“To discover how the local church can learn to discern and participate in God’s Mission more faithfully and fruitfully” – supporting this work is the mission of the Center for Parish Development.  We are humbled and inspired by what we are seeing and what together we are learning.

Reframing the conversation:

Almost always initial conversations are reframed.  The questions are familiar:

• “How can we attract more members?” What will drive more participation?
• “What program, technique or feature will revitalize us?”
• “How do we define success?

Reframing leads us from scarcity thinking to abundance, from maintenance focus to vision led, from member driven to mission driven, from “it’s about us and our needs” to IT’S ABOUT GOD AND GOD’S MISSION. 

Seasons of discovering and discerning

It has been helpful to think about supporting churches on a transformational journey as moving through seasons of discovering and discerning.  These are more than occasional agendas.  This work is about learning foundational practices for the life of the church that can and need to be carried forward as a part of its way of life.

Discovering: Being the church always takes place in a specific context.  Responding to God’s call is rooted and grounded in a place.  We want to discover or rediscover “why the world needs the church? Even more importantly, we want to discover why our community needs our church?  What is God doing here, and how might we be more faithfully and fruitfully a part of it?  Engaging in a season of discovering cultivates the church as a learning community that through prayer, dialogue and shared wisdom begins to embrace a wider and even common view of its current reality – the world in which it is called to be God’s people.

Discerning: Asking and answering anew, “What is God calling us to be and do as church?” is often how we hear Christian communities framing their efforts to become a discerning community.  What does God love? What is the God of Scripture committed to? What are God’s priorities?  Discerning together those matters that touch God’s heart is formative for the church.  It has the power to change hearts and minds as a church community, personally and corporately, and seeks to align all that it is and does with God’s call, with God’s mission in this time and in this place.

RUN WITH IT! -- Living into a Faithful Future.

One of the most exciting aspects of supporting church communities engaged in a transformational journey is seeing them passionate about a new vision of God’s calling and then running with that vision – living it out in concrete and practical ways.   For each church the shape, size, timing and pace of this work is unique.  It is the Spirit’s work and involves experiencing, experimenting, innovating and learning from it all.  The Center is expanding a smorgasbord of support for living into a faithful future:  providing just in time resources at moments of readiness and need, with access to a wide network of churches living their vision. 

With my colleagues we are excited about the new and responsive ways the Center, a learning community among learning communities, is partnering with church communities. We look forward to sharing more and invite you to join in the conversation with us.