It was a hot day and I was running late and I was lost. Not a great combination. In a sweaty, stressed and rather disjointed way I managed to ask a security guard for directions. His reply was less than helpful: “Sorry mate, you can’t get there from here”. Perhaps it was when he saw the colour drain from my face, or my jaw drop that he realized the incongruity of his remark. The security guard went on to tell me that if I could just relocate myself to the other side of campus I would easily find the meeting I was running late for.
The journey from disunity to unity may seem impossible, but perhaps we just need to change our starting point a little to see that it is actually more within reach than we thought. Here are five postures that we could adopt to begin the route to unity…
23 May 2016 by Daniel Dow
Consensus decision-making is vital to the effectiveness of mission networks and partnerships. However, many of us who serve as network leaders struggle to build genuine consensus in our networks, partnerships, or working groups. The reason is that consensus decision-making processes are very different from the top-down decision-making processes most of us know from our own organizations….
17 May 2016 by Daniel Dow
In April 2016, visionSynergy and HonorShame.com co-facilitated a global online learning conversation on SynergyCommon.net. The burst group focused on leading and ministering in honor-shame contexts. Network leaders will find it a useful resource for leading global network teams. This document — Global Insights for Leading and Ministering in Honor-Shame Contexts — summarizes the key ideas that were shared over the course of 14 days by 30 participants from around the world.
05 May 2016 by Daniel Dow
In his Christianity Today blog “The Exchange”, Pastor, author, and blogger, Ed Stetzer explores why people are more attracted to networks than churches or denominations. This blog post is drawn from a recent seminar he gave at a Pastor’s conference. At this seminar, he challenged denominational leaders with five ways that denominations could adapt and become more like networks.
26 Apr 2016 by Daniel Dow
Most missional networks and partnerships are formed around some shared vision for what the members hope to accomplish together. If you are like other network facilitators, then at one point or another, you have found yourself sitting down in a meeting with a group of others to draw up some kind of strategic plan for your network or partnership. But far too often, our strategic plans turn out to be quite vague about how exactly our planned activities will accomplish our big vision. If you want your plans to do more than collect dust, then you need to pay attention to the two most powerful words in strategic planning: If … Then … These two words are the heart of a simple but effective planning tool known as the Logical Framework …
19 Feb 2016 by Daniel Dow
Has God given you a dream to achieve? a vision to fulfill? a cause to conquer? a burden for breakthrough in some area of ministry Take a look around. You are likely to find many others who share the same passion. Time and time again, we have seen that the dreams stirring in one person’s heart are the same dreams stirring in another person’s heart…
18 Feb 2016 by Daniel Dow
Did you know that people who are blindfolded will tend to walk in circles? This article explores the importance of a clear vision in missional networks and partnerships and outlines four components of a powerful partnership vision …
