Appreciative Inquiry
Sustaining the Goodness of Pastoral Excellence
By Susan M. Weber
A pastor in a Sustaining Pastoral Excellence peer group begins to realize that he is not called to the ministry of senior pastor. With the help of his peers, however, he discovers a real passion for a new ministry in denominational support.
In another SPE group, a parish business manager is initially intimidated by the pastors in his group and their theological education and ministerial experience. But today, as a result of his experience in the group, he speaks with conviction about the lay minister’s identity being rooted in Baptism and ministry being centered on the Kingdom of God. His new understanding, in turn, now influences how he approaches parish budgeting and personnel matters.
Elsewhere, a 60-year-old pastor, embittered after years of ministry, takes an appointment at a small church because the area has good fishing and he plans to retire soon. In his pastor covenant group, however, he undergoes a transformation. His attitude turns around, and his ministry flourishes, with average worship attendance doubling to 130-140--the largest congregation he has ever pastored.
Yet another SPE peer group travels to New Mexico to work among the Navajo. While there, one of the pastors receives word that his 15-year-old daughter has died from an epileptic seizure. Cutting short their trip, the pastors follow their friend home, remaining with him through the funeral and serving as pall bearers. The grieving pastor declares, “I don’t know how I would ever have made it without your support.”
These are just some of the stories of wonder, goodness, and hope that emerged during the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Peer Gatherings, held Aug. 7-11 in Indianapolis. More than “just stories,” however, these and similar accounts from SPE participants were the starting points for an extraordinary process of organizational and personal change known as “Appreciative Inquiry.”
Under the Appreciative Inquiry process, conference participants shared stories of their SPE experiences to help discover what gives “life” to their projects. By telling their stories and discussing them with others, they were able to identify the life-giving aspects of their projects—what they came to call “the positive core of pastoral excellence.” In the stories from their SPE experiences, they saw healthy relationships, integrity, self-awareness, spiritual formation, lifelong inquiry, balance, hospitality, a passion for the Gospel rooted in the Trinity, and a host of other life-giving attributes. This positive core, in turn, became the foundation for project teams to write sustainability plans.
Developed in the early 1980s by Dr. David Cooperrider at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Appreciative Inquiry, or AI, has at its core two basic premises: a belief in collective human capacity and a desire to challenge conventional patterns of change that fragment and isolate individuals and organizations. In essence, Appreciative Inquiry is the study and exploration of what gives life to human systems when they function at their best. It assumes that extended conversations about strengths, successes, values, hopes, and dreams are themselves transformational and can make a lasting contribution to building up an organization.
Clearly, Appreciative Inquiry is very different from traditional problem solving or planning methods. Rather than focusing on gaps or deficits, AI leverages strengths and qualities that give life to an organization.
Appreciative Inquiry is built on five principles:
- The Constructionist Principle – knowledge about an organization and the destiny of the organization are interwoven.
- The Principle of Simultaneity – inquiry and change are not separate, but are simultaneous.
- The Anticipatory Principle – the most important resources for generating constructive organization change or improvement are our collective imagination and our discourse about the future.
- The Poetic Principle – human organizations are open books; an organization’s story is continually co-authored by the people within it and by those outside who interact with it.
- The Positive Principle – momentum for change requires large amounts of both positive affect and social bonding – things like hope, inspiration, and sheer joy in creating with one another. 1
Appreciative Inquiry is supported by two important points. First, human systems grow and change in the direction of what they study. For example, if we study the positive core of our earlier stories of pastoral excellence--healthy relationships, integrity, self-awareness, spiritual formation, lifelong inquiry, balance, hospitality, and a passion for the Gospel--these core elements will be strengthened and ultimately flourish. Second, Appreciative Inquiry studies the best of an organization or its positive potential. In turn, this positive potential unleashes new and creative energies that lead to organizational transformation--in our case, “pastoral excellence.” At last summer’s Peer Group Gatherings, the SPE facilitators noted the high energy and animation in the room when participants paired up to tell their stories and, later, when we reconvened to discuss the positive core and create visions.
To really appreciate Appreciative Inquiry, think about the last time you participated in a group. Did you experience high energy, creativity, and a sense that your own contributions were heard and honored by others? If so, your conversation probably moved in the direction of your topic’s life-giving aspects rather than an analysis of its deficits or a focus on negative energy. It’s not that AI ignores problems; it simply approaches them from a different side, a more life-giving side.
The Appreciative Inquiry process is simple. It begins with stories. Each person tells a story to a partner about a time when they experienced their organization at its best. Storytelling sets the stage for positive change because, by its nature, it requires careful listening, reverence, and mutual learning and discovery. The stories establish a pathway for the entire community to uncover the positive core and to imagine and realize a preferred future. AI calls this process “the 4-D cycle”:
- Discovery – What gives life?
- Dream – Imagine what might be.
- Design – Determine what should be sustained.
- Destiny – Create what will be sustained.
Appreciative Inquiry can be applied in many settings, including team building, organizational planning, and peer learning. Consider the following:
- Imagine beginning a pastoral team meeting by asking each member to describe the best thing that has happened to them since the last meeting.
- What would happen if all members of a congregation were invited to tell about a time when they saw the congregation flourish rather than a story about deep conflict or division?
- What if a covenant group of pastors began each gathering by telling a story about a time when they experienced the presence of God in their ministry?
The SPE Coordination Team chose Appreciative Inquiry, in part, because we were drawn by the power and the potential of its storytelling component. We knew that project teams had stories to tell, and we knew that we were all eager to learn from those stories--especially as we approach the topic of sustainability. It seemed fitting to use AI now, as we talk about the goodness that is emerging from these projects.
Over the centuries generations have passed on stories of hope and inspiration drawn from the depth of human experience. Scripture is filled with stories and parables of the mystery and love of God, which in turn forms and deepens our faith. Stories become part of our human and institutional memories and serve to teach, inspire and give us strength to move ahead. Indeed, it was Paul who reminds us:
Finally, beloved, 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)
Susan M. Weber is director of evaluation and congregational learning at the Indianapolis Center for Congregations and a Peer Learning Facilitator with the SPE Coordination Team. She recently completed a certification process at Case Western Reserve University in Appreciative Inquiry, led by David Cooperider.
1 See Appreciative Inquiry Handbook. David L. Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, Jacqueline M. Stavros, Lakeshore Communications, Inc. 2003
