Church At A Con?

For the last several years my wife and I have been involved with Fans For Christ, a sci-fi/fantasy/anime/comic book/goth/etc. fan group made of Christian geeks. Please go to the link to find out more about us, and then come back here. Don't worry, I'll wait....


Okay, back? Good. One of the things you may have noticed there is our "Convention Ministry" section. We go to several conventions in the southeastern US, and are trying to branch out into others. These conventions are full of fun and exciting costumes, seminars, and celebrities and are very cool to attend. We discovered Fans For Christ at one of these about four years ago, and were excited to find other Christians who "got it". You see, it's perfectly okay to be a Christian and play role-playing games, or watch Harry Potter, or dress up as a Jedi. But the born-again Christians are definitely the minority of people attending, and that can be very obvious. We are the light of Christ in a very dark place.

One of the amazing things at these cons is that we get to hold church. To many people it is the first time they have even heard of church at a con. I'm the one who gives the messages (at least so far) and I always try to give fan-friendly messages. In fact, the Christian Ninjate message and idea came from my latest sermon at ConNooga. I've also involved a lot of comic book illustrations, such as the fact that God is most like the Silver Age Green Arrow (I'll share that at some point in the future).

For the past two years we had services at Dragon*Con, and that was really cool. We had around 60 people the first year, and around 100 last year. Last year at ConNooga we had about a dozen, and this year about 35! The hunger for God's Word is most certainly at these cons. The organizers of ConNooga are also hosting a gaming con/weekend called The Siege. We weren't planning on going, but the really liked what we have done at ConNooga and invited us. So on Sunday, May 3rd, we're holding another con church service!

I feel so blessed that God gives us the opportunity to share His message in such an unusual place. But isn't that what Jesus would do? If he were walking the Earth again, where do you think he would be? Would he be touring churches, holding special services? No, I don't think so. He said that he came for the sick, not the well, and though I can't say that everyone who attends church is well, I think there is a greater need. I think that Jesus would be at places like Dragon*Con, and other conventions where His light needs to shine. So I really think that He is blessing our efforts to share the Gospel in such an unusual setting. We're ministering to people that your average church-goer would probably cross the street to avoid.

So if you're ever at one of these cons (and hopefully even more in the years to come), be sure to stop by and say hi to us!