Adapting To The Community's Needs
Lockdown caused life to change is many ways and for members of Orchardhill Parish Church in Glasgow, Scotland, it meant an end to in-person gatherings. The regular services and the extra curricular social events which are important to so many parishioners were cancelled, leaving church members looking for novel ways of staying connected. The idea of a virtual pilgrimage was raised, and Big Team Challenge was chosen as the platform to help almost one-hundred churchgoers walk the 7,300 kms (4,536 miles) from Glasgow to Jerusalem.
Regular Updates
While on their journey, the church’s minister, Grant Barclay, gave a pilgrimage update on his weekly video sermon, adding his own personal thoughts and stories about the latest milestone the group had reached that week. The challenge organisers, Maureen and Richard Park, used the platform’s messaging tools to send out daily updates and weekly challenges, keeping everyone entertained and motivated throughout the four week journey.
Digital Fundraising
The challenge was also used as fundraiser, with donations being accepted from participants and their friends and family and put towards the various charities the church supports.
18 million steps counted
The church ran their challenge using our “One Big Challenge” mode, where all participants combine their steps towards a single route. This allowed the group to cover the huge distance surprisingly quickly, almost adding enough distance to walk there and back again. In the end, church members clocked up over 18 million steps during the six-week challenge.