In the Diagnosis seminar we will encounter principles from the world’s largest and fastest growing churches and explore the fit between them and our own local church settings. We will look at what’s working and what’s not working in creation using templates which will reveal patterns within the data.[1] This will give us new concepts and terms to describe what happens in churches in order to clearly communicate and diagnose problems. The Dialogue seminar will review overcoming resistance to change. The final Decision seminar will describe simple tools for effective disciple making.
The three seminars in this project utilize a process of learning based on sociological research into cultural change known as the Diffusion of Innovations.[2] It is organized by an educational methodology well suited for innovative people known as Understanding by Design and described in Module Eight of Seminar One.[3]
What is the one essential quality found by United Methodist researchers in the later sixties, always found without exception in every growing church, and never found in any declining or plateaued church? The first exercise answers this question!
Let’s begin!
QUOTE [1]
NOTE
DISCERNMENT QUESTIONS
RESOURCES
[1] The quote is a selection from David O. Kueker’s Fuller Seminary Doctor of Ministry project submitted in September, 2007, entitled Diagnosis, Dialogue, and Decision: A Threefold Process of Revitalization For the Illinois Great Rivers Conference.
It is shared here in recognition of its 12th Anniversary along with comments to update and provide perspective on the material. The original project was a Training Manual/Study Guide of three Seminars supported by three chapters of research and an Introduction. The material is available for download at www.disciplewalk.com/Resources.html. In 2009 it was provided for purchase as a softcover book entitled Designing Discipleship Systems: Christian Disciple Making For Any Size Church, Any Theology through CreateSpace.com.
[2][3] [4][5] [6][7] [8]
All Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Please review the page How and Why We Use Quotes.
[1]An example of a template would be the lines representing states, counties or highways that overlay weather satellite photos or Doppler radar on television; the template is not a part of the data, nor does it change or interact with the data, but reveals important aspects of the data.
[2]Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 4th ed. (New York: Free Press, 1995).
[3]Grant P. Wiggins and Jay McTighe, Understanding by Design (Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, 1998).