MIRRORLABSPROJECTS
Mirror Labs exists to better understand the current problems facing young men today and rally local leaders together to develop fresh, experimental solutions. Below are many examples of how we are seeking to make this vision happen.
MIRRORLABSPROJECTS
Mirror Labs exists to better understand the current problems facing young men today and rally local leaders together to develop fresh, experimental solutions.Below are many examples of how we are seeking to make this vision happen.
RESEARCH PROJECTS
FOCUS GROUPS
We believe that the best starting point for our research is listening carefully to the specific audience we are seeking to reach—disenchanted millennial men. In 2021, young men in at least three regions of Florida (Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Jacksonville) will participate in an intensive, half-day focus group experience that will elicit candid responses regarding their process of becoming dechurched, as well as their current views on spirituality and masculinity. This qualitative research will lay the groundwork for the subsequent quantitative data, as well as future church engagement.
REGIONAL SURVEY
Once the focus groups are complete, we will use the qualitative data to develop a survey that explores the depth and scope of the “dechurched” reality. The goal of this research project is to create a statistical model that includes all the psychological, relational, and cultural reasons and motivators for which millennial men are not engaging in spiritual communities. This model will include region-specific data that will highlight which factors have the strongest influence on millennial males—and which offer the greatest utility for local churches. The research will be conducted by Dr. Joshua Hammonds, Assistant Professor of Communications at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.
EXPERIENTIAL BEST PRACTICES
Following this quantitative research, we will convene a group of 10 expert practitioners to collaborate with innovative minds on our conducted research to draw out more insights from a variety of perspectives and diverse backgrounds. These experts will include theologians, sociologists, ministry leaders, youth specialists, and millennial leaders. In this manner, we will highlight practitioners’ voices and move beyond the abstract and theoretical to actual ministry practice. This convening will be recorded and developed into a written report.
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
CITY LAB
The goal of a City Lab is to unite local churches in the pursuit of actively engaging young men where they need help the most. To this end, Mirror Labs hosts a regularly gathering of local church leaders, inviting them to help solve the pressing issues identified in our research. These labs will have a cyclical nature of leaders diagnosing a localized problem, developing and presenting a corresponding hypothesis, field testing their premise and sharing the collective result city-wide. Our hope is that these city labs become a fount of new resources, products, and experiences for the broader church to use in tending to the souls of young men. Orlando is our first test city and the City Lab is currently underway.
LIFE ASSESSMENT
The Life Assessment is a printed guide that enables men to explore their inner life in a holistic manner. Topics include health, origins, relationships, vocation, and soul. The goal is twofold: 1) to help men self-reflect and assess their lives in meaningful ways, and 2) to get young men talking to others about things that matter to them and to God, providing a thoughtful onramp to deeper relationships with other men. This journal is designed to appeal to all men, regardless of religious background, and is currently being beta tested. Once testing is completed by Labs, as well as other institutional partners, it will be revised according to the feedback received. The goal is to launch sales late fall 2021.
