Leadership accompaniment is an essential element of the Discovery process.
At the heart of Discovery is the development and empowerment of a core group to take responsibility for identifying, planning and implementing a new community initiative. In most cases this happens best where the ordained leaders are either not part of the core group or part of it but not in a leading role.
However, this does not mean that the church leadership are bystanders in the process. They will be uniquely affected by a process that introduces a new dynamic into church relationships, and that empowers and energises those who may previously have been passive members of the church.
• They will need space and support to help them work through and make the most of the new dynamics and new relationships.
• They will need help and support to create the right environment in which the core group can flourish and develop.
• And they will need help and support in thinking through how they can help the rest of the church catch the vision for community involvement so that the church as a whole is able to own and support any new community initiative.
Specific areas where the provision of accompaniment support is important
1.Helping the church leaders identify and value their role in the process. This may include reinforcing the positive value of clergy non-involvement.
2. Helping the church leaders think through the church envisioning process
3. Helping the church leaders keep in touch with the ‘process’ of the core group (feeding back regularly on the personal development of individuals, the group’s growth in confidence, the ability of core group members to work together, group bonding, etc)
4. Helping the church leaders keep in touch with the ‘progress’ of the core group (feeding back on the method of research, the choice of project, the development of resources, etc)
5. Helping the church leaders reflect on how they can best support the core group at each stage
6. Helping the church leaders recognise the impact that may result of having a new group within the church, empowered by an outside agency, that may emerge as a force within the church structures.
7. Helping the church leaders understand how much ownership the core group may now have for the initiative and how possessive they may feel about it (and how easy the ‘bubble’ of confidence can be burst and the effects of doing so)
8. Helping the church leaders understand how their behaviour can affect the process, and reinforcing the importance of encouragement.
9. Helping the church leaders to get in touch with what the process is doing to them e.g. insecurity due to loss of control.
10. Helping the church leaders to think through how to recognise and incorporate the core group into the ongoing decision making mechanisms and mission function of the church when the core group training comes to an end. (How do they enable this new life to continue to grow and become incorporated into the life-stream of the church?)
11. Helping the church leaders to think through and facilitate the relationship between the core group and the rest of the church. Sometimes the core group with its new found confidence can be perceived as brash. And sometimes the core group can become frustrated with the indifference of the church.
12. Helping the church leaders to help the church take ownership of the new initiative and the underlying philosophy of integral mission. This is particularly critical towards the end of the first six months.