Participant Workbook

For 4-Hour Meetings


Responding to the Call:

Discerning God’s Direction for a Third Century of Mission

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Meeting Purpose, Objectives, and Agenda...... 3

Background Information...... 4

Appreciative Inquiry Overview...... …7

What to Expect from this Meeting...... …9

Activity #1...... 10

Activity #2...... 13

Activity #3...... 15

Activity #4...... 16

Activity #5...... 18

Meeting Report Form...... 19

MeetingPurpose,

Objectives, and Agenda

Purpose

To engage IM’s partners and supporters around the world in discerning God’s call and direction for the future of IM.

Objectives

  1. To create an engaging and generative environment for conversation and discernment.
  1. To learn from one another’s experience about when International Ministries is at its best.
  1. To imagine and describe the ideal future for IM.

Agenda

20 minutesWelcome, Devotions, Overview of the RTC Process, Purpose, Objectives, Agenda, and Expectations for the Meeting

70 minutesOpening Dialogue: IM at its Best Past, Present, and Future (Individual Interviews, Activity #1, includes break)

45 minutesIdentifying IM’s Positive Core of Strengths (Table Discussions, Activity #2)

30 minutesMapping IM’s Positive Core of Strengths (Presentation and Large Group Discussion, Activity #3)

45 minutesVisions of the Future for IM (Table Discussions, Activity #4)

25 minutesPresentation of Future Visions (Large Group, Activity #5)

5 minutesClosing Comments, Prayer

Background Information

Spiritual Discernment and Strategic Planning

From conception to consummation, mission is the work of God. It springs from God’s initiative, is guided by God’s Spirit, and is accomplished through God’s power. At the same time, the Lord has chosen to call women and men to play a vital role in this divine mission.

Consequently, to explore the way forward for our participation in the mission of Jesus Christ is to listen for the voice of God and to discern the leading of the Holy Spirit. That is why Responding to the Call is best understood not simply as a strategic planning process, but as an exercise in spiritual discernment.

Purpose of the Responding to the Call Process

The purpose of the Responding to the Call process is to discern and articulate a fresh vision of how International Ministries will serve the mission of Jesus Christ, together with the values, priorities, and goals that will guide the work of IM for 2015-2020.

Jesus' command to make disciples of all peoples kindled a fire in the hearts of Ann and Adoniram Judson. That fire led American Baptists to come together as a national movement 200 years ago and form the mission organization now known as American Baptist International Ministries (IM).

For two centuries, God has graciously sustained IM and used it as an instrument to advance the mission of Jesus Christ. The best way to honor what God has done so far is to commit ourselves to join in what God will do next. So, as we celebrate God's faithfulness in the past, we seek a fresh word from the Lord for the future. We want to hear, as John puts it, “what the Spirit is saying to the churches” (Revelation 2:7).

We believe that God calls to International Ministries not in isolation, but together with those with whom we are privileged to share the mission of Jesus Christ, both around the world and across the United States and Puerto Rico. We believe the Spirit of God will call IM into God's future as we listen to the voices of fellow servants of Christ with whom we share this present moment. As the African proverb tell us: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others." In the service of Christ's mission in the world, IM wants to go far.

The eternal God's saving, redeeming purposes in mission remain constant: to bless all the families of the earth, to bring the nations to the obedience of faith, to gather up all creation under the Lordship of Jesus Christ (Genesis 12, Romans 16, Ephesians 1). In every age and context, the Lord pursues these purposes with amazing flexibility and creativity. IM seeks the renewal of its mission vision in order to respond faithfully to our creative, flexible, faithful Lord.

Trajectory of Responding to the Call

In 1998-1999, IM used a very similar discernment process to develop the vision known as Go Global. Originally framed as a vision for ten years, Go Global needed to be adjusted and adapted twice to respond to the tumultuous experiences of 2000-2010. But the core principles of Go Global have continued to be an effective guide for IM's work to this day.

Because our experience confirms the lasting value of careful listening, IM is dedicating significant time and energy to the Responding to the Call discernment process. We expect the core vision elements that God gives IM through this process will guide us longer than the specific goals and objectives that will be articulated for the period from 2015 to 2020.

IM will engage in spiritual discernment conversations with stakeholders (partners in mission throughout the American Baptist movement and around the world) during 2014 and early 2015. The fruit of these conversations will be studied, prayed over, and reflected upon by a Discernment Team, itself composed of people from across the spectrum of stakeholders. The Discernment Team will present its work—a fresh articulation of vision and goals for the work of IM for 2015-2020—to IM's Board of Directors in June 2015.

Deliverables

The deliverables at the end of this process will include:

  • A shared statement of vision, priorities, goals, and operational plan for the work of IM for 2015-2020
  • Deepened mission relationships throughout the entire partnership network in which God has placed IM for the sake of Christ's mission.
  • The release of fresh energies into the transforming work of Jesus Christ in our world.

Key Constituencies

Responding to the Call is designed to be a highly consultative process that engages multiple constituencies, including:

  • leaders of American Baptist regional and national mission bodies;
  • pastors, mission leaders and mission supporters in local congregations throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico;
  • leaders of partner conventions, agencies and ministries all around the world;
  • the Directors of IM;
  • all those who dedicate their lives and energies to the work God does through IM, whether as employees or as volunteers.

Stakeholder voices will be sought through interviews with individuals and groups, web-based surveys, and three summit gatherings scheduled for July 2014 at the Green Lake Conference Center: July 15-17, All Staff Gathering; July 19-21, International Partner Consultation; July 24, World Mission Conference. An interview guide and instructions are also available on the IM website, so that any group can organize their own informal meeting and make a contribution to Responding to the Call.

The Discernment Team will receive the results of all these conversations and, through much prayer and reflection, will articulate the fresh vision for mission that God gives to IM through this process.

Calendar of Key Events

  • Advisory and Implementation Team Meetings: January and April, 2014
  • Interviews at Emerge/Orientation to AB Life: January 2014
  • ABC region interviews: Spring 2014
  • Online survey participation: April - August 2014
  • First Discernment Team Meeting: May 20-21, 2014
  • Green Lake Summits with stakeholder groups: July 2014
  • Second Discernment Team Meeting: September 16-17, 2014
  • ABC region interviews: Fall 2014
  • Third Discernment Team Meeting: January 20-21, 2015
  • ABC region interviews: Spring 2015
  • Fourth Discernment Team Meeting: April 21-22, 2015
  • IM Board of Directors inaugurates new vision and priorities: June 2015
  • IM Directors & staff complete the operationalization of new plan: March 2016

Appreciative Inquiry Overview

What is Appreciative Inquiry?

Responding to the Call is built around appreciative inquiry, an approach to organization change that has been used successfully in small and large change projects with hundreds of organizations worldwide.

Appreciative inquiry is based on the simple idea that organizations move in the direction of what they ask questions about. For example, when groups study human problems and conflicts, they often find that both the number and severity of these problems grow. In the same way, when groups study high human ideals and achievements—such as peak experiences, best practices, and noble accomplishments—these phenomena, too, tend to flourish. Thus, appreciative inquiry distinguishes itself from other change methodologies by deliberately asking positive questions to ignite constructive dialogue and inspired action within organizations.

The positive and hopeful approach of AI is particularly well suited to an organization like IM that seeks to be faithful to the call of God. In the first place, AI fits well with Paul's invitation to the Philippian believers: "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8). In the second place, the AI commitment to include all voices fits well with the recognition that followers of Jesus belong to one another and depend upon mutual exercise of the gifts that God distributes among all members of the Body of Christ.

How is Appreciative Inquiry Used?

As a method of organizational intervention, appreciative inquiry differs from traditional problem-solving approaches. The basic assumption of problem-solving methodologies is that people and organizations are fundamentally “broken” and need to be fixed. The process usually involves: (1) identifying the key problems; (2) analyzing the root causes; (3) searching for possible solutions; and (4) developing an action plan.

In contrast, the underlying assumption of appreciative inquiry is that people and organizations are by nature full of assets, capabilities, resources, and strengths that are just waiting to be located, affirmed, stretched, and encouraged. The steps include: (1) discovering and valuing; (2) envisioning; (3) designing through dialogue; and (4) co-constructing the future. In other words, the appreciative inquiry 4-D model includes discovery, dream, design, and destiny.

What to Expect

from this Meeting

Role of Facilitators

  • Set the structure and time frames
  • Highlight themes that emerge
  • Manage the overall meeting flow

Your Role

  • Contribute your best ideas
  • Listen to and engage with others
  • Lead with your energy and optimism
  • Self-manage own group
  • Focus on the future of what you want to create

Ground Rules

  • Everyone participates
  • All ideas are valid
  • Everything is written on flip charts
  • Observe time frames
  • Move to action

Small Group Leadership Roles

Each small group manages its own discussion, data, time, and reports. Here are useful roles for self-managing this work. Leadership roles can be rotated. Divide up the work as you wish:

Discussion leader: keeps the group on task, ensures that everyone has the opportunity to participate and that the discussion is not dominated by a few talkative or outspoken individuals

Timekeeper: keeps the group from going over the allotted time

Recorder: uses the flipchart to take notes on the group’s discussion, using the speaker’s words; asks people to restate long ideas briefly

Reporter: delivers the small group’s reports to the larger group in the time allotted

Activity #1:

IM at its Best: Past, Present, and Future

(Individual Interviews - 70 minutes total)

Purpose: To learn from each other’s experience about when IM is at its best.

Guidelines:

  1. Select an interview partner who is most different from you (e.g. race, gender, constituency, old-timer/newcomer, Canada/US, east coast/west coast, someone you don’t know well, etc.)
  1. Interview your partner using the interview guide on the following pages. Each person will have 30 minutes to interview his or her partner.
  1. Encourage your partner to tell his/her story. Draw your interview partner out with your positive energy and excitement.
  1. Take good notes. You will be sharing your interview partner’s stories and responses throughout the day during your table discussions.
  1. A Great Moment in Mission with International Ministries

When great moments in mission happen, the glory belongs to the Lord, for it is God who ultimately accomplishes the work. At the same time, our organizations and ways of working can be more or less helpful, more or less well aligned with what God is doing. Please reflect for a moment on a high point experience – a time when IM was most faithful to its calling and was functioning at its very best, a time that you felt most alive, engaged, and inspired. Tell the story. What was going on? What happened?

  • Without being bashful or shy, what was it about you that made the experience possible (your values, commitments, experience, skills, ways of working, etc.)?
  • Who else was involved and what was it about them that made it a high point?
  • What was it about IM as an organization that made the experience possible (…things like its purpose, focus, guiding principles, approaches, strategies, programs, partnerships, ways of working, etc.)?
  1. Images of the Future

Let's pretend that tonight you go into a deep sleep and wake up in 2025. God has launched IM into its 3rd century of mission in amazing ways, transforming the organization even as God has used IM to serve the worldwide mission of Jesus Christ. You can truly say, without reservation, that IM is the mission organization of your dreams, deeply faithful to the Lord who calls and works through it. What does it look like? What’s happening that’s new and different? On what key global issues is it focused? How is it funded? What do you see in terms of purpose, values, culture, strategies, impact, new initiatives, systems, people, ways of working? Describe the future to which God is calling IM.

  1. Three Wishes

If you could develop or transform IM in any way as we together enter a third century of participating in God’s mission, what three wishes, in order of priority, would you make to heighten IM’s overall health and vitality?

Activity #2:

Identifying IM’s Positive Core of Strengths

(Small Group Discussion –45 minutes)

Purpose: To highlight and illuminate the forces and factors that give life, health, and vitality to IM when it’s at its best.

Guidelines:

  • Each pair of interview partners joins up with the others at their table to form a small group.
  • Select a discussion leader, timekeeper, recorder, and reporter. (Descriptions of these roles are found on page 9.)

Discussion: (25 minutes total)

  • Round One – (5 minutes)
  • Each person introduces his/her interview partner in 30 seconds or less.
  • Round Two – (20 minutes)
  • Each person shares highlights from the story her/his partner told in Question #1 (Great Moments in Mission with International Ministries).
  • In each of these stories, the group identifies the forces and factors that give life, health, and vitality to IM when it’s at its best.
  • The recorder captures these factors on a flipchart using the “story analysis” format illustrated below.
  • Once all of the stories have been analyzed, identify as a group the top 3-5 factors that give life, health, and vitality to IM when it’s at its best. List these on a new flipchart page. The group’s recorder should also list these on the Meeting Report Form, located at the back of this Workbook.

“Story Analysis”

StoriesMaria’s story…
Ed’s story… / Forces and Factors that “Give Life” to IM…………………….
………
…………

Illustration: (15 minutes)

  • As a group, use the materials on your table (i.e. construction paper, pipe cleaners, scissors, etc.) to create graphic illustration of IM’s core purpose and its positive core of strengths…the forces and factors that give it life, health, and vitality when it’s at its best.

Presentation Preparation: (5 minutes)

  • Take 5 minutes to prepare a 3-minute presentation that includes:
  • A story from the interviews that powerfully illustrates IM at its best.
  • The flipchart page with your group’s top 3-5 factors that give life, health, and vitality to IM when it’s at its best.
  • Your graphic illustration of IM’s positive core of strengths.
  • This presentation will be given to the larger group during Activity #3.

Activity #3:

Mapping of IM’s Positive Core of Strengths

(Presentation & Large Group Discussion – 30 minutes)

Purpose:To connect strength with strength and to build a shared understanding of what gives life, health, and vitality to IM when it’s at its best.

Guidelines:

  • Each group’s reporter goes to the front of the room and presents, in 3 minutes or less, the group’s:
  • Story that powerfully illustrates IM at its best.
  • Flipchart page with the top 3-5 factors that give life, health, and vitality to IM when it’s at its best.
  • Graphic illustration of IM’s positive core of strengths.
  • After reporting, each group posts its flipchart page and graphic illustration on a common spot on the wall. As each group posts its work next to the other groups’ work, the display on the wall (“Positive Core Map”) gets bigger and bigger, and many themes and patterns are seen across the various presentations.
  • After all the table groups have presented, the whole group gathers around the Positive Core Map and reflects on what patterns, highlights, and surprises they see.

Activity #4:

Visions of the Future for IM

(Small Group Discussion – 45 minutes)

Purpose: To imagine the ideal future for IM – a future you want to be a part of.

Guidelines:

  • Select a discussion leader, timekeeper, recorder, and reporter again.
  • Each person shareshighlights from his/her partner’s responses to Questions#2 and #3 from the interview guide (Images of the Future and Three Wishes). In each person’s response, identify the most important hopes, dreams, and wishes that were expressed for the future of IM. List these on a new flipchart page. (15 minutes)
  • Now, as a group, put yourselves in the year 2025. Visualize IM the way you really want it to be. Imagine it as if it exists today - now. Be bold. What does it look like? What does it feel like? What’s going on? What’s new, better, best? What are you most inspired by? How does your vision help IM accomplish its purpose and fulfill its mandate? Have the recorder take notes. (20 minutes)
  • Based on the above discussion, identify 3-5 key elements of your collective dream for the future of IM. List these on a new flipchart page. Prepare to give a 3-minute report to the large group during Activity #5. The group’s recorder should also list these on the Meeting Report Form, located at the back of this Workbook. (10 minutes)

Activity #5: