Big Data for the Church

Big Data is a way of connecting with church and community members in ways that we never have before. Data is defined by the three V’s of information: Velocity, Variety, and Volume. What makes big data so important for our Church is that it helps us take actionable steps that go beyond a common-sense approach.

Big data allows us:

1. To make decisions in the now
2. To try and predict the future and act on it
3. To benchmark ourselves against others (and ourselves)
4. To create language around which we can tell stories or communicate with one another

Using big data we want to engage church members and increase the investment and advocacy of our message within the communities we serve. In a moment of crisis, be it physical, emotional, relational or spiritual, what are the needs of our communities? What is it that we should be trying to fix? Big data analytics cuts through the clutter and can help define what those needs are.

Who are our strongest competitors in the market of discipleship? Who is out there? Who is setting the pace in ministry both inside and outside of the Seventh-day Adventist Church? Which churches are attracting middle-class peoples and their families? How are they doing it and how can we incorporate that into our own base? Data can help us find that.

What if we could have access to the interest, concerns, preferred literature, distribution sources, and message methods of millennials? Jesus used parables…what should we use today? Why not let big data answer that for us?