Casual Connections

I'm still torn about the the title, "Casual Connections." It sounds too much like the bad section of Craigslist....

For those of you who don't know, our church (FHCC) has a calling to be a body of believers who love Jesus and who love others as a result. And to implement this calling, we try to provide as many opportunities as possible for people to get together throughout the week and just "hang out." No agenda, no work, no expectations; just chilling.

We launched this new activity back in November and began calling it "Casual Connections." Our first one was a tremendous success, bringing out a dozen individuals of varying ages and backgrounds, and of even varying involvement in the church. It was great to see everyone participate in the various discussions taking place around the table, and even better to see so many "small" conversations happening throughout the night. It wasn't about a single personality or topic, yet every conversation included a testimony about what Jesus was doing in someone's life. It was a fantastic night, and a wonderful beginning to this new outreach.
Well, we conducted our second CC last week, and again, it was another success! Same people, different people, and yet all of the talk was still about Jesus and helping each other. It is so cool to see God's calling on our church come to fruition! After the meeting, I immediately began planning the next installment of CC for January. However, as the week progressed, and as more and more people began commenting on how much fun they were having at the CC's, and how so many others still wanted to be a part, I knew we couldn't wait until January to host a third CC.

So, last night was round #3 of "Casual Connections." Once again, we had same people/different people and great conversations. Yet, rather than be of equal or lesser quality from the first two, this past one was probably the best yet. For more than any other night, everyone talked with everyone who was present. We all got to know each other personally, and that just doesn't happen in NYC, especially when dealing with strangers. It was beautiful, and not only did I notice the miracle, but so did the restaurant staff. They simply could not believe that people from a church would voluntarily come out during the week, pay for a cup of coffee, and talk with strangers, much less enjoy themselves in the process. It was amazing, and to top it all off, we even were able to pay the tab for the complete strangers sitting next to us! Mission Accomplished.