Every once in a while, a cool new app comes along to help you connect better with parishioners at church.
Glomper is one of those.
Launched earlier this year, Glomper interfaces with Facebook and Twitter to allow people to share their locations – both current and upcoming. Most geotagging apps on the market today focus on where people are at any given time. But Glomper pushes the envelope by creating events for the future.
Glomper
By using Glomper, you can make it easy to invite friends, coworkers, parishioners, or whomever you like to a future event. With the click of a button, you can add a graphical icon (such as a cup of coffee or a picture of food), set the time (today, tomorrow, next week, even generically “someday”), and create RSVP’s. Using the free smartphone app (iOS or Android), you can even see who’s available in your area using a geotagged map.
Here’s a video by tech pundit Robert Scoble to tell you more:
[tentblogger-youtube IOOGVeQXzvw]
Glomper in Ministry
How might this work in ministry? Setting up meetings used to be an over-the-phone activity. Then came email – boring and impersonal but easier to manage. But with Glomper, you bring some fun back into the process and make it a social event. Some parishioners will find it refreshing to see a pastor or church staff member using new technologies to accomplish routine tasks. Others will be surprised to get an invitation to meet with you at all!
To this latter point, Glomper is the perfect tool for connecting with visitors. Perhaps you set up a system to meet with anyone who has visited your church at least 3 times. Glomper makes it easy to send out the invitations, and creates a stress-free way for visitors to either accept or reject the invitation. Reduced is the feeling of guilt when saying “no thank you” over the phone, and the easier you make it to connect, the more likely people will.
Being Available
Another way you might use Glomper to enhance church ministry is to simply set up your free profile and mark yourself as available to meet. Then include a link to your Glomper profile in your email signature line, with a tagline something like “Want to meet up? Find me on Glomper”.
Check Glomper out and let us know what you think.
How might you use it in your ministry?
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