Reflection

John Dewey has been quoted as saying that we do not learn from experience but from reflecting on experience. Module 5 provides an opportunity for overview and reflection on Modules 1-4. Our hope is that this will help you (a) review and solidify your learning, (b) apply what you’ve learned more fully to your own life and ministry context, and (c) come to the summit well-prepared to work through the innovation process.

1. Module 1 focused on listening as the first act of leadership. As you listened empathetically to the people entrusted to your care, what longings and losses did you hear? What beliefs, intuitions, or assumptions did your team’s listening projects confirm or reinforce? What beliefs, intuitions, or assumptions did the listening project cause you to reconsider, revise, or look at in a new way?
2. Module 2 defined innovation as the innovation of meaning, the creating of new mental models. Scott Cormode writes, “The goal of Christian innovation is to create shared stories of future hope that make spiritual senseof the longings and losses of the people entrusted to our care.” Now that you’ve had a couple weeks to consider this definition of innovation, does it ring true for you? Why or why not? Have you had a time in your life when you experienced an innovation of meaning?
3. Module 3 looked at Christian practices, which maintain their content throughout history while changing their form in various times and places. The task of innovation is how to maintain a rock-solid commitment to the never-changingChristian gospel, while developing an innovative attitude for presenting that gospel to our ever-changing Think about a time a group you were involved in tried to change one of its practices. What was the practice? What was the attempted change? In what ways was the attempt successful? In what ways was it unsuccessful? What factors do you think influenced the success of the attempted change?
4. Module 4 explored the four stages of the innovation process: empathetic listening, divergent ideation, convergent deciding, and experimental prototyping. Which of these four stages do you think you, your ministry area, and your church are best at? Why do you think so? Which of these might be an area for growth? Why do you think so?
5. Looking back at the entire training (Modules 1-4), what, if any, “aha” moments did you have? What, if anything, seems confusing or unclear?