Gloo partners with Barna Group to power national “State of the Church” research initiative

Written by Team Gloo | Feb 4, 2020 5:52:48 PM

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gloo, LLC, a trusted technology platform provider for organizations that champion personal growth, announced today that it is partnering with Barna Group, the nation’s leading research company focused on the intersection of faith and culture, to power a ground-breaking national “State of the Church” study and related digital assessments.

Through its State of the Church research initiative in 2020, Barna will provide church leaders needed insights for a changing world. The organization has a 35-year history of understanding and tracking practices, culture and perspectives of faith that provide important context to societal trends affecting the Church today.

With the State of the Church project, Barna is conducting its most ambitious and in-depth study on the state of the Church, partnering with Gloo as its trusted technology resource to provide industry-leading infrastructure and data privacy technology.

“We are honored that the technology we’ve been working on for a decade can help to support this important project and our friends at Barna Group,” said Scott Beck, CEO and co-founder of Gloo. “We’ve seen first-hand just how powerful the right platform and the right tools can be when it comes to getting leaders on the same page. We’re here to do our part in bringing hope and resources to leaders through the State of the Church project.”

Central to Gloo’s role in driving the State of the Church is the company’s Data Trust Infrastructure, a standard that ensures a world-class level of personal information privacy and security across processes, technologies and governance. Barna will utilize Gloo’s advanced assessment, data visualization and benchmarking capabilities to provide their most in-depth insights to date on the state of the Church.

Furthermore, the Barna ChurchPulse survey data will allow church leaders to collect customized analytics on the state of their church. All data is deidentified and anonymized at every stage of data collection and analysis - not identifiable to any person, anywhere in any system at any time.

For the first time ever, Barna is inviting every church in the country to participate in the 2020 project. The security and privacy practices successfully developed and implemented by Gloo over the past decade will mean that church leaders will have the opportunity to participate in and benefit from the research by providing an anonymous and secure assessment for their members on Barna ChurchPulse. Once completed, each participating church will have access to anonymized key insights and recommended next steps they can take to better help their people flourish and their organization thrive.

The Barna ChurchPulse, analytics and research results will be available for free to the church and networks. Barna and Gloo are committed to a “forever free” promise so that churches and networks across America can benefit from the program. In addition to the free content and capabilities, completely optional premium add-ons will be available to churches as well.

Participants will also have the option to compare and share their de-identified and anonymized insights with other churches, networks and denominations of their choosing.

Barna President David Kinnaman said: “We are excited to be partnering with Gloo on this initiative and to launch a new, free and secure church assessment, the Barna ChurchPulse. Our team is excited to relaunch the State of the Church project and to do so in a way we’ve never done it before.”

About Gloo

Founded in 2012, Boulder-based Gloo, LLC is a trusted technology platform provider for organizations that champion personal growth, including addiction recovery, mental health counseling, family programs, churches and other providers.

Gloo is obsessed with revolutionizing personal growth through technology. Its SaaS-based Personal Growth Platform gives providers access to a uniquely integrated ecosystem of advanced data, analytics and a marketplace for organizations dedicated to improving people’s lives. In addition, Gloo’s platform grants access to personal growth resources, tools and innovations, including growth plans and assessments from respected research partners and professional associations.

As importantly, the standards and capabilities of Gloo’s Data Trust Infrastructure ensure a world-class level of personal information privacy and security across the company’s technology, processes and governance. Accordingly, Gloo is committed to CCPA, GDPR and HIPAA compliance.

For more information please visit www.gloo.us.

About Barna Group

In its 35-year history, Barna Group has conducted more than 1.5 million interviews over the course of hundreds of studies and has become a go-to source for insights about faith and culture, leadership and vocation, and generations. Barna Group has worked with thousands of businesses, nonprofit organizations and churches across the U.S. and around the world, ranging from Protestant to Catholic organizations and leaders. Barna is an independent, privately held, non-partisan organization based in Ventura, California, with offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Nashville, Tennessee.