Flourishing Congregations

Sharing, learning, and positive change energized faith leaders in the unique gathering, Flourishing Congregations: Moving from Dreams to Reality. The Center for Congregations presented this learning event in March 2007 to empower congregations to look at the positive core of their work. Through Appreciative Inquiry, Asset Mapping, and World Cafe', participants felt the power of positive change.

• Flourishing Congregations

  Congregations in Southwest Indiana are coming together to look at the positive. The Center for Congregations presents Flourishing Congregations, an exciting, hands-on educational experience that explores positive change processes and how they can work within congregations.
  
  Discover a Flourishing Future
  Clergy, staff, and leaders from all faith traditions have the opportunity to participate in Flourishing Congregations on Wednesday, September 24, in Evansville. Leaders will gather together to share, learn and discover a flourishing future. Modeled after the Flourishing Congregations gatherings held in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, this event will empower leaders to look at the positive core of congregations when they function at their best. Through positive change processes such as Appreciative Inquiry, World Café, and more, participants will learn various ways to look at their faith communities as mysteries to be embraced rather than as problems to be solved.
  
  Time and Place
  Flourishing Congregations in Evansville is 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday, September 24, at the Marriott Hotel, 7101 Highway 41 North, Evansville. The gathering is open to all Indiana congregations. The cost is $50 for teams of 2-5 persons. This fee includes lunch, parking, and materials. Flourishing Congregations is designed for teams. The Center encourages each participating congregation to bring up to five people. Registrations are being accepted now. Space is limited.
  
  Sharing and Learning
  Through small group discussion, hands-on activities, and experiential positive change processes, Flourishing Congregations provides a forum for sharing, networking, and fellowship. In the months leading up to the event, Center for Congregations representatives will interview local congregational leaders to gather stories of life-giving moments in their faith communities. These stories will be published into a textbook and distributed to participants. Sharing these life-giving moments helps participants to imagine hope, creativity, and possibility in their own congregations. These events are vibrant and uplifting and provide the instruction and tools necessary to use positive change processes in your congregation.
  
  You can register now for this unique and informative event. Click below for on-line registration.
  
  For the Evansville event
  
  

  Posted May 05 2008, 10:13 AM

• Flourishing Registration Available

  Registration for the Flourishing Congregations Summit in Fort Wayne is available. You can register on-line now. Click here to go directly to registration. Or click here for additional details about the gathering and registration information.

  Posted Nov 05 2007, 10:00 AM

• Flourishing Congregations Photo Gallery

  
  Flourishing Congregations: Moving from Dreams to Reality

  Congregations from various faith traditions gathered to celebrate the positive, share their strengths, and envision a flourishing future. This vibrant gathering included Appreciative Inquiry, World Cafe', Asset Mapping, and more.

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

  

  Posted Apr 16 2007, 01:36 PM

• Congregations gather to share the positive

  What happens when 176 persons get together to tell the stories of their congregations? What happens when you talk about congregations not as problems to be solved but as mysteries to be embraced?  What is the essence or “positive core” of these conversations? What does all of this teach us about a “flourishing congregation”?

   

  Participants explored these questions and more during the March gathering,  Flourishing Congregations – Moving from Dreams to Reality, presented by the Indianapolis Center for Congregations. This event was about positive change in congregations using the processes of Appreciative Inquiry, Asset Mapping, and World Café. But the event was more than learning these processes, it was about changing our mindset about how we image, talk about, and feel about our congregations. By exploring the concepts of positive image, positive words, and positive emotions participants were equipped with not only tools and processes for back home applications but renewed energy and passion for their futures.

   

  Early in the event participants were paired in order to conduct an appreciative inquiry interview. The purpose of the interview was to hear stories about the best moments and times when participants felt a deep sense of belonging. From these interviews participants conducted interpretive work through a World Café process that extracted the “positive core” of Flourishing Congregations. Here are some of the words and phrases participants articulated:

   

  Flourishing Congregations are . . .

   

  ·         welcoming and deliberate about forming relationships,

  ·         open to new ideas, change, etc.;

  ·         risk-taking, focus on positive

  ·         intentional about building bridges;

  ·         always finding commonalities;

  ·         coming together as children of God;

  ·         places where each member is honored

  ·         safe place to do dangerous things

  ·         nurturing,

  ·         active, reaching out – local and beyond

  ·         passionate

  ·         generous

  ·         Spirit led,

  ·         inter-generational,

  ·         places to dream

  ·         energetic

   

  For additional resources, see the Flourishing Congregations Resource Guide or contact the Center.

   

  Posted Apr 16 2007, 01:33 PM

• Learning From Flourishing Congregations

  The recent Flourishing Congregations – Moving from Dreams to Reality event featured processes and tools for achieving positive change.  At the event, participants learned three separate but complimentary processes that contribute to positive change. Appreciative Inquiry is the process of uncovering what gives life to a congregation when it functions at its best.  Rather than view a congregation as a “problem to be solved”, each participant was encouraged to view his or her congregation as a “mystery to be embraced”.  The principles of positive image, positive words, and positive emotions underpin the entire process of Appreciative Inquiry.  World Café is a creative way of having deep and meaningful conversations on topics that matter to congregations.  It is a way to exchange information and seed ideas from other sources. Asset Mapping is the process of looking at a congregation’s resources from the perspective of abundance and then creatively matching assets in new ways. 

   

  For additional resources, see the Flourishing Congregations Resource Guide or call the Center.

   

  Participants soon realized that each of these processes can be adapted to a variety of congregational settings.  In reviewing the written feedback from participating congregations we noted a number of creative ways that congregations will use what they learned at the event back home.  Here is a sampling of what we heard:

   

  Sue Weber, 4/12/07

   

              Using Appreciative Inquiry:

  ·         Evaluating the effectiveness of church ministries using Appreciative Inquiry;

  ·         Using Appreciative Inquiry for an upcoming leadership transition;

  ·         Using the provocative statement exercise (from Appreciative Inquiry) as a way of communicating a congregation’s strategic plan;

  ·         Using the interview process of Appreciative Inquiry for a visioning process that will occur simultaneously in church members’ homes;

  ·         Beginning meetings using Appreciative Inquiry questions regarding what we appreciate about our work together, our church and/or our lives;

  ·         Applying Appreciative Inquiry to expedite fundraising for a new facility and attain better committee participation by members;

  ·         Posting provocative statements and inviting congregation members to include their input or ideas for improving the statement;

  ·         Evaluating youth ministry activities;

  ·         Intentionally thinking about new ways to think positively about what’s right with our church and build from there.

   

  Using World Café:

  ·         Encouraging intergenerational dialogue using the World Café process;

  ·         Conducting a yearly World Café before the congregational board plans programs and ministries for the following year.

   

  Using Asset Mapping:

  ·         Conducting a fellowship meeting using Asset Mapping to discover our collective gifts and assets;

  ·         Using the “vote with your feet” step in Asset Mapping to take ownership in a ministry;

  ·         Using Asset Mapping for a church wide retreat.

   

  For additional resources, see the Flourishing Congregations Resource Guide or call the Center.

  Posted Apr 12 2007, 12:05 PM