A Sermon by the Rev. Daniel Charles Davis

For the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem

April 22, 2007

          It is easy to know what is wrong with the world; this week has been easier than most. With 33 people shot dead at Virginia Tech, over 500 Iraqis died this week. I have not heard any news from Darfur. But I doubt that no news is good news.

          It is easy to complain about the government. From sectarian prayer to the firing of federal judges, there is conflict. There are problems in this fellowship. Pledges are down, parking is crowded. Last week the minister gave a sermon about seating arrangements. What type of sermon is that?

          I have also noticed that the minister has gained back ten of the pounds he lost on sabbatical. I’ve noticed in the past few months that my eyes are losing focus. I once was Presbyterian and now am getting presbyopia, or old eyes.

          We all seem to be wearing glasses that make it easy to spot problems. We focus on what’s wrong. This makes our eyes and our souls weary. How do we restore our souls? How do we restore hope in the world? How do we find faith in ourselves?

          There is a different way of looking at the world that focuses on the good.

          "The birthplace and co-founding of Appreciative Inquiry happened in the doctoral program in Organizational Behavior at Case Western Reserve University in the collaboration between David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva in 1980. As a young 24-year-old doctoral student, David Cooperrider was involved in doing a conventional diagnosis or an organizational analysis of "what’s wrong with the human side of the organization?" In gathering his data, he becomes amazed by the level of positive cooperation, innovation, and egalitarian governance he sees in the organization. Suresh Srivastva, Cooperrider’s advisor, notices David’s excitement and suggests going further with the excitement – making it the focus. Having been influenced by earlier writings by Schweitzer on the idea of "reverence for life…" (1)

          To give you the sense of how good these guys were at looking for the positive, you must remember that Case Western Reserve is located in Cleveland. It takes special people to develop an optimistic worldview while living in Cleveland.

          "Appreciative Inquiry is the cooperative search for the best in people, their organizations, and the world around them. It involves systematic discovery of what gives a system ‘life,’ when it is most effective and capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. Appreciative Inquiry involves the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system’s capacity to heighten positive potential. It mobilizes inquiry through crafting an ‘unconditional positive question,’ often involving hundreds or sometimes thousands of people." (2)

          Mark Branson applied this process to religious organizations. He encourages congregations to ask questions like:

          "Remembering your first experience, […] when were you most alive, most motivated and excited about your involvement, what made it exciting? Who else was involved? What happened? What was your part? Describe what you felt. What do you value most about the church? What activities or ingredients or ways of life are most important? What are the best features of this church? What are the essential central characteristics or ways of life that make our church unique.? What is most important about our church? Make three wishes for the future of the church." (3)

          Appreciative Inquiry is implemented through the "4-D" Cycle, and a chapter is devoted to each "D": Discovery (understanding the best that is and has been), Dream (imagining what might be), Design (crafting what should be), and Destiny (creating what will be). (4)

          Voyle and Voyle, consultants, add a fifth step, at the beginning, to define. (5)

 The Appreciative Process

1. Define: Awareness of the need for development. Preparing for an appreciative process.
Committing to the Positive.

2. Discover: What is the best that you have been? Interview process and gathering of life-giving experience within the congregation.
Valuing the Best of What Is.

3. Dream: What is the world and the community calling us to be? What could our organization look like in 5 years’ time? Developing common images of the future.
Visioning the Ideal.

4. Design: Aligning ideals, values, structures, and mission. Developing achievable plans and steps to make the vision a reality.
Dialoguing What Should Be.

5. Deliver: Achieving the organization’s destiny. Co-creating a sustainable, preferred future. Who, What, When, Where, How?
Innovating What Will Be.

          I like the addition of the "define" phase, because it calls for awareness of the need for development. In other words, it recognizes that problems exist. It saves Appreciative Inquiry from being a delusional process. Appreciative Inquiry is not just pretending things will get better; it is not blind optimism.

          The war in Iraq exists. The Virginia Tech massacre happened. All of us have issues in our own lives that need to be addressed. The congregation faces challenges.

          The definition stage is when we commit to the need to change, because things are not as we want them to be. But it is also a realization that the old way of problem solving will continue to get the same results. By focusing on evil or problems, we magnify them.

          When the Columbine shooting happened, we focused on the two killers, amplifying them to legendary status. They were noted as role models for the Virginia Tech killer, whose face has been unavoidable in the news this past week, possibly inspiring another misguided individual. But I also saw a picture of a candlelight vigil on the campus, with people from all walks of life gathering to affirm life. Thousands are responding with compassion. The way out is not looking back at the problem; the way out is to choose to work towards a brighter future.

          Committing to be positive is the primary task of the defining phase. We refuse to be defined by our problems; we refuse to be defined by evil. Instead, we choose to define what the future should be.

          The discovery phase is when we remember all the good in the world, our organization, and ourselves. We have a history that has made life worth living. We can build on our strength, whereas focusing on evil makes us moral couch potatoes. Our moral muscles get flabby if we do not exercise them.

          Global warming is a problem, but the solution is not watching An Inconvenient Truth over and over again on TV, nor is it found in blaming all the evil polluters. It is in focusing on solutions. That is how we gathered thousands of people to our fellowship yesterday: We focused on the good and chose to do good. By looking at the good we have done in the past, we were able to envision doing more good in the future.

          The dream phase is where we wonder: What are the world and the community calling us to be? What could our organization look like in five years’ time? I see the world calling us to be a catalyst for change.

          Currently the congregation is involved in the environment. We also are involved in creating a community that is safe for all religions. And next week’s music service will be an act of beauty and collaboration with other communities. In all these efforts we are working with non-UUs, and in so doing, we have stopped preaching to the choir and are at work in concert with others. This interaction informs us that we have allies in the community. We are only isolated if we chose to be isolated. Isolation makes us defensive about religion; it creates a siege mentality.

          Unitarian Francis David calls us from the 16^th century: "We need not think alike to love alike." I dream that this congregation will be sharing our vision and learning from our allies as our interfaith work expands.

          The design phase is where we take concrete steps to live out our Unitarian Universalism in public. This will require introspection. Sometimes we are unable to share what we believe because we do not know what we believe. When we are able to articulate our values to ourselves, then we are more able to live our values in the world. The design phase is when we plan small steps that will improve ourselves and the world.

          The fifth D stands for "deliver" or "destiny." We deliver the work necessary to achieve our destiny, and we live as if we are already there. Today, I am not a thin person. But if I act as if I am a thin person, I will become one. If I eat and exercise like thin people do, I will become thin. If I focus on the food and fat, I will crave them. If I focus on doing what I would want to do if I were fit, fitness will occur.

          We are not a big, influential church. If that is what we want to be, then we get there by acting as if we are a big, influential church. Whatever vision we generate for Sunday services, religious education, and social justice, we will achieve them when we build on our strengths and act on our dreams.

          So today I want to start the process of Appreciative Inquiry and ask you to name a positive experience you have had by being part of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. It may have happened yesterday; it may have happened years ago. We can help the future happen by sharing our stories today.

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(1) Jane Magruder Watkins and Bernard Mohr, from their book Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of Imagination (courtesy of Jossey-Bass Publishing, http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/intro/timeline.cfm)

(2) Cooperrider, D.L. & Whitney, D., "Appreciative Inquiry: A positive revolution in change." In P. Holman & T. Devane (eds.), The Change Handbook, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., pages 245-263.

(3) Memories, Hopes, and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change, by Mark Lau Branson. Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2004.

(4) The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change, by
Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2003.

(5) Voyle and Voyle Consulting, Dr. Rob Voyle, Dr. Kim Voyle, Hillsboro, OR, 503-647-2382 http://www.voyle.com/index.html