Finding  Your      Community  of  Ministerial  Practice  

 By  Dr.  Charlotte  McCorquodale    Ministry  Training  Source  

Charlotte  McCorquodale,  PhD  

Ê  From  Lake  Charles,  LA;  currently  lives  and    ministers  in  Diocese  of  Baton  Rouge,  LA  

Ê  Served  in  youth  ministry  practitioner  since  1980  in  Lake  Charles,  Houston,  Los  Angeles,  Mobile,  Lake  Charles,  and  Baton  Rouge.  

Ê  Member  of  the  following  communities  of  practice  NALM,  NFCYM,  NACYML,  e-­‐Learning  Guild,  and    ASTD  

Ê  LSU  Graduate,  “The  Emergence  of  Lay  Ecclesial  Youth  Ministry  as  a  Profession  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States.”  

Ê  A  member  of  a  large  family  of  LSU  and  Saints  fans!  

THIS  WORKSHOP  IS  ABOUT  ……  

YOU!!!!!!!  

Goals  of  Today’s  Workshop    

Ê  To  focus  on  the  role  that  learning  with  others    (in  community)    plays  in  your  ministerial  productivity  and  competence.  

Ê  To  examine  what  is  meant  by  a  Community  of  Practice  and  how  this  can  be  applied  to  your  ministerial  leadership  and  development.  

Ê  To  identify  current  communities  of  ministerial  practice;  and,  how  you  can  go  about  finding,  starting,  or  enhancing  one.  

Ê  To  develop  a  plan  or  goal  for  your  participation  in  a  community  of  ministerial  practice.  

Let’s  get  to  know  each  other…  

Ê Please  find  two  other  people,  introduce  yourself,  where  you  are  from,  and  what  ministry  you  do  on  behalf  of  the  church.  

Ê Why  did  you  select  this  workshop  and  what  is  one  thing  you  hope  we  discuss  today?  

Ê Please  share  one  challenge  you  are  experiencing  in  ministry  right  now?  

Have  we  lost  our  sense  of  community?  

What  do  we  mean  by  Community  of  Practice  (CoP)  

Is  this  a  community?  

What  is  the  difference  between  a  community  and  a  team?  

What  do  we  mean  by  “practice?”  

How  would  you  deBine  learning?  

Learning  is  a  change  in  the  learner’s  knowledge    due  to  experience.  —Richard  E.  Mayer,  Applying  the  Science  of  Learning  

Is  learning  today  different  than  in  previous  generations?  

Has  learning  changed?  

Ê Is  it  more  social  or  individualized?  

Ê Is  it  more  formal  or  informal?  

Ê Is  it  easier  or  harder?  

Motivation the key to

all learning!

Share  your  best  experience  of  learning  with  others.    What  made  it  so  good?

What  is  a  community  of  practice  (CoP)?  

“…are  groups  of  people  who  share  a  concern,  a  set  of  problems,  or  a  passion  about  a  topic,  and  who  deepen  their  knowledge  and  expertise  in  this  area  by  interacting  on  an  ongoing  basis.”    (Cultivating  Communities  of  Practice  by  Etienne  Wenger,  p.4.)  

One  of  my    Communities  of  Ministerial    Practice  (CoMP)  

A  CoP  is  a  unique  combination  of  3  fundamental  elements:    a  domain  of  knowledge  which  de@ines  a  set  of  issues;    a  community  of  people  who  care  about  the  domain,  and    

the  shared  practice  that  they  are  developing  to  be  effective  in  the  domain.  

       

Communities  of  Practice  Take  Many  Forms  

Ê  Small  or  Big  

Ê  Long-­‐lived  or  Short-­‐lived  

Ê  Co-­‐located  or  Distributed  

Ê  Homogeneous  or  Heterogeneous  

Ê  Spontaneous  or  Intentional  

Ê  Unrecognized  or  Institutionalized  

Ê  Formal/highly  structured  or  Informal/loosely  structured  

What  CoP’s  or  CoMP’s    are  you  a  

part  of  currently?  

What  do    all  Communities  of  Ministerial  Practice  (CoMP)  need  to  be  successful?  

Ê DOMAIN:  A  well-­‐defined  domain  provides  common  ground  and  identity.  It  affirms  the  purpose  and  value  to  members.  

Ê  COMMUNITY:  The  community  creates  the  social  fabric  of  learning.  A  strong  community  is  based  upon  trust  and  fosters  participation.  

Ê  PRACTICE:  The  practices  includes  a  set  of  frameworks,  ideas,  tools,  language,  and  information,  that  members  share.  The  domain  denotes  the  focus  topic  or  issue  of  the  CoP,  while  the  practice  includes  the  specific  knowledge  the  community  develops,  shares,  and  maintains.  

Why  are  we  talking  about    this  at  a  gathering  of  ministerial  leaders?  

Are  ministry  leaders  required  to  continued  formation  and  learning?  

A  Response  to  the  Church’s  Mandate  

 “Both  temporary  and  permanent  ministers  

are  obligated  to  acquire  appropriate  formation  which  is  required  to  fulfill  their  

function  properly  and  to  carry  it  out  conscientiously,  zealously,  and  

diligently”  (Canon  #231).  

A  learning  organization  is  one  that  is  continually  expanding  it’s  capacity  to  create  it’s  future.    

They  are  possible  because  deep  down  we  are  all  natural  learners.      

Real  learning  gets  to  the  heart  of  what  it  means  to  be  human,  because  through  learning  we  re-­‐create  ourselves  and  the  world  around  us.  

The  Church  as    a  Learning  Organization  From  Peter  Senge,    

The  Fifth  Discipline:  The  Art  and  Practice  of  Becoming  a  Learning  Organization  

©  2004  Ministry  Training  Source  

Ê Personal  Mastery  

Ê Mental  Models  

Ê Building  a  Shared  Vision  

Ê Team  Learning    (Shared  Wisdom)  

Ê Systems  Thinking:  

         The  Fifth  Discipline  

 

The  Five  Disciplines  (keys)    of  a  Learning  Organization  

Personal  Mastery  

 “Personal  mastery  is  the  discipline  of  continually  

clarifying  and  deepening  our  personal  vision,  of  focusing  our  energies,  of  developing  patience,  and  of  seeing  

reality  objectively.    The  key  to  this  discipline  is  living  life  with  intentionality  and  from  an  importance  

paradigm.”  

     Two  underlying  movements  are  

involved:  

1)  Clarifying  what  is  important  to  us,  and    

2)  Continually  learning  how  to  see  current  reality  more  clearly.  

©  2004  Ministry  Training  Source  

Creative  Tension  

Vision:  What  we  

want  to  do,  our  goal  or  

vision  

What is the creative tension in your ministry?

Current  Reality:  

Where  we  are  relative  to  what  we  want…  

©  2004  Ministry  Training  Source  

 How  do  we  close  the  gap?  

Two options, we can either lower our standards (vision) or move towards our vision!

©  2004  Ministry  Training  Source  

What  is  the  gap  between    your    vision  and  the  current  reality?  

“Every question possesses a power that does not necessarily lie in ���the answer to the questions.”

     How  does  or  could  technology  or  social  media  support  CoMP’s?    

46  

Seven  Principles  for  Cultivating  a  CoP  

Ê  Design  for  evolution.  

Ê  Open  a  dialogue  between  inside  and  outside  perspectives.  

Ê  Invite  different  levels  of  participation.  

Ê  Develop  both  public  and  private  community  spaces.  

Ê  Focus  on  value.  

Ê  Combine  familiarity  and  excitement.  

Ê  Create  a  rhythm  for  the  community.  

Different  Levels  of  Participation  

Peripheral  

Active    (15-­‐20%)  

Core    (10-­‐15%)  

The  key  to  good  community  participation  and  a  healthy  degree  of  movement  between  levels  is  to  design  community  activities  that  allow  

participants  at  all  levels  to  feel  like  full  members.  Rather  than  force  

participation,  successful  communities  build  

benches  for  those  on  the  sidelines.  

What  communities  of  practice  exist  nationally?  

Ê  National  Association  of  Lay  Ministry  (NALM)  

Ê  National  Association  of  Catholic  Youth  Ministry  Leaders  (NACYML)  

Ê  National  Association  of  Catholic  Chaplains  (NACC)  

Ê  National  Association  of  Pastoral  Musicians  (NPM)  

Ê  National  Catholic  Education  Association  (NCEA)  

Ê  National  Catholic  Young  Adult  Ministry  Association  (NCYAMA)  

Ê  National  Association  of  Catechetical  Leaders  (NCCL)  

Ê  ETC….  Just  google  it!  

Communities  of  Practice  Discussion    

Ê  Share  current  communities  of  ministerial  practice  that  you  are  a  part  of  or  aware  of?  Are  they  successful  at  engaging  members?  Why  or  why  not?  

Ê What  is  one  aspect  within  the  practice  of  your  ministry  that  you  believe  you  need  to  increase  the  effective?  

Ê  If  you  were  to  form  a  community  of  practice  around  an  issue  that  important  to  you  who  would  you  invite  to  be  a  part  of  it?  How  would  you  gather  and  form  community?  

Ê  If  you  have  been  in  ministry  for  a  long  time,  how  are  you  contributing  to  the  development  of  future  ministry  leaders?  

IF  NOT  US  WHO?  

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Concluding  Prayer  (by  Joseph  Cardinal  Bernardin)  

 O  Lord  of  the  harvest,  work  out  your  will  in  us,  that  we  might  prepare  others  to  be  

laborers  for  your  harvest.  Transform  us  ever  more  completely  into  the  image  of  your  Son,  that  we  might  call  others  to  ministry  as  he  called,  teach  them  as  he  taught,  and  form  them  as  he  did.  We  make  this  prayer  in  

your  most  holy  name.  Amen.  

Thank  you  for  your  participation  

Contact  Info  for  Charlotte  McCorquodale,  PhD    417-­‐693-­‐1882,  charlotte@ministrytrainingsource.org  www.ministrytrainingsource.org