On Sunday, October 21st, for the Grand Rapids Friends Meeting program we began a process called Appreciative Inquiry. This is a dynamic and generative planning process that is based on these assumptions:
~ What we ask questions about is what we have conversations about.
~ What we have conversations about is what we give our attention to.
~ What we pay attention to and focus on is what we nurture.
~ What we nurture is what grows.
~ So rather than focusing on what's broken and needs to be fixed, we intentionally focus on "what works."
On Sunday, we began with telling the stories about:
What is it about the Meeting and your connection to the Meeting that "gives life"? (a summary of what was recorded on news print is being sent out including intergenerational family, community and togetherness, worship, clearness committees, and Meeting for worship with attention to pets). If you were not there, please add your stories to these "appreciations" by responding to the first four Appreciative Questions below and emailing ron@ronirvine.net
We will continue with the process of Appreciative Inquiry for two more meetings. Next month we will proceed to "wishes for / images of the future" as we "dream and envision 'what might be.'"
Appreciative Questions
High point experiences:
Describe a time in your life (during participation with GR Friends) when you felt alive and engaged.
Valuing:
What do you value most about this Meeting and your place in this Meeting
Core life-giving factors:
What are the core factors that give life to this Meeting; the unique attributes of this Meeting, without which it would not be the same?
Wishes for/images of the future:
What three wishes do you have to enhance the vitality of this Meeting? Imagine this Meeting five years from now, healthy and vibrant – what does it look like?
The 4-D Cycle:
Discovery: Appreciating and Valuing the Best of "What Is"
Dream: Envisioning "What Might Be"
Design: Dialoguing "What Should Be"
Destiny: Innovating "What Will Be"
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