Blog

Feature Improvement: Map

Recently, we added map clustering to our people and groups directory. This improvement makes the map load faster and is easier on the eyes. We hope you like it!

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You Can't Do That on Facebook: Map Your Church Members

People often point to Facebook and wonder why the church would even need the Table. Facebook is ideal for outreach, but it falls short at building community. That's what the Table is all about. We encourage churches to use Facebook and the Table together. But the fact is there are things you can't do on Facebook that the Table is designed to do.

Like mapping your congregation.

The Table offers a map view of all the people in your church. There they are, little people icons spread across the map. Each one gives you a general idea where people in your church live (icons are shown within a half-mile of the actual address to protect privacy).

• You can see who in your church lives in your neighborhood.
• You can plan a small group or an evening hang out based on location.
• You can find a central location to have a meeting.

It makes planning and connecting that much easier. You can't do that on Facebook. And with a worldwide social network, you probably wouldn't want to. Sometimes smaller is better.

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Table Tip: Get Local

The Table's people directory has a handy map. Check it out to find people from your church who live in your neighborhood. It's a great way to make church even more local. First send them a quicknote and introduce yourself. Make a new friend. Then you can make local work for the both of you.

• Knowing some local church members is a great way to carpool. Maybe you're not ready to carpool every Sunday, but once in a while it could be convenient.
• Pick a local coffeeshop and invite several nearby church members to meet up. Get to know each other in person and share some neighborhood secrets (what's the best pizza, who has the best takeout, etc.).
• Fire up the Serve App and make it local. Sharing your weedwhacker with a church member across town might not make sense, but it works for your neighbor down the street. Share stuff from yard tools to DVDs and help each other out with babysitting and lawn mowing.

You're not alone: Church just got local.

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Not Feeling Alone

Park Community Church in Chicago launched the Table this weekend. It's been so cool to see reactions showing up on Twitter. This is one of our favorites:

Just being able to see who from your church lives in your neighborhood is encouraging. There's a lot of potential in that simple map.

If you're wondering what the Table can do for your church, check out what it's done for other churches. Check out these stories (and remember to tell your own stories!). You can share your story in our Birthday Video Contest and you could win an iPad.

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The Table Goes Public

Yesterday the Table launched publicly to U.S churches. We had over 400 churches sign up on the first day alone. Wow.

Here's a glimpse of churches using the Table around the country:

We've got all but four states represented. C'mon, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and Hawaii: We've got a seat waiting for you.

We're grateful for the response and eager to see churches pull up a chair and discover how the Table can help. While it's so encouraging to see all those churches, this isn't about big numbers. It's about creating conversation and community. That won't happen in a day, but we're thrilled to see the potential.

It's been a long journey and getting to our public launch is quite a milestone. But we're not the type to throw a big party and toot our own horn. We've got a lot of work to do. We're answering questions and fixing bugs and helping people figure out how the Table can work for their church. We're also working on new features, making the Table bigger and better as we go.

Thanks for checking us out. And we hope you will pull up a chair. Because the Table is our gift to the church. It's completely free with no monthly fees, limits or boundaries. That's the way community should be.

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