Innovation Lab
Helping your ministry become more effective
Who we are
The Innovation Lab exists because, like you, we recognize a common problem: Traditional models of Christian ministry no longer effectively invite people into a deeper relationship with God’s love and their community. But attempts to innovate in ministry too often center around shiny, new ideas. Faithful innovation requires much more than a good idea.
We believe innovation isn’t synonymous with “new” or “cutting edge.” Instead, it emerges at the intersection of a faith community’s mission, a community’s assets, and a community’s needs, and must be led by the Holy Spirit.
We’re a group of ministry leaders with decades of experience in pastoral ministry, youth ministry, new church development, faith formation, and academia. We help leaders like you develop transformational ministry models by bringing design thinking into conversation with theological reflection and asset-based community development. We share what we’re learning by developing curricula and resources, facilitating cohorts, and offering consulting and training events.
Changing how faith communities develop ministry
New Perspectives
Asking deep questions leads to new insights about your community, theology, and the role of ministry. Lab participants can expect to unearth assumptions and explore new territory through the Theological Innovation Process.
Journey With Others
Successful innovation is never a solo endeavor. Whether you engage in one of our events or a multi-month Lab cohort, participants are invited into a community that’s breaking out of the molds of ministry as we know it. You’ll experience encouragement, support, and coaching from Lab staff and peers pushing on similar boundaries.
Opportunities To Practice
Innovating is an invitation to fail, and we think that’s a transformative thing. Lab participants receive resources for how to develop innovative ministries and guided opportunities to practice actually doing the work. Innovation in your community is heavily contextual so opportunities to test and evaluate new ideas is critical.
Cultivate Empathy
Many ministries fail because they don’t create meaning in people’s daily lives. Lab participants are guided to ask empathetic questions, avoid easy answers and dream BIG about what is possible in your community. You’ll be led to identify how God is already at work and what innovations could help transform lives.
Is your faith community’s culture fertile ground for innovation?
To borrow a metaphor from Jesus and gardening, a faith community’s organizational culture is the soil into which an innovative seed is planted. Faith communities need to tend the soil before they’re able to enact change effectively. Doing so greatly increases the likelihood an innovative ministry will take root.
And yet, organizational culture is often overlooked in the context of ministry innovation. The Lab’s Innovation Culture Index (ICI) is a self-diagnostic questionnaire that measures a faith community’s outlook and attitude in nine key areas that impact the ability to innovate. The ICI also includes a group discussion package to debrief scores and strategize appropriate next steps.
This tool can be used in a variety of settings:
- Individual faith communities and faith-based non-profits: Use the ICI in your individual ministry setting to self-assess the organizational culture and its impact on innovation.
- Denominational bodies: Use the ICI with churches and leaders in your region. The Lab staff is available to facilitate training and workshops and offer coaching to faith communities.
- Seminaries and universities: Train seminarians and ministry students on the impacts of a faith community’s culture on efforts to innovate and the ICI’s nine indicators for measuring innovative potential. This is a critical area of knowledge for emerging ministry leaders! The Lab staff is available to create custom training sessions for your context and needs.
Other opportunities: The ICI can be licensed for use with multiple churches or organizations. The Lab staff is available to facilitate ICI debrief conversations, offer coaching, and lead other training opportunities adapted for your context. Email us at innovation@cymt.org to discuss how we might collaborate.
“The ICI is a fantastic—and fun—way to launch a conversation about organizational change. It has been an essential tool for the churches we work with who are exploring new ways to approach ministry in a post-Covid landscape. I recommend it constantly!”
Kenda Creasy Dean, Mary D. Synnott Professor of Youth, Church and Culture, Princeton Theological Seminary and co-founder, Ministry Incubators
“Our work with the Innovation Culture Index helped us unearth essential truths about our staff’s and congregation’s relationships with risk, relationships, and motivation, rather than follow our biased perceptions. Although our points of view and experiences differ, our staff is equipped with common language that frees us to share more safely and vulnerably. Assumptions about who we are as a staff and as a church body have given way to both encouraging and humbling realities. We’ve discovered that our eagerness to innovate must be met with a willingness to embrace the beauties and challenges of inevitable failure. ”
Mark Bogart, Director of Youth Ministry, Memorial Drive United Methodist Church
Theological Innovation Process
Research and design firms all over the world illustrate that innovation happens best through a planned process. We bring together design thinking, practical theology, and asset-based community development. Our Theological Innovation Process has five phases:
Innovation Resources
The Hope of Innovation
A Research Report Identifying the Needs of Diverse Ministry Leaders and the Communities They Serve The Lab conducted research earlier this year to hear directly from leaders about their joys and challenges in ministry. And we’d like to share that research with you! We anticipate you’ll find points of resonance with the experiences of the 76 ministry leaders we interviewed.
Understanding Your Context: Community Interviews
Community Interviews to Cultivate Empathy
Learning what is happening in people’s lives leads to greater empathy and awareness about how a church or organization
could help bring about meaningful transformation.Use this guide to hear about the needs of those in your community.
