Church Planting Central

We invite you to join this Redevelopers' Conversation on Friday, May 25th at 4 (Eastern)!

There is nothing so beautiful as to watch a leader inspired to take action that we all wanted but didn't quite dare . . . you know the one, right?!

In this 90 minute conversation we will explore what it takes to move from "rattling around" about "viable" and "sustainable" ministries to leading vital and engaged ministries. This conversation includes about 15 minutes of presentation and 45 minutes of interactive discussion about local practices, personal disciplines and shared experiences. We will draw from the proven practices of "serial redevelopers" in three denominations and the wisdom that will emerge during our time together. We welcome yours!

I invite you to this online training session using WebEx's free videoconference technology.

Session Number: 731 932 603

Session Password: Once you have registered for the meeting, you will receive an email message confirming your registration. This message will provide the information that you need to join the meeting.

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Access code: 731 932 603

 

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Recently asked, "Brackett, what'd you do with your Church Center Budget in this last Triennium?"

From January 1st, 2010 through May 3rd, 2012, I have offered the following to the Episcopal Church from my role as the Church Center’s Missioner for Church Planting and Ministry Redevelopment:

 Onsite presentations and/or trainings at 137 distinct events, primarily at the Diocesan or Provincial level. Each of these presentations makes the best use of local ministry examples and relies on insights and wisdom from my peers at the Church Center, as well as peers across three denominations. Each presentation is intended to inform and then motivate participants to take on new behavioral responses to the possibilities that the Spirit is opening in our times. The presentations offer access to proven old practices as well as to new, via as many of the learning styles as possible. The goal in each is to connect participants to the larger Community of Practice that we are nurturing across the Episcopal Church. That CoP is trying on new ways of reflecting on our experiences with ministry development, leadership development, sharing our experiences with Good News and supporting new and emerging forms of ministry that track the presence and activity of the Spirit out in the world around us.

 1,331 videoconference sessions that offered peer support, training, mentoring and fresh resources to ministry developers (traditional and non-traditional ministries), intentional redevelopers, leaders of innovative ministries as well as liturgists and musicians concerned to support new ministries in three denominations. The online gatherings average 16 in attendance and typically meet for 90 minutes at a time, every other week. Each participant eventually learns to host and present using videoconference technology (usually Cisco’s WebEx Training Center platform). Many of these participants are now functioning as local agents of change in their dioceses and helping to coach local networks of churches participating in missio:Engage!

 Established a network of congregations committed to their own process of intentional redevelopment, known as “missio:Engage!” - the first of five stages in the “missio” journey. The goal of missio:Engage! is to partner with faith communities in a 2 year covenanted process of re-rooting their ministries in the communities they are called to serve, while developing enough critical mass and momentum in the faith community that this initiative is sustainable and avoids “burnout.” This is part of a Community of Practice that is committed to learning publicly in the service of the Episcopal Church at large.The first round started in September 2011 and has 17 congregations in as many dioceses. The second round is slated to start in June 2012 and already has four dioceses committed to join us, including the dioceses of Iowa, Newark, Vermont and the European Convocation of American Churches. The goal is to start with 6 dioceses and their expectation is that we will nurture each of them through the process of intentionally redeveloping 6 to 12 congregations in their care. It is also our hope to continue developing a partnership to offer this to Spanish-speaking ministries, as well.

One church-wide “Plant My Church” gathering and 11 regional gatherings to support those leading new ministries as well as those leading new ministries in existing parishes. Each of these invited remote participants to join the live gathering via videoconference. Each regional gathering also captured local ministry stories as examples of what is already working in their field of practice.

5 Ecumenical Partners gatherings (with peers across 6 denominations) designed to share learnings in church planting and ministry redevelopment.

For all of our sakes, would you please sit?

Stephen Pressfield writes the following:

"There's a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don't, and the secret is this: It's not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write."

Stephen is describing resistance - the same "resistance" that many of us encounter when we try offering our corresponding art forms, like ministry, leadership, mentoring, innovating and even "companioning." Such a high holy art form that is - that of companioning each other into courageous acts of compassion and generosity. Oftentimes, this shows up as mentoring leaders but sometimes it's just about companioning our partners, spouses, children or better yet, ourselves!

Often, rather than deal with my own resistance to producing that relationship art - that hard work of co-creating new possibiities, I'd rather blog about it, or read books on it, or theorize about why the changing context of "companioning ministries" is calling for new paradigms or models or theories in action. (At this point, I remember an episode of "arrested development" that featured an attorney by the name of Bob Loblaw! Feels like that, at this point! I mean, how many books and blogs and speakers tours and conventions do we need before we explode with the profundity of it all?)

I really like Pressfield's scoop on "resistance." Rather than moralize or totalize, he just "presents a rogue's gallery of the many manifestations of Resistance (as found in the Preface). "You will recognize each and every one, for this force lives within us all—self-sabotage, self-deception, self-corruption. We writers know it as "block," a paralysis whose symptoms can bring on appalling behavior."

Ellen deGeneres does a fantastic bit on procrastination (or the mismanagement of resistance) in one of her DVD releases of stand-up routines. Seth Godin walks us through managing resistance in "Linchpin" - a provocative primer on releasing the art you are here to produce.

After re-reading Pressfield's work on the the WAR of ART, I am provoked. The provocation is to be clear about when I am giving in to the resistance and when I am courageously offering the best I have to "ship out" in that moment. It's like I need the Zen Master to sneak up behind me and thunk me with the reed to wake me up out of my stupor - languoring in tasks that don't match my strengths, don't embody my recent "Yes's" to Spirit, don't leave me motivated to try on even more courage.

Here is what I would ask you! What is your equivalent to sitting down to write? I'm not asking, "What is your equivalent to writing?" The question really is, "What is your equivalent to sitting?" What does it take for you to show up, pen/brush/knife/scalpel/trowel/text/pastel in hand, fully awake and present to the future that may be longing to be birthed in you?

For all of our sakes, would you please sit?

There!

Kindly, gently sitting here, as well . . . may I ask, "Would you please share with

us the art you were born to create?"

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn’t make any sense.

(from Rumi: The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing by Jalal al-Din Rumi translated by Coleman Barks)

A minister friend recently asked me, "How do I wake up after 54 years of sleep-walking through my life?" Anne Hillman's words came to me:

First you need only look:
Notice and honor the radiance of
Everything about you . . .
Play in this universe. Tend
All these shining things around you:
The smallest plant, the creatures and
objects in your care.
Be gentle and nurture. Listen . . .
As we experience and accept
All that we really are . . .
We grow in care.

That's my prayer for all of us, today, starting with me!

We are the ones we've been waiting for . . .

There are thousands and thousands of people out there leading lives of quiet, screaming desperation, where they work long, hard hours at jobs they hate to enable them to buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like. — Nigel Marsh

We are living in an era where Jesus' promises of life and wholeness have been coopted by a marketing and advertising culture to sell the very lifestyles that destroy the soul. What is the good news?

We are a people of Sabbath - an interdependent community that cares deeply for all of creation and every one of God's children - all of us - each of us. We are surrounded by 7 Billion people longing for a fresh glimpse of what it looks like to live like the people of God - passionate enough about God's longings to "bet the farm" on their "Yes" to the Spirit.

This is a time to live boldly - a time to connect to each other at the heart level. This is a time to speak out about what matters! There are no s/heros on the horizon - it's just us chickens! Like my spin class trainer says, "Remember - this is YOUR ride!" Say "Yes!" to the Spirit like you mean it!

Open conversations (or close them)

A guy walks into a shop that sells ties. He's opened the conversation by walking in.

Salesman says, "can I help you?"

The conversation is now closed. The prospect can politely say, "no thanks, just looking."

Consider the alternative: "That's a [insert adjective here] tie you're wearing, sir. Where did you buy it?"

Conversation is now open. Attention has been paid, a rapport can be built. They can talk about ties. And good taste.

Or consider a patron at a fancy restaurant. He was served an old piece of fish, something hardly worth the place's reputation. On the way out, he says to the chef,

"It must be hard to get great fish on Mondays. I'm afraid the filet I was served had turned."

If the chef says, "I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your meal..." then the conversation is over. The patron has been rebuffed, the feedback considered merely whining and a matter of personal perspective.

What if the chef said instead, "what kind of fish was it?" What if the chef invited the patron back into the kitchen to take a look at the process and was asked for feedback?

Open conversations generate loyalty, sales and most of all, learning... for both sides.

via sethgodin.typepad.com

How many of my conversations have been closed to the pregnant response because I was afraid of what might be birthed between us?

Just so you know: what I've been working on, lately!

This is what my work looks like in a Wordle format!

 

(This is a report submitted to the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church for their 4th Quarter review process, on December 12th, 2011)
 
Virtual Groups – Now hosting 5 monthly trainings / cohort groups via WebEx Training Center. These include public gatherings for Church Planters and New Ministry Developers, Intentional Redevelopers, Leaders of Fresh Expressions of Ministry, as well as a monthly gathering for a remarkable Network of Musicians & Liturgists (committed to resourcing new ministries and mentoring the musicians who serve those new ministries). Each of these Gatherings has coalesced into a Community of Practice utilizing WebEx Training Center (a dynamic Virtual Classroom platform with integrated VOIP that makes each gathering a no-charge connection for participants). Additionally, via local/regional cohort groups, I am honored to work with an average of 150 leaders (lay and ordained) each week, both from the Episcopal Church and the ELCA.
 
Online Communities of Practice – In March of 2011, Anthony Guillen and I began strategizing a public commitment to partner for the sake of multi-cultural and intercultural approaches to ministry development/redevelopment. After listening to some of the best minds and hearts in the Episcopal Church, we decided to “put some skin in the game” and gather a public Community of Practice. In September, that emerged as “missio:Engage!” – a two year covenanted process of intentional redevelopment as resourced by practitioners from three denominations, offering their best learnings via WebEx. That group of 20 some congregations meets twice monthly for 90 minutes at a time. Each session is digitally recorded and made available to participating congregations, their dioceses and anyone else interested to join in or watch later. Note: This is a risky venture since our commitment is to learn publicly from failures as well as our successes. Both sets of learnings are shared openly. Not everything we try is going to work and we hope to lend courage to our leaders by leading with compassion, transparency, trustworthiness and consistency.
 
Diocesan Consulting – Have decidedly left behind the “Sage on the Stage” approach to Diocesan Conventions, Clergy Days and Consultations. Instead, I have been refining a relational approach that seeks to foster courageous conversations that utilize local examples of innovative ministry and stretch into a prophetic understanding of learning from the future as it emerges. Constantly highlighting these examples of new possibilities in the hopes of forming localized learning communities. Also moving away from a “transactional” engagement to a more transformational engagement via clear contracting for relationship, more concise clarification of “desired outcomes,” a rigorous assessment of “readiness to take action,” and concise and public  follow-up plans. Now working closely and purposefully with the leaders from 23 Dioceses on supporting new ministries, intentional redevelopment of faith communities in decline and the nurture of alternative ministries, primarily through WebEx gatherings. One of the exciting examples of resources being nurtured via such consultation is the Evangelism Toolkit developed by the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire (thanks to Canon Charles LaFond). Another example is the development of a Wiki ministry resource coming out of the Center for Christian Spirituality in the Diocese of Western North Carolina.
 
Quarterly – Regional Gatherings – In response to the GC resolutions calling for better travel stewardship and growing concerns over our carbon footprint, several key diocesan leaders (and Synod leaders from the ELCA) and I collaborated to host three Quarterly-Regional gatherings in 2011. These were regional gatherings for those who could travel less than a half day to attend and virtual gatherings offered to the rest of the church. Via live and archived Video, we invited the church at large to “look over our shoulder” and participate in the site visits and conversations via Twitter, chat, e-mail and WebEx sessions. On the final evening of each visit, we hosted a “roundtable” discussion of case studies with local participants as well as remote, hosted by one of our local Episcopal or Lutheran seminaries. Some of the video was released immediately as part of the event and some of it was used as educational materials offered within the corresponding WebEx training sessions.
 
NOTE: The strategies for each of these initiatives includes maximum collaboration with my Church Center partners, as well as with our peers in the ELCA.

Dreaming with compassion . . .

I had a dream . . . a few nights ago – it startled me awake! In the dream I am wandering out of a lush tropical jungle into an open clearing. The bright sun is shining down on me and my nose is filled with the heavy scent of fresh asphalt. Just up over the rise I’m climbing, I can see a runway with a Boeing 737 parked off to the left. There is a jet way parked next to it and local villagers are climbing the steps up into the open doorway. They are singing joyfully and making real harmony together. They’re even moving in a kind of swaying dance as they make their way to their seats, inside. I look off to the left and there is a home-made trailer piled high with luggage but it’s curiously attached to the back of the jet with a trailer hitch that someone has rigged …

As I watch, now a little closer, the last person climbs the stairs and the view through the portholes says that each person is now seated – every window is filled with a face – happy, grateful and united. But, what follows really surprised me!

From seemingly nowhere, a dozen strong men in colorful uniforms walk up to the plane’s two wings and toss thick ropes over and around, tying the ropes off before they pass them over their shoulders. Looking left and right to choreograph their efforts, they begin a kind of “Heave Ho!” back and forth – straining forward and leaning into the first inch of progress. The shiny new jet starts to roll – slowly at first but then it picks up speed as the two wing team breaks into a slow trot down the runway. Right there, as I watch, these strong men sing their way off into the distance, dragging this powerful jet behind them. Within a short time, they reach the other end – close to the outline of the village off in the distance. On that end, someone else rolls a jet way up to the side of the jet’s fuselage and the passengers make their way out of the plane and off the runway and into the village – their destination. Once the last person disembarks and the last piece of luggage unloaded from the trailer, the jet is turned around and parked – left to wait for the passengers’ ceremonial return later that evening.

It was in that moment that I woke up – immediately making links between that beautiful jet, the passengers, the transformative gifts we receive in empowered faith communities, etc. The dream startled me and started in me a process of wondering – “How do we compassionately disturb the coherence that insists that we keep our own version of ‘the jet’ safely on the ground?”

You can see where this is headed – you may have far better ways of understanding and acting on this crazy dream - I’ll stop here. My hope is that you’ll accept my invitation to engage this question, with compassion.

 

Thanks for engaging this,

 

Tom

646-203-6266

A sermon offered to the Clergy of the Diocese of New Hampshire

October 21^st, 2011

Reading: Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the LORD showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain-- that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees-- as far as Zoar. The LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, `I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there." Then Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, at the LORD's command. He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day. Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended. Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the LORD had commanded Moses. Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

(My brothers and sisters, after following Moses around through his writings for the last thirty years and after being with you these last two days, here’s what I think Moses might have written to you - his descendants in faith, this many years later!)

(In Moses’ voice – whatever that may have been . . .) Hmmmm . . . thank you for the flattering eulogy you’ve preserved in your sacred scriptures all these years. I’m sure you realize that there were several different eulogies out there at the time of my death – not all of them were so flattering! By the way, who came up with that line, his vigor had not abated”? Man, I was tired by then! But this eulogy will do. Thank you!

I’d like to take a few minutes to reflect on what I’ve learned in the intervening years. I’ve returned to those plains of Moab on a few occasions – once at the request of Joshua’s successor – the Rabbi Jesus. Those occasions were cause for both delight as well as consternation. Let me explain.

I could never have imagined that the LORD would allow this creation venture to string along for so long. I always thought that soon after I left this earth, this Divine Experiment would have come to an end – an end of our own making. You see, I lived my 120 years with the sense that we would always be a People of the Wilderness. Obviously, you are not. And that’s good and it’s not so good, as well. I owe who I am to those years in the Wilderness – it shaped me and my friends in definite and powerful ways. I’d like to reflect on those ways with you this morning . . .

It came as such a surprise to me back then to learn that the God of the Promised Land is no different than the God Who came to us in the Wilderness of Zin. I too watched Yahweh lead Joshua out across the Plains and over the horizon before my sight dimmed for the last time. I remember hoping that my people would never forget all the ways that the LORD showed up and surprised us over 40 years. As one of my successors said so well, “He prepared a Feast Table for us” in the Wilderness, when we had no temple and no land to call our own and while we were surrounded by Hostiles.

Can I get real with you? While it was painful to watch our sons and daughters go on without me, I was actually more comfortable staying back. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob always seemed restless in the kibbutzim we eventually lined out and the boxes my successors built. I mean, I understand why we eventually built them – I just felt trapped by the very idea of a settled and stable LORD and I sensed that the God of Gods did, too. We were in the habit of pushing canvas aside to access the Presence of Yahweh. The Temple Cult that influenced you never made sense to me. God came to me – to us - on mountain tops, in sandstorms and halfway across the Red Sea.

Oh, and that story about me smacking the rock twice . . . I’d like to say that the rod bounced but you’d know better if you’ve led God’s people for any length of time. I really did hit that rock twice – the story’s right – I took myself way too seriously. The years of whining and complaining and fearful anxiety finally got to me and I took it all on, as though it was my deal. Oh, a thousand times over I wish I hadn’t! I wish I’d lovingly and curiously tapped that rock and then lingered a while to watch the miracle of Water in a Desert so dry that even I had chapped lips!

You laugh, but I really came to believe that the whole venture depended on me. That was really my demise, in the end. I’d forgotten that these were God’s people, that this was God’s venture, that it was God’s great gamble. I forgot and I lost my way and I lost my temper and, as much as I love the way you remember me . . . I have to admit that I lost my joy. It was such a pain to lead after that – God did all of us a favor in Joshua the Son of Nun. He was a new generation of leader – he still had his joy and he had faith and, while he cherished the God of the Wilderness, he also cared about those who were too uncomfortable with worshipping a God always on the move. The other thing about Joshua is that he had friends – they really led together. Together, they made their job look so much easier than mine.

You know, that’s a lingering sore spot with me! I never did have friends – equals. I did it my way with the sometimes help of my family. Miriam and Aaron were great - I owe them my life but that’s not what I mean. They held up my arms and they did all the things I was too afraid to manage on my own. The problem was that we didn’t know how to laugh at the absurdity of our venture together. I never could get over the Canaanite images of an insecure God who needed constant sacrifice and subservience.  

I also struggled to relax with what the gift of Manna should have taught me. There we were – in the middle of nowhere – with no neighbors and no allies. I have to confess that I was terrified of dying out there without even a marker in those shifty sands. ‘Looking back on it now, I so wish I’d relaxed with this crazy God who showed up in a burning bush, the One who carved the Law in stone with Her finger and still fed us with “What is it?”

A wily woman you know as Sara was the one who laughed – she dared to tease – to taunt – to laugh out loud at the absurdity of God’s dealings. I wish I’d learned from her. But I didn’t. I don’t think I laughed once in all my years! I was very serious and earnest – so earnest it almost killed me. Even Jacob learned to dance, once he gave up the whole wrestling thing. Sure he limped but we actually remembered him for the impish grin that never left his face after he caught on. That foolish one . . . we were all so jealous!

I know, I know . . . you remember me for the Pentateuch and for conveying the Law. I’d much rather be remembered as the one snatched from the Nile – one who followed God in the Desert – one who delivered stone tablets but all along wished that God talked to His people directly (that only came later!) – one who pleaded with the Lord on behalf of His people.

Ohhh . . . you’re looking for last words?! Well! I certainly hope these are not my last … but here’s what I’d say to you priests – you priests from the order of Melchizadech! Dance and laugh and be silly with the LORD GOD because it’s all over so quickly and when you meet up with the Blessed One, that’s what you’re going to do, anyway! Share that leadership - pass the staff around and even share the job of whining. Listen to each other – listen deeply to the One who dares to speak to you from heart to heart. Believe me! Believe me when I tell you that the LORD is not as insecure as we used to believe. She will even call out to you from the Burning Bushes of your hearts. Take off your shoes in each other’s Presence (and I mean Presence with a capital P).

Oh, and one more thing – there isn’t just one Promised Land already discovered. There isn’t just one; there is always one more. The One who Dreams is always out there – out beyond our fears – it’s that place where each of us is most alive – where we get it. Your temples are great – but they’re just basecamps on the way to the Summit where we are each invited to experience our Transfiguration.

One Last thing? May I assure you that this One whom we chased all our lives never left me for a moment in those last days of my body up on Nebo. As you heard from the Wilderness Rabbi Jesus, this “I am that I am” will be with you to the end of the world. Oh, what?! You say you’re tired?

Well! You saw how the LORD our God carried us, just as one carries a child, all the way that we traveled until we reached the place we called home. That same God will carry you there, as well.

OK, I have to go now… Nebo is calling me back!

Covenant by Rebbe Rachel

I promise to try to begin and end each day with gratitude.

via velveteenrabbi.blogs.com

I welcome this i my life, today.

Good News, Part four

Trying it out:  Do you want your faith community to be a vibrant and powerful lending community that joins God in ministry inside and outside the church walls? Then start with the stories of faith you already have. Learn to notice and name and celebrate evidences of God’s Presence among us, both yesterday and today. Here are some guidelines to help you get started. (After these guidelines, you will find some specific starter questions that you might try on.)

Each missio:Engage! team member is to find two people to interview, according to the following guidelines. These can be church members, but it would be great to interview faith-filled people who are not members, as well. As soon as possible after the story listening encounter, you will write out or type out your notes from the conversation. More on that, in a moment.

Starting places:  Think about the ten or so people you really admire inside and outside your faith community. You admire them for their faith, or their courage or their joy. All of these are gifts of the Spirit and evidence of God at work. Your assignment will be to set up a time to meet with two of them (separately) and then listen out one of their stories of faith. You’ll take notes and then reflect on those notes with your missio:Engage! team, later. 

Guidelines:  The following suggestions are offered in the hopes of making this process as natural as possible. Please feel free to adapt these to suit your personal style. It might help if your team came together to plan out who will ask whom for interviews.

Invite the prospective story-teller in person, if at all possible. Calling them by phone is also OK. Try not to invite the person by e-mail – this is one invitation where it’s best to connect, face to face.

Here is a possible invitation and explanation:

“I know you to be a person of faith (or courage or hopefulness). The kind you have is a real gift and deserves our attention. I’d like to learn more about your journey of faith – how you came to have this confidence (or courage or hopefulness). Would you mind sharing an hour or so with me? I’d like it if you would tell me some of your story. Here’s why! Several of us are convinced that our faith stories are this Church’s greatest treasures. We believe that our greatest gift is the faith we have to lend each other and that’s why I’m asking.”

You might want to offer the person some time to think about the story they would choose to tell. Few of us have ever been asked for these stories – it may come as a surprise or even a brand new experience. Some of us like to prepare when we tell stories close to the heart. You might ask for the story or invite the story one week and then make time to hear it in the next week. You may need to ask ten people in order to gather up two stories.

Remember to ask for the stories in a safe space and at a moment when you have a little time to listen deeply.

Here are two questions that I’ve learned to ask in open and reverent curiosity: “Can you think of an experience you’ve had that really opened your heart to recognize God’s Presence and Love in your life? Would you mind sharing some of that story with me?”

Practice open curiosity and wonder when asking for the stories. Pay attention to the parts of the story that are not told, as well as to the parts that are.

Listen for the ways that the person’s heart was affected by the story, as it unfolds.

Honor the story as it is offered. If you have questions, ask permission to ask them, without interrupting or breaking the flow of thought and the telling.

Wonder out loud about how the story convinced the teller’s heart that God was/is present. Do not imagine that you already know anything of the person’s experience. Instead, assume that they have had an experience that is unique to them. Resist the urge to compare the story with other stories or your own.

Be comfortable with the small silences that mark the personal telling of a special story.

Keep checking in with the storyteller. Make sure they are comfortable with the questions you are asking – that they feel respected and honored in this process.

Let the story stand on its own – resist the urge to make it better or more powerful.

Keep in mind that the telling of the story is up to the owner of that story. If it is to be retold, the preference is to let the owner share it. In other words, the story needs to stay confidential unless permission to share is given.

Section One – Suggested follow-up questions for use during the interview:  With those story-listening guidelines in mind, here are some follow-up questions that you may find helpful. These are not offered for you to ask in sequence – they are intended as a starting place for deeper story listening.

You’ve shared with me an experience that convinced you of God’s caring presence or goodness in your life. I’m wondering about what convinced you that this was God at work? How did you know?

How did this experience affect your heart, in that moment? What did that feel like?

Can you recall the sense you had immediately before this experience?

How did that feeling compare to what you felt afterwards?

Where was the turning point for you – what was it that changed in you through this?

How does this experience continue to turn your heart towards God?

How does this experience affect your relationship to this faith community?

Are there ways in which this experience continues to strengthen your faith in God?

How do you feel about sharing this story with me?

Are there any other questions you wish I would ask of you?

Is this a good stopping place?

Would you mind if I share with you the gifts you’ve given me in our time together and in the telling of this story? (Reflect, in the moment, on the gifts you have received from this story. It’s perfectly OK to pause for a moment and read back through some of your notes. Try to make eye contact and share the highlights of what you heard. Explain that you want the story-teller to know that you heard them.)

Thank them for the honor of hearing this piece of their journey.

Give them a copy of this resource to read, as well.

Section Two - Gathering up your own reflections:  Go as quickly as possible to a space where you can fill in the rest of your notes. Also, ask yourself some of the following questions, as appropriate.

What do you experience as the gifts of this story-listening experience, for you?

In fifty words or less, would you describe the way that God showed up for the story teller, in their story? (Please do not share any confidential pieces of the story. This is your description, in your language, of the summary of the story.)

How did it affect you to hear the story?

How did it affect the way you think of your own stories of God’s Presence and activity in your life?

Do you think others in your faith community would be blessed to hear the story, just as you did?

Does your church or ministry offer the kind of “safe space” needed to retell the story in a more public way?

What do you think it would take to make that space available on a regular basis?

Prepare to share your answers to Section Two with the rest of the Team. You will not be sharing any of the responses to Section One with the team – that is for the original storyteller to share, if and when he or she chooses to. Try to limit your report to one side of one page. If it would help you, you might copy and paste the questions onto a fresh page so that you can type in your responses in a new file for each one page report. Please share those one-page reports with your team members via e-mail so that they can read them before our 3^rd Sunday session on November 2oth.

My prayer is that you experience this as a joyful and life-giving assignment that convinces you that stories are the BEST containers for Truth. I also hope that you will discover that you are gifted as an Archeologist of Hope and the enormous gift it is for you to focus on this hope as wealth you have to share with all of God’s children.