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

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

• Neighbourhood Prayer Network
• Thy Kingdom Come
• Daily Prayer 
• 24-7 Prayer
• Prayer Spaces in Schools 
• Try Praying
• Global Prayer Resource Network 

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 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.

• 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:

  • Jeremy Andrew - Adviser for Ministerial Development: jeremy.andrew@bristoldiocese.org
  • Rosy Ashley - Adviser for Parish Development: rosy.ashley@bristoldiocese.org
  • Lee Barnes - Adviser for Curacy and Fresh Expressions: lee.barnes@bristoldiocese.org
  • Chris Dobson - Adviser for Discipleship and Evangelism: chris.dobson@bristioldiocese.org
  • Dr Stephanie Hayton - Adviser for Lay Ministry (Warden of Readers): stephanie.hayton@bristoldiocese.org
  • Revd Alice Kemp - Disability Adviser: alice.kemp@bristoldiocese.org
  • Dr Sarah Wattley - Strategy Enabler for Under 18s: sarah.wattley@bristoldiocese.org