Implementing the Appreciative Inquiry Approach to Revitalize the Church of Pentecost Canada

Abstract

The Church of Pentecost Canada is an ethnic Pentecostal denomination with roots from Ghana. Over the last thirty years she has grown numerically, spiritually and geographically across Canada. However, the church is confronted with the need to reflect and explore how to be more relevant to the ever-changing church and Canadian culture. This portfolio reflects the exegesis of the context of ministry of the church at McKeown Worship Centre in Toronto and the branch in Edmonton. It focuses on strengths, challenges and opportunities, philosophy of leadership, and a research project that initially began with a heightened interest towards exploring soul care and social action. The research project used a guided Appreciative Inquiry approach to enable participants to identify, design, and implement integrative initiatives. A greater awareness and urgency for more social engagements with the wider Canadian community have been created among a cross-section of church leadership. There is the need to use the principles of Appreciative Inquiry further to engage the whole church to develop more contextual and intentional strategic approaches to revitalization.