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Richard's Reflections podcast cover: headphones above the title, with a winding road

Richard’s Reflections 5: Starting new things well. The research behind a New Initiatives Policy for Church of the Trinity

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2–3 minutes

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A work episode. Church Council has asked for a one page New Initiatives Policy by December: how new ideas, groups and activities at Church of the Trinity get started, trialled, funded and reviewed. Before writing it, the research. Two voices walk through what the evidence says about starting new things in a progressive church, test Trinity’s own brief against it, and name the gaps. About 26 minutes.

Covered: the brief from the Mission Brochure and the Mission Implementing booklet (posture of positivity, “Yes, and”, three or four willing leaders, a trial period, a nominal budget, a report back); asset-based community development, Kretzmann and McKnight, Broadway United Methodist and the roving listener; self-determination theory and volunteers, supportive versus chaotic leadership, Edmondson on psychological safety, Appreciative Inquiry; the Church Army Fresh Expressions research (team sizes, lay-lay leaders, death rates by meeting rhythm, decline before death, why things stop, Open Table Liverpool); Marshall Ganz, the Sydney Alliance and the Iron Rule; permission-giving, Rendle’s ready-fire-aim, where “three or four leaders” actually comes from, Uniting Church grant models, the Church of England’s Strategic Development Funding review; nine principles that recur across every framework; the comparison table of brief versus evidence; the three things to strengthen (what the report back measures, ending well, members lead); and the honest caveats, including that the Drive folders of UCA documents still have to be read before the policy is drafted.

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