Barna + TENx10: Faith-Forward Market Development Before the Product Exists
Client
TENx10, in partnership with Barna Group
Faith-based research organization and movement-builder working to catalyze relational formation for the next generation.
Ideation-as-Engagement
Stakeholder discovery, insight generation, and early market activation—prior to defining a product or MVP.
The Context
TENx10 and Barna were wrestling with an urgent, emotionally charged challenge:
How do we meaningfully engage faith leaders around the future of youth discipleship—before we know what the “solution” actually is?
The stakes were high. Church disengagement among young people is accelerating. Pastors feel the pressure—but are overloaded, skeptical of new programs, and wary of initiatives that sound inspiring but lack practical grounding.
Rather than rushing toward a curriculum, app, or content strategy, Barna made a deliberate choice: start with leaders, not products.
They used the PopUpThinkTank session and format to create a space where pastors could help shape the future of the For Every Church Project—without being pitched to, sold to, or asked to rubber-stamp a half-formed idea.
The Real Problem (Not the Polite One)
Surface problem:
“We need feedback and buy-in from pastors.”
Underlying problem:
Faith leaders are exhausted by abstract vision without clarity. They are asked to champion initiatives they can’t yet explain to boards, staff, or congregations. Without something concrete—or without being meaningfully involved early—engagement stays polite, not committed.
The risk wasn’t bad ideas.
The risk was premature convergence—locking into a solution before understanding what pastors actually need, trust, and feel capable of carrying forward.
The Decision to Act
Instead of traditional focus groups or surveys, Barna chose a live, facilitated PopUpThinkTank session designed to do three things at once:
Source insight from pastors’ lived experience
Build relational trust around a shared challenge
Create early ownership—even without a product to rally around
This wasn’t research about pastors.
It was research with them.
The PopUpThinkTank Approach
A 90-minute experience that balanced values, rigor, and emotional intelligence:
A clear framing of the challenge—without pretending the answer was known
An interview with TENx10 leadership to surface values, tensions, and open questions
Structured reflection (“I like / I wish”) to invite honest response
Small-group ideation rounds focused on:
What’s changed in youth discipleship
Barriers to everyday mentoring
Practical tools pastors would actually use
Bigger, faith-anchored dreams worth pursuing
Crucially, the session made one thing explicit:
This is not about selling you something. This is about building it together.
That signal changed everything.
The Turning Point
A recurring question surfaced across pastors, phrased different ways but carrying the same weight:
“I agree this matters—but what would I actually tell my leadership team?”
That moment clarified the real work ahead.
Pastors weren’t resisting the mission.
They were missing context, translation, and confidence.
The PopUpThinkTank didn’t resolve that tension—but it named it, normalized it, and turned it into usable signal for Barna and TENx10.
Outcomes
What shifted immediately:
High alignment with the values and direction of the For Every Church Project
Strong emotional engagement and spiritual affirmation from pastors
Clear identification of what wasn’t ready yet (product form, medium, implementation clarity)
Rich insight into:
Differences between age groups (13 vs. 18)
Cultural and structural barriers inside churches
The need to equip adults—not just youth ministries
A visible appetite among pastors to stay involved—as advisors, pilots, and champions
What Barna gained:
A grounded understanding of where divergence was still needed
Signal about the risks of jumping straight to a content-only solution
Language pastors use when explaining change upward and outward
A relational base of leaders who felt seen, not studied
Why This Matters (Especially Pre-MVP)
This engagement proved something subtle but powerful:
Market development can happen before the product—if you design for dignity, participation, and trust.
PopUpThinkTank helped Barna and TENx10:
Avoid false certainty
Test assumptions safely
Build relational momentum without over-promising
Create a shared narrative that could later support pilots, content, or tools
For faith-based nonprofits especially, this approach honored both discernment and discipline—listening deeply before building boldly.
This case shows what’s possible when:
The client doesn’t yet have a product—and still forming the “problem”
The topic is emotionally and spiritually loaded
The audience holds real authority—and real fatigue
Success is measured not by answers, but by clarity, trust, and forward energy
This is facilitation as market formation, sense-making, and movement-building—not just idea generation.
When This Approach Works Best
PopUpThinkTank is especially powerful when:
A nonprofit or movement is early—but serious
Leaders need to feel ownership before committing
The problem is complex, human, and values-laden
You want insight and engagement, not one without the other
If you’re navigating innovation, pre-MVP uncertainty, or stakeholder trust at scale—this work creates a strong, grounded starting point.
The best way to discover whether PopUpThinkTank is right for your situation isn’t a sales call. It’s the Session Builder— a short, guided experience designed to help: clarify the moment you’re in, surface what’s actually at stake, see what a session could unlock.
Takes less than five minutes.
And for many leaders, it creates value before they ever talk to us.
