Communities of Practice
A community of Practice is a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do, and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.
In Paul’s letter to the Hebrews (10:24-25) it says;
And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
In the early 1990’s Cognitive anthropologist Jean Lave and Educational theorist Etienne Wenger in their book Situated Learning, introduce:
A community of Practice as a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do, and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly
It could be argued that the church has been engaging in a form of Communities of Practice, without that name since it’s earliest times, in its love and care, biblical preaching, discernment, works of good deeds as it participating in the ministry of Christ’s healing and reconciliation of the whole of creation.
In the Basis of Union of the Uniting Church, our practice of mission and ministry is based on the one Lord Jesus Christ, and how we discern to live this out is through the discernment of our councils and communities. In a way, our way is that of a community of Christian discipleship in practice.
While Communities of Practices has been around for a few decades now, it is only in recent times that this way of developmental peer learnings as been more formally adopted in the disciplines of Health, Finance, research, and IT.
The 2019 Synod of the NSW and the ACT affirmed, as part of the Renewed Vision for Formation, the importance of developing and encouraging communities of practice for mission and ministry leadership development. This page is in introduction to CoP within the Uniting Church context.
Pillars of Communities of Practice
A CoP is not an everyday circle of friends or just an interest group that anyone can join. CoP are intentional communities that needs planning and formation. To assist in this planning and formation Etienne Wenger proposes 3 pillars.
Domain
Being clear about the focus or the ‘title’ of the group is essential. Different domains may include a focus on the craft of theological/biblical preaching, pastoral care, r transformative community engagement, or evangelism. Members of the CoP all need to be committed to the practice of their domain, to improve their craft, to collaborate, discern, strategies and problem solve within that domain.
Community
All the activity that happens within the CoP’s Domain happens in community. Each member is aware of what each other members is doing, researching, experimenting, finding what works well or no longer is working well in practice. It is an inclusive community in that different levels of expertise, competencies and approaches are respected as it related to the domain. One Preacher is Post-Liberal seeking to proclaim a clear Word, while in community working with another preacher who is Post-Evangelical, de-constructing some old certitudes which have caused harm. Each member learns and grows and develops their faithful craft in community together. Everyone learns from each other.
Practice
A CoP is not a theoretical workshop. It is practice focused and practice based. Being practice focused and based means there is an encouragement to honest sharing about one’s practice, the tools, experience, teaching and training one has in the domain. Without judgment, the successes the failures and everything in between is encouraged to be shared. The CoP provides an opportunity for the resourcing of each other’s practice, as well as the ability to name and bring in training and resources for the community as the needs emerge.
A CoP of pastoral carers have discovered that for some of their members are questioning the servanthood and empathic approaches to pastoral care they have been taught. This is not equipping them to pastoral care in way that offers pathways of reconciliation and justice, in the face of presented racism. A CoP will explore this together seeking learning opportunities from others to be more faithful pastoral careers.
Forming Communities of Practice
You may be a part of a CoP without even knowing it. A study group focused on discipleship, an elders or pastoral care committee, a network of Treasurers or a ministry cohort. CoP cultivate the implicit or Tacit Knowledge. This is different to explicit knowledge. In Church circles this is the knowing that comes through relationships.
Church Council, Congregations, Presbytery, Synod and Assembly bodies need to empower these communities of practice both with resources and time for them to flourish.
Benefits of Communities of Practice
- Affirms that we operate best in community, learning and growing as we participate and practice in the mission of God’s reconciliation and renewal of all creation.
- Builds genuine collaboration, which leads to wholistic and adaptive practices.
- Teams of people have a collective intelligence and discernment that is far greater than any individual intelligence and discernment.
- Moves from silos to seeing the value sharing knowledge, solving problems together, and using collective knowledge to grow and develop.
- Will be more agile and adaptive in addressing concerns and changing practice together.
- Practice being the Body of Christ.
What next?
- Connect with Vital Leadership to assist your development of a Community of Practice.
- Have a go at setting up a Community of Practice yourself using this resource.
How do I find out more about Communities of Practice?
Contact Ben Gilmour beng@nswact.uca.org.au
Connect with Vital Leadership to assist your development of a Community of Practice.