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Mar 12 2020

A Tale of Two Faith Communities (Vitality-Based Discernment in Action)

by Ken Howard

In our early days of consulting with congregations and dioceses around issues of congregational vitality and sustainability, I had the opportunity to consult with two imperiled congregations: an inner city congregation and a suburban congregation (represented in the above maps on the left and right, respectively). In both cases, our work was pro-bono. In both cases, we were brought in at the request of the bishops and for obvious reasons, will not be identifying the congregations, their dioceses, or their bishops. 

With the exception of their locations – different cities in different dioceses, one in the inner city, one in the near suburbs – both congregations were in very nearly the same condition:

  • Depleted membership: under 50 and falling. 
  • Bare bones attendance: under 25 and falling.
  • Aging out: Few if any children (mostly aging Boomers),
  • Unable to afford a full-time pastor.
  • Majority of revenue from rental income.
  • Majority of operating expenses from a rapidly-decreasing endowment (both said that if they really stretched it they could eke out another 10 years before they went under).
  • Spiking increase in Giving per Household (both congregations were proud of this, but it’s usually a last ditch attempt to stave off the seeming inevitability of closure).

Discussions with imperiled congregations are always fraught with emotion: denial, fear, anger, sorrow, guilt, resentment, and more. This is probably a big reason why, in most cases, congregations and their judicatory leaders avoid talking with each other about it (though both have seen the proverbial “writing on the wall”) until it’s too late to turn things around. And even then, there is a lot of “crap” to cut through, because most imperiled congregations have had a long time (sometimes decades) to come up with great (often blame-ridden) reasons about why the judicator should invest lots of resources to keep them afloat, most of which begin, “If only judicatory would [insert “Hail Mary” solution here].”

One of the great advantages of doing data-grounded Neighborhood Missional Assessment with an interactive, demographic analytical tool like MapDash for Faith Communities is that it cuts through the crap and rapidly facilitates transparent discussions about the vitality and sustainability of the congregation, and mutual discernment and planning around what, if any, strategies might revitalize the congregation.

[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: FaithX Blog, FaithX News, Ministry Development and Redevelopment, Posts by Ken Howard · Tagged: Average Sunday Attendance, Baby boomers, Congregational Sustainability, Congregational Sustainability Index, Congregational Vitality, congregational vitality assessment, Congregational Vitality Index, Endowments, giving, imperiled congregations, judicatories, MapDash for Faith Communities, Membership, millenials, neighborhood missional assessment, Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report, suburban congregation, urban congregation, vitality-based discernment

Mar 05 2020

Why should I pay for MapDash when I can get the same data free? (Hint: You can’t.)

By Ken Howard

We’ve been getting this question a lot these days from our Episcopal clients: 

“Why should I pay for MapDash or Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Reports (NMIRs) when I can get the same data free off the Episcopal Church (TEC) website?”

The short answer is, “You can’t.” While all three are valuable tools for missional decision-making and there is certainly overlap between them, there are differences in the purpose and scope of each. The Know Your Neighborhood (KYN) report, the Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Reports (NMIR), and a subscription to a fully-equipped MapDash for Faith Communities platform each allow the user to ask and answer progressively broader and deeper questions. 

Here is a brief description of each of the above (click here for more detailed descriptions and comparisons):

[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: Books and Resources, FaithX Blog, Ministry Development and Redevelopment, Posts by Ken Howard · Tagged: analytic platform, church demographics, data trends, Demographics, drivetime analysis, infographic report, Know Your Neighborhood, lifestyle data, map-based analysis, MapDash, MapDash for Faith Communities, Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report, the Episcopal Church

Jan 23 2020

Two Missional Intelligence Tools released in January

Two exciting missional intelligence tools were released in January:

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…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: FaithX Blog, FaithX News, Future of Faith, Ministry Development and Redevelopment, Posts by Ken Howard, Topics · Tagged: Demographics, General Convention Office, Know Your Neighborhood, Location Intelligence, MapDash for Faith Communities, Missional Intelligence, Neighborhood, Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Assessment, Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report, Projections, Research and Statistics, strategic missional planning, the Episcopal Church, Trends

Jul 13 2018

Back from EpiscoCon – Pleased with Results

By Ken Howard

Just back from EpiscoCon 2018. In recuperation and digging out mode, as you might imagine, feeling good about our roll out of MapDash for Faith Communities at the Expo. Briefly, here are the “stats”…

Number of Visits

  • More than 200 visitors came by the booth, as calculated by the number of our chocolate “earths” consumed (being by the lunch line helped).
  • 47 people asked for more information or otherwise showed significant interest.
  • 39 of these people were from Episcopal Dioceses (deputies/visitors/staff/etc.).

Organizations Represented

  • 26 of 99 (25%+) dioceses of the Episcopal Church.
  • 9 church-serving organizations (4 Episcopal).
And in the race for the most visitors, Diocese of Texas comes in first with 7, Diocese of Upper South Carolina second with 3, and Dioceses of Massachusetts, Milwaukee, Newark, Virgin Islands third with 2. Go Texas!
If you missed us, don’t worry. Here is some information on our MapDash for Faith Communities tool and our Mentored Missional Journey consulting program.
For more information or a customized demo, contact Ken Howard at ken@faithx.net.

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: FaithX Blog, Ministry Development and Redevelopment, Posts by Ken Howard, Topics · Tagged: 2018 General Convention, EpiscoCon, MapDash, MapDash for Faith Communities

Apr 12 2018

Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome – Part 2

by Ken Howard


Today’s post is the second of a multipart series on Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome
Click here for last week’s post


Last week we began a discussion of Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome (or E.A.S.):  an emerging, infectious, but poorly understood pathology afflicting an increasing number of churches. E.A.S. occurs when the body of the Church turns against its own, perceiving healthy agents of corrective change as threat to “the way things are” and activates the organizational immune system, which then expels those threats from the organizational body. Like its human namesake, Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome drives churches to screen out of their leadership and its followership the very people who could bring life-giving, health-renewing change, while screening in those less likely to bring the discomfort that change – especially healthy change – inevitably brings with it. E.A.S. is slow-moving and almost unnoticeable, but is very frequently a systemic slide into death. The result of untreated E.A.S. is a church that would rather die than change

But what are the signs and symptoms of Ecclesiastical Autoimmune Syndrome and how do we learn to spot it before it becomes terminal?

Perhaps it would help to share some real life examples of how E.A.S. functions in various church organizations and processes.

[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: FaithX Blog, Future of Faith, Ministry Development and Redevelopment, Posts by Ken Howard · Tagged: church, Commission on Ministry, ecclesiastical autoimmune syndrome, ministry discernment, organizational culture

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