meetup.com

I discovered a great website today called meetup.com (ht to AFrayedKnot).  The concept is that you type in an interest of yours and your zip code and the site informs you of groups that meet around that topic in your area.  You can also simply search all groups meeting about anything in your area or start your own meetup.

I think this site has potential to become a great tool for the church.  You could encourage your people to start meetups like religious discussion groups, book clubs, quilting meetups, root beer lovers meetups, or any other kind of meetup, with the intent of getting our church people more connections in the community.

I found it interesting that there were 20 groups within 25 miles of me that meet about "religion & beliefs".  Here are the topics of those 20 groups:

Kaballah

Paranormal

Paranormal

Pagans

Tarot Card

Metaphysics

Jewish

Huna

Zen

Astral Projection

Science of Deliberate Creation

Sufism

Psychics

Atheists & Free Thinkers

Soul Healing & Soul Wisdom

Conjure, HooDoo, & Rootwork

Christian

Flying Humans (I'm not making that up - they practice flying and levitation.)

Science of Deliberate Creation

Quantum Physics

Unbelievable!  Such is life in Northern California.  By the way, the one single Christian group was a group about exiting the church and worshipping in your home.  I'd love to see Living Hopers start up some Bible Study, Theology, and various other meetups.