Before the full launch of the Glúnta Research map on Friday 29th, I wanted to share a short video tutorial walking through how the map actually works.
The heart behind this project has always been fairly simple. We want to see more clearly where Gospel witness is present across the Republic of Ireland, where churches are already serving faithfully, where that witness may be lacking, and where there may be little visible evangelical presence at all. This map cannot tell the whole story, of course, but it can help us see patterns we might otherwise miss.
In the tutorial, I walk through the main features of the map: how to view churches by denomination or wider tradition, how to explore counties and local areas, how to use the Gospel Opportunities layer, in order to begin asking better questions about population, church presence, and mission across Ireland.
This is still a developing research project. The data has been gathered from public sources and will continue to need correction, refinement, and collaboration. There will be things missing. There will be places where you can improve what is currently shown. That is part of the point. The aim is not to present a finished, flawless piece of work, but to create a shared-sourced tool that can help churches, leaders, networks, and supporters think more carefully about prayer, partnership, church planting, strengthening existing churches, and future Gospel work.
So before Friday’s launch, make a cup of tea and take time to watch the tutorial and explore how the map is intended to be used. My hope is that it becomes more than a visual resource. I hope it helps us look again at Ireland with a clearer perspective, and a renewed burden for the generations still to come.
Jonny, this is very powerful!! Soaking this in prayer with you bro