The FaithX Project

Strategic Missional Consulting

About Ken Howard

Two Missional Intelligence Tools set for release in January

Two exciting missional intelligence tools are scheduled for release this month:

Know Your Neighborhood (KYN), an online research tool deployed by Datastory for the General Convention Office of the Episcopal Church, will provide Episcopal congregations across the U.S an interactive snapshot of key congregational and neighborhood data. It will be available at no cost through the Research and Statistics page of Episcopal Church website (read official TEC press release).

Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report (NMIR) version 1.1), developed by Datastory in collaboration with FaithX, is the next generation of an in depth, interactive, infographic report describing neighborhood demographic/lifestyle data and trends. It will be available to users who subscribe to MapDash for Faith Communities, and as part of Neighborhood Missional Assessments and other consultative services provided by FaithX (TEC’s Convention Office has negotiated discounts for NMIRs and other FaithX services accessed through the Know Your Neighborhood portal).

What’s the Difference?

Both the Know Your Neighborhood Report (accessed through the Research and Statistic portal)and the Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report (part of MapDash for Faith Communities) are valuable tools to support strategic decisions.

Know Your Neighborhood provides users with a broad understanding of their community.

The Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report, when used as part of MapDash (optionally coupled with analytic and consultative services), empowers faith leaders with the ability to ask an answer questions at both a broader and deeper level.

[Read more…]

Ten Things Churches Could Learn from Starbucks (Hint: It’s not about making coffee)

Editor’s Note:
This article was written at the Kingsview Village Starbucks.

By Ken Howard

Churches could learn a few things from Starbucks…

Starbucks is one of those places that, even if you don’t go there, you know it’s the place to go.

It’s the number one coffee shop in the United States, maybe even in the world. It’s almost like Starbucks was selling something addictive…

They are, of course. Starbucks sells coffee, which contains the drug caffeine. But as far as we know, Starbucks coffee contains no more of the drug than the coffee sold at it’s two biggest coffee competitors, McDonalds or Dunkin’ Donuts. Starbucks doesn’t even sell better coffee, regularly coming in #3 behind McD and DD in blind taste tests.

It’s not about advertising, either. Starbucks hardly does any, compared to its competitors. You won’t find the Starbucks mermaid popping up on your TV next to the words “I’m lovin’ it.” Nor will you find a single billboard proclaiming, “America runs on Starbucks.”

So if it’s not about better coffee, stronger caffeine, or better advertising, what is it? Why are so many people addicted to Starbucks? If you ask the Starbucks CEO, he’ll tell you. It’s not about making better coffee but about the Starbuck’s experience. Starbucks knows how to create an experience and provide a sense of community that fill a deep-down need.

So let’s ask the real question, “Why are so many people addicted to the Starbuck’s experience?”

[Read more…]

Something Old? Something New? What Kind of Congregation Benefits Most from Neighborhood Missional Assessment

by Ken Howard

Earlier this year at a conference, I gave a presentation on Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Assessment. When the time came for Q&A, one of the participants posed this question:

“I can see how neighborhood missional assessment would be good for new start congregations and congregations looking to relocate, but how is it helpful for existing congregations that have been around long enough to form a deeper understanding of their neighborhood?”

I get this question (or variations thereof) more often than one might think. 

My smarty-pants Anglican answer goes something like this:

“If you’re asking me if neighborhood missional assessment is most useful for new congregations or existing congregations, the answer is ‘Yes!’”

[Read more…]

Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood? From Market Analytics to Missional Context Reports

This post is the last of a seven post series on MapDash Analytics

by Ken Howard

One of the many features of MapDash for Faith Communities that makes it unique among other faith-based demographic tools is an analytic report that we call a Missional Context ReportTM. MCRs were developed by FaithX as a way for faith leaders at the congregations and judicatory level to better understand the lifestyles of the people in their neighborhoods in order to better engage them. 

MCRs are one-page reports that translate market segmentation data into ten areas of key information and practical programmatic and ministry opportunities that congregations can use to better target their engagement strategies to the unique lifestyles of the dominant population segment in each of the neighborhoods that form the community they serve. These areas are:

  1. Communications and Technology
  2. Education and Formation
  3. Hospitality and Fellowship
  4. Leadership/Doership Skill Set
  5. Midweek Involvement
  6. Neighborhood Characteristics and Issues
  7. Outreach Opportunities 
  8. Stewardship and Finance
  9. Theological/Political Orientation
  10. Worship

You can find a sample MCR here

[Read more…]

Directional Indicators and Discernment Starters: Congregational Vitality and Sustainability Trend Indexes

By Ken Howard

(This is the fourth of eight articles on MapDash for Faith Communities Analytics)

Two of the most asked questions about analytics provided by MapDash for Faith Communities are about the Congregational Vitality Index (CVI) and the Congregational Sustainability Index (CSI). Both are powerful analytic tools if used wisely. The purpose of this article is to help MapDash users properly understand these tools, so they can interpret them appropriately and apply them effectively.

What They Are and What They Aren’t

CVI and CSI are not assessments. Assessments are direct, graded, criterion-referenced measurements that provide objective answers at a point in time. They make judgements based on facts that either inform or imply what the decision maker should do about it. Example (sailing): Is your boat currently leaking? If yes, fix the leak. If no, good to go.

CVI and CSI are indexes. Indexes are a collection of indicators that sample and describe the relative overall direction of factors that are correlated with a particular concern and may be predictive of it, but do not measure the concern directly. They describe a trend and let the user discern what the trend means and what to do about it by filtering insights through the organizations vision, mission, commitments, resources, etc. Example (sailing): If you continue to sail in the direction you have been, are you heading shoreward or toward the open sea? If you mean to sail across the ocean blue, go on with your bad self. If not, better tack toward the shore.

[Read more…]

Subscribe