“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” — Henry David Thoreau
We are greatly encouraged by the number of Catch Citizens who responded to our request for their good thinking, insights and understandings. However, this is a community of many. We want to hear from as many of you as possible, because your perspective matters.
John referred to this as a survey, but in actuality it is not. A survey canvases the masses to learn the quantitative opinion. If I was inviting the entire Catch community for an afternoon lunch where I was serving peanut butter, I might want to know what spread the majority would prefer. I might survey everyone to ask the following:
(Choose one by circling the number):
Do you like peanut butter with
Jelly,
Marshmallow,
Celery, or
Banana?
Asking for your perspective instead of just your opinion is a different matter; it is a deeper question. Perspectives ask for you to step inside a question and tell us what you see. Insight does not spring from the comfortable or the familiar. The tried-and-true only produces the ordinary — clearly not acceptable when we, as a community, are looking to understand how best we can be the voice of Christ to this century’s generations.
How our community sees the Catch Ministry does not necessarily always jibe with how the leadership sees us. Scotland’s favorite poet, Robert Burns, summed it up well when he wrote,
“I wish to God the gift he’d gi’e us, to see ourselves as others see us.”
This could be the patron prayer of relationship building. This discovery process is driven by collaboration and intuitive thinking. What to do (and what not to do) emerges. Sometimes the hardest part is simply wiping the slate clean, throwing out old assumptions to make room for new truths. Nevertheless, the results are always revealing and the process invariably leads to a deeper understanding of who we are as the body of Christ.
Given the above, please find a place to sit and sip a cup of coffee and tell us your perspective because “it’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”
Thank you in advance. Your participation means everything!
If you copy and paste or send a reply to this email, you can write your answers in the space provided under each question. Thank you so much for your perspective. And remember, the first 25 responses will receive as a thank you a copy of John’s latest CD, “Some Folks’ World.” (These are in short supply.)
Tell us a little about you:
How old are you?
Are you male or female?
Do you attend a church at least three times a month?
- In support of its desire to be the voice of Christ to this century’s generations, what, in your opinion are the Catch Ministry’s strengths?
2. In support of its desire to be the voice of Christ to this century’s generations, what, in your opinion are the overall weaknesses of the Catch Ministry?
3. How do you think this century’s generations perceive the Catch Ministry?
4. How do you think those 60 and over perceive the Catch Ministry?
5. What barriers must be overcome before the Catch Ministry can be the voice of Christ to this century’s generations?
6. Provided the Catch Ministry is capable of overcoming the identified barriers, and hypothetically, if you were the Chair of the Catch Ministry’s vision to give the voice of Christ to this century’s generations, what would you like to see happen from the start?
7. Once again, hypothetically, if you were the Chair of the Catch Ministry’s voice of Christ to this century’s generations, who would you need on your team to successfully bring about what you identified you wanted to see from the start? Why these candidates? What skills and capacities do they have that you need?
What do these people need in order to be successful?
What tools and resources would support their efforts?
What form of recognition do you believe they would want or need to participate?
8. What have we not discussed that you need to say in support of your hypothetical role as the Chair of the Catch Ministry’s vision to be the voice of Christ to this century’s generation?
Thank you for your participation. Please return your responses by replying to this email or send it to [email protected]
YOU MATTER!
John Fischer The Catch 