REINVENT YOUR FUTURE

Surface to Soul

Change Your Church . . . everyday!

Vibrant, fruitful, growing congregations create a cycle of ongoing innovation and reinvention. It's a Spirit-driven process that involves:

Asking powerful questions - during worship, among our members, with our neighbors, and through our online platforms.
Observing our actions, assumptions, attitudes, approaches, messaging, schedules - along with what we measure and celebrate
Experimenting with new concepts, prototyping new approaches, and asking "What would happen if" more often.
Inspecting our results by listing what's working, what's not working, what we should stop, start, or keep doing.
Repeating the cycle of innovation as an unending feedback loop that pushes us to make reinvention an everyday occasion.

This training address reinvention from the mindset of discerning and developing a strategic vision and as a process embed reinvention into our daily lives and routines. Join the conversation, share your wisdom, and learn from others.

DISCUSSION THEMES

SESSION 1 | KEY POINTS

Thriving Indicators
Measuring impact & reach
Using SWOT & CTAD
Listening activities
Ministry scorecards
Flourishing practices
AEIOU Leadership skills
Bifocal leadership.
4D Project teams.
Avoid mission drift.

SESSION 1 | NEXT STEPS

Test your mission statement
Revisit your values
List how "we help people"
Draft your Soul Script
List what you'll measure
Using SWOT & CTAD
List your AI activities

SESSION 2 | KEY POINTS

- Paint a picture of a preferred future
- Design a road map; list quarterly sprints
- Focus on big rocks & small shifts
- Align leadership agendas with key goals
- Review your results & celebrate your wins

SESSION 2 | NEXT STEPS

- Start small; focus on low hanging fruit.
- Start with aligning board and paid staff.
- Build your guiding coalition.
- Focus on quarterly sprints.

SESSION 3 | KEY POINTS

- Change what you consistently say & do
- Change culture by changing your systems
- Build a guiding coalition to support change
- Learn to ask, observe & experiment
- Start with low-hangings is where the description goes

SESSION 3 | NEXT STEPS

- Conduct a culture audit
- Create a SAY and DO list
- Build better systems

SESSION 1 | TOOLS

SESSION 2 | TOOLS

SESSION 3 | TOOLS

SAMPLE NEXT STEPS

1 | FORM a visioning team

IDEAS FOR NEXT STEPS

Create job descriptions for team members.
Establish criteria and process for selecting vision team members.
Assign roles to individual members.
Commission vision team members.
Position members for greatest impact.

QUESTIONS

How often do your leaders dream?
Who are your primary vision casters?
How far into the future do you dream?
Who is invested in your present & future mission?

2 | Define your reality

IDEAS FOR NEXT STEPS

Conduct a congregation-wide survey.
Review the church's current mission, vision, and values.
Gather information about the church's history.
Interview members and community leaders.
Review programs and ministry activities.
Create a roster of current ministry leaders.
Gather current data regarding local demographics.

QUESTIONS

Does your church have a current strategic plan?
What's the status of your ministry teams/committees?
What's working? What's not working?
What's for process for onboarding members? Leaders?
Are we staffed for the past, present, or future?
List expectations you have for members.

3 | Rethink what's possible

IDEAS FOR NEXT STEPS

Complete Celebrate, Tweak, Add & Delete exercises.
Compile a Ministry Site Profile base on info gathering during step 2.
Host a visioning retreat to develop an emerging vision.
Assembling short-term teams to create one-page ministry maps.
Share emerging vision with members; schedule focus groups.

QUESTIONS

What prevents people from befriending others?
What norms can be create help people befriend?
Is it safe for people to let their guard down?
Do your leaders regularly befriend?
Which church events are idea for befriending?

4 | Create annual road map

IDEAS FOR NEXT STEPS

Create a 4-page plan summarizing goals, strategies and steps.
Address staffing and structural issues to be addressed in year 2.
Align committees, teams and task forces with purpose and priorities.
Develop infrastructure plan to support ministry goals.
Set & celebrate short-term milestones; communicate progress to members.

QUESTIONS

Where can members access information about our plans?
How will we sharing our findings and successes with others?
Have we built feedback loops into planning processes?
How often will we review and update our plans?
Who will be the keeper of our plans?
How will we hold each other accountable?

VIDEOS to watch

BOOKS to read

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