For 85 years, EGC has been a trusted advisor, supporter, and research hub for community members, ministry leaders, nonprofits, and institutions. All our projects foster stronger connections among Christians dedicated to Boston’s well-being. We bring people together to explore local realities and community systems. With these local data-driven insights, we help you understand the needs, resources, and opportunities in Boston’s communities and churches, enabling you to take effective action together on the city's most pressing issues.

To help you reach your goals, we offer customized applied research, training, and consulting services. Many of the tools and learnings developed in our projects are also shared as resources on our website.

Applied Research

For decades, EGC has studied the demographics and trends in churches and communities in Greater Boston. We work hard to provide accurate, timely, and affordable local data.

With our unique local focus, we also perform systems studies, including cross-sectional (current realities and relationships across many communities and institutions) and longitudinal (trends over time). Our systems studies help Christians in Boston understand the social ecosystems around them—the local people and organizations; the diverse community histories, values, resources; and their place in these systems. 

Our team then helps you notice any gaps in spiritual, social, physical, or emotional well-being where the Christian community could have a positive impact. Furthermore, we help you find or develop opportunities to effectively work with local people and resources, so you can develop innovative and wise solutions to critical issues.

Our resource page offers articles and toolkits for exploring the impact of Christianity in Boston, with practical insights on churches, neighborhoods, city issues, and culture.

ASK A RESEARCHER
Need help understanding population trends in your neighborhood? Curious about how many Haitian churches are in Greater Boston? Want to research the history of your church? Our diverse research team, with a deep understanding of communities, cultures, churches, and Christianity in Boston, is here to help answer your most pressing questions.

Last year our research team has helped answer:

  • Can you help me get demographic information for the area around our church?

  • Do you know of any organizations or agencies that work with people affected by homelessness?

  • On our 100th anniversary, can you help our church research its history and the history of the area?

Have a question for our research team? Email senior researcher, Rudy Mitchell rmitchell@egc.org

RESEARCH STUDIES
Partner with our research team to find answers to your most challenging questions. We use a mixed-method approach to create a doable research design tailored to your unique project needs. At every stage, from research design through implementation and reporting, our research studies empower you and your community to take action. Benefit from our extensive experience with focus groups, web-based surveys, in-depth interviews, and evaluation tools.

Training & Learning Communities

TRAINING & WORKSHOPS
Deepen your understanding of the complex social systems in Boston and identify opportunities for lasting impact by participating in EGC's training and workshops. We offer introductory and in-depth learning experiences on 'systems practice'—a way to understand and address complex social issues—and various critical community issues. Our workshops, online courses, and customized trainings empower you with new perspectives and practices on topics such as:

  • Developing a Church-School Partnership

  • Systems Thinking for Christian Ministry.

LEARNING AND PRACTICE COMMUNITIES
EGC organizes gatherings where people with a common purpose can learn with and from one another. EGC's thoughtful event design and facilitation help you tailor group experiences for inspiration, encouragement, collaboration, or mutual accountability, according to your community's goals. Examples of past learning and practice communities include:

  • Foster Care & Adoption Practitioner Community

  • Support and Accountability Group for White Evangelicals Dismantling Racism

  • Action-Reflection Community for Boston Youth Workers

Consulting

GROUP CONSULTATIONS
Group gatherings are opportunities to create a common understanding of important issues. Partner with us for your conference, working group, church community meeting, or organizational training. Our group consultations help you gather insights and apply what you learn together to achieve your goals. We work with you to design a group experience to build relationships, capture diverse viewpoints, and create solutions for issues that matter to you. We custom-design collaborative learning tools, like guided brainstorming, quick polls, and breakout discussions, to enrich interaction within your unique group and deliver a fruitful and satisfying group experience.

SYSTEMS PRACTICE
In systems practice, we recognize a team, neighborhood, business, church, or institution as a community of diverse individuals interacting in a dynamic ecosystem. Each of these smaller systems also operates within the larger ecosystems of Boston. Our systems practice consulting equips you with systems-oriented viewpoints and practices to collaborate with others for more effective, long-term engagement in critical issues. You will gain the skills to map systems (identify stakeholders, relationships, and assets), articulate current realities (context analysis), identify gaps (problem definition), and discern strategic leverage points (intervention analysis and planning) for more effective engagement that works towards systems change.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION
How well is your organization, program, or initiative achieving its mission? Find out what's working and what's not. Discover what changes would better align your activities to your mission to maximize your impact. Our consulting team works with you to create an evaluation plan, design custom measurement tools, gather and analyze participant insights, and apply these findings to align your activities with your goals. We also equip you for ongoing monitoring and evaluation so you can make real-time adjustments and refine your impact over time.

COACHING
EGC has a wealth of experience in ministry development, organizational development, strategic planning, and related disciplines needed to move vision and ideas into effective on-the-ground reality. We can pair you with a seasoned leader to discuss your challenges or obstacles to help you gain new perspective and identify the next steps.

Ministry Incubator

We help Christians launch or develop collaborative, innovative, effective ministries in Boston. In our ministry incubator, we walk alongside you to better understand the local community landscape and build relationships and practices that help your ministry achieve long-term impact in your community.

INNOVATION & INCUBATION 
EGC's team of consultants, researchers, and systems practitioners is here to help you design, test, and revise your ministry approach. We help you engage community stakeholders to better understand the history and current realities in your areas of interest. We offer support and coaching for all levels of your organization throughout every stage of your ministry. Whether starting with a ministry idea or nearing the implementation of your strategic plan, we can help you focus your energies and resources for lasting impact.

FISCAL SPONSORSHIP 
We offer financial infrastructure and technical assistance to missionally-aligned local organizations, ministries, and missionaries under EGC’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. As your fiscal agent, EGC provides the benefits of our organizational structure, operations, and high standards of accountability. This arrangement lets you concentrate on your mission and programs while we handle administrative tasks like donation receipts, accounting, payroll, and nonprofit management. Additionally, we offer coaching services in areas such as grant writing and resource management. You can choose EGC's fiscal sponsorship as temporary support until you're ready to launch as an independent 501(c)(3) or opt for a long-term sponsorship relationship with us.

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