Building Something That Matters
FaithFinder started the way many good ideas do… with a conversation.
I met Dave at a live on location event for the radio station in Edmonton. He’s a savvy businessman, and our conversation quickly moved from radio advertising to a question I haven’t stopped thinking about since: how do you solve the problem of marketing for churches?
I left that meeting very much intrigued, and curious about what I could build that might help. I didn’t have a development team or a big budget. What I had was a question worth answering, and a basic concept: create a community around faith.
A Question Worth Answering
Think about the last time someone new moved to your town. Where did they go to find a church? How did a family find a Christian school that fit their kids? How did someone find a plumber, a bookkeeper or a coffee shop run by people who share their values?
Most of the time, the answer is word of mouth. And word of mouth is wonderful, but it only reaches as far as the people you already know.
Churches, schools and faith-based businesses are doing good work every day. Many of them simply don’t have the time, the budget or the staff to make sure the people looking for them can find them. That felt like a problem worth solving.
Building Without Being a Builder
I’ll be honest: I’m not a developer. I’ve spent nearly 30 years in radio and marketing. I know how to tell a story and how to connect people with the businesses they need. Building a platform from scratch wasn’t something I ever expected to do.
But I started asking questions, the same way I would with a designer or a coder sitting across the table. I described what I hoped for. I shared pictures and ideas. I asked for things that seemed impossible, and more often than not, they weren’t. Piece by piece, conversation by conversation, FaithFinder began to take shape.
It wasn’t until later that I learned there’s a name for what I’d been doing. It’s called vibe coding: building something by describing it to AI in plain language and shaping it through conversation. (If you’re curious about the how, I wrote more about it here.)
For me, though, the tools were never the point. They were simply what made it possible for one person with one idea to build something that could serve a whole community.
Using What We’ve Been Given
There’s a verse I keep coming back to:
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10)
I’ve always believed our gifts aren’t meant to sit on a shelf. For some people that gift is teaching, for others it’s hospitality, and for others it’s running a business with integrity. For me, it turns out, part of it was being curious enough to try building something I didn’t know how to build.
We live in a time when the tools to create something meaningful are more available than ever. That’s a remarkable opportunity, and I believe it comes with a responsibility to use it for good.
What FaithFinder Is
FaithFinder is an Alberta-first directory and community for churches, schools and faith-based businesses, with the goal of growing across Canada.
It’s free to join. I wanted FaithFinder to be free because the churches and schools that could benefit most are often the ones with the least room in their budgets. No one should be left out of the community because of cost.
FaithFinder is a place to:
- Find a church when you move to a new community, or when you’re ready to find a new church home
- Discover Christian schools that share your family’s values
- Support faith-based businesses and keep your dollars working in your community
- Be found by the people who are already looking for you
Starting Close to Home
This fall, we’re starting with people I know and trust: business owners and organizations I’ve connected with over the years through radio. From there, we’ll grow across Alberta, one church, one school and one business at a time.
If you lead a church, run a Christian school or own a business built on faith, I’d love for you to be part of it. And if you know someone who should be, please pass this along. Word of mouth still matters. Now it just reaches a little further.
It Started With a Conversation
When I think back to that day in Edmonton, I’m grateful Dave asked the question he did. It would have been easy to nod along, finish the conversation and move on. Instead, it stayed with me until I did something about it.
That’s how most good things begin. Not with a plan, but with a question, a little curiosity and a willingness to say “what if?”
FaithFinder is my answer to that question. I pray it becomes something that matters to a lot of people.
