What’s in your hands?
We believe every church has untapped potential to serve its community. The solution might already be in your hands.
Our workshop helps you discover that potential through a structured, creative process.
Our story
In 2016, ARK partnered with King's Cross Church (KXC) to transform an old Victorian apartment building into a vibrant coworking space.
This initiative began by recognising the potential of an old office block that was in our hands and identifying a pressing need in the local area: isolated freelancers and small businesses lacking community and support.
What's God's Unfolding Story of Renewal in Your Area?
Every church has the potential to transform its community by leveraging its existing resources and addressing local needs.
Our Workshop is a pivotal part of our offering, designed to help church leaders and their congregations embark on a journey of exploration and innovation. This workshop utilises the Double Diamond methodology, a design-led thinking tool to guide participants through a structured and creative process of discovery and development.
How it works
-
✺
On-Site Visit
We visit your church, meet your team, and understand your context.
-
✺
Prayer and Discernment
Together, we seek God’s guidance on where to focus.
-
✺
Understand your story
What is the unfolding story of renewal in your local area? We’ll spend time understanding whats in your history, and what is emerging now.
-
✺
What is the need?
Identifying and addressing local needs is crucial for making a meaningful impact. We’ll explore the social and economic issues affecting your local area.
-
✺
What is in your hands?
Has God put a potential solution already within your hands? Beyond a building, we can you to assess the skills, volunteers and partnerships existing in your community.
-
✺
Design led thinking
With your team and congregation, we can conduct a workshop that employs design thinking principles to explore and develop potential projects.
Why we run the workshop
Address Local Needs
Communities face unique challenges, and churches are in a prime position to address these needs. Identifying and responding to these issues can lead to impactful change.
Uncover Hidden Potential
Many churches possess untapped resources and skills within their congregations and buildings. The workshop helps uncover and harness these assets.
Discern God's Work
Through prayer and discernment, the workshop aligns initiatives with where God is already at work in the community. Missio Dei, the mission of God, is central to our approach, ensuring that our efforts are not just human-driven but divinely inspired.
Ready to go?
Ready to go?
Transform your community space and make a lasting impact.
Contact us to start your journey with ARK.
Frequently asked questions
-
We’ve adopted the discipline of design to provide language and tools that help make sense of the creative process.
Design is often thought of having a tangible output and associated with disciplines like graphic design or product design.
Design Thinking is an attempt at providing a system for the creative process. The best way to explain this is to look at Design Thinking’s most popular and simple diagram: the Double Diamond.
-
The Double Diamond is a design-led thinking framework that structures the creative process into four phases: Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver. This methodology helps participants explore a wide range of possibilities before narrowing down to the best solutions.
You can read more about the method at the Design Council.
-
The phrase “what’s in your hands” draws inspiration from the Exodus narrative, where God asks Moses, "What is that in your hand?" (Exodus 4:2). Moses, holding only a staff, was empowered by God to use it to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. This story reminds us that what we already have—our gifts, talents, resources, and time—can be powerful tools for impact and transformation when we place them in God’s hands.
“What’s in your hands” encourages us to reflect on the unique resources and abilities we possess. It’s about recognizing that each of us has something valuable to contribute, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem. Whether it’s your professional skills, personal experiences, time, or finances, we believe that these can be used to serve others, drive cultural renewal, and bring about meaningful change in our communities.
This concept is foundational to how we approach new ventures, encouraging everyone to step forward in faith, using what they have to collaborate, support one another, and be part of a larger mission. It’s a call to action to give back and serve with gratitude and generosity, trusting that what’s in your hands, when offered to God, can achieve extraordinary things.
-
Missio Dei is translated as God’s Mission: the Christian belief that God is on a mission to fix something, to redeem something, to make things new.
-
The story we live in is the story we live out.
God's unfolding story is one of renewal, bringing back humanity and creation into a right relationship with him. Knowing how God has done this in the past, shapes how we might see God at work today.
Our buildings often carry marks of this story. Why was it initially built? How was it first used? What demand is there for it today? All our important questions to ask and prayerfully discern for how it might be used today.