Parish Engagement Resource: The Grove's Strategic Visioning™ Model

Supporting Mission and Ministry in local churches 

Our common vision is for churches alive and expressing the good news of humanity reconciled and creation restored as we seek to follow Jesus, serve others and transform our communities together. 

Churches are complex organisations, gathered by the Spirit of God and agents of both individual and community transformation when led and transformed by the Spirit of God. Because of this, worship, prayer, spiritual reflection and discipleship are key to church growth and change. 

And the change that God’s Spirit brings is adaptive – it impacts people’s hearts and minds more than just their routine preferences or behaviours. This kind of change involves risk taking, being willing to try new things, adopt new attitudes and allow for failure. When underpinned by prayer, a church culture will change in such a way that the change is internalised and so becomes sustainable. 

The Diocesan focus on transformation is an invitation for churches to think through where they are and where they might want to be. To help, we’ve assembled this Parish Engagement Resource offering people, ideas and practical tools.

We recommend approaching every stage of the transformation process from an Appreciative Inquiry perspective, which is a way of thinking and working that builds on strengths and what works rather than focusing on deficits. 

The resources are structured around the framework provided by The Grove’s Strategic Visioning™ Model and are designed to support you throughout the whole cycle of change, growth and review. They are not meant to be a strait jacket or prescriptive, but are intended to inspire and give options to choose what could be appropriate and helpful in your local context. 

Adaptive change can be unsettling and lead to resistance as people engage with uncertainty and loss of identity but it can also be an exciting journey of discovery into the new things that God is opening up for community and church. The Mission and Ministry team is available to support church members and ministers at every stage of the process as we all engage in Transforming Church.Together

Rooted in prayer

Underlying everything is our confidence that God wants to bring change and that we can trust him to provide for our needs. That means that prayer is vital at every stage. When engaging in a process of change, uniting a congregation together to pray for God’s leading distinguishes the exercise from business planning and encourages collective engagement. The following ideas may help to stimulate focused prayer for vision, wisdom and resource to support the change:
  1. Launch a church week of prayer about the future, inviting everyone to choose time slots or join online or in-person sessions.
  2. Suggest that people set reminders to pray at specific times of day, perhaps all praying a special prayer.
  3. Hold a 40-minute online prayer meeting using Zoom or WhatsApp every week to maintain momentum through the process.
  4. Invite people to ask God specific questions about where He’s moving and what to focus on for the future and submit their anonymous responses in a collection box. Share these at an open meeting and pray into the themes that emerge.
  5. Distribute a ‘cycle of prayer’ or liturgical prayer resource can support people to pray through a set theme.
  6. Set up a Prayer Labyrinth or Prayer Stations to engage both congregation and wider community in creative prayer.
  7. Find or create a map of the parish or Benefice and invite people to ‘beat the bounds’ or choose specific streets or areas to prayer walk. You could also leaflet the parish while prayer walking, inviting people’s views on the church and its value to the local community.
  8. Invite people in the community to request prayer via text message, social media, and church prayer collection boxes or books.
  9. Invite church members to use the PrayerMate App to help them pray regularly.

Prayer Resources

What is the Grove's Strategic Visioning™ Model?

The Grove's Strategic Visioning™ Model offers a map to help parishes reflect and understand together who they are as the Body of Christ in their area and to envision and plan where they want to be and what they want to do.

Every stage in the model encourages dialogue with God, with one another and the community, engaging the wisdom of hindsight and the foresight of the Spirit to create a shared strategic vision and consensus about new directions.

 

 

Stages in the Grove Model

Every stage in this model encourages dialogue with God and one another and collaboration within your church to create a shared strategic direction.

1. Preparing

  • Determine and agree what your desired outcome, who is to be involved, the approach to take, the areas, themes or concerns to look at and the question or challenge to be engaged with

2. Exploring and Learning

  • Reflect on who you are as a church and what matters to you. Review where you’ve come from and celebrate stories and memories of the church at its best and identify your strengths;
  • Within this framework, review the impact of both external and internal factors on the church (e.g. post-modern culture, economic, spiritual and political factors, uncertainties, challenges, needs, capabilities and culture within the church).

3. Agreeing on Current Realities

  • Determine the church’s strengths, opportunities, realities and dreams to see where change is desirable
  • Survey or create listening opportunities with your local community
  • Take time to celebrate together and prioritise what’s good.

4. Opening to A Vision

  • Engage in creative visioning with PCC and congregation to craft a compelling vision for the future you want for your church and community
  • This will illustrate the church’s shared values in its ministry.

5. Creating Strategies

  • Identify specific actions or initiatives that will move your church toward its desired future and create an actionable plan;
  • Decide on suitable resources to move things forward.

6. Implementing Change

  • Develop long and short-term goals to clarify what needs to be accomplished, by whom and when;
  • Engage personal commitment to ensure ‘buy in’ across the church and community

7. Living the Vision

  • Celebrate regularly and establish processes for feedback and learning together
  • Plan when to review and return to the reflective cycle.

A range of different thinking styles are needed to bring about change. Recognising this encourages everyone to get involved and offer their input:

  • Intuitive thinking (big picture, top line, overview)
  • Feeling (the energetic, experiential aspects)
  • Technical thinking (attention on resources, systems, governance)
  • Operational thinking (making things happen in the real world)

An Appreciative Inquiry Approach

An appreciative approach to church development aims to transform how people think rather than what they do. Rooted in a theology of grace and abundance, it searches for the best in people, their organisations and the world around them, encouraging a focus on strengths and what works rather than problems and deficits. Problems and challenges are not ignored but addressed by shifting perspective and reframing using what’s been learnt from what works. Conversation and listening to everyone is prioritised and so the approach also meets people’s basic need to be valued, trusted and creative. The basic tenets of the approach are:

  1. In every situation, something works - find it and let it flourish;
  2. What is focused on becomes reality – you find what you look for;
  3. There are always multiple realities and different ways of seeing a situation;
  4. The way questions are asked creates or denies possibilities - language is important;
  5. If old ways are carried into the future, they should be the very best old ways;
  6. Diversity nourishes creativity and resilience, so welcome difference;
  7. Imagination and vision inspires action;
  8. Paralysis and negativity is overcome by reframing problems as opportunities to learn from and think differently about;
  9. Include all voices to empower and build faith.

Adapted from Appreciating Church and Oxford Diocese Parish Planning Tool

The Diocese of Oxford have built a parish planning tool rooted in Appreciative Inquiry which is available here.

Support offered by the Mission and Ministry Team

  • Someone to accompany the church through the change process
  • Full-day or half-day bespoke workshops e.g. mapping current realities, dreaming space etc.
  • Strategic planning sessions for PCCs
  • Tailored away days or weekends
  • Encounter weekends – starting in 2025
  • Training sessions – e.g. Bridgebuilders, Benefice Worship Leaders course
  • Coaching for ministers – ordained and lay
  • Suggestions of third-party organisations offer coaching for individuals and leadership teams:
    • Partnership for Missional Church - a three-year accompanied process that helps churches discover a sense of purpose, discern the call of God and engage in mission in their local communities.
    • Jesus Shaped People – an accompanied, whole church development programme for churches who want to reshape their vision and priorities around those of Jesus, lasting at least a year with worship, midweek, children and youth resources.
    • Lead Academy - a two-year accompanied reflective journey in building team, discerning and delivery vision and strategic planning
    • Leading Your Church Into Growth -  resources to encourage and equip churches to grow both numerically and spiritually.
    • ReSource Alongside - a leadership scheme that offers trained companions to support both ministry and personal life through meetings with and prayer church leaders

    For more details or to have a conversation about any of the above please contact:

► Go to stage 1 - Preparing


Preparing (The Grove's Strategic Visioning™ Model)

The preparing stage of the Grove Model - determine and agree your desired outcome, who is to be involved, the approach to take, the areas to look at and the question or challenge to be engaged with.

Grove Model Stages 1.png

Exploring and Learning (The Grove's Strategic Visioning™ Model)

Every church, group or community has something positive at its heart. Churches have more confidence and are better equipped for the journey of change if they carry with them something from their shared past. However, it’s important that the past has life and hasn’t become dry bones.​  

Grove Model Stages 2.png

Agreeing Current Realities (The Grove's Strategic Visioning™ Model)

The Agreeing Current Realities stage of the Grove Model (Mapping where you are) - determine the church’s strengths, opportunities, realities and dreams to see where change is desirable. Survey or create listening opportunities with your local community. Take time to celebrate together and prioritise what’s good.

Grove Model Stages 3.png

Opening to a Vision (The Grove's Strategic Visioning™ Model)

The Opening to a Vision of the Grove Model - Engage in creative visioning with PCC and congregation to craft a compelling vision for the future you want for your church and community. This will illustrate the church’s shared values in its ministry.

Grove Model Stages 4.png

Creating Strategies (The Grove's Strategic Visioning™ Model)

The Creating Strategies stage of the Grove Model. Identify specific actions or initiatives that will move your church toward its desired future and create an actionable plan. Decide on suitable resources to move things forward.

Grove Model Stages 5.png

Implementing Change (The Grove's Strategic Visioning™ Model)

Once your plan for parish engagement has been created, how do you bring about change?

Grove Model Stages 6.png

Living the Vision (The Grove's Strategic Visioning™ Model)

Celebration is a core aspect of spirituality because what we celebrate reveals who we are and what we value and believe in the most. Here are some key ways that you can live out the vision in your parish.

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