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Exploring the Presbytery of Hamilton
The Presbytery of Hamilton includes over thirty congregations located near the western end of Lake Ontario as well as a series of congregations located south of the City of Hamilton along Highway #6 to Port Dover on Lake Erie. Through the Google Mapping system we are able to represent all of those congregations on a single map along with contact information for each of them.
If you are using this resource for the first time you may want to glance over the notes below before clicking on the link to access the Presbytery Map. Then, have some fun exploring the Presbytery of Hamilton.
Notes on using the Presbytery Map
- Each of the blue pins (or flags) on the map represents a congregation in the Presbytery.
- Click on any blue pin to secure contact information for the congregation it represents.
- Use the slider controls on the upper left side of the map to navigate around on the map and to zoom in or out.
- The pop-up information windows include direct active links to the congregation's web site and e-mail address.
- The pop-up information windows also offers a link by which you can secure detailed traveling directions to that congregation. These directions can also be printed out or forwarded to someone via e-mail.
- In the column to the left of the map there is an alphabetical listing of the congregations in the Presbytery organized by community. Clicking on any congregational name on that list will also immediately access the contact information for that congregation.
- Some extras: Click on the "Satellite" button near the top right hand corner of the map and the map will be replaced by a satellite photo (which is often of high enough resolution to allow you to pick out the church building). The "Hybrid" button just to the right of the "Satellite" button gives you a helpful combination of map and satellite views.
Google Maps for Congregational Promotion and Planning
We are really excited by the Google mapping system. Not only is such a resource of great benefit to our PresbyKirk web site, but we see in it marvelous potential as a promotional or administrative tool for Christian congregations. Custom maps may either be kept private, shared via e-mail with a few friends, or made open to the public through the Internet (as we have chosen to do with the map of the Presbytery of Hamilton). That gives such maps potential value both as administrative tools and as promotional ones.
To create custom maps like the one presented here does require that you register for a Google account. However, registration is free and includes not just the ability to create maps but access to a whole range of additional programs, services and tools. Even within the mapping tools we are still exploring the wide range of options. Sometime, when we have an hour or two to spare, we hope to create a few more custom maps and provide links to them simply to illustrate what we have in mind. However, just a couple of examples:...
- A congregational web site could include a map which not only identifies the location of the church but also of other crucial community services and resources.
- A customized map could be prepared that could be e-mailed to anyone inquiring about the congregation.
- A congregation could develop a personalized map of its membership (or some segment of it) as we have done for the congregations of the Presbytery. This is a great beginning point for a demographic examination of a parish.
- There are overlay programs that make it possible to draw circles of adjustable size around any designated location. A congregation could thus visualize how many of their members live within a kilometre or a mile of the church, or, a Presbytery could see just exactly how close together some of its congregations really are.