GROWING OUR CHURCH YOUNG: A new way of defining success in ministry

Overview of systems dynamics

God is a God of systems.  One doesn’t have to know much about the solar system or photosynthesis to realize that He thinks in systems.  Instead of just and incredible opening event with, “Let there be light,” God had a whole system prepared to follow that event.

Systems dynamics helps us move from thinking linear (from event to event) to be more analytical and think in more of a process driven manner. As we build a broader understanding of how an event is related to other factors which create entire system, we can anticipate behavior and actions they can make our ministries better.

Causal Loop Diagrams and how they could help your church  

One of the most important tools and systems thinking is a tool called a Causal Loop Diagram. These pictures help us move from simply focusing on an event, but the cause of the event and how it fits into a larger pattern.

By uncovering the elusive systemic structure that drives events, we can begin to identify higher leveraged actions that might produce the real goals we are aiming for. As we construct a CDL’s we ask questions like, “Why is his pattern happening?”  As a result, our ability to influence the future increases and the goals that God is put in a heart, will have a better chance of becoming reality.