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Print magazine

Image Credit: Heidi Baumgartner

Kirkland Ministry Hackathon Begins

By Heidi Baumgartner, October 22, 2017

Linden Goffar has a dream of bringing together developers and nondevelopers alike to accelerate ministry through technology. And he is doing something about it!

At the end of September, Goffar hosted the first session of a “hackathon” at Kirkland (Wash.) Church. He invited friends from local Adventist churches to come together for an evening of brainstorming. Twenty Seattle-area individuals responded to the invitation.

“Our goal is to brainstorm and identify good projects,” Goffar says. “Our idea is to use technology and software for God’s glory. We are trying to dream big then dial back from a world perspective to our local area. We have lots of ideas, talents, skills and people right in the local area.”

Brainstormed ideas ranged from a ministry cloud to connect the needs and services of church community ministries to improving a church’s livestreaming experience and app development for Pathfinders, prayer ministry, Christian conversations or Christian hobby meetups.

The result of this conversation is still unknown, and the excitement is building. Once a set of ideas and projects is refined, Goffar and his team plan to start defining and assigning action items.

After the first session concluded, Goffar reflected, "I feel we accomplished two of our primary objectives: bringing this group of talented and innovative individuals together and starting what I hope becomes a valuable, constructive conversation. Please continue to pray for God’s guidance in this effort.”

Interested in helping accelerate ministry through technology? Email Linden to add your name to the list, request a copy of the full brainstorming list and join future development meetings.

Image

Ideas are developing in Kirkland for how to accelerate ministry through technology.

Credit
Heidi Baumgartner
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Featured in: November 2017

Author

Heidi Baumgartner

North Pacific Union communication director and Gleaner editor
Section
Washington Conference

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The Gleaner is a gathering place with news and inspiration for Seventh-day Adventist members and friends throughout the northwestern United States. It is an important communication channel for the North Pacific Union Conference — the regional church support headquarters for Adventist ministry throughout Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. The original printed Gleaner was first published in 1906, and has since expanded to a full magazine with a monthly circulation of more than 40,000. Through its extended online and social media presence, the Gleaner also provides valuable content and connections for interested individuals around the world.

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