We’re Live! FaithFinder Launched September 1

Many months ago, working away on my computer and making the most of the dark days of an Alberta winter, an idea began to unfold.

I didn’t know exactly what it would become, or how many times I would rebuild it before it started to feel right. I just knew I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

And now, after months of planning, conversations, testing, rebuilding and more late nights than I want to count, I finally get to write the words I’ve been waiting to write:

FaithFinder is live.

On September 1, 2026, FaithFinder officially launched — starting here in Calgary and communities across Alberta.

This is a soft launch, which means there is still a great deal ahead. But the foundation is real. The directories are live. And people can now begin using FaithFinder to discover Calgary churches, Christian schools in Alberta, faith-friendly businesses and other organizations that are part of our community.

I’m not going to pretend I have everything figured out.

But I know why I built it.

And that story matters.

Why I Created FaithFinder

FaithFinder didn’t begin as a conventional business idea.

It grew out of conversations.

A pastor in Ontario wanting to find a better way to connect Christian leaders and businesses beyond his own community.

Margie, who has a vision for an agritourism farm — a place where people experiencing hardship could find work, purpose and a little bit of hope.

A local church trying to raise enough money to continue feeding people experiencing homelessness.

Imran, who runs a dry-cleaning business and quietly collects warm clothing every winter for people who need it.

On paper, none of these people had much to do with one another.

But I kept noticing the same thread.

They were trying to make their communities a little better, often with limited resources, limited visibility and fewer connections than they deserved.

And I kept coming back to a question:

What would it look like if it were easier for people within our faith community to actually find one another?

That question became even more relevant through my work as an Account Manager with Shine FM.

I meet with business owners, school leaders, pastors, ministry teams and community organizations every day. Those conversations may begin with advertising, but over time I started to see an opportunity to do much more than help someone buy an advertising campaign.

I saw small businesses doing great work with tiny marketing budgets.

I met Christian schools trying to reach families who were actively looking for the kind of education they offered.

I talked with churches planning events, raising money, supporting people in their communities and trying to reach people who may never know they exist.

Again and again, I saw the same gap:

The distance between “we’re doing something meaningful here” and “people know how to find us.”

Many of these organizations could benefit from stronger community support, more affordable marketing tools and better ways to share their stories, events, fundraising initiatives, interests and community goals.

I couldn’t stop thinking about that opportunity.

With my background in media, marketing and digital technology, I realized I could begin building something that brought those pieces together.

That became FaithFinder.

More Than a Christian Directory

When I started working on FaithFinder in January, I probably would have described it as a directory.

I don’t describe it that way anymore.

A traditional directory gives you a name, an address and a phone number.

I want FaithFinder to help people discover much more than that.

I want someone searching for churches in Alberta to get a sense of the community before walking through the doors on a Sunday.

I want a parent looking for Christian schools in Alberta to have a better starting point for understanding their options.

I want someone looking for a lawyer, contractor, professional service or local company to be able to discover faith-friendly businesses they may never otherwise have found.

And, over time, I want FaithFinder to become somewhere people go to find out what is actually happening within the community.

Events.

Fundraisers.

Stories.

Community initiatives.

Organizations looking for support.

Businesses looking for ways to give back.

Churches, schools and ministries trying to connect with people who share the same goals.

The vision didn’t arrive all at once. It came in pieces — one conversation, one idea and one problem worth solving at a time.

It is still evolving.

And I think that is exactly how it should be.

Affordable and Accessible From the Beginning

One principle has remained constant from the beginning:

FaithFinder needs to be affordable and accessible.

I don’t want visibility to belong only to the organizations with the largest marketing budgets.

I want the Margies and Imrans of the world — people quietly doing meaningful work with small budgets and big ideas — to have an opportunity to be found too.

The same is true for smaller churches, community organizations, Christian schools and local businesses.

Marketing technology has advanced enormously, but much of it is still priced beyond what a small organization can reasonably afford.

Part of the longer-term FaithFinder vision is finding ways to make those tools and opportunities more accessible.

Because helping an organization get found is important.

Helping it connect, grow and strengthen the community around it is the bigger goal.

What Does a FaithFinder Listing Actually Look Like?

One of my favourite parts of preparing for launch has been watching individual listings come to life.

Each one feels like a small proof of what FaithFinder can become.

I didn’t want organizations to disappear into a database with nothing more than a name and contact information.

I wanted them to have an opportunity to tell people who they are.

Here are three examples from the first group of featured FaithFinder listings.

Featured Calgary Business: Cas Law

Cas Law is one of the first featured businesses in the FaithFinder directory.

It’s a good example of what I want the business side of FaithFinder to accomplish: helping local people discover businesses and professional services while giving those businesses an opportunity to tell a stronger story than they could in a simple directory listing.

As the business directory grows, I hope it becomes another useful way for people in Calgary and throughout Alberta to discover and support local businesses.

Featured Christian School: North Star Academy

Education is already becoming an important part of FaithFinder.

Families searching for Christian schools in Calgary, Central Alberta and other Alberta communities are often looking for much more than academic statistics.

They are thinking about values.

Culture.

Community.

Programs.

And what their child’s day-to-day experience might actually feel like.

The North Star Academy FaithFinder listing is an example of how a Christian school can use its presence on FaithFinder to help families get a better sense of what makes the school distinctive.

As FaithFinder develops, the education directory will continue to include Christian and faith-based schools, private schools, Bible colleges, home education programs and other Alberta education options.

Featured Alberta Church: Journey Church

Church discovery is really at the heart of FaithFinder.

People search Google every day for phrases such as Calgary churches, churches near me, churches in Alberta or a specific kind of Christian community.

But finding the right church is about much more than locating the closest building.

People want to know:

What does the church believe?

What is the community like?

What happens on a Sunday?

Are there programs for children or youth?

Could this be somewhere I actually belong?

The Journey Church FaithFinder listing is an example of the kind of profile I want FaithFinder to provide.

Journey Church also means something extra to me because I recently had an opportunity to visit in person.

There is a much bigger story there, and that is the next FaithFinder story I plan to share.

Starting in Calgary and Alberta

For this first stage, FaithFinder is intentionally focused on Calgary and Alberta.

I would rather build something valuable in one market and learn from it than try to be everywhere before the platform is ready.

There are already churches and Christian schools from communities across Alberta on FaithFinder, and those directories will continue to grow as organizations verify their information and new organizations join.

The business directory is newer, which creates a particular opportunity during this soft launch.

Right now, Calgary and Alberta businesses can be among the first businesses to establish a presence on FaithFinder.

But I’m not pretending I don’t have a bigger vision.

I do.

I want FaithFinder to eventually become a resource people across Canada can rely on.

I think about someone moving to a new city and trying to find a church where they might feel at home.

A parent trying to understand the Christian school options available to their family.

Someone who wants to support a local business but doesn’t know where to begin looking.

A church raising money for an important initiative.

A business wanting to support something happening in its community.

Or two organizations working toward the same goal who simply haven’t discovered one another yet.

Those are the kinds of connections I want FaithFinder to help create.

An Invitation to Calgary and Alberta Businesses

As part of the FaithFinder soft launch, I am inviting local Calgary and Alberta businesses to join the platform from the beginning.

Businesses can establish a presence on FaithFinder, while paid listing tiers provide additional visibility and growth opportunities.

And during the soft launch, businesses choosing one of FaithFinder’s paid tiers with an annual commitment will receive their first three months free.

But this launch period is about more than an introductory offer.

It is an invitation to help shape the platform.

The churches, Christian schools and businesses participating now are the people whose feedback, experiences and ideas will help determine what we build next.

That is why I’m calling this a soft launch.

I want to listen.

I want to learn.

And I want FaithFinder to grow around the real needs of the community rather than assumptions about what those needs might be.

Why This Is Just the Beginning

I keep thinking about how much is still ahead.

More organizations.

More communities.

More stories.

More opportunities for people to discover each other.

And more ways for FaithFinder to become something bigger than a collection of listings.

I want this blog to become part of that journey too.

Through my work, I meet fascinating people all the time — church leaders doing remarkable things quietly, schools approaching education differently, business owners with stories worth telling, and people trying to solve problems in their communities.

I want to share more of those stories.

And I’m starting next with Journey Church.

For today, though, I’m going to enjoy finally being able to say this:

We are live.

FaithFinder officially launched September 1, 2026.

And I honestly can’t wait to see where we take it from here.

Explore FaithFinder