intangible ones. We look around to consider the congregation's neighbors with all that they both need and have to offer. We name current and potential partnerships within and beyond the world of faith. We unearth issues that might be keeping the church from living into the fullness of its vocation. And then we plan based on all that we have gleaned through conversations, storytelling, and exercises.
If this sounds like an approach your congregation could benefit from, let's talk! There are some good reasons, though, that you should not contract with me:
If you want to keep the spiritual aspect of visioning to a minimum, you should not work with me. I believe this work is formational to who we are as disciples of Jesus, and as a result the process must be grounded in worship.
If you want someone to give you the answers, you should not work with me. I approach my work with churches as a coach, which means I believe that you are the expert on your own context. My job is to help you draw out that wisdom and strategize ways to apply it.
If you want to avoid hard but important conversations, you should not work with me. Surface discussions are not fertile soil for plans that will bear much fruit. Rest assured, though, that I will work with you to create a process that facilitates mutual trust and vulnerability.
If you want to move to action quickly, you should not work with me. We will need to talk about values, purpose, and beliefs that are currently limiting who you are and what you do in order to create a plan with the intentionality and structure for follow through.
If you want an airtight 5- to 10-year strategic plan, you should not work with me. The world is changing so quickly that these kinds of approaches really don't fit anymore. We will design a way forward for the next season of ministry and identify the touchstones your congregation can always come back to when there is a pastoral transition or - God forbid - an economic recession, a pandemic, or a tragedy that rocks your church.
As you discern God's invitations in the next season of your congregation's life, however you go about it, I pray that you will find the process clarifying, engaging, and exciting.
This is really great! Many blessings in this important work.