St. Nicholas Episcopal Church adopted Lean startup principles to revitalize the church over 20 years ago without realizing it. The church leader, Ken Howard, describes how the church acted like a startup by developing a Minimum Viable Belief, creating an entrepreneurial culture open to experiments, rapidly testing assumptions through small prototypes, eliminating waste, and measuring engagement. The church was able to thrive by appropriating strategies from startups even before Lean methodology was popularized.

1. Stealing from
Startups
A Church Goes Lean
by
Ken Howard
St. Nicholas Episcopal Church
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2. Lean goes to church? Who knew?
(I didn’t)
6 months ago, I didn’t know from “Lean.”
My son, the CEO of a Tech Startup (@EmissaryMed),
was attending a “Lean Startup” program.
A participant asked,
“I wonder if anyone has ever tried this in churches?
Son replied,
“I don’t know if he’s read the book,
but my dad’s been doing this for the last 18 years.”
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3. Lean before lean was cool
20 years ago
Left successful consulting practice
Became Episcopal priest
1st solo call – start new church
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4. Lean before lean was cool
1st in D.C. diocese in decades
No experts
Didn’t know what we were doing
Plethora of Assumptions
Paucity of knowledge
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5. To Boldly Go…
Blessing of our diocese (sort of).
Enough funding to hang ourselves.
Enough freedom to do it.
So Naïve…which turned out to be a good thing.
“Anything is possible
when you don’t know what you’re taking about!”
Set us on the path to creative thievery.
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6. Stealing from Startups
Appropriate → Apply
↑ (repeat as needed) ↓
Adapt ← Assess
Realized we were a startup
Started acting like one
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7. Stealing from Startups
Six Strategies
Minimum Viable Product
Creating an Entrepreneurial Culture
Testing Assumptions
Rapid Prototyping
Eliminating Waste
Measuring What Matters
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8. MVP=Minimum Viable Belief?
"Eleven o'clock on Sunday morning is the most
segregated hour of America.“ – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Not just race, but ethnicity, culture, politics, theology
(unity in uniformity )
The broader the set of beliefs required for membership,
the more like a church is to splinter.
People faced with false choice: Community vs. Integrity.
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9. MVP=Minimum Viable Belief?
Back to Basics: a Minimum Viable Belief.
God’s love is transformative.
The only sufficient grounds for Christian unity
is the love of Christ
(everything else is secondary)
A Simple Vision
To be a place where people can experience God’s love
and be transformed by it.
“A Place to Belong! A Place to Become!”
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10. Entrepreneurial Culture
How many church leaders
does it take to change a light bulb?
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11. Entrepreneurial Culture
Tradition vs. Traditionalism
Tradition Respects Time-Tested Learning
(don’t re-invent the shoe lace every morning)
Traditionalism Worships Traditions
(failure to learn/adapt  death/extinction)
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12. Entrepreneurial Culture
Couldn’t afford traditionalism
Vision-driven culture
Experiments within Tradition
Failure is not an option!
(It’s standard equipment)
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13. Testing Assumptions
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Inscription at the entrance to the Bishop Payne Library
Virginia Theological Seminary

14. Testing Assumptions
What?
(our ministries and programs)
How?
(our organization and process)
Why?
(our reason to exist)
If we don’t know why, it’s okay to let it die…
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15. Testing Assumptions
Especially
WHO
Getting Outside the Building
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16. Rapid Iteration Prototyping
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ADAPT
or Create
or Creatively Steal
APPLY
Seasonal Experiment
ASSESS
Our Assumptions
Small
Scale
Trial
Feedback
Tweak
or
Toss

17. Eliminating Waste
Stewarding Our Human Assets
Time Reducing Permissions
(green light bulbs)
Energy Seeking Synergies
(ministries-teams-programs-populations)
Effort Stop Pursuing Perfection
(80% & leave the rest for God)
Gifts/Skills Positions for People
(don’t square the circle)
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18. Measuring What Matters
Quantifying Increasing Engagement
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Leader
Community
Guest
Inquirer
Regular
Engaged

19. Startups Steal from Churches?
Churches are great at creating community. How?
Vision
• Clear, positive, aspirational message inspires diverse individuals to
work together to achieve complex foals for $0 salary.
• How might we inspire that in employees?
Leadership
• Seeker-friendly worship guides | Sermons that engage.
• Product roadmap | All-hands meetings with engaging pitches.
Recruitment/Retention
• Celtic Christians drew people with love-service-radical welcome.
• Build in explicit welcome & opportunities for community.
~ Jon Howard, CEO–Emissary Medical Travel
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20. Watch This Space
www.PracticingParadoxy.com
for
What a Church Stole from Startups
and What Startups Could Steal from Churches
by
Ken Howard Jon Howard
Founder–@SaintNicksCom Founder–@EmissaryMed
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