The Community Outreach Innovation Team I am leading at church is going to do something this week that is outside of our church’s normal operating practices. We are going to BRAINSTORM. Innovation experts have a lot to say about Brainstorming. There are a few points I am focused on in preparation for the session. First, …
Category Archives: Missions
Community Outreach: Patience
Summer can be a challenging time in the work of a ministry. It is the time when things slow down as many people take time away from their day to day responsibilities, but it is also a time to gear up for the next ministry season. Sometimes we are waiting for other people, and sometimes …
Community Outreach: Analyze
How do we choose which question we want to focus on? Now that we have four themes from our observations and open questions written to explore these themes, we need to take a moment to analyze them and decide which to chose as the focus of our innovation efforts. A simple analysis looking at value …
Community Outreach: Synthesize
Synthesizing results is the next step. It is important to share observations without judgment so there is an objective record of what is going on. Once all observations are spoken and on the table, the next step is finding themes and synthesizing areas of focus. What are the themes we learned in our research? In …
Community Outreach: Learn
Once you have identified the stakeholders, it is time to learn from them. Who do you need to observe and consult? This next phase sends your team out into the community to interview, observe, pretend and experience how people interact and engage. Often, I think a blind spot of many churches and ministries is an …
Community Outreach: Stakeholders
The important next step in exploring appropriate community outreach is to identify the stakeholders. Ultimately, this answers the question: Who are the people in your neighborhood and how are they connected? It would be helpful to use the chart you completed in the asset mapping section to think through the categories of people present in …
Community Outreach: Current State
When starting with a new community intervention, it is important to take into account the current state of interactions. I think this is especially important if we are wanting to adjust some way we currently interact with our community. We can get stuck in a rut. But when we take a moment to think about …
Community Outreach: Assets
One of the quotes that I often use is attributed to Albert Einstein, and it states “insanity is doing the same thing expecting different results.” Over the last year, I have often felt the North American Church has been stuck in trying to do the same thing and get different results. Is your church doing …
Missions March
Part of my responsibility in my role at my local church is to lead partnership with local, national, and global mission partners. In March of every year, we spend a portion of each week’s church service to highlight and update the congregation on these mission partners. We conclude the month by making a faith promise …
Insight + Action Words: Learn
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29 Are you weary? Are you burdened? Do you need rest? Jesus’ answer …
KATHY PIERBURG 