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\nhttps://archive.org/details/appreciativeinqu0000schu  \nAppreciative InquiryStrategically Discerning aChurch's Future  \nAndrew Schuman  \nVicar,St Christopher's,Brislington andChaplain,St John Ambulance and Sea Cadet Corps  \nContents  \n1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3  \n2 An Appreciative Inquiry Story………5  \n3 How to Lead Appreciative Inquiry—The Practical Landscape……12  \n4 How to Navigate the Pitfalls of AI……………………………………………………………18  \n5 Taking Appreciative Inquiry Further………………………………………………………23  \n6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………26  \nNotes……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………27  \nAcknowledgments  \nWith grateful thanks to James Lawrence for setting me on this appreciative road,my then colleagues  \nin Stockwood, Gwyn Owen, Sue Farrance and Helen Collins for helping me put it into practice, and  \nall my current colleagues and congregation at St Christopher's for continuing to encourage me to  \ndevelop appreciatively.  \nCPASis an Anglican evangelical mission agencyworking mainly in the UK and Republic of Ireland.  \nWe enable churches to help every person hear and discover the good news of jesus Christ. Our  \nvision is to see effective, Christ-like leaders at alllevels in our churches:men, women and  \nyoung people who point others to Jesus. Good leadership is key to church growth and that  \nis why we areinvesting all our energy in developing leaders.  \nwww.cpas.org.uk.  \nThe cover image is copyright G Grove Books Ltd  \nCopyright ◎ Andrew Schuman 2018  \nFirst Impression July 2018  \nISSN 2041-0972  \nISBN 978178827 0557  \n# Introduction\n\nI want to dream a different way of leading.  \nHow do we discern what God is doing in a church?As leaders,we are notthere to impose our preferences or ideas,but rather to help the people of Goddiscern where God is leading and be ready to follow.  \nOver the years Ihave been exposed to a variety of methods of discerning,andIhave become less and less interested with what God is not doing in a churchor organization.That is not to say that examining what God is not doing isnot a valuable theological and practical endeavour—the silence and mysteryof God has been picked up in many useful places—but I am less convincedby an approach where what God is not doing is usually the first two parts ina three-stage process designed to spur the church leader onto greater activity:  \n·Something is not happening(eg We do not have enough..)  \n·God does not seem to be doing anything about it..  \n·Therefore,leader,we would like you to do something about it.  \nThese stages are often dressed up with spiritual words and business speak—phrases like’naming reality'and'a need to do more.'  \nAlot of this rings partially true—problems,after all,cannot be ignored.Andyet something in all this narrative has always troubled me.The notion thatI as a church leader was tasked with spending most of my time on doingthings that God himself was not doing seemed at best exhausting and at worsttheologically wrong or even blasphemous.  \nI was looking for an alternative way.I believe Appreciative Inquiry,an ideafrom the business world,can be agodly form of discernment.It looks for whatis good as well as what is not so good,for the robust as well as the fragile.If we add to this the understanding that God is always active and involved,not just in people's lives but in the growth,development and mission of hischurch,I believe it can work in any place,with any church or organizationand in any context,however difficult or challenging.  \nAs a process of discernment it has a number of positive features:  \n·It starts from a positive(what is God doing?)rather than a negative(what is missing?).  \n·Itinvolves everyone in the process,with each person being listenedto,thereby increasing ownership of the outcome.  \n·It builds on the past,rather than suggesting that somehow the pastwas not rea","cbCailo7zAirI54e","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailo7zAirI54e","pdf",2454259,32,"English","# Introduction\n## The limits of deficit-based leadership\n## Why Appreciative Inquiry fits godly discernment\n# An Appreciative Inquiry Story\n## Missional dialogue and community participation","[{\"question\":\"Why does the book criticize approaches that focus on what God is not doing?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that spending most leadership time on activities God himself is not doing can be exhausting and theologically wrong, even blasphemous, despite sometimes helpful intentions.\"},{\"question\":\"What positive features of Appreciative Inquiry does the Introduction highlight?\",\"answer\":\"It starts from what is God doing, involves everyone through listening, builds on the past, and leads to specific proposals rather than vague exhortations.\"},{\"question\":\"How is Appreciative Inquiry applied in the booklet’s church example?\",\"answer\":\"The book describes how the process was worked through in an ordinary parish church in South Bristol over four years, offering a lived example and a guide to apply the approach in one’s own context.\"}]","grove leadership - Appreciative Inquiry - Strategically Discerning a Church's Future | PDF",1790621868,81]