Not sure if Google Maps would help with this, but I’ve thought for awhile that it would be interesting to have a database of believers in a local area (of course, there are all sorts of privacy issues, fear issues, etc. that would need to be worked through, so I’m not sure how practical this is), along with their interests, ministry skills, affinity group involvement, neighborhood, life experiences, etc.) so that we could match up believers with unbelievers with particular needs in their lives.

For example, it would be great to be able to tell a young, recently-widowed mother who lives in such and such a neighborhood (who is also an unbelievers) that there are three people in her neighborhood who have underwent similar crises. And then be able to hook them up.

As our society is becoming more and more fragmented socially (and more and more people seem to be retreating into their own worlds), I think technology can be a bridge to facilitate face-to-face relationships in this way.

Again, all sorts of privacy and safety issues would be involved, but it’s an interesting thought at least.

Frank

You’ve probably heard the expression ‘all politics are local’… Well, likewise, all ministry is in the final analysis, local.

Good to see you guys helping think this through.

Thanks for the link! You can already do something similar to looking for churches in an area. For example, here are the Presbyterian Churches in my zip code. To do it, don’t go to Google Maps. Go to Local Google and search for “Presbyterian Church” in your zip code, or whatever you want to look for. It’ll give you a map with the results.