The FaithX Project

Strategic Missional Consulting

Why FaithX? It’s All About Relationships

by Bill Tenny-Brittian
Managing Editor – The Effective Church Group

The other day my firm was invited to create a proposal to lead a church consultation for a congregation in the southwest US. It was a healthy congregation, a trait we don’t see very often these days, and it was averaging over 300 in weekly worship. The leaders said the congregation was committed to launching a growth strategy that would take them to over 800 in weekly, in-person worship within five years. 

The congregation has a lot going for it. They have a solid mission and a crystal-clear vision. They aren’t conflict free, but there was no evidence of deeply-seated, unresolved issues that so often plague churches that are in decline or sitting on a plateau. Their leadership already understood the power of mission-alignment and they at least claimed to be ready to make the changes necessary to achieve their goal. 

Our job was to provide a strategy, tactics, and a working plan that would take them into their preferred future. Growth like that doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, for most churches, it never happens at all for all sorts of reasons.

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FaithX Shortlisted for 2022 Esri Map Book

FaithX was recently informed by Esri that a GIS map we produced, entitled Redlining and Race: Mapping Systemic Racism, which was presented in Esri’s 2021 User Conference Plenary Session [view video | view still photo], has been shortlisted for inclusion in their 2022 Esri Map Book (Volume 37). We will find out later this year whether we made the final cut.

Each year Esri selects several dozen maps submitted by users and showcases some of the work of some of those users in a formal publication known as the Map Book. The purpose of this publication is to show how the application of GIS is creating positive outcomes in organizations and across society.

The map in question was taken from one of our Mapping Systemic Racism webinars, in which we explored the manifestations and impacts of systemic racism in a congregation in Brooklyn, New York. [click here to view the webinar]. As a result of this webinar, FaithX and our affiliate Datastory were invited to develop a more expansive systemic racism mapping program for the entirety of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island using the powerful demographic–analytic platform MapDash for Faith Communities. 

FaithX can help your congregation or judicatory explore the impact of structural racism in the neighborhoods and communities they serve with a Data-Grounded Systemic Racism Assessment. For more information, contact info@faithx.net.

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FaithX, Datastory, and Long Island: Displacing Systemic Racism with Love and Understanding

By The Rev. Canon Claire Woodley
The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island

The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island has long been working towards addressing the many layers of racism on Long Island over decades and through several Episcopates.  The current Bishop of Long Island, the Rt. Rev. Lawrence Provenzano, has been seeking ways to increase dialogue and action, and to develop the tools to support it. 

Following a diocese-wide plea for congregations and individuals to engage the Sacred Ground series or the Healing from Systemic Racism program during Lent of 2021, Bishop Provenzano realized that the people of the diocese really needed drill down into the specifics of systemic racism here on Long Island, understanding that out of specificity comes creativity, and that if the Diocese could provide its people with easy access to the specific data for their setting, and that of those they love around the Diocese, understanding and creative common work can bloom. But the problem we ran into was that just giving people statistics didn’t cut it. We hear statistics all the time, in isolated bits and pieces that are difficult to put together, since those statistics often come without context or meaning.

It was at this point that we turned to FaithX and Datastory.

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Redevelopment for the Rest of Us!

It wasn’t that long ago when the word “redevelopment” was associated with churches in need… maybe even in peril.  Some of these faith communities sought grants to repurpose buildings left vacuous by membership migration and/or declining interest in church overall.  Some just needed some revitalization and renewal regarding welcoming practices (guest parking, good signage, revamp the nursery for children, train friendly greeters, etc.).  Often there were mass mailings to local zip codes to inform the public about your church and your programming.  Occasionally, there might be some activity in which to invite the community. All of this is/was well-intentioned, but it was based on a false assumption: people are going to be drawn to us and come into our doors, if we do all the right things.

As you know, the culture has been shifting for a long time. In a 2020 Pew research study 65% of adults identified as Christian compared to 85% in 1990. This statistic points to the reality that, like it or not, all churches need to see themselves as perennially redeveloping churches.  Our buildings may be in great shape and our worship and programming sharp, but our spiritual infrastructure, our sense of values, mission, and vision may need a serious overhaul.  Very, very few people are going to come to us because we think they should (and certainly not enough to make up for the attrition of membership due to death and migration away from Christianity).

So what now?  What does redevelopment-for-the-rest-of-us look like in 2021? The answer is so simple… and so hard.  Take a deep breath. Here it comes. To be faithful to our mission, we must re-learn what it means to be a kind and attentive neighbor again.  We must relearn our neighborhoods.  We must know our neighbors and allow them to know us.  How can we know what it means to redevelop our churches for the sake of our neighbors if we don’t know who they are? What if the work of the Spirit and the opportunity we have been praying for, is happening outside the walls of the church, hidden in plain sight, and waiting for our “yes?”

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MapDash & FaithX Testimony – SD Synod

by Pastor Jonathan Steiner
Director for Evangelical Mission and Associate to the Bishop for Stewardship & Outreach
South Dakota Synod, ELCA

This spring we began using MapDash with FaithX as a tool for our ministry.  The South Dakota Synod is the network of roughly 200 Lutheran congregations across the state, and we have a variety of community contexts.

Using these tools has been a blessing for many of our congregations.  The first way we are using them is to help congregations have accurate information about their communities when they are searching for a pastor.  This helps them have a realistic picture of their context as they get started on that process.  We have integrated the infographic and lifestyle index reports as part of our site study.

We have also been using MapDash as a tool for congregations as part of a revitalization strategy.  When I meet with congregations, we ask them to take a couple hours to go through all the information in the reports, but then also dig into other areas of interest that they may have.  A church with a preschool will want to learn more about child care spending and school data, while a church with a feeding ministry will be much more interested in poverty statistics.

Learning about their community doesn’t immediately give the congregation a vision for their future, but it certainly helps them dream about what their call is.  I tell leaders that our call is where the needs of our neighbors meets the blessings we have on hand.  FaithX and MapDash help congregations see what is going on around them, and identify where their gifts are needed.

Finally, these tools help us understand our network of congregations more fully.  Using data about our own congregations, in addition to all the available information from MapDash, we are able to see opportunities in ministry.  Perhaps that area is strong, and we can focus on partnerships, while that area is nearly empty, and so they need to focus on a strong structure in-house.  

We are less than a year into our partnership, but we are excited to partner with FaithX for the MapDash tool.  It has been a blessing to us and our ministries.

Learn More about MapDash for Faith Communities