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There are any number of ways your congregation can go about discerning how Christ would have your congregation step into the next chapter of their ministry. Until the core of the congregation’s leadership is characterized by vital faith, expectant hope and Christ-like love it may be premature to launch a discernment process. Likewise, until there is a sense of urgency in the core of the congregation because of their experience of tension between the needs of the people in your community, the purposes of Christ and your congregation’s ministry record, it may also be premature to launch into a discernment process. Once these are in place, however, you might consider any of the following dependent upon where you congregation is in their lifecycle.
- Natural Church Development (NCD): NCD is particularly helpful when congregations are relatively healthy. NCD assumes that the core leadership of the congregation both knows and is committed to Christ’s core missional purpose: making disciples for the transformation of the world.
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- ReFocus Networks: reFocus is a three year process that is based upon the assumption that individual renewal precedes corporate renewal. This process is particularly helpful for congregations whose core leadership need to reconnect with Christ’s missional purposes and their role in fulfilling them – before the congregation is able to go through a strategic discernment process.
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- Lovett H. Weems’ book, Taking the Next Step: Leading Lasting Change in the Church (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), outlines a helpful process by which a congregation’s leaders can reconnect with the best in their history and then discern how Christ is leading them to continue that history in a new day. Weems’ process stresses continuity over discontinuity and is a helpful read no matter what process you choose.
- Phil Maynard has designed a simple way of gathering the impressions of your key leaders regarding how your congregation is doing living into each of the five practices. The packet includes a Bible study, a survey sheet and ways your leaders can begin to brainstorm how your congregation might make improvements in each of these five crucial areas of ministry.
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- There are many other processes that have been designed to assist a congregation in discerning its next steps in improving their ministry effectiveness. In selecting other process, please keep the following considerations in mind:
- This is a discernment process to help surface the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the leaders of the congregation. This is not about asking the leaders their personal preferences. Consequently, the process much be bathed in prayer from start to finish.
- Be careful about the leadership team getting too far out in front of the congregation. Build in constant feedback loops where the leadership team shares with the congregation what they are discovering and invites them to be in dialogue with them.
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