Five Dimensions of the CDI Learning Process
1. Experiential work in which participants engage a congregational development issue or are asked to practice a skill. You learn by reflecting on what has been happening in you, the learner, the working group you are a part of, and in the parish case or simulated situation studied.
2. Working with models and theory used in understanding church dynamics and in developing strategies for improvement. There is a significant amount of reading as part of the program.
3. Designing, implementing and reflecting on efforts to improve parish life and ministry. Three rounds of designing and implementing interventions in your parish. Disciplined reflection after the first two that includes writing reports and reflection with other participants in a cross-parish learning team.
4. Forming, managing and using a Learning—Application Team. Teams are cross-parish groups with the goals of offering critique of the back-home interventions and to learn from each other’s work. A broader purpose in Learning-Application Team work is to reinforce the practitioner’s capacity for openness and collaboration in ministry.
5. Participation in the learning Community. Full participation in worship and workshop sessions is expected. In between sessions includes reading assignments and projects with participation in a learning application team.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q - How well does CDI help participants develop an awareness of and intervention skills for complex parish dynamics?
A - The design is effective for most participants in:
· increasing awareness of and resources for the multiple levels of system activity (self, group, organization, etc.)
· increasing an awareness of options for intervention as a leader or consultant
· increasing the practitioners range of behavior for leadership and consulting
Having said that -- it is still true that some participants have a tendency to over-rely on "rules", theories, intuition, or some favorite approach to learning or intervening. The program moves most people toward a more integrated, broader, and deeper approach.
Many participants decide to supplement CDI training with lab training in human interaction and group development and a mentoring-reflective process with someone more experienced. This is especially recommended for anyone seeking to become a consultant.
Q - I was thinking of bringing a laptop to CDI to take notes during the sessions. Would that make sense?
A - Only if you were in a seminary classroom! And not even then when you are trying to learn congregational development. Our approach to congregational development is more integrated and experiential than what you'll get in D Min programs. To be effective at CD the practitioner needs to learn how to attend to a number of factors at the same time, e.g.,
· What is happening in the here & now, in what is going on in front of me;
· What are the dynamics in the parish system around trust, communication, task effectiveness, etc;
· What is happening in me, with this group, in this situation? What am I feeling and thinking? Am I freezing, withdrawing, engaged, etc.
· What skills do I have that might help?
· What are the options for intervention?
So, we work on tasks in teams, simulations and role-plays. That allows us to experience many of the same dynamics present in any participant, leader or consultant situation. We can then reflect on what happens in the group action -- what seemed helpful, how do we get ourselves stuck, what are our strengths and blindspots, etc.
That's a long answer to say -- leave the laptop in your room, you will need to be paying attention to all the complexity that gets set loose in a developmental effort.
Q - What is the impact if I am coming as part of a parish team?
A - Parish teams need to come knowing that the focus is on the equipping of people as individual CD practitioners. So, until parish projects are designed, there is not time provided for such teams to meet during sessions. If you are part of a team the best thing you can do to serve your parish or diocese is to focus on your own learning process. You can arrange plenty of time with your team when you go home. You may find it better for your own learning to build relationships with people from other parishes. It is part of increasing your capacity for "engaged-detachment."
Although we use a team approach, all the project reports are individual. Again - you focus on your own learning process. Each person reports on what they have learned about congregational development and about themselves.
Q - How much of what I learn in my first two weekends is likely to have some immediate application in the parish?
A - There are several things to take into consideration: 1). You will be developing a congregational development projects toward the end of the cycle. Learning to design, implement, and learn from interventions is part of the learning experience. 2). You will be helped to explore the appropriateness of projects given your skill level, the readiness of the parish, and the strategic needs of the parish. 3). You will be helped to distinguish the difference between launching a lot of programs & activities and engaging in efforts that are truly developmental, i.e., that contribute to the long term health and faithfulness of the parish. 4). Participants usually find themselves designing and implementing many more congregational development interventions than just those required. Hopefully the disciplined process you learn in the required projects will help improve your other efforts. 5). A central concern of CDI is the development of the practitioner -- our assumption is that the single most important thing you bring into the leadership or consulting situation is yourself; your awareness of what is happening in the group you are working with; your awareness of your own filters, feelings and competencies; etc. Congregational development is not just a series of activities/interventions targeted at improving the parish. It is also about the existence of trained people who see things more broadly and deeply and who see a wider range of possible action.
All of this is to say that most participants see more that they would like to do and be than is possible. It is important that you enter the program with a relatively open schedule related to adult education and formation and exploring new directions and programs.
Testimonials
CDI is entering is second year in the Diocese of Northern Indiana. To give you an idea of what CDI can do, here are some words from our current participants:
"I have been praying for some time (and continue to do so) for God to help me and St. Michael's discern his will for us and to give us the strength and courage to carry it out. After the first CDI session this past February, and even though I wasn't quite sure what CDI was all about - I think we were all a little baffled and confused - I knew that being in CDI was part of His response to my prayer. As is usually the case with me, I wasn't happy with the response because it required action on my part, but I coudn't ignore that it was His response.
Since that first session, the things we're being taught have begun to click for me, and I have been able to use some of them back at St. Michael's in dealing more effectively with the little problems that come up. I was especially pleased to be able to present the "Trust Development" and "Relationship Cycle" models to our search committee to help (I hope) give them some good teamwork information at their first meeting.
Tim McLaughlin
St. Michael's & All Angels, South Bend, IN
"I have learned so much from my participation in CDI. But one thing that has helped me in working with groups in our church, is to work with the gifts people possess rather than longingly searching for the gifts we wish they had or we think will be happening in the future. Learning and then working with actual Christian Life Models has also been insightful and useful.
Susan Adamek
Church of the Holy Trinity, South Bend, IN
"The CDI program has raised my ability to be more confident in dealing with all types of people in my role as a warden, and to deal with problems within the church in a more faith oriented and productive way.
Gary Beatty
Christ the King Church, Huntington, IN
"Never before have I felt so much hope for our Diocese. Through my participation in CDI, I am acquiring tools... real tools that I can use to grow my congregation, both in numbers and in spiritual depth. I cannot recommend this program more enthusiastically.
The Rev. Susan B. Haynes
St. Paul's, Mishawaka, IN
"The thing I have found most useful is the way the various models help me to understand actual realities. The models spring out of the way our Anglican life is actually lived. I am increasingly a fan of the process of how a facilitator can work to draw out of a group its latent ideas and feelings, especially when basing the facilitation on an appropriate model.
The Rev. Canon John E. Schramm
St. Thomas', Plymouth, IN
Here are some words from participants in our sister program in the Diocese of Milwaukee, which has been running for several years now:
"CDI has done so much. It has taught us how to use business tools in a Christian setting. We have a network of Christians that we can dialogue with as we experiment with our new learnings. And, it is not just leaning new things; we apply them over and over so that they become part of our way of thinking. Finally, it is the beginning. As we enhance our leadership skills, we are expanding that down into our parish."
Kent Lamkins
Trinity Church, Baraboo, WI
"One of the things I found to be most helpful was the use of the models such as Christian Life, Shape of the parish, Renewal/Apostolate etc. The OD material trains and equips us as leaders with many tools but the models help bring it together to keep us focused on the fact that it is Christ at the center of it all. If we miss that then nothing else really matters."
Jan Merkt
St. Matthew's, Kenosha, WI
"I learned a new vocabulary to put parish strengths and weaknesses into words. Once I had the vocabulary to articulate the strengths and the weaknesses of the parish, I could apply tools and techniques to build upon the strengths of the parish. That counterintuitive step, working to build the strengths, has done a great deal to overcome the weaknesses.
I find myself turning to the tools and techniques from CDI in my day-to-day work and in my family life. I've been sharing the Renewal-Apostolate model with my wife; she is trying to apply that model to her day-to-day relationships and activities. She says that this one model has helped her to understand the need for balance in life. She and I struggle together to balance our Renewal and Apostolate and by doing it together we have strengthened our marriage.
I often joke that I am the same person now that I was years ago: I was a work in progress then and I'm still a work in progress now. Now I have a better set of tools and techniques to continue that work. I have been blessed by my CDI experience."
Brian Bowers
St. Luke's, Madison, WI