The approach to learning in CDI

This is a highly integrated training experience that engages participants in the issues and dynamics faced as leaders and consultants -- you end up dealing with the congregational development situation in front of you, the dynamics in the working group, theory, how to intervene for faithfulness and health, and your own personality and impact on the situation -- all at the same time. This involves learning to see and act on the options before you and to expand your range of intervention behavior. This is a powerful and intense learning experience, it’s not for everyone, but it may be for you, if:

·  You are seeking professional level training in church development

·  You want a program that integrates organization development and spirituality

·  You are willing to work hard

·  You know that you, your competence and commitment, your emotional and spiritual maturity, is the most important thing brought into leadership and consultations. And you want to grow in all these things.

1. Experiential Work

We reflect on and learn from our experience together. That may include exploring:

• The "self" in relationship to the system -- You may increase your understanding of the impact of your behavior on others; experiment with changes in behavior that will improve the congruence between intentions and impact; and increase your ability to learn from experience.  

• The working group – You may learn ways to help teams be more effective and efficient in their work?

• The organization – You may learn how to improve the larger system (parish, diocese, workplace).

In reflecting on the experience we make use of:

The "Here & Now" experience – We reflect on and what is happening in the group and in each of us during a piece of work? 

A disciplined process for learning from experience -- We explore what has been happening by looking at our behavior and its impact.

Theory -- From the fields of organization development, ascetical and pastoral theology, and ecclesiology.

Just as in parish interventions. Working groups don’t have time to do it all. The process of deciding what to focus on, and how to use time -- is itself an important skill for a practitioner. The work of trying to become aware of a number of dynamics that are all going on in any congregational development intervention may help participants have a closer to "real life" experience.

During at least one cycle the participants will engage local parishes as part of the learning process on organizational culture.

2. Working with models and theory 

Participants need to learn the theories and models that inform organizational improvement work. A grasp of theory is a significant tool in broadening our choices as leaders and consultants.

3. Designing, Implementing and Reflecting on Back-Home Interventions

There are three rounds of designing and implementing back-home interventions; with disciplined reflection after the first two. Our assumption is that the ability to shape effective interventions is an essential competency in congregational development and organization development. We are operating on the assumption that the practitioner only really begins to understand the organization in the action-research process -- when we see how people respond to an intervention we learn more about the organization's values, dynamics, and culture.

4. Using a Learning–Application Team

The team is a self-selected group of participants.  Contact may be face-to-face or is by e-mail and phone if people live to far from one another. The two primary purposes of the team are to offer critique of the back-home interventions and to learn from each other’s work. A broader purpose in team-work is to reinforce the practitioner's capacity for openness and collaboration in ministry.

5. Participation in the Learning Community

Full participation in the worship, social gatherings and work of the community.

Make-up work

Some Guidelines

· Participants must be present for all sessions; no late arrivals or early departures.

· The program is not intended for leaders in congregations experiencing significant conflict. The staff is willing to suggest resources that may be useful in such situations

· The program is very demanding. Participants who are having a difficult time coping with stress or are experiencing significant emotional difficulties should postpone attending the program.

· You are asked to accept responsibility for your own learning process. One aspect of that is for you to make sure that CDI fits your needs. On occasion we have a participant seeking a lot of lecturing, or on the other hand a participant seeking a lot of time on "group processing". CDI includes both and more. But the overall process is a variety that participants have found useful over the years. Please do not register if you are not sure that CDI's approach is what you want. 

· Participation in CDI does require a certain amount of personal flexibility and a willingness to work with the learning process as it is.  If you begin to participate in CDI and find that the approach is wrong for you -- you may leave the program and we will explore a partial refund. If the training staff decides that your difficulty with the learning process is distracting others from learning what is offered in CDI -- you will be asked to leave the program and a partial refund may be offered.

Reading List

The reading list --  You need to order books in advance.

Worship

Daily worship is a part of the Institute. We will ask you to assist with the readings, musci and intercessions. We need you to be open to the worship style used in CDI. That style is participatory and somewhat contemplative. This allows more participation and helps open up questions of "worship culture" as an aspect of our learning process.

Dress

The workshop is informal, so bring casual, comfortable clothes.  People always seem to have differences about room temperature – please come dressed in a manner that allows you to adjust to the room being cooler or warmer than you might prefer.

Certificates

There are three certificate programs related to CDI.

The Institute Certificate – Everyone in then Milwaukee CDI  program will receive a certificate when all requirements are completed. No special registration is required. The program expects full participation in the four weeks, readings, in the back home Learning-Application Teams, and development project reports on work back home.

Certificate in Congregational Development Consulting --This requires completion of the Institute, other workshops, readings, working with a mentor and receiving feedback in your functioning as a consultant.

Certificate in Congregational Development Leadership -The same overall requirements as above except the work focuses on the leadership role.

A more detailed description of certificate programs.

 Some Questions & Answers

 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, and organizational) 

- 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, for example,

·   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?

·   Etc., Etc.

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."

Parish teams may decide to develop common CD projects.  But even if the project is a parish team project -- 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.