The FaithX Project

Strategic Missional Consulting

Vitality Improvement Program Accepting Applications… What is vitality anyway?

By now, we hope that you have heard the exciting news! The FaithX Project is now accepting applications for our Vitality Improvement Program for Small Congregations (VIP).  VIP is a 3-year program designed specifically to provide reduced-cost resources, coaching, and consultation to small Episcopal congregations through their dioceses that will allow congregations to assess their vitality and sustainability, then develop effective vitality and sustainability improvement strategies by better engaging the neighborhoods they serve.

What do we mean when we talk about vitality?  While the term has been bandied about a lot recently in terms of congregational health, we have some very specific ideas about it.  We will be helping congregations address 10 key areas of congregational life: 

Vision, Mission and Discernment
Lay Engagement and Empowerment 
Context Awareness and Inclusion
Change Readiness
Dealing with Differences
Spiritual Life and Worship
Formation, Education, and Training
Outreach
Leadership and Organization.
Stewardship

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VIP for Small Congregations Now Accepting Applications

By The Rev. Ken Howard
Executive Director, The FaithX Project

Are you interested in helping the small congregations in your diocese thrive like never before?

Do you want to discern how your small congregations can become sustainable for years to come?

Would your small congregations benefit from research-grounded, state-of-the-art vitality assessment tools and consulting worth tens of thousands of dollars for a small fraction of the typical cost?

The FaithX Project is pleased to announce that our Vitality Improvement Program for Small Congregations (VIP) is now accepting applications.* VIP is a 3-year program designed specifically to provide reduced-cost consultation and training to cohorts of small Episcopal congregations (approx. 30-70 ASA) and their dioceses that will allow congregations to assess and develop strategies to improve their vitality and sustainability with the assistance of their dioceses, who will apply for the program on behalf of themselves and 7-10 small congregations. Five dioceses will be accepted for admission to this year’s program.

Click here to access our Online Application Packet

This Application Packet includes all the materials necessary to apply for acceptance into the program, including: 

  • Overview
  • Timeline
  • Roles and Responsibilities
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
  • Definitions
  • Diocesan Application Form (please read the other documents before completing). 

This is a 3-step process: 

  1. Diocese submits a Diocesan Application Form to FaithX (by 8/30/22). 
  2. FaithX reviews applications, and selects and notifies the 5 dioceses selected to participate in the program (by 9/19/22).
  3. FaithX meets with diocesan leadership to begin the process of recruiting a project team and selecting 7-10 congregations with an ASA between 30-50 and are likely to benefit from the program (10/5/22 2:00-4:30pm ET on Zoom).

We would like to express our immense gratitude to Trinity Wall Street Philanthropies for awarding FaithX a leadership grant that made our VIP for Small Congregations project possible. Other financial and/or in-kind supporters include: Datastory, Episcopal Church Foundation, and the FaithX VIP Scholarship Fund.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@faithx.net.

Click here to access our Online Application Packet

Response Strong to FaithX Small Congregation Vitality Program

Funded by a grant from Trinity Wall Street Philanthropies

By The Rev Ken Howard, Executive Director

Last week The FaithX Project proudly announced its Vitality Improvement Program for Small Congregations, made possible by a generous grant from Trinity Wall Street Philanthropies (a program of Trinity Wall Street Episcopal Church) to create a Vitality Improvement Program for Small Congregations (V.I.P.).

By the end of this posting, 22 Episcopal dioceses or their congregations had emailed us requesting application forms when we kick off the program in July.

Needless to say, we are gratified by the interest our announcement has generated.

Apparently, we hit some kind of nail on the proverbial head.

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FaithX Receives Grant Award from Trinity Wall Street for Small Church Vitality Improvement Program

By The Rev Ken Howard, Executive Director

We are excited to announce that The FaithX Project has been approved for a grant from Trinity Wall Street Philanthropies* to create a Vitality Improvement Program for Small Congregations.

Today’s congregations exist at a pivotal point in the history of the church, an existential crisis of accelerating change and deepening uncertainty driven by forces both inside and outside the church. We believe that congregational vitality is the defining issue for the church in this generation, if not this century, and that congregations – especially small congregations – and their judicatories are rapidly becoming unsustainable in their current forms. Only those with a clear vision, who ground their discernment in data about themselves and the communities they serve, and who are willing to take the risk of experimenting with new ways of being and doing church will survive and thrive in these challenging times. 

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