forecast our diocese in 2018

[Rex McKee]

‘To be most useful, a forecast should be far enough into the future to go beyond an organizations normal planning horizon but not so far ahead that it becomes unbelievable, irrelevant, or too far out’

Get There Early
Bob Johansen

Discussion Question:

Gazing 10 years into the future of the Diocese of Minnesota describe in your own words:

relationship between congregations
mission and ministry of congregations
diocesan network
diocesan structure

[Rob Leduc]

I think congregations will largely be divorced from mission. Don't get me wrong - I'm not suggesting there will be no mission. But rather, that mission will function more as collaborative initiatives across congregations, with members from each coming together for particular work, from advocacy to soup kitchens and everything in between. The Diocese will possibly function as a central clearing house for mission opportunities (or regional opportunities through hub congregations or "regions").

Conversely, congregations will be loci of spiritual development, faith formation and worship, which will allow a variety of styles to flourish from ultratraditional to beyond avant garde. Rather than the Elizabethan philosophy of common worship, we'll end up with unity of purpose but diversity of styles, a trend that has been going on since at least the early 19th century. This will be just fine as long as everyone minds their own house.

There are advantages and disadvantages. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or not, but it seems to be the direction things are going.