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Strategic Missional Consulting

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Jan 02 2020

Looking Back on 2019

by Ken Howard

2019 was a good year for FaithX. It had its ups and downs – a rollercoaster ride, for sure, at times – but all-in-all, both despite and because of it all, we came through 2019 much stronger, with a clearer vision of who we are and where we are going, and with many successes to energize us. 

We’ve come a long way since we launched in December of 2016. Back then it was just me as FaithX’s executive director/principal (and only) consultant, a 4-person volunteer board of directors, and one client, the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and its two newest congregations. 

Over the next two years, we would establish our affiliation with Datastory, collaborate with them to prototype, develop, beta test, and launch the next-generation demographic analysis and missional planning platform, which would become known as MapDash for Faith Communities, added about a dozen clients, two associate consultants, a blog coordinator, a volunteer research director, and publish a ground-breaking research paper entitled “The Religion Singularity.” 

In 2019 we broadened our reach even further. We expanded our work not only into more Episcopal dioceses, congregations, and organizations, but more importantly, branching out into more than five additional “denominations” (i.e., including the non-denominational movement), and have begun discussions with interfaith and non-Christian faith traditions. We launched a new peer-reviewed journal about religion and ministry. We worked with Datastory to develop and launch the new Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report, and we designed the consultative Neighborhood Missional Assessment program to help congregations identify emerging missional opportunities and challenges in the neighborhoods they serve. 

And so I’d like to offer my appreciation to all of those who have joined FaithX on our experimental missional journey through the end of religion as we know it into the future of faith in whatever form God is calling it into being…

[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: FaithX Blog, Posts by Ken Howard · Tagged: Congregational Sustainability Index, Congregational Vitality Index, Darren Slade, datastory, Datastory Consulting, Diocese of Georgia, Episcopal Diocese of Central Gulf Coast, Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma, Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, faithx, FaithXperimental Blog, MapDash for Faith Communities, Mary Frances, Matt Felton, missional opportunity index, Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Assessment, Neighborhood Missional Intelligence Report, Steve Matthews, the Episcopal Church, the religion singularity, The Roman Catholic Church, Tom Brackett, Year In Review

Jan 04 2019

Engaging the New Year

By Ken Howard

At FaithX, we are looking forward to engaging 2019 and we hope you are, too!

Our plans include:

Our FaithXperimental blog will include articles on:

  • Missional Engagement. Best practices for identifying engaging missional opportunities as they arise.
  • Mission Development and Redevelopment. Strategies for redeveloping existing congregations and planting new congregations, and how to know when each is appropriate.
  • Congregational Vitality and Sustainability. Articles on how to assess the health and long-term sustainability of congregations, and what to do about it.
  • Innovative and Experimental Faith Communities. We will be continuing our “Spotlight” articles, shining a light on more innovative and experimental faith communities, strategies, and ministries. If you would like to suggest a Spotlight article on your faith community or ministry, click here.
  • Contributions by Guest Bloggers. To let us know if you would like to be an occasional FaithXperimental contributor, click here.
[Read more…]

Written by Ken Howard · Categorized: FaithX Blog, Posts by Ken Howard · Tagged: Congregational Sustainability, Congregational Vitality, congregational vitality assessment, Doctoral Degree, ELCA, Episcopal Church Foundation, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, experimental faith communities, FaithXperimental Blog, guest bloggers, Liberty University, MapDash for Faith Communities, missio:Engage, mission development and redevelopment, Multi-Site Congregations, SHERM, SHERM Journal, Socio-Historical Study of Religion, strategic missional consulting, the Episcopal Church, The Roman Catholic Church, UMC, United Methodist Church

Dec 06 2018

FaithX Research – Vital Congregations Report 2018 just released

FaithX follows research relevant to those experimenting with new ways of organizing and being faith communities. When we find relevant research, we curate it here on the FaithXperimental blog and provide a link to download the full publication. We also post it on the Research section of the FaithX website.

The latest research of interest is the Vital Congregations Report – 2018, authored by Linda Bobbitt and published by the Congregational Vitality Project of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Here is the research abstract:

What does a congregation mean when they describe themselves as spiritually vital? How does a congregation become vital? What is the relationship between vitality and sustainability? Does the answer depend on the faith tradition? This study asked leaders from 10 different faith traditions to answer these questions. We found remarkable similarities across all traditions while also discovering the unique perspectives of each. Their answers illustrate distinct understandings about the way people interact with God and different perspectives of God’s promise of hope for the world.

Click here to download the Congregational Vitality Report and explore these answers.

[Read more…]

Written by Mary Beth Howard · Categorized: FaithX Blog, Posts by Ken Howard, Research · Tagged: Congregational Vitality, Congregational Vitality Project, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, FaithXperimental Blog, Orthodox Christian Church, research, Synagogue Vitality, United Church of Christ Vitality, Vital Congregations Report

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