Key Learnings from Initial Research.… · Web viewThe best way to honor what God has done so far...

Interview KitUS/PR Edition

Updated: June 5, 2014

2Updated: June 5, 2014

Responding to the Call: Discerning God’s Direction for a Third Century of Mission

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background Information..........................................3

Interviewing Instructions..........................................6

Interview Guide........................................................9

Interview Report Form...........................................13


Background InformationSpiritual Discernment and Strategic PlanningFrom conception to consummation, mission is the work of God. It springs from God’s initiative, is guided by God’s Spirit, and is accomplished through God’s power. At the same time, the Lord has chosen to call women and men to play a vital role in this divine mission.

Consequently, to explore the way forward for our participation in the mission of Jesus Christ is to listen for the voice of God and to discern the leading of the Holy Spirit. That is why Responding to the Call is best understood not simply as a strategic planning process, but as an exercise in spiritual discernment.

Purpose of the Responding to the Call ProcessThe purpose of the Responding to the Call process is to discern and articulate a fresh vision of how International Ministries will serve the mission of Jesus Christ, together with the values, priorities, and goals that will guide the work of IM for 2015-2020.

Jesus' command to make disciples of all peoples kindled a fire in the hearts of Ann and Adoniram Judson. That fire led American Baptists to come together as a national movement 200 years ago and form the mission organization now known as American Baptist International Ministries (IM).

For two centuries, God has graciously sustained IM and used it as an instrument to advance the mission of Jesus Christ. The best way to honor what God has done so far is to commit ourselves to join in what God will do next. So, as we celebrate God's faithfulness in the past, we seek a fresh word from the Lord for the future. We want to hear, as John puts it, “what the Spirit is saying to the churches” (Revelation 2:7).

We believe that God calls to International Ministries not in isolation, but together with those with whom we are privileged to


share the mission of Jesus Christ, both around the world and across the United States and Puerto Rico. We believe the Spirit of God will call IM into God's future as we listen to the voices of fellow servants of Christ with whom we share this present moment. As the African proverb tell us: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others." In the service of Christ's mission in the world, IM wants to go far.

The eternal God's saving, redeeming purposes in mission remain constant: to bless all the families of the earth, to bring the nations to the obedience of faith, to gather up all creation under the Lordship of Jesus Christ (Genesis 12, Romans 16, Ephesians 1). In every age and context, the Lord pursues these purposes with amazing flexibility and creativity. IM seeks the renewal of its mission vision in order to respond faithfully to our creative, flexible, faithful Lord.

Trajectory of Responding to the CallIn 1998-1999, IM used a very similar discernment process to develop the vision known as Go Global. Originally framed as a vision for ten years, Go Global needed to be adjusted and adapted twice to respond to the tumultuous experiences of 2000-2010. But the core principles of Go Global have continued to be an effective guide for IM's work to this day.

Because our experience confirms the lasting value of careful listening, IM is dedicating significant time and energy to the Responding to the Call discernment process. We expect the core vision elements that God gives IM through this process will guide us longer than the specific goals and objectives that will be articulated for the period from 2015 to 2020.

IM will engage in spiritual discernment conversations with stakeholders (partners in mission throughout the American Baptist movement and around the world) during 2014 and early 2015. The fruit of these conversations will be studied, prayed over, and reflected upon by a Discernment Team, itself composed of people from across the spectrum of stakeholders. The Discernment Team will present its work—a fresh articulation of


vision and goals for the work of IM for 2015-2020—to IM's Board of Directors in June 2015.

DeliverablesThe deliverables at the end of this process will include:

A shared statement of vision, priorities, goals, and operational plan for the work of IM for 2015-2020;

Deepened mission relationships throughout the entire partnership network in which God has placed IM for the sake of Christ's mission;

The release of fresh energies into the transforming work of Jesus Christ in our world.


Key ConstituenciesResponding to the Call is designed to be a highly consultative process that engages multiple constituencies, including:

leaders of American Baptist regional and national mission bodies;

pastors, mission leaders and mission supporters in local congregations throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico;

leaders of partner conventions, agencies and ministries all around the world;

the Directors of IM; all those who dedicate their lives and energies to the work

God does through IM, whether as employees or as volunteers.

Stakeholder voices will be sought through interviews with individuals and groups, web-based surveys, and three summit gatherings scheduled for July 2014 at the Green Lake Conference Center: July 15-17, All Staff Gathering; July 19-21, International Partner Consultation; July 24, World Mission Conference. An interview guide and instructions are also available on the IM website, so that any group can organize their own informal meeting and make a contribution to Responding to the Call.

The Discernment Team will receive the results of all these conversations and, through much prayer and reflection, will articulate the fresh vision for mission that God gives to IM through this process.

Calendar of Key Events Advisory and Implementation Team Meetings: January and

April, 2014 Interviews at Emerge/Orientation to AB Life: January 2014 ABC region interviews: Spring 2014 Online survey participation: April - August 2014 First Discernment Team Meeting: May 20-21, 2014 Green Lake Summits with stakeholder groups: July 2014


Second Discernment Team Meeting: September 16-17, 2014 ABC region interviews: Fall 2014 Third Discernment Team Meeting: January 20-21, 2015 ABC region interviews: Spring 2015 Fourth Discernment Team Meeting: April 21-22, 2015 IM Board of Directors inaugurates new vision and priorities:

June 2015 IM Directors & staff complete the operationalization of new

plan: March 2016


Interviewing InstructionsPurpose of this Interview KitThis Interview Kit is designed to help interviewers gain the insights and creative suggestions of those in the United States and Puerto Rico who partner with and support the mission of International Ministries. This input will contribute significantly to the work of the Responding to the Call Discernment Team. In addition to the interview questions, the kit includes tips for doing the interviews and an “Interview Report Form” for reporting on the conversations.

In many cases, interviewers will use this Interview Kit in conversations with individuals, but it can also be used in meetings with groups.

Interview Objective

The specific objective of this interview is to discover the best of what God has done and is now doing through International Ministries, and also to create a shared vision for the future. The questions ask interviewees to tell stories of when their experience with IM has been at its best and to dream about a future they want to work toward.

Instructions

Please budget 1.5-2 hours for each person you interview, to give you time to set up the interview, conduct the interview, and fill out the Interview Report Form (see below, page 13). If possible, complete the Interview Report Form immediately following the interview, while the information is still fresh.

Please tell the interviewee that his/her comments will be anonymous; his/her name will not be tied to specific contributions.


Out of respect for the interviewees, the interview itself should not go longer than 1 hour. Please keep track of time to pace the questions accordingly.

If possible, and if your interviewee agrees, record the interview so that you can capture it verbatim and draw from it when you are completing and submitting your Interview Report Form.

Whether you record your interview or not, please take good notes and listen for quotes, stories, and insight that illustrate when IM is at its best and the interviewees vision of the future for IM.

An interviewee may receive the questions ahead of time if requested.

Use the Interview Report Form to record and report on what you learn. Please send this information to Karen Smith, IM's Lead Facilitator for Responding to the Call, by email ([email protected]), fax (610-768-2115), or snailmail (P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851).

Conducting InterviewsThe interview questions are based on a process called Appreciative Inquiry (AI). AI represents a shift away from traditional approaches to strategic planning that are based on the assumption that the best way to move forward is to solve problems and that put the responsibility for change in the hands of just a few individuals. Instead, AI begins with the premise that organizations change fastest and best when their members are excited about where they are going, have a clear plan for moving forward, and feel confident about their ability to reach their destination. In other words, effective organization change is a product of having the “whole system” aligned around its core strengths and around ideas that generate energy for action.


The positive and hopeful approach of AI is particularly well suited to an organization like IM that seeks to be faithful to the call of God. In the first place, AI fits well with Paul's invitation to the Philippian believers: "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8). In the second place, the AI commitment to include all voices fits well with the recognition that followers of Jesus belong to one another and depend upon mutual exercise of the gifts that God distributes among all members of the Body of Christ.

In keeping with this appreciative approach, the questions in the interview guide focus on discovering and building on the times when IM and its partners have been at their best. This means uncovering the forces and factors through which God gives life to their ministries and partnerships when they are most vibrant, effective, successful, and healthy in relation to the whole system of stakeholders.

Interview TipsTo best capture the unique perspective of your interviewees, please consider the following “tips.” Please ask the questions exactly as they are written. This

may feel a bit “forced” at first, but your interviewees will appreciate it. It gives them time to think about their responses before answering, and it allows them to share their perspective fully.

Some people will take longer to think about their answers – allow for silence.

Encourage interviewees to tell their story, without imposing your views. Draw them out by being genuinely curious about their unique experiences, thoughts, and perspectives.

At the same time, if somebody can’t or doesn’t want to answer any of the questions, that’s OK. Let it go.


Invite as many stories as you can. Opinions can be useful, but stories are more memorable and convey much more meaning. If your interviewee is sharing an opinion, ask: “Can you share an example or story from your experience that illustrates this idea?”

Additional questions to explore stories more deeply include: Tell me more. Why was that important to you? How did that affect you? What was your contribution? What was the contribution of others and of IM as an organization? What do you think was really making it work? How has it changed you?

Even though the questions are appreciative in nature, sometimes you will find interviewees going down a negative path. If this occurs, acknowledge the negative perspective and then encourage the interviewees to focus on “what they really want” rather than what they “don’t want.” Help them to tap into their dreams and aspirations for moving forward. For example:

"I see your point about X, Y, or Z being a problem. From your perspective, what would it take to transform this situation? What is your image of the ideal? What could we do to make this possible?"

“I hear you saying that X, Y, or Z is a problem. Tell me about an experience where this was done well. How was it done? What did you, others, and the organization do to make this possible?”


Interview Guide:US/PR Edition

Thank you for taking this time to interview with me. As you may know, we are currently seeking a fresh discernment of God's mission call to International Ministries (IM). We recognize that God does not call IM in isolation, but together with partners throughout the US and Puerto Rico and around the world.

We believe God will speak to us, in part, through you. So, we are eager to hear your unique perspective on mission service at its best, and on fresh possibilities to which the Lord is calling the global church and IM.

Throughout 2014 and early 2015, we will interview individuals and groups of people from every part of our partnership network. A Discernment Team will receive the results of all these conversations and, through much prayer and reflection, will articulate the fresh vision for mission that God gives to IM through this process.

Do you have any questions for me before we begin?

1. Your hopes and dreams for your local church/organization

What are your hopes and dreams for the ministry of your local church (or the organization you serve) in the next 5-10 years?

How do you see God calling your church or organization into


mission beyond yourselves in the next 5-10 years?

2. Your Church (or Organization) at Its Best in Global Mission

When has your church (or the organization you serve) been most energized around mission to the rest of the world? Tell me a specific story from that experience: what happened? Who was involved and how?

What lessons did God teach you through this experience about what makes for great mission work?


3. A Great Moment in Mission with International Ministries

When great moments in mission happen, the glory belongs to the Lord, for it is God who ultimately accomplishes the work. At the same time, our organizations and ways of working can be more or less helpful, more or less well aligned with what God is doing. Please reflect for a moment on a high point experience – a time when IM was most faithful to its calling and was functioning at its very best, a time that you felt most alive, engaged, and inspired. Tell the story. What was going on? What happened?

Without being bashful or shy, what was it about you that made the experience possible (your values, commitments, experience, skills, ways of working, etc.)?

Who else was involved and what was it about them that made it a high point?

What was it about IM as an organization that made the experience possible (…things like its purpose, focus, guiding


principles, approaches, strategies, programs, partnerships, ways of working, etc.)?

4. Images of the Future

Let's pretend that tonight you go into a deep sleep and wake up in 2025. God has launched IM into its third century of mission in amazing ways, transforming the organization even as God has used IM to serve the worldwide mission of Jesus Christ. You can truly say, without reservation, that IM is the mission organization of your dreams, deeply faithful to the Lord who calls and works through it. What does it look like? What’s happening that’s new and different? On what key global issues is it focused? How is it funded? What do you see in terms of purpose, values, culture, strategies, impact, new initiatives, systems, people, ways of working? Describe the future to which God is calling IM.

5. Three Wishes

If you could develop or transform IM in any way as we together enter a third century of participating in God’s mission, what three wishes—in order of priority—would you make in order to heighten IM’s overall health and vitality?


INTERVIEW REPORT FORM: US/PR EDITION

Please complete this Interview Report Form immediately after the interview, while the information is still fresh in your mind. (Table cells will expand as you type.) These results will be of great value to the Responding to the Call discernment process. INTERVIEWER: INTERVIEWEE: DATE:INTERVIEWEE AGE RANGE (OPTIONAL): ETHNICITY (OPTIONAL):What hopes & dreams does this partner have for his/her church’s or organization’s future? (Q1)

According to this partner, what are the top 3-5 factors that give life, health, and vitality to International Ministries when it’s at its best? (Q3)

What are this partner’s 3 greatest hopes, dreams, and wishes for the future of IM? (Q4 & Q5)

Share any great quotes or compelling stories you heard during this conversation.

FREE-FORM: If you learned anything else—or had a new thought/insight yourself—during the interview and you want to share it, please do!!

Updated: June 5, 2014

Please send this completed Interview Report Form to Karen Smith, IM's Lead Facilitator for Responding to the Call by email ([email protected]), fax (610-768-2115), or snailmail (P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851).


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