This book is designed for those who wish to encourage and empower through their leadership skills. Facilitation is about managing process - drawing people in, enabling them to contribute and holding the boundaries and values of a context to create a safe and productive place. Many ministry training courses do not teach facilitation skills per se and ministers are often left to learn on the job. Some become effective facilitators through reflection on their practice, others develop tacit skills. Many others flounder when it comes to facilitating effectively and participatively. In a culture where ministry roles increasingly involve community involvement and working with congregations who expect to participate in decision making and ministry, this skill set is one that is increasingly needed. This is particularly important in pioneer contexts where a more team-based approach is the norm.

Jo Whitehead

Cover

Author information

SPCK Library of Ministry

Title page

Imprint

Dedication

Acknowledgements

How to use this book

Introduction and overview

1. Values and attributes of effective facilitators

2. Basic facilitation skills

3. Culture setting: creating hospitable spaces

4. Group stages, culture and roles

5. Creative approaches to facilitation

6. Conflict, criticism and effective interventions

7. Beginnings and endings

8. Facilitating informal worship

9. Facilitating meetings

10. Facilitating learning and reflection

11. Facilitating decision-making processes

12. Facilitating change

Bibliography

Search items

Many ministry training courses do not teach facilitation skills per se and ministers are often left to learn on the job. This book is designed for those who wish to encourage and empower through their leadership skills.

Facilitation is a way of leading which is empowering and participative. The word 'facilitation' comes from the Latin 'to make easy' and facilitation is a way of managing processes that enable people to engage in learning, belonging, participating or growing. This book is designed for those who wish to encourage and empower through their leadership skills. Facilitation is about managing process - drawing people in, enabling them to contribute and holding the boundaries and values of a context to create a safe and productive place. Many ministry training courses do not teach facilitation skills per se and ministers are often left to learn on the job. Some become effective facilitators through reflection on their practice, others develop tacit skills. Many others flounder when it comes to facilitating effectively and participatively. In a culture where ministry roles increasingly involve community involvement and working with congregations who expect to participate in decision making and ministry, this skill set is one that is increasingly needed. This is particularly important in pioneer contexts where a more team-based approach is the norm.

Jo Whitehead is Assistant Director of the Midlands Centre for Youth Ministry, based at St John's College, Nottingham, where she teaches Youth and Community Work and Practical Theology and is developing courses in Community Based Pioneer Ministry. Sally Nash is Director of the Midlands Centre for Youth Ministry. She is a Director of Frontier Youth Trust and the Sophia Network and a Companion of the Northumbria Community. Simon Sutcliffe is a pioneer minister with Venture FX (The Pioneer Ministry Scheme of the Methodist Church) and a Tutor for Evangelism and Church Growth at The Queen's Theological Foundation, Birmingham.

The Good Book Stall

This is a fresh resource, excellently crafted for the sake of others. This book is rightly positioned in the marketplace, to enable a leadership culture that has shifted from hierarchical models to a place of enabling others to grow and flourish.

That's the theory anyhow! The boundaries and values of a context that is created as a safe and productive place are powerfully and plainly constructed here. The vision is painted well.

 Though stemming from youth ministry and fresh expression streams of the church, the usefulness and reach of this new SPCK ministry resource deserves a wide readership.

There are endless gems woven throughout this title, most fundamentally rooted in the concept, "People support what they help create!" Every reader will be convinced that when people work together there can be more than just beginnings, more than just progress, indeed success can be discovered.

The supplementary action and reflection questions that follow each chapter are really helpful. I'd forsee a lot of individual use of this volume but believe that this would have even greater usefulness in the context of open-minded teams who want to grow in capacity and effectiveness.

Most ministry courses do not teach facilitation skills and many often are left to flounder in an interpersonal wilderness of hopefulness. The richness of the research, voices and source material that shape this work are a testament to the quality of these three authors.

I particularly enjoyed Jo Whitehead's chapter about culture setting, as this remains one of the biggest churches and organizational enigma's. Hospitablity, space, attitudes and real plans for best seating plans, are well detailed. I would have wished more than just a paragraph on permission giving.

Theology, skills, wisdom and values are substantively served up here for all to engage with. A celebration if somewhat technical of all that is highly participative in our culture! A truly top-class resource.

Facilitiation Skills For Ministry

Facilitation Skills for Ministry

Navigation Bar

Header Default

Download the Christian360 App to read eBooks and listen to Audiobooks bought at Christian360

Download the App

Facilitation Skills for Ministry

Description

Need support?

Customer reviews

Download the App

Download the App