At the Church of England, we are looking for Christians with a bright idea for an app, website or social media campaign to bring more people to faith in Jesus Christ, grow and develop disciples, support their local church or the national church.
We're launching Church of England Digital Labs to gather together the many Christian coders, creatives and techies who have the skills and passion for using technology to aid the church. Whether you have a fully formed plan for an app, website or social media campaign or just a spark of an idea, we want to hear from you.
Our digital comms team at Church House, our HQ in London, has been up and running for about eight months now. We've seen the impact that digital and social media campaigns at Christmas and Easter can have in encouraging existing Christians and bringing new people to faith. There is so much more we can do, which is why we're establishing Digital Labs.
Our first event will be taking place on Saturday 24th February 2018, from 10am-9pm, in central London. You'll get to meet and network with people like you, spend time refining your ideas and taking advantage of the knowledge and skills available all in one room.
Towards the end of the day you'll get the chance to pitch your idea to a panel of industry experts with the aim of turning the best ideas we hear into one or two solutions that the Church of England will build and make available to more than 16,500 CofE churches.
Spaces at the event are limited so please do let us know if you are interested in attending by signing up here and we'll be in touch over the coming weeks and months with more details.
Digital Labs is part of the Church of England's Renewal and Reform programme. It is aimed at helping us become a growing church for all people and for all places.
James Poulter, senior social innovation manager at LEGO, who is on the judging panel, told me: 'Seeing the Church of England continue to pioneer new initiatives that engage digital culture and innovation is so exciting, and a crucial part of reaching new people with the Gospel. I can't wait to see what new projects and ideas may come out of the labs and look forward to collaborating with the winning pitches to bring them to life.'
Adrian Harris is Head of Digital Communications at the Church of England. He is leading a three-year digital transformation project at the Church of England. The team has just been been shortlisted for two national awards, the Digital Impact Awards and the CorpComms Digi Awards, for its work over the last eight months. Find him on Twitter @c_of_e and @adrianharris.
