CULTIVATING OUR VISION
WHAT IS THE DISCERNMENT PROCESS?
It is an exciting time at Kaw Prairie Community Church! One of the priorities we set for this year, was a discernment process that would help us clarify our purpose and hear God's call upon us as we step into this next season of our life together. Over the rest of this year, we will be cultivating our vision as a congregation through a two phase process. Each phase will begin with a congregation-wide conversation. Our staff and council will then work together to listen to the results of those conversations in order to craft the outcomes of each phase to share back to the congregation. By November, we will have a clear sense of our congregation's purpose, mission and values and will have identified the impacts God is calling us to make in the lives of our people and our neighbors over the next 5-10 years.
It is so important that your voice be a part of the conversation! Click the video to hear Pastor Clare provide a quick overview of Phase One of this process. For a more detailed explanation, scroll below for a longer video. Sign-up to join the conversation, as we kick off this process at the end of the April.
Timeline
Phase One — Who are we?
CONGREGATION CONVERSATIONS
Session 1: April 27, 11:30am-1pm *lunch available
Session 2: April 29, 7-8:30pm (virtual)
Seeing Ourselves Clearly: A Congregational Conversation
When: Late April - August
Description: These conversations will use Appreciative Inquiry to gather insights and stories that can guide our discernment of Kaw Prairie’s Purpose, Mission, and Values. Appreciative Inquiry is rooted in the belief that focusing on the positive core of an organization or community—what gives it life—helps uncover powerful clarity of purpose and direction for the future.
Come together to engage in conversation with one another around questions like: "When has Kaw Prairie been at its best?" "When is a community of faith at its best?"
Outcomes: By the end of phase one we will have clarified our…
Purpose - Why do we exist?
Mission - How we meet or live out our purpose?
Values - Our values are our core beliefs that form the way we live in the world. What core values shape our congregational culture?
LEADERSHIP & STAFF RETREAT
May 27 & 28
6:00-8:30pm
Phase Two — What Impact is God Calling us to Make?
OPEN SOURCE CONVERSATIONS
Septmber 2025
Seeing God’s Vision for our Ministries Clearly: A Congregational Conversation
When: September - November
Description: We will host this congregational conversation using the Open Space model, to brainstorm how we live out our newly defined Purpose, Mission and Values as we seek to discern the impact God is calling us to make in the coming years. The open space model will allow anyone in the congregation who wants to host a conversation around a ministry area or idea to be able to do so. On the day of the event, there will be multiple working session blocks, where participants get to choose to join in on whatever conversation interests them. Ideas generated are shared back to the large group and will be captured for council and staff to continue working with at a follow-up retreat in early October.
Outcomes: By the end of phase two we will have discerned the impact(s) God is calling us to make in the lives of our people and the lives of our neighbors. We will have identified the resources we have, the strategies we can employ, and the short-term and long-term goals we need to set in order to make the impact God is calling us to make in the next 5-10 years.
PRESENTATION OF IMPACT MODEL
November 2025
PRESENTATION OF PURPOSE, MISSION, & VALUES
August 2025
LEADERSHIP & STAFF RETREAT
October 4
Want to know more about the entire Cultivating Our Vision process? Listen to Pastor Clare’s in-depth introduction from our April 6th worship.
Meet D.J. Whetter, Process Facilitator
D.J. serves as the CEO for CiviCO. His aspiration in his work is for more companies, organizations and communities to create healthy and productive cultures well positioned to make measurable progress on the challenges that limit growth, prosperity, and impact in the state of Colorado.
D.J. is also a master-level facilitator and member of the core teaching team for the Kansas Leadership Center. He uses the KLC Framework to help individuals and organizations tackle their most daunting challenges. In his career, he has taught and partnered on leadership development work across the country and world, including work in Washington D.C., Israel, India, Australia, the United Kingdom and beyond.
His background in broadcast journalism and sports reporting anchors his belief that curiosity, and a search for the story that no one else is telling, are keys to making progress on our toughest challenges. D.J. graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in political science and broadcast journalism. He spent 10 years in ministry with the ELCA Lutheran Church at Holy Cross in Overland Park. Before that, he anchored the 10 p.m. sportscast for 6-News Lawrence for five years. D.J. lives in Parker, Colorado with his wife, Lori, their daughter, Addison, and son Parker. Aside from a love of all sports Chicago and the Kansas Jayhawks, D.J. loves to travel, play famous golf courses really poorly, and coach his kids in baseball and softball.
