BROOKLYN'S FAITHSTREET BRINGS TECH TO CHURCH
One sector has been largely immune to the enthusiasms of tech - religion. It's understandable: spiritual life is more than just a business concern, and when people have disrupted religion in the past - think Martin Luther - the results have been a bit messy.
Brooklyn-based FaithStreet could prove a technological game-changer for the faithful.
"My co-founder Ryan [Melogy] and I moved to New York and we were both looking for a church," FaithStreet CEO and co-founder Sean Coughlin told us. "And we quickly realized there aren't really any online tools to help you connect with religious communities."
The team launched a beta version of FaithStreet in September of last year, offering churches profile pages to attract new congregants. After six months, over 11,300 are already using the site and tens of thousands of users have connected with churches through the site, according to Coughlin.
FaithStreet plans to enrich its community network tools, offer churches a fuller platform, and expand to other faiths in the near future.
While New York might not seem like the natural launching ground for a faith-based initiatiave, Coughlin has other thoughts. "The five boroughs are a microcosm of religion in the world," he said. "We work with an amazingly diverse group here - storefront churches in the Bronx, 200-year-old Episcopal churches in Brooklyn... and everything in between."
FaithStreet is looking for a Ruby developer and lead designer - get more information here.
Now go forth (and believe it).
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