In just a few short weeks the world has become obsessed with the recently released, interactive game Pokemon Go. This free app that you can download on your iPhone or Android is reviving the huge success of the Pokemon cards, game, and TV show of a generation ago. This new application of the game is getting players out of their chairs and walking the streets of their town or city trying to ‘catch ‘em all’. It is literally the talk of the town this summer!
Pokemon Go is a location-based augmented reality mobile game that has kids and adults alike throwing Poke Balls at Pokemon that pop up on the screen of their mobile phones as they walk around their neighbourhood, and then training and engaging in battles at PokeStops and Gyms. You may not have played the game, but you may have recently discovered that your church has been identified as a Pokemon Gym, and you now have kids and adults alike hanging around your church yard with their faces focused on their phones. What’s a church to do?
The first step is to get educated. Find out what this game is about and what your church has to do with it. If you’re not already playing, read a few of the articles linked below, and/or download the app and try the game out for yourself. Get out and chat with others you meet on the way and ask why they’re playing and what they like about the game. Learn a few of the terms and names of the characters and what the point of the game is.
Second, begin to think of ways your church can respond well to the occasional players that you find on your church property training at what they see as a Pokemon Gym. Through these unexpected visits, congregations have been given a fortuitous opportunity to reveal themselves positively to those in their community who might otherwise never know what a church community is. While I suspect that this new phenomenon is not going to bring huge numbers to your church looking to become members, I do believe that in these chance events we form lasting memories and attitudes shaped by our welcome and treatment of all people; we are defined in these telling moments. To help you consider ways of making these moments great again read a few of the links attached.
Have fun this summer, and I hope you ‘catch ‘em all’!
Pokemon: What Parents Need to Know
Pokemon: How The Church Of England Aims to Catch ‘Em All
Pokemon: Top Ten Do’s and Don’ts When Your Church is a PokeStop