Big picture: When TryTank Experimental Lab launched on Jan 1, 2019, who could have predicted what the next few years would bring to the world and the church? As a joint venture between two seminaries, TryTank itself is an experiment in working together.
There have been some successes (Alexa skill, Latino Ministry in a Box, video action alerts, evangelism events, the virtual preaching monks, and more!), and some failures (spin church, “drunk bible,” cleaning monks,  prayer puppets, and more!). 
Why it matters: Being able to own successes and failures hopefully allows TryTank to model how to be the church in the world today.
Here are some of the highlights of our 2021:

• Presented webinars on leadership, becoming a hybrid congregation, mission clarity, cultural intelligence, foresight for the church, and faith in the future.
  
• Began experimenting with creating a church in the metaverse and worked with the Diocese of Washington on a digital confirmation program.
  
• Together with the office of Latino Ministries, began to roll out Latino Ministry in a Box. Also began the work of launching La Misa in English experiment in three dioceses. 
  
• Gathered about 5,000 responses to the Covid 19-Church 21 Impactsurvey and registered more than 1,000 volunteers for the upcoming Episcopal Pulse micro-surveys.
  
• Began in-person work to re-imagine youth ministry by holding a design thinking workshop with youth.
  
• The Blessing of the Animals evangelism experiment had 15 congregations participate. One congregation (with 60 ASA) had 50 new neighbors stop by. One congregation even had a spontaneous baptism! 
  

What's next: The strategic priorities for TryTank in 2022 are:

• Latino ministry
  
• Smaller congregations
  
• Youth and Young Adults
  

The bottom line: We still have many ideas and energy to try them!

What's next: Next Friday is the premiere of the latest Faith in the Future conversation. Noted futurist Bob Johansen, a distinguished fellow with the Institute for the Future, will join a small audience from around the church to imagine the church in the metaverse.
Go deeper: Our guests will be joined by an expert on Teilhard de Chardin, philosopher, theologian, and priest, who will help us compare the metaverse to de Chardin’s concept of the divine milieu and the noosphere.
Yes, but: Other practical voices will join the discussion to assess the implication for the church at large…especially those who are at the margins and may lack access to technology.
To view the conservation when made available on January 14, click HERE.

Here’s an update on the evangelism theater experiment. The experiment — which was delayed because of Covid-19 — aimed to create a theatrical experience in a church that members could invite their friends for a night of fun.
Why it matters:  We know that people have no problem inviting a friend to the theater but aren’t as likely to invite someone to join them at church. We wondered what would happen if we made theater at the church. 
By the numbers: The show (Baking with Bertha) took place on Friday, Dec 10 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in the Carondelet neighborhood of St. Louis, Mo. The goal was to get church members to invite their friends. And they did!

• The rector reports that some 2/3 of the audience that night were friends invited by church members to attend.
  
• Four visiting guests filled out “more information” cards at the event.
  
• One new family was present the following Sunday to worship with the congregation.
  

The bottom line: The experiment worked, showing that if a congregation offers something for members to invite their friends, they will.

Here’s an update from the Rev. Ken Kroohs, the experiment manager for the Blessing of the Animals (BOTA) experiment, which led ( ➡️) to the Involving New Friends After Christmas (INFACT) experiment:
BOTA:  Over 400 new people connected with nine participating congregations through the Blessing of the Animals! 

• Conclusion – people are willing to take a small step in our direction if we make it easy, they feel safe, and it is about a topic of their interest.
  
• Many other people did not attend but got to know these churches. 
  
• We don’t yet have good numbers on how many people are staying in contact. 
  

INFACT: Involving New Friends at Christmas Time has been successful both in immediate results and teaching us how best to proceed. 

• Even with COVID, several churches reported meeting new people electronically or in person. 
  
• Interestingly, the Blue Christmas services generated the most interest. 
  

What's next: We have seen great results from experiments focused on reaching out to new people—many people connected with various churches. 

• Along the way, we learned some lessons about what works and what falls flat on its face! 
  
• So, we will take those lessons and re-design the process to focus on the time from now to Easter. 
  
• Our goal is to connect with new people with the intention that some will be our Friends at Pentecost (F@P). That does not necessarily mean attending services. It means we are building a relationship with them. 
  

If you would like to join us in this work, let us know HERE.  

Big picture: If you ask, most clergy will tell you that the bulletin takes a few hours of their time each week. We asked, what if they had that time back?
We created a Spanish-language missalette that included the Eucharist from the Libro de Oracion Comun (Book of Common Prayer). 

• It is called, El Librito de la Misa Episcopal.
  

• We offered it for free to congregations in exchange for their response to our evaluation survey. Before too long, all 10,000 copies were spoken for. 
  

For TEC dioceses in other countries, we had a certain number of copies made in-country. 

Big picture: When the Virtual Preaching Monks experiment was launched last month, TryTank expected a few dozen congregations to take part. Instead, as of this writing, 460 congregations have signed up to use this resource, representing more than 22,000 people on an average Sunday.
What's next: Based on this success, the monks from the Society of Saint John the Evangelist have committed to offering a similar resource during Lent. They will cover:

• Ash Wednesday
  
• The Sundays in Lent
  
• Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday
  
• Good Friday
  
• The Great Vigil/Easter Day.
  

The bottom line: To stay informed about this and other resources offered for smaller congregations, be sure to sign up HERE.

Big picture: With the support of TryTank, HeartEdge USA is forming a peer-learning cohort in support of the HeartEdge model of congregational renewal.
Go deeper: This small group is for those ready to begin experimenting with a group of other excited leaders while learning from each other. The cohort will meet have 9 monthly meetings over a year facilitated by a mentor and will be a place for:

• incubation of ideas
  
• implementation
  
• accountability
  
• and reflection on lessons learned
  

The bottom line: To quickly implement and advance the HeartEdge approach in your congregation, join this cohort. TryTank is covering the expenses, but space is limited, so click HERE to apply today. 

What's next: In January, noted futurist Bob Johansen, a distinguished fellow with the Institute for the Future, will join a small audience from around the church to imagine the church in the metaverse.
Go deeper: Our guests will be joined by an expert on philosopher, theologian, and priest, Teilhard de Chardin who will help us compare the metaverse to de Chardin’s concept of the divine milieu and the noosphere.
Yes, but: Other practical voices will join the discussion to assess the implication for the church at large, especially those who are at the margins and may lack access to technology.
To view the conservation when it’s made available on January 14, click HERE.

Big picture: Part of TryTank’s work relates to foresight, the ability to spot signals and drivers of change to then develop plausible futures.
Go deeper: Think of a driver of change as a big wave.

• It will be seen and it will move things in a certain direction.
  
• In the mid-1990s, for example, the internet was that wave.
  

A signal is a real vision of the future today.

• Using the wave analogy, a signal would be a surfer on the wave.
  
• In the mid-1990s, the signal would be a little start-up called Amazon. When you first saw it you asked, “is that the future of how we’ll buy books?”
  

Why it matters: As you look out into the world today, what are some signals of the future, especially of the church?
Where have you seen the church of the future today? If you have some answers, let us know HERE. 

Here’s an update from the Rev. Ken Howard, the experiment manager for Episcopal Pulse: “We have made significant progress toward the 2022 kick-off of the Episcopal Pulse Experiment:

• Recruiting Volunteer Survey Respondents: 1,037 people have committed to responding to our regular micro-surveys within 24 hours at a frequency of at least once per week over a 6-9 month period.
  
• Recruiting an Advisory Panel: 15 people have agreed to serve on our advisory panel, making recommendations for survey themes and questions.  
  
• Representative Diversity: Both groups were selected with the intention of creating a representative cross-section of the denomination.
  
• Kick-Off Date: We expect the first surveys to go out in early January.”
  
  

Here’s an update from the Rev. Ken Kroohs, the experiment manager for the Christmas Evangelism: “It’s going great!  The churches’ enthusiasm, energy, and commitment are inspiring and contiguous!

• This experiment’s goal is to build long-term relationships with new people that can make true evangelism possible.
  
• The 30 participating congregations are being provided with resources and training.  For example, they received a list of possible social media posts each week.
  
• They received training on using Facebook ads as well as 9 non-social media outreach techniques.
  
• The final, and most important phase is communicating with a new person once they have shared their contact information. 
  

Our thought bubble: If you would like access to the resources let us know HERE.  

Big picture: Last year, we wondered how we could bring Christian formation closer to home. Our solution, and then experiment, was to create a Christian version of Sesame Street. And thus were born the Prayer Puppets.
We created three episodes and tested them on a streaming platform where the conversion rate (from those who landed on the website to subscribe for a dollar) was around 8% which is very high.
The bottom line: We figured if people were willing to pay to subscribe, they’d be even more likely to subscribe to a free YouTube channel. We were wrong. Of some 29,000 times that our 15-second ad was seen only 43 subscribed.
What's next: So now this experiment is stuck. Here is the question: what would you do with the Prayer Puppets? Click HERE to submit your ideas.

Big picture: TryTank is looking for ten active members of the clergy to be interviewed about professional and executive education for clergy. 
Why it matters:  In an ever-changing world, clergy are often called to take on tasks that they were not trained for in seminary. At the same time, there is new learning about leadership, finance, and other fields that affect ministry.
Go deeper: Selected participants will commit to a 20-30 minute interview. For their time, you will receive a $25 Amazon gift card. 
To apply to be a participant, send us an email and you’ll hear from us soon.