The ARDA Launches Interactive Mapping

For immediate release: February 19, 2008

The Association of Religion Data Archives, located at www.theARDA.com, is excited to announce interactive mapping of religious and demographic data. Relying on Social Explorer’s powerful GIS platform (www.socialexplorer.com) and extensive demographic archive, this feature allows you to map demographic data by census tracts or religious adherents by counties; and lets you create customized reports for each. Currently available on the ARDA’s site, the U.S. Maps tool relies on religious adherence data collected by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (www.asarb.org) and on demographic data from the U.S. Census. All of the maps are interactive and allow for zooming, moving, and searching across locations. The ARDA’s “Community Profile Builder” document offers congregations instructions for using these and other online tools.

To try out the new feature go to www.theARDA.com, click on “U.S. Maps”, and enter your zip code (or choose an area on the U.S. map). The ARDA also provides many other online tools and data sources that will be useful for congregations and pastors. Thanks to the support of the Lilly Endowment and the John Templeton Foundation, the ARDA’s resources remain free of charge.