i am bob woodward

okay maybe i’m not bob woodward but i am interviewing a lot of people. earlier this week i thought it would be a good idea to start interviewing people concerning what they would like to see a church within the stevens point area do. my goal is to interview 40-50 people that i randomly meet within our community. i struggled over what question to ask everyone. i was worried that simply asking “what would you like to see a church in the stevens point area do?” would end up with answers that had more to do with programs rather than things concerning the actual nature of the church. thus far that hasn’t been true. the people i have interviewed have offered some wonderful insight.

i’ve only interview three people thus far (one church member, one person who says she only goes to church because she is payed to play the piano, and one person who is agnostic about churches) and the discussions have been wonderful. i try not to direct the person i am talking with but i do try to make sure i understand what they are saying. this means i try to let them ramble a great deal but i also ask the same question over and over. the question is “what do you mean by that.” basically i play stupid. even if i think i understand what they mean i try to get them to explain it a couple of times so that i can make sure. everyone has been wonderful. even after the church starts i think i’m going to have to make this a regular part of what i do.

i am typing my notes from the interviews into a google document so as to be able to share my notes and also invite others to contribute to them. if you would like to contribute something please email me (my name @ gmail.com) and i will send you an invite. if you just want to look at the notes as they are recorded you can go here.

SIDE NOTE – the other day we had 5 deer bounding through the snow of our backyard. it was quite pastoral.