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Editors, Accord Research Alliance Intensives… 37 

 

Accord Research Alliance Intensives and 

Sessions 2020 and 2021:  A Synopsis 
 

CRDA Editors 
 

 
 

A brief overview of the “intensive” meetings held in conjunction with the Accord Network’s annual 

summits.  This synopsis highlights the intensives from 2020 and 2021, the former on learning how to 

listen effectively, and the latter on the special place of evidence in Christ-centered organizations.  

 

 

 
Introduction 

This journal, Christian Relief, Development, and 

Advocacy, is the official journal of the Accord Network, 

which was born in 1978 out of a need among Christian 

NGOs to do a better job of practicing holistic ministry 

and to increase their effectiveness by learning and 

working together. For more than forty years, Accord 

has held annual conferences to connect, raise issues, 

share ideas, and learn from each other. One outcome 

of these annual summits has been to bring academics 

and practitioners into the same space to cultivate and 

benefit from the synergy that comes from working 

together. That synergy has spawned several research 

and learning alliances that seek to provide a venue for 

the ongoing conversation necessary for continued 

growth.  

One of those alliances is the Accord Research 

Alliance (ARA), created in 2012 under the leadership 

of Beth Birmingham. Its specific mission is to “facilitate 

a professional community that collectively improves 

how to measure what matters in Christ-centered relief, 

development and advocacy through platforms for idea 

sharing that encourage, connect, equip and inspire” 

(Accord Research Alliance, n.d.). Since 2013, it has 

carried out day-long intensive workshops in 

coordination with Accord Network annual Summits. 

To that end, the ARA has created forty-three podcast 

episodes and has spawned three articles published in 

the CRDA journal. It has just over 500 subscribers by 

e-mail and over 300 subscribers in its LinkedIn group. 

All of these resources and connections, as well as the 

presentations described below, can be accessed through 

the ARA’s website at https://accordnetwork.org/ara/. 

What follows is a brief synopsis of the highlights of 

the ARA’s 2020 and 2021 intensives and sessions. This 

provides an overview of the themes that run through the 

intensives, as well as a record of the rich conversation 

enjoyed by the participants.  

 

Themes and Overview of the 2020 and 2021 

Accord Research Alliance Intensives 
The main topic of the completely online ARA 

intensive of 2020 was “Cultivating a Christ-Centered, 

Data-Informed, and Responsive Organization:  

Listening in Your M&E Practice.” There were four sub-

topics, one for each of its days’ virtual presentations and 

asynchronous discussions; these were “Listening as a 

discipline: foundational concepts for your listening 

practice;” “Listening first during COVID-19: why 

listening is now more important;” “Listening to 

community stakeholders: equity in listening;” and 

“Listening at your organization: creating a responsive 

M&E practice.” The 2021 ARA addressed the question 

“How should Christ-followers think about evidence?” 

The ARA also facilitated two workshop sessions during 

the 2021 Accord Network Summit, one on “Christ-

Centered Monitoring and Evaluation” and the other on 

“Spiritual Metrics:  Practices for Christ-Centered 

Planning, Monitoring, & Evaluation.” In both 2020 and 

2021 there were a total of twenty presentations, with 381 

people representing over 140 groups and some fifty 

countries registering for the virtual 2020 ARA intensive, 

and a little over fifty people attending the 2021 intensive 

in person. 

 

Cross-Cutting Themes 
The three main cross-cutting themes throughout 

these two intensives were theological foundations, 

power sharing, and concrete methods, each of which 

engaged and sometimes challenged participants at the 

heart of their faith-based convictions. 

 

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Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 4(1), Summer 2022  

Editors, Accord Research Alliance Intensives… 38 

Theological foundations 

What is it that distinguishes Christ-centered 

development organizations (CCOs) from their secular 

counterparts? Much of the answer to this core question 

is found in the emphasis on the theological foundations 

that inform CCO praxis. Toward that end, these two 

intensives were underpinned by theologies of listening 

and evidence-building that provided guidelines and 

challenged participants to discern how they might apply 

them in their own work. These theologies stressed the 

following: 

 

1. If the persons of the Trinity listen to each other, 

then the act of listening is both relational and holy, 

for we are all made in the image of God, and 

listening involves not only hearing what is said, but 

understanding the intended meaning of the 

communication and its significance. Moreover, 

with scripture showing that God speaks through all 

kinds of people, we must listen to all, and especially 

those we initially think might not have much to say, 

like the poor, women, children, migrants, people 

from the “wrong” ethnic group, and anyone 

marginalized by those holding power. Scripture 

also shows that we are to listen prayerfully, 

intentionally, lovingly, and with wonder; that we 

should listen at all times; and that God commands 

us to listen. Because listening is a key source of 

knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, it helps 

build up the kingdom of God, grow in our 

processes of discipleship, be witnesses, and live life 

abundantly. In monitoring and evaluation 

activities, listening well is thus a central concern.  

  

2. Listening is a ministry that should be more 

relational than transactional, rooted in humility, 

and in which we should seek to honor those with 

whom we work by considering the types of 

questions we ask and how much time we are asking 

of them. A critical element in this ministry is the 

dimension of power. We must be intentional about 

whose voice is heard, which voices are elevated 

over others, and always working to ensure that we 

steward our influence and power to create inclusive 

listening systems and processes that reflect the 

fullness of our God, his kingdom, and his people. 

This involves sharing any knowledge gleaned with 

all participants. All stories and perspectives need to 

be respected and stewarded with utmost care and 

consideration, as well as with conscious awareness 

of opportunities for collaboration and co-creation.  

 

3. As raw data are processed into information, it is 

key to listen with discernment based on the Word 

and to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit to 

knowledge that is actionable in terms of decisions. 

It is important to be on guard against the well-

crafted arguments and customs of the world (Col. 

2:2-8, Romans 12:2).  

 

4. Finally, the process of listening and generating 

evidence during impact evaluation efforts must be 

based on what scripture says about evidence and 

why it matters in the kingdom.  Any evidence 

collected should be about the kingdom and 

building the kingdom. Evidence gathering should 

also comprehend the reality of sin. This means 

planning for and measuring what delights God, like 

healing the marred image of the poor, dealing with 

the God-complexes that ensnare poor and non-

poor alike, counteracting deceptions by 

principalities and powers, overcoming 

inadequacies in worldviews, restoring just and 

peaceful relationships, using Christian missional 

practices, and forming agents of transformation. 

We need to assess whether and how our desire to 

be in control reflects rebellion against instead of 

submission to God’s unfolding plan for 

redemption and what other aspects of sin keep us 

and others in bondage. The very generation of 

evidence, then, enables confession and repentance 

as well as kingdom visioning. The generation of 

data and evidence thus becomes an instrument of 

spiritual discernment about what God is doing in 

and through us and those we work with. Through 

it all, we witness God in action. 

 

Power Sharing 

The second major cross-cutting theme was the 

question of sharing power in research, monitoring, and 

evaluation efforts. As seen above, this is specifically a 

part of the theology of listening. The word most 

commonly used in conjunction with this theme was 

“equity.” There is no disagreement that power should 

be equitably shared. What is harder is to identify 

strategies for learning how to share power and then 

actually doing it. One approach is to challenge the 

audience with generative questions about their work 

and then to allow them to find power sharing strategies 

in their own contexts: Such generative questions include 

the following: 

1. If we are trying to listen…who gets the chance to 

speak?  

2. Who is listening to the data, and how is that 

listening transformed into action? 

3. Who decides what counts as action and what 

actions to take? 

4. Who decides what counts as valid and reliable 

evidence? 

5. Who decides whose and what benefits and costs 

should be considered? 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 4(1), Summer 2022  

Editors, Accord Research Alliance Intensives… 39 

6. Who decides whose and what knowledge and 

learning counts most? 

7. Who decides whose and what theory of change is 

emphasized? 

 

Another strategy is to offer answers to these and 

other questions of power, and then allow people to 

reflect on the proposed answers. Here is a sample of 

such answers: 

 

1. Genuine listening is about one’s attitude and how 

to let go of power, which of course takes courage.  

 

2. The key is to regard participants as experts, to see 

their inherent dignity, and to learn from them.  If 

we are curious about each other, we can create 

spaces where people can unfold who they are.  

 

3. Stakeholders represent different cultures and thus 

bring different perspectives on context, feedback, 

principles, applications, relationships, trust, 

confrontation, and more. Navigating and managing 

power dynamics thus require attentiveness and 

intentionality in meetings, including intentionally 

handing over power. This may include praying in 

native tongues, asking for the opinion of those on 

the margins, and ensuring that the right people are 

invited to a seat at the table. 

 

4. While staff and researchers may be posited as the 

primary listeners, the community leaders have to 

be co-listeners, which means that they must be 

listened to in the creation of data collection tools, 

be provided listening roles during the data 

collection process, and be invited to participate in 

the making plans that use the data. 

 

Concrete Methods 

The third cross-cutting theme in ARA intensives 

was the practical, or concrete, methods for 

implementing such basic principles as listening and 

power sharing. These included the following ideas, as 

shared by both presenters and participants: 

 

1. Apply design and improvisational (improv) tools to 

break down and understand problems, create 

openness to new possibilities and information, and 

thus equip and empower stakeholders. 

 

2. Design surveys and create protocols that ensure all 

voices are heard, not just the loudest, with sample 

requirements for age, gender, geography, and 

leadership roles. Also, audio-record the surveys in 

the local language and administer it on screens so 

that the data can be aggregated and analyzed 

immediately, with the results printed out and 

discussed and interpreted the same day with the 

community. 

 

3. Conduct regular organizational audits of the team’s 

data listening habits to ensure the development of 

organizational listening habits.  

 

4. Create systems so that local leaders have access to 

data from their communities and can help the 

organization listen to the data.    

 

5. Clarify intentions and biases and make sure to talk 

with people who are different in order to create 

spaces to genuinely listen to the community.  

 

6. Adopt research perspectives that are not extractive 

and that create joint spaces where participants talk, 

interpret, and make decisions throughout the 

project so that their practice-based knowledge 

provides the key evidence. 

 

7. Develop an intentional focus on spiritual aspects of 

programs, including how to measure them, in 

conjunction with partners. 

 

8. Develop a visual conceptual and practical 

planning, monitoring, and evaluation framework 

with indicators. One such example is Tearfund’s 

Light Wheel, summarized visually in an image of a 

wheel with nine spokes that represent total well-

being: social connections, personal relationships, 

emotional and mental well-being, physical health, 

participation & influence, environmental 

stewardship, material assets and resources, 

capabilities, living faith. Use community focus 

groups to self-assess their own situation, priorities 

and vision for the future based on levels of 

accomplishment of the indicators. 

 

9. Shoot for “Right-Fit Evidence,” so that the right 

amount and type of impact evaluation evidence is 

collected based on the organizational and 

situational context in which it is occurring.  A useful 

way of doing this is to create a strategy based on 

three questions: how to measure impact, what 

evidence is there for impact and learning, and how 

to center equity in this process, and focus on 

collecting evidence that is credible, actionable, 

responsible, and transportable (CART), cross-

cutting this with an eye towards equity. 

 

10. Employ pragmatic mixed methods approaches as 

opposed to simply quantitative ones such as 

Randomized Control Trials (RCTs). RCTs are 

useful, but have limitations in that they do not help 

identify what parts of the program to improve.  



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 4(1), Summer 2022  

Editors, Accord Research Alliance Intensives… 40 

 

 

11. Consider and understand six foundational layers:  

the M&E profession, the kingdom of God, the 

Christ-centered organization, M&E in Christ-

centered organizations, Christ-centered M&E 

within the wider M&E landscape, and a resulting 

framework for Christ-centered M&E. Focus on 

discerning what God is already doing in the 

community, and acquire evidence for how the 

organization is being used to contribute to the 

growth of the kingdom, and be faithful to your 

calling even in the midst of a lack of such evidence, 

because at times that evidence is hard to detect.  

 

12. Follow a three-step process in measuring spiritual 

impact, always in dialogue with the people with 

whom you are working: ask yourselves, and ensure 

clarity on, what the spiritual impact is that you are 

all trying to achieve; then ensure that relevant 

activities are specifically designed to achieve that 

spiritual impact; and finally carry out a process of 

discernment about the best way to go about 

assessing whether and to what extent that spiritual 

impact is being achieved. 

 

Again, the presentations and comments that 

contain all that is in this synopsis are available through 

the ARA’s website at https://accordnetwork.org/ara. A 

continued discussion and deepening of these points and 

examples of practices will continue in the next ARA 

intensive under the theme of “Nothing About Us 

Without Us: A Kingdom Perspective for Sharing Love 

& Power in Evaluation and Research Practice,” taking 

place on Tuesday, October 11, starting at 9 am, just 

before the start of the Accord Network Summit. 

 

 

References 

Accord Research Alliance. 

https://accordnetwork.org/ara/  

 

 

 

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