Appreciative Inquiry:

A Guide for Churches

Navigating the Post-Pandemic Transition

Is your church struggling to imagine what your life together might look like after the pandemic? Have you lost members or had members who are uncertain if they will continue to participate in the life of the church? Is it unclear what activities of mission and care you will be able to sustain, or in what ways you will be able to engage your neighbors?

You are not alone. Many churches are feeling the anxiety of these uncertain times. How do we allow the good things that God was doing in our churches prior to the pandemic to continue, while at the same time recognizing that the world has fundamentally changed and we cannot simply return to our normal pre-COVID life? 

It has been said great artists bring an appreciative eye to their work of finding and capturing beauty. If ever there was a time begging for appreciation and beauty, this is the time. More than a year of pandemic, social upheaval and political polarization has left the world around us with greater uncertainty than ever before. How do churches navigate such an uncertain future? Where will they find direction and the energy to pursue what likely will be a perilous path? 

A new toolkit is not the answer; changing organizational structure is not the answer; more resources, while helpful, is not the answer. A better starting point for a renewed future is to bring an appreciative eye to the stories of our past and the realities of our present. Appreciative Inquiry is a generative conversational process for developing the power of an appreciative eye. Appreciative Inquiry embodies that which is at the very heart of the way of Jesus, being thankful for all God’s gifts and finding value in every person.

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