About 10 years ago (October 1992 to be exact) The Presbyterian Church (USA) found itself in some state of disrepair and thought it wise to consider their state and plan for the future. 500 folks representing every aspect of the Church met in Dallas, as I remember and for 2 ½ days had at it. They talked about every imaginable aspect of Church Life and Mission and by the conclusion had produced the largest book of proceeding I have ever seen 346 pages! The Theme was Discerning the Spirit Envisioning the Future. And I think it is fair to say that is exactly what they did. Obviously they didnt solve all the problems in the churchly world, but they certainly laid down a good foundation. They also produced an outstanding video of the same name as the theme, which used to be available from their Media Department in Louisville, KY for about $10.
Anyhow, that seems like a long time ago, and we didnt do a lot of the things we would have done now like prioritization, convergence and action planning but I have not a doubt in my mind that Open Space will do just fine, nothing else needed. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20845 Phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Bob Sullens Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2004 12:16 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Help in planning an approach to an organization with great value differences Greetings, I have been asked to work with an area organization of a mainline protestant denomination to develop a strategic plan. The organization consists of 70-80 clergy and lay members responsible for a specific geographic area in California. The group has had a history of intergroup conflict based on liberal vs. conservative(evangelical) approaches to scripture, doctrine, human sexuality, peace work and social justice issues. In the last year they had a facilitated reconciliation conference, that appears to have improved the interpersonal relationships. Their goal now is to develop a strategic plan that they can agree on. Any suggestions about how best to approach this task would be appreciated. I was think that a standard open space approach would work well. Other possibilities are a Future Search Conference or an appreciative inquiry approach. Thanks, * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
