Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a way of being and seeing. It is both a worldview and a process for facilitating positive change in communities. Its assumption is simple: Every human systems has something that works right—things that give it life when it is vital, effective and successful.
1. Remembering your entire experience at your church, tell a story about when you felt most alive, most motivated and most excited about your involvement?
2. When you consider all your experiences at your church, relate a story that has contributed most to your spiritual life?
3. Tell us about a story that illustrates the healthiest, most life-giving aspects of the relationships among people at your church?
4. When you think about how the church has related to the community and the world, give an example (in detail) as to what you think has been the most important.
5. Tell us what you think is the most important value that makes your church unique?
6. Make three wishes for the future of your church and describe what the church would look like as these wishes come true.
• Conversations can take place in small groups.
• Report back to the wider group, capturing material on white board/newsprint.
• What core values emerge?
• What metaphor emerges for your church?
Questions for Reflection and Discussion?
1. What kind of stories emerge from these discussions and what makes them timely for the challenge at hand?
2. How do these stories “build bridges,” between people in the congregation, or between the congregation and the community?
3. How are these sacred stories? How do these stories connect to the biblical narratives?
4. Will these stories mark the identity and mission of the congregation in the future?
