10Dec 2010 by Nigel Ring

Planning and Implementation pt 8 – Implementation

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Good Practice, Leadership, Planning
PS = pre-script! Before continuing my series I encourage you to look at the following YouTube video. Fascinating and challenging about the change in economies and life expectancy in 200 countries over the last 200 years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo&feature=player_embedded#! Implementation So far I have shared with you my approach to event planning - I will develop a series in the New Year related to some aspects of planning a ministry i.e. something that is continuous and has no particular climax. But now we will look at some of the matters related to implementing the planning methods we have been discussing. Leadership Many at this time of year will be preparing for a Christmas event, maybe a Carol Service or Presentation. Often this will come out of the creativity of one or more…
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01Dec 2010 by Nigel Ring

Planning and Implementation – Pt 7 – Creating a timeline

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Conference Administration, Equipping, Planning
Continuing the series on Planning we will now look at creating timelines. Timelines A timeline is a critical ‘driver' in achieving the end goal. Like a map it provides a constant reference against which progress towards a target can be measured at any point in the journey. It is a monitoring tool. And so it is worth taking sufficient time and effort in creating it to ensure that it is realistic. There are various ways of producing a timeline but I will consider two here: an Activity Table and a Bar Chart. I have found that the first helps me with planning an event where there are critical dates by which certain activities must be achieved, such as a conference. The second is more visual and is valuable where there…
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24Nov 2010 by Nigel Ring

When Helping Hurts – Part 3 – Practical Strategies for helping without hurting

Christian ministry, Cross-culture, Equipping, Good Practice, International, News, Poor, Relief and Development, To the Nations
Concluding the review of this excellent book we shall now look at one very practical application. Short term mission teams. Like the story of the elephant and the mouse dancing together at a celebration - both benefit and enjoy it until the mouse is squashed - such can also be the effect of a short-term mission team. Who is really benefitting? Perhaps neither. The team have a ‘life changing experience' - but may learn the wrong things. The hosts can feel crushed. At the root of the problem is lack of sensitivity to others' cultures eg "Mine is the plumbline so any deviation is ‘wrong'". Consider time. In the ‘west' time = productivity; the emphasis is on good stewardship and using every minute productively. In the majority world there is…
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10Nov 2010 by Nigel Ring

When Helping Hurts – Part 2 – General Principles for helping without hurting.

Christian ministry, Cross-culture, Equipping, Good Practice, News, Poor, Relief and Development, To the Nations, Training
Continuing this somewhat protracted commentary on the strongly recommended book, When Helping Hurts, we will now see what the authors say about Principles that need to be followed to avoid causing damage to those who are in need. Relief, Rehabilitation and Development First, it is important to distinguish between Relief, Rehabilitation and Development. In true crisis (e.g. tsunami) people cannot help themselves and need Relief. After the crisis there is Rehabilitation when people can start to help themselves but need others alongside Development is about empowering, the point at which great discretion is needed - ‘handouts' can be very damaging, especially if the reason for needing help is of a person's own making e.g. through irresponsible living such as alcohol abuse. Cultural sensitivity At all times we must be careful…
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10Nov 2010 by Nigel Ring

Planning and Implementation – Pt 6 – Ordering your thoughts

Administration in the Church, Administrative Skills, Equipping, Planning
The illustration I used in the last brainstorm related to this series of blogs about Planning. However, since this does not illustrate planning an event I will first show you how to ‘clean up' this brainstorm and then revert to a different example to show the importance of a timeline for event planning. Ordering the results of a brainstorm There are two stages to this. 1. Review each item in turn and amend the diagram. Without the self imposed pressure of time, which initially I find valuable to help ideas to flow, you now review the diagram taking each item in turn and adding as appropriate. The result looks more cluttered as there are additions that have been made, as highlighted, but simplification will come in the next stage. There…
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05Nov 2010 by Nigel Ring

‘When helping hurts’ pt 1 – Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

Christian ministry, Cross-culture, Equipping, Finance, Good Practice, International, News, Poor
Foundational Concepts for helping without hurting. In this excellent book - a ‘must read' for all who are involved in helping people who are poor or disadvantaged - the authors look critically at both the issues of poverty and how it is defined, and at the typical response of very well meaning individuals and agents of society that may in fact be doing more harm than good. This is a book that will challenge the accuracy of notions you may currently hold - ‘is my desire to do good actually doing harm?' It applies both to ministry within your community and to international development ie how to relate across cultures. Each chapter begins with questions for you to answer which reveal your present stance and ends with questions to review.…
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