Questions About FORMATION

What is the difference between church programming and congregational FORMATION?

Church programming is what a congregation offers. Congregational FORMATION is what a congregation becomes. A program is an activity with a start date, a sign up sheet, and a finish line, and it asks one question: what should we offer people? FORMATION asks a different question: what has God already placed in these people, and who are we becoming together? Programs count attendance. FORMATION counts what lasts: how many gifts have been named, how many relationships now exist that did not before, and how many people know what they carry and where it fits. Programs are good, but they work best when they grow out of a formed people.

How do denominations support congregational FORMATION at scale?

A denomination supports FORMATION at scale by sharing a framework, not a calendar. It provides a common way to recognize gifts, name them, and connect them, rather than handing every congregation the same event to run. The work itself has to live locally, led by people trusted in each congregation who walk the path themselves before leading others. And the network shares measures that count what lasts, such as gifts named and relationships formed, so it can learn across hundreds of congregations what no single church can see alone. The historic Black church already proved FORMATION at scale is possible, forming teachers, business owners, and leaders across generations.

How can a church discover the gifts of its members?

A church discovers its members’ gifts by asking before it plans. Instead of deciding what people need and building a ministry around that, it invites each person to name what they already carry: their skills, their relationships, their physical assets, their aspirations, and their spiritual gifts. Those five areas are the foundation of GiftScape™, the gift discovery tool within The Rooted Path Global™. Discovery works best in conversation, not only on forms, because people often see gifts in each other that they cannot see in themselves.

What is congregational asset mapping?

Congregational asset mapping is the practice of identifying what a congregation already has before deciding what it needs. It draws on asset based community development, which starts with the strengths present in a community rather than its deficits. In a congregation, that means mapping the gifts, skills, relationships, and resources sitting in the pews, then connecting them to opportunities to serve. Most congregations are far richer in assets than their budgets suggest.

What does FORMATION Before Mission™ mean?

FORMATION Before Mission™ means who people are becoming has to come before what they are asked to do. When a congregation launches mission without forming its people first, the work depends on a few exhausted volunteers and fades when they leave. When people are formed first, mission grows out of who they have become, and it lasts. It is the central conviction of The Rooted Path Global™.

How can a congregation measure impact beyond attendance?

Attendance tells you how many people came. It does not tell you whether anyone was formed. A congregation can measure lasting impact by tracking how many gifts have been named out loud, how many new relationships exist that did not before, and how many people can say what they carry and where it fits. These measures reveal whether a congregation is being formed, not just whether its calendar is full.

What is The Rooted Path Global™, and who is it for?

The Rooted Path Global™ is a nine step congregational FORMATION framework developed by A. Damian Curd through Kingdom Assets LLC in Indianapolis. It helps pastors, denominational leaders, and funders recognize the gifts already present in a congregation, build the infrastructure to hold them, and deploy them in service of the community. It is built on the conviction of FORMATION Before Mission™ and rooted in the Christian community development tradition of Dr. John M. Perkins.