Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash
I confess. I don’t find data particularly interesting. I know, it’s a strange statement coming from someone who works for a company specializing in data-driven discernment. I don’t like working jigsaw puzzles either – all those similarly shaped pieces are crazy-making for me. I’m the guy who looks at the piece and quickly runs out of steam if I can’t easily locate another piece to fit the shape of the one I’m holding.
I do, however, love looking at the final product – a complete and beautiful puzzle that illuminates a beautiful place I might want to visit, and I feel strangely satisfied if I can say that I helped by locating just a few of the pieces (even if they are just the corners).
It is the sense of exploring data points/puzzle pieces to illuminate possibility that repeatedly draws me to the work of FaithX. I feel energized when I am working with a judicatory or faith community, and we dig deeper into the demographics to discover relationships between individual data points that highlight ministry and relationship potential. When the proverbial light bulb comes on, I feel like we have made valuable meaning out of what might be, for some, mundane data. We find connections that awaken a community to new missional opportunities – opportunities that enliven individuals, congregations, and even the larger community. In short, we all win!
MissionMaps Basic is one of our most powerful tools for neighborhood exploration and missional assessment. It contains 60 data map layers curated by FaithX and access to a vast collection of data layers available though Esri, the world’s largest repository of demographic and analytical data. It also provides access to the Neighborhood Insights Report (NIR) – an interactive infographic that offers 40+ pop-up demographic points. With MissionMaps Basic, a judicatory can produce a NIR for each faith community in its territory enabling them to see what’s happening outside in their neighborhoods right now, as well as showing trends over the next five years.
Are you curious about the changing community outside your door? Are you feeling a renewed call to faithful living with informed direction in your congregation and neighborhood? If so, let’s play a little bit, dump the puzzle pieces onto the table, and unveil a complex and beautiful picture of missional possibility.
For pricing and more information about MissionMaps for Faith Communities (Basic), email us at info@faithx.net.
