Missional Labs - Case for Support

Reimagine Mission.

“

The development of a truly missionary encounter is the greatest intellectual and practical task facing the Church.

LESSLIE NEWBIGIN

Dear friends,

We started Missional Labs with a vision to explore the big challenges facing the Church today.

As a nonprofit venture group, we help missionaryminded leaders build innovative organizations on the frontiers of evangelism, discipleship, church planting, global mission, and more. We exist to connect them to our community of thinkers, funders, and supporters. In short - we treat ministries like startups.

We would love to invite you into our work. Your strategic support will help strengthen our flagship global accelerator, seed-fund our ventures, and advance our community of leaders around the world.

We’re building a modern missions organization, and we’d love you to join us in the early days.

Tyler Prieb Missional Labs

The Opportunity

Future of the Church

We’re building a global community centered on missional innovation.

Modern Venture Ecosystems

Future of the Church: The future of the Church requires hopeful, creative missionary leaders in our biggest mission fields. But our seminaries and training organizations weren’t built for the challenges of our time. We need new pathways for modern missionaries.

Modern Venture Ecosystems:

Meanwhile, there are venture networks and social impact groups across every sector working to support innovators with big ideas, through mentoring, accelerators, and venture funding.

So we’re building the startup sector for the Church.

We imagine world-class leadership formation with robust startup support, in the spirit of a modern mission organization, gathering leaders, thinkers, and funders around the big missiological priorities of our time. Such an organization would be animated by a vision of spiritual renewal, Gospel advancement, deep discipleship, and a renewed Church.

OUR MISSION

Missional Labs is a startup accelerator for next-generation ministries.

We support leaders and ventures exploring innovative approaches to discipleship, mission, and the Church, through our programs and global community, to meaningfully advance the Gospel in the modern world.

Our Model

We advance missional innovation through our 3 pillars:

1 2 3

LEADERS

We equip and form missionary leaders for courageous, imaginative leadership.

VENTURES

Venture programs that help ministries, nonprofits, and missional businesses grow.

ECOSYSTEM

A global community of thinkers, builders, and funders organized around our modern frontiers.

Our Focus Areas

We frame our work around five big frontiers that we believe are the most critical drivers of renewal for the future church. All of our ventures, regardless of model or geography, are aimed directly at these issues in the name of Jesus.

GOSPEL

Advancing the Christian Story

+ Gospel & Public Truth

+ Personal Evangelization & Witness

+ Reaching the Global Unreached

+ Evangelistic Media & Technology

DISCIPLESHIP

Forming Followers of Jesus

+ Forming the Next Generation

+ New Media & Technology

+ Whole Life Discipleship

+ Prayer, Worship, & Spiritual Life

CULTURE

A Compelling Public Witness

+ Justice & Compassion

+ Cultural Engagement

+ Religious Persecution

+ Economics & The Market

+ Land & Environment

LEADERSHIP

Equipping Mature Christian Leaders

+ Theological Education

+ Vocational Training & Integration

+ Pastoral Equipping & Support

+ Emerging Leadership Pipelines

CHURCH

Renewing the Local Congregation

+ New Congregational Models

+ Diaspora Ecclesiology

+ New Emerging Networks

+ Technology & Infrastructure

Our Accelerator

OUR ACCELERATOR

A global fellowship program for new ventures exploring the future of the Church.

Our nine month program selects 12 early-stage ventures from around the world. We gather for curated mentoring events and pitch days in New York, San Francisco, and Oxford / London, and connect fellows to our growing network of leaders and funders, to amplify their growth and impact.

Our fellows benefit from our proven support model to drive scaleable, real-world impact:

Content - Our integrated curriculum, blending theology, leadership, and venture building.

Capacity - Coaching and support on strategy, operations, spiritual life, and more.

Community - Our world-class community of leaders, thinkers, experts, and funders.

Capital - Access to a growing network of investors, philanthropists, and supporters.

Our Portfolio

These are just some of the ventures we’ve helped launch through our Accelerator so far.

Cohort Three

Take a closer look at two of the ventures that went through our 2023-2024 Cohort.

RISE COLLECTIVE NYC

Discipling early-career women in the middle of New York City.

THE WAY UK

Digital Youth Ministry that aims to share the Gospel with every teenager.

Rise Collective NYC

Discipling early-career women in the middle of New York City.

Founder, Laura Leigh Rogers, had a number of pivotal moments with Jesus in her college years that set her on a new trajectory seeking God in community. This formation became the foundation for her journey ahead and the seeds for the vision of Rise Collective, to see other young women seeking first the Kingdom of God as they start their adult lives & careers in New York City.

“The Missional Labs Accelerator helped me know I wasn’t alone in the pioneering. To be placed in a community of faith-filled founders facing similar challenges was the great gift I needed. I’m now exiting this program with an enduring community, a strategically and spiritually informed vision and full of hope for the future of Rise Collective.”

- Laura Leigh Rogers

“Women in New York City and other urban contexts are often doing life alone and actively searching for truth. Rise Collective steps in with a vision for a life seeking Jesus and obedience to His Word, in the midst of years that can often be isolating and distracted.” - Laura

Leigh Rogers

Currently through their gatherings and Biblical resources, Rise Collective is uniting women in Christ, rooting them in Scripture, and empowering them to be agents of the Kingdom of God in their industries and workplaces.

Next they are launching their Rise Collective Discipleship Program. This will be a year-long residency for a small group of women in NYC to receive theological training, serve and live on mission in the city, and foster relationships with spiritual mentors who walk with them as they grow in Christ. In the future, Rise Collective aspires to own a townhome in New York City to house and anchor their discipleship work.

Explore more on Rise Collective

The Way UK

Digital Youth Ministry that aims to share the Gospel with every teenager.

When reflecting on his teenage years, Director of The Way, Michael Yellend-Brown, remembers lacking Christian peers who were passionate about sharing their faith.

“If I saw more people my age pursuing Jesus wholeheartedly, I think I would have found faith a lot sooner.” This void, alongside Michael’s passion for youth ministry, birthed the vision for The Way –a collective of filmmakers that specialize in reaching teenagers with the gospel and stirring hunger for Jesus.

For more on The Way’s content

Today, young people are using social media like TikTok and YouTube as search engines to explore faith and currently the video content that shows up isn’t simple or relevant.

“Missional Labs helped sharpen The Way’s vision and decision making at a fundamental level. It’s impossible to quantify, but I think so much of the traction we’ve gained stems from the guidance I’ve received in this Accelerator Program.”

- Michael-Yelland Brown

The Way fills that gap by reaching teenagers all around the world with accessible content that speaks to life’s biggest questions, while creating an online community that encourages young people to grow in their relationship with Jesus.

Since its inception, The Way has experienced profound resonance globally amongst teenagers:

30+ Countries

450K Reaching

60+ in the community

million views

Our Ecosystem

Our impact model is built around our ecosystem. Our flywheel advances leaders, ventures, and hopeful stories, building a high-impact community of practice on the front edge of the wider Church.

Recruit Pioneers

1 Formative Programs

We find and equip pioneer leaders aimed at big challenges.

MISSIONAL LABS

2

To programs that deepen their venture impact.

4

Hopeful Narratives

Inspiring imaginative new normals in the wider Church.

3

Global Ecosystem

Cultivating a growing community of leaders, thinkers, and funders.

ROADMAP

Launching 100+ ventures over 10 years.

We aim to become a leading global voice for missional innovation, driving meaningful impact through our programs and growing network.

Our Needs

The next 3 years are critical for establishing our program, supporting our ventures, and cultivating our ecosystem.

We’re raising $4.5M over 3 years.

We’re building our ecosystem, and placing capital into our ventures in their critical stages.

$1.5M CAPITAL FUND

$1M/YEAR CORE BUDGET

Market Opportunity

Churches and Christian Ministries in the US receive more than $150b per year in charitable giving. With generational wealth transfer, we think there is a significant opportunity to direct capital towards the innovative edge of the Church over the next 10 years.

Core Budget

We’re raising 3-year commitments to support our core operations, and to establish a circle of stable support from core funding partners.

Capital Fund

We want to de-risk missional innovation for funders, and pool committed capital for our ventures directly. This fund is for our next 3 cohorts.

The future of the Church depends on today’s pioneers.