Asset Mapping

Every church of every size has assets. In asset mapping, we talk about both congregational and individual assets, equally and together.

Basic Assets

● Physical assets - things like the buildings and furnishings, land, etc

● Economic assets - money, funds, gifts, grants available

● Individual assets - the gifts, skills and experience of your people

● Associations - the organizations your people and church are connected to - AA, clubs members are connected to, etc

● Institutions - other institutions that might share some of your goals and vision

You can do this exercise as a whole congregation or with the vestry or other small leadership group that knows all the people well. Have post-its or half-sheets of paper available and markers.

Each person writes down assets they think of:

● Sit in small groups of four to eight people. Hand out the half-sheets of paper and the markers.

● Each person will generate a stack of assets by writing on these papers. Write each asset on a new sheet of paper. (Do not write a list of assets on one sheet.) Write in LARGE BLOCK LETTERS that everyone else can

read from a distance.

● Write down specific assets in three of the four categories from the reminder list.

● Read your assets out loud to everyone in the group you are in.

● Tape the papers on the wall, in any order.

Physical assets

● What are two or three physical assets of your congregation?

● What are other physical assets of your congregation that you would not have thought of at first? Think creatively! Be specific.

Economic assets

● What does your congregation spend money on?

Individual assets

● What are one or two things you can do with your hands?

● What is something no one in church knows you care about?

● Name a few talents and skills of other people at your table.

Associations

● What groups of people do you connect with in your community? They can be inside or outside of the congregation.

Institutions

● What institutions have something in common with your congregation?

Dig deeper

● What signs have you seen lately of God’s grace in the world?

BE SPECIFIC: Not “the building” but “100 seats in the sanctuary.”

BE CREATIVE: The most useful assets are often the weirdest or funniest ones.

What will come next: Listening to the community. After we do some listening out in the community, we will revisit our assets to see how some of our assets might be of use to the community and try some more experiments.