To learn more about our upcoming events, click here!

A close friend asked me recently, “what do you love about your church?” I could have given the long version, but that would have taken hours and both our phones might have died before I finished telling him. So I condensed it down to one word. “Connection.” I love that no matter who you are or where you’re from, there’s a way to feel at home and connected to every person who walks through the doors on Sunday in big and small ways. But it goes beyond Sunday. WAY beyond. Hoboken Grace has a special way of connecting with the community every single day of the week through a little concept called Connection Events.

The first Connection Event I ever attended was a First Friday at Northern Soul. I didn’t know a soul (despite the name of the place), and I almost skipped out on it for that reason. “It’ll be people just hanging out with the friends they already have established,” I thought. But I lived in the same building at the time, and some people there knew that and encouraged me to come along. I didn’t have much excuse with the event being held in what was effectively my basement. So I strolled into a sea of people from Hoboken Grace. Some I recognized, most I did not. But you know what? It was one of the greatest decisions I ever made. Not that I made all the close connections I needed in that single night, but it got the ball rolling in laying the groundwork for what would be my future church home. Simple conversations (and a little bit of darts), made it easier to meet up with everybody at the next event, and the next one, and the next one, until finally, I could pick out a majority of these faces on an average Sunday morning.

I know this all sounds great for someone new to the area. But what about well-established, Hoboken Grace veterans who have been attending and serving for years? Well, I think Connection Events are just as important, if not MORE so for them for a couple of reasons. 1. You’re comfortable and know the church community well. I felt at home at my first Connection Event because I had people there to make me feel that way. People who knew how to love well and could introduce me to many others. A room of new folks is awesome, but sometimes they need a leader with a little sense of direction. You could be that person, despite thinking you have nothing to offer if you decided to show up to the latest Coffee Crawl. And 2. You need connection outside of Sundays just as much as the new folks do. There tends to come a point where some will attend every event they can for a year straight, and then when they become established in the church and in the community they’ll think “okay, I think I’m good now.” But connection doesn’t have an end date. It doesn’t have a time limit. Connection is something you have to constantly be maintaining to keep it strong.

The cherry on top of all of this is getting to experience new activities and places that maybe we wouldn’t normally think of, with people who love and serve the same God you do. We live in one of the greatest locations in the world, and getting to explore new coffee shops, museums and parks is just the tip of the iceberg for all that we can see together. Maybe you didn’t think you’d enjoy rock climbing, but you went to an event at Gravity Vault and now it’s your favorite after-work activity. Maybe one of our Coffee Crawl stops introduced you to your favorite iced coffee spot in Hoboken. Maybe going to Speed Friending led to you finding a future roommate or spouse. Maybe you went to House of ‘Que trivia night and you found a connection with someone on your team through a mutual love of bad 70’s Sci-Fi movies.

Whether all of these or none of these are true for you, we hope that all of this ultimately builds a stronger connection with God. He put people in our lives for a reason. So that we don’t have to walk this journey of life alone. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first Sunday with us, or if you’ve been attending for ten years. Connection Events are for YOU, and we can’t wait to see you at the next one!

To learn more about our upcoming events, click here!