Ever wanted to know where your nearest Baptist Church was? Or how big it was? Somebody at Baptist House has plugged the big Google machine into their database and come up with a map.
You can view The Baptist Google Map on the BUGB web site.
It is divided up into regions, so for me that is the NWBA (and I was sure that we had a church in the Isle of Man!). It is kind of interesting to see the patterns of where churches have sprung up. It would be quite nice to see them all in one map, rather in regions, that way you would get a feel for the distribution of churches across the UK. But I guess the data becomes rather difficult to manage.
Is your church visible?
In terms of finding a church though, you can’t beat just typing “church St Helens” in Google and clicking on maps. This is after-all how most people will find your church. I have also noticed that people sometimes write reviews of the churches they visit on Google maps for all to see, which is a rather more public church critique than the famous Mystery Worshipper site.
Dovedale Baptist Church in Merseyside, for example, has 1 review: “Lively family Baptist Church near to Penny Lane in south Liverpool. Sunday service 10.30am. There’s Junior Church for the children. The minister, Wayne Clarke, also presents “Daybreak” on BBC Radio Merseyside on Sundays.” – I have my suspicions that this review may not be entirely independent, but there are no rules – anyone can write a review.
Our local Catholic church received a very warm review: “This is a lovely small church with a great atmosphere and a lovely priest”.
So does your church appear on Google maps when you search for your town?
adding your church to Google maps
If you have told Google maps about your church, then it will appear with your web address and even a picture if you choose. To create a decent Google map listing for your church you need to add it as a local business. Google’s help page explains more about creating a map entry.
Happy New Year!