The FaithX Project

Strategic Missional Consulting

A Great Big “Thank You!” to Our Beta Testers

The purpose of this blog post is to offer a Great Big “Thank You!” to the Dioceses, Diocesan Beta Coordinators, and Congregational Beta Users, whose assistance was invaluable in shaping MapDash for Faith Communities into the great missional tool it has become.

We gratefully acknowledge the five Episcopal Dioceses that agreed to be beta test sites for the Congregational Version of MapDash for Faith Communities, and the diocesan staffers who help coordinate the beta sites in their dioceses: Diocese of Maryland (Canon Scott Slater), Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast (Canon Kammy Young), Diocese of Georgia (“Loose” Canon Frank Logue), Diocese of Oklahoma (Susan Brown Snook), and Diocese of Pennsylvania (Canon Kirk Berlenbach and his team). Scroll down for a list of participating congregations by dioceses.

We offer special thanks to Diocese of Maryland, which with Bishop Eugene Sutton’s support took part not only in prototyping, alpha-testing, and beta-testing the Congregational Version, but also worked closely with us in developing the Executive (Diocesan Level) diagnostic map layers for Congregational Vitality, Congregational Sustainability, and Missional Opportunity. Canon Slater’s assistance in gaining us wide access to the congregations and leaders of Patapsco Valley Region was invaluable

Special thanks also go to Canon Young of Central Gulf Coast, who put many hours into reviewing and providing constructive feedback the Beta User Guide, worked with Bishop Russell Kendrick to bring me in to pilot test our training at their annual Discipleship Day, and worked with Canon Frank Logue of Georgia to develop a regional grant to train diocesan staff in Central Gulf Coast and Georgia to use MapDash for evangelism planning. And a special shout-out to Canon Kirk Berlenbach and his team for going the extra mile (literally) to help us identify and stamp out bugs.

Finally, our giving of thanks would not be complete without recognizing the role played by the Episcopal Church, specifically that of the Rev. Tom Brackett, member Presiding Bishop’s Staff and Manager for Church Planting and Mission Development, who support and encouragement helped us stay faithful, focused, and forward moving through the year and a half developmental journey. Tom, you are a saint!

 

Blessings and thanks to everyone!
Ken+
The Rev. Ken Howard
Executive director of FaithX
Co-creator of MapDash for Faith Communities

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MapDash™ for Faith Communities to Go “Live” at TEC Convention Expo

Work continues apace to ready MapDash™ for Faith Communities for its public debut at the Weekend Expo at the Episcopal Church’s triennial General Convention.

MapDash™ for Faith Communities is an interactive, data-grounded, map-based tool for missional analysis and planning. It was developed by Datastory Consulting, in collaboration with The FaithX Project, and beta tested by diocesan and congregational leaders in five Episcopal Dioceses.

MapDash™ for Faith Communities enables dioceses to assess congregational health, identify missional opportunities, and promote collaboration among congregations. It gives congregations the capacity to better understand and engage the neighborhoods they are called to serve. And it empowers faith leaders at all levels to make better and faster decisions with objective data that augments natural intuition and wisdom.

MapDash™ for Faith Communities will be available on a subscription basis, primarily through dioceses and other judicatories. The standard bundle will include five dashboards: one Executive Dashboard and four Congregational Dashboards:

  • The Congregational Dashboards will allow congregational leaders to define their neighborhood in different ways, then select data maps that will help them understand their neighborhoods’ population characteristics, community issues, and community resources.
  • The Executive Dashboard is built on top of the Congregational platform and includes all of its features, plus important additional diagnostic features: a Congregational Health Assessment map layer and a Missional Opportunities map layer.

Our work on the Congregational Dashboard is nearly complete, with about a week left in our final beta test.

We have a little more work on the Executive Dashboard. The Congregational Health Assessment is a little over a week away from completing beta testing, while a couple of weeks remain to complete the Missional Opportunities map layer.

So if you are planning to attend the 2018 General Convention, come by, visit us, and get a demo at booth #837.

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