What if your congregation had a dedicated space to experiment, ask hard questions, and try something new, without the pressure of getting it perfect the first time?

That was the idea behind the Innovation Lab, launched this year through a partnership between the Presbytery of Baltimore and the PC(USA) Office of Innovation. The first cohort ran from January through June 2026, and church leaders across the Presbytery are already putting what they learned into practice.

What Was It?

The Lab brought together pastors, elders, staff, and emerging leaders for a monthly rhythm of learning and doing. The cohort kicked off with an in-person retreat at the PC(USA) Claggett Center in Adamstown, followed by monthly sessions on Zoom, meeting the third Thursday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. There was no financial cost to participate. The real investment was time, energy, and relationship.

Between sessions, participants spent one to two hours on a flexible mix of preparation and practice: short readings from Collective Genius, Leading Faithful Futures, and The Innovator’s DNA; trying a tool or exercise directly in their own ministry setting; and light, optional check-ins with fellow cohort members for support and idea-sharing.

The Lab was led by DeEtte Decker and Samuel Son of the Office of Innovation, along with Rev. Michele Wallen, Associate Presbyter for Missional and Community Engagement.

What Leaders Took Away

Rather than ending with inspiration and no follow-through, the cohort left with a practical, action-oriented toolkit, including:

• A Playbook for Innovation, a framework for identifying challenges, brainstorming solutions, and testing new ideas
• Practical exercises and activities for applying tools like human-centered design, experimentation, and adaptive leadership
• Innovation conversation starters to engage teams and congregations in creative problem- solving
• Case studies of how other churches and ministries have put innovation strategies into practice
• A personalized innovation roadmap outlining each participant’s next steps in their own ministry setting

Just as importantly, participants built a peer network of fellow leaders engaged in innovation
work, one they can keep leaning on well beyond the life of the cohort.

Who’s Involved?

The cohort brought together 8 to 12 participants at a time, a size that allowed for real discussion and collaboration. The mix included pastors and clergy, who offered theological framing and spiritual leadership; ruling elders, who brought governance insight and a lay perspective; church administrators and staff, who understood day-to-day implementation; and emerging leaders, including young adults and new elders, who brought fresh, future-oriented thinking. That cross-section of theological vision, decision-making authority, operational know-how, and community connection was central to how the Lab worked.

Innovation in the Wider Church

The Lab drew on examples already at work across the denomination, from Lake Erie Presbytery’s “Bubble Up” conversations to presbyteries in Tennessee, Missouri, and Kansas rethinking the solo pastor model, to a congregation that grew its income from diverse sources from $40,000 in 2016 to $832,000 in 2023, to design sprints that bring people from different domains together around a shared challenge for the church.

Interested in a Future Cohort?

Contact Rev. Dr. Michele Wallen, Associate Presbyter for Missional and Community Engagement,
at mwallen@baltimorepresbytery.org to learn more.