| Writing Your Core Story |
| One of the main values of a Context Report is to get a clear
picture of your congregation and the community surrounding it at a particular time in its
history. But how do you make sense of all this information and turn it into a viable tool
for ministry? Most members of the congregation will not spend the amount of time necessary
to glean the data that your leadership team is taking. It is also important to have a
summary document from which your leadership can work so that the Context Report itself
becomes the referral document as needed. PERCEPT suggests you write a “Core
Story” which presents your data in a narrative form. There are several ways you can
prepare this story. |
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You can form a small writing group who will put the information in story form. |
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You can assign one section of the report to each member of your leadership
board, asking that person to write a summary paragraph for the assigned section. One
person can then edit these paragraphs into one story document. |
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You can explore the information as a leadership board and then ask one member
to write the story. |
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You can ask a member of the congregation who enjoys information analysis and
writing to review the material and write the story. |
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| The key to writing a useable Core Story is simplicity! Not every
piece of data has value for your story. Focus on the items, which have the most relevance
either numerically or programmatically. Your core story should have the following
components— |
| 1 |
A general summary of the data presented in a simple,
straightforward fashion. Save the minor themes for those who love analysis – the
average reader wants only the major findings. |
| 2 |
Analysis that is relevant to your congregation’s future. |
| 3 |
A summary of the most important learnings and how the information
will be used by your church’s decision makers (board, vestry, session, etc.). |
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| You do not have to write the Core Story in the order of the
Context Report. In the sample Core Story (Appendix A) the information found in Part 4 (our
program ratings) and Part 5 (What do People Want from a Church?) were discussed following
the findings in Part 6 and 7 because the writer felt the Core Story flow was more
effective that way. What is most important is that you cover all the major insights of the
Context Report in an order that makes sense to you. |
| Percept suggests that you make the Core Story widely available to
the members of your congregation – after all, they participated in the process
through the Congregational Survey and will be eager to discover what was learned. If your
Core Story will lead to a further planning process you can also report that and ask the
congregation’s prayer support during this time. You do not need to save the Core
Story until an elaborate plan has developed. Sharing the story early builds enthusiasm for
the next step and often elicits good ideas from your membership about how the information
might be used. |
| An example of a Core Story, based on the Sample Context Report
available on PerceptGroup.com and Link2Lead.com can be found in Appendix A. |
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| Ways to Use the Core Story and Context
Report |
| No demographic study will be helpful if the
information isn’t used! Just knowing about your congregation and your community is
not enough. The important pay-off for ministry is in how this knowledge can assist your
congregation in both addressing its own internal needs and developing a mission and
outreach strategy. Percept recommends that you distribute the Core Story to all members of
the congregation. This can be done through making copies available in the church office,
distributing them after Sunday worship, printing the story in the church newsletter, or
mailing a copy to every member home. |
| The following appendices, all based on your
congregation’s core story, are provided as part of this guide to assist you in
further planning. |
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A Sample Core Story — Appendix A |
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Presenting the Core Story at a Congregational Event – Appendix B |
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Using the Core Story to Write a Mission/Vision Statement – Appendix C |
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Three Session Bible Study for Youth/Adults – Appendix D |
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Using the Context Report When Calling a New Pastor – Appendix E |
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Design for A One-Day Retreat to Develop a Three-Year Ministry Plan –
Appendix F |
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| It is Percept’s desire that your Context Report
be a key component in your ministry assessment and planning for the next several years. If
your judicatory is a Vista Client you can get periodic brief updates on your
congregation’s demographics at no cost through the FirstView resource on
Link2Lead.com. There are other useful resources found there as well. Percept recommends
that a full Context Study be done every 4-6 years. Thank you for using Percept as your
information provider. May God bless your ministry! |
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