There are a thousand things one could 'review' in a parish visitation; Are the sermons inspiring or boring? Are the people challenged to care for the environment/each other/the buildings? Is the secretary always in the office when he/she should be? Are the baptismal/membership/confirmation rolls up-to-date?
But it would appear to me that many of these are symptoms of a few core areas of church life.
In my reading today I came across an article by John Janka called "Spiritual Windsurfing: Exploring the context for evaluation." In it John argues that there are core aspects of calling, self-knowledge, emotional intelligence and a prophetic role all shape the context of an evaluation.
He also argues that using a system that identifies problems and proposes solutions is not an effective evaluation. He suggests the use of appreciative inquiry type questions to strengthen the ministry of lay and ordained.
Click here to go to the article. Click on 'Print ready' near the bottom of the left column for a full version.
And if you have any thoughts about either John's core aspects or appreciative inquiry as a tool, please add your comments to the blog.
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3 comments:
Have come across 'Natural Church Growth'. Not so much a programme for Church Growth, rather a tool to assess how 'healthy' a Church is, looking at various aspects from friendliness to spirituality and involvement. Have been quite impressed.
We have done 3 surveys with Natural Church Development. It's been very good. Not the Kingdom of God made manifest in the parish, nor the key to making it happen. However it does move us in that direction. We are able to celebrate what we are doing well, and address what we are not. And the methodology of determining what we are doing well and poorly seems reliable too, with 30 movers and shakers of the church doing the survey each time.
Bob Barnes, Vicar, All Saints Community church, Bryant park, Hamilton
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