St. Mark’s finds itself in a period of serious discernment asking the questions: Where is God alive in this place? Where do we direct our immediate focus for ministry? Who are we now (all things considered) and how do we bear the Gospel in this particular context of Huntsville, AL?
The only way to answer these questions is to talk with one another, hold each other’s stories in gratitude, and remember the abundance of God in the past, present, and future.
The thesis of Appreciative Inquiry is that an organization , such as a church, can be re-created by its conversation. And if that new creation is to feature the most life-giving forces and forms possible, then the conversations must be shaped by appreciative questions. A church’s leaders make decisions about what to talk about, what questions to ask, what metaphors to use – and every such initiative shapes the present and the future.
Appreciative Inquiry is a different way for the people of an organization to know, to communicate, to discern, to imagine, and to experiment. This method creates an organization-wide mode for initiating and discerning narratives and practices that are creative and life-giving. And, for churches, it provides a process to bring our own stories into conversation with the biblical and historical narratives of our faith. By doing this, we can guide and nourish or reconstruct the organization along the lines of its best stories as discerned alongside God’s initiatives. Appreciative Inquiry assumes that all organizations have significant life forces, and these forces are available in stories and imaginations. By bringing these resources into the organization’s conversations and planning, major changes can be implemented. In other words, by discovering the best and most valuable narratives and qualities of an organization, participants can construct a new way that has the most important links to the past and the most hopeful images of the future. It will be a way of initiating a culture of gratitude and will inform how we take the next right step together. The hope is that this will be an ongoing practice at St. Mark’s as we foster collaboration, listening, and joy together.
Last modified: June 20, 2022And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also, he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Revelation 21:5
