A few years ago I found myself doing what many do when deciding to put down roots in a new community: I went church shopping.

If we’re honest with one another, this can be a very time-consuming and painful process. Week after week can be spent researching different communities and attending new services. Honestly, putting your best foot forward every time can be like reliving the awkwardness of the first day of school until you find a good fit for you. Doing a bit of research in my area, I found that the average millennial of faith has sought out new houses of worship four to five times in their life, each time visiting six to eight spaces before deciding to attend one regularly. Or, as is often the case, they just get fed up with the whole experience and give up, joining what many refer to as the nones.

Nones (spiritual but not religious) make up over 25-30% of the US population, and the research shows they’re growing in numbers. Many leave their religious traditions because they have yet to find a spiritual home of their own. Many are disillusioned with scandal and lack of trust or accountability within religious institutions. 

This poses a unique challenge for houses of worship across the United States. Not being able to connect effectively with nones is taking its toll on congregations. Populations and therefore revenues are shrinking all across the country, yet the population of nones—or who I would call Seekers— is rising. Yet, what’s interesting is when people do find a new spiritual home, they tend to get excited and are 70% more likely to share on social media or become “brand ambassadors.” The challenge is that Seekers lack a way to engage effectively and accurately with the missions and stories of houses of worship—what I’ll call Spaces—in their area. In short, there are a lot of people who are actively searching for the tools to connect with others, with their higher meaning, or to find those Seekers, but they need better tools for their journey…

I live in Spokane WA, and in my region alone there are over 500 unique Spaces, with around 5,000 across Washington state. The Hartford Institute estimates there are roughly 350,000 religious Spaces in the United States. These numbers are staggering. It would take anyone months or even years to search for the right Space for them. 

So why not simplify the process? 

Instead of Googling for houses of worship, or even looking through a phonebook, why not download an app that provides you with not only the listing information for Spaces but also allows you to interact with these Spaces in real time? This approach goes beyond just information and gives any Seeker the chance to find what they’re really searching for: is this the place for me?

By simply typing in your location or preferences, Seekr will connect you with profiles of local Spaces in seconds. 

It not only helps the user but can provide an entire community with a tool that can be used in a myriad of ways. For the Seeker, it can be used to find a spiritual home that gives them the tools to deepen their faith. It also is designed for those not interested in joining a new Space but are interested in their religious landscape or hope to meet their neighbors and improve religious and civic literacy. For clergy, Seekr gives a new platform to share ministries/outreach work with a wider audience. For religious scholars, the data can be used to generate a screenshot of a religious landscape in real time. For the public, Seekr serves as a reference for churches and faith communities that could be used for accountability as well as organizing (i.e., volunteer opportunities, resource sharing, governmental or public/private projects that address issues like homelessness).

As someone who church shopped for years, I can tell you that the search to deepen our lives can be very time-consuming, daunting, and even disappointing. But it can also be one of the most rewarding journeys we take. There is a great yearning for this search among young people, and in today’s world the next generation will need tools to accurately and authentically make this trek. 

Seekr hopes to connect people to a more fulfilled life where we all can grow and thrive in ways that speak to us, regardless which pew you sit in, or direction you pray—or if you pray at all. If we’re honest with ourselves, we are all searching, seeking a better tomorrow, a more fulfilled life. Now with Seekr, you’re not alone.

Seekr launches later this summer in Spokane and will be available for download both in the GooglePlay store as well as the App store for iOS devices. You can download the prototype here.