As I began to ramp up promotions for Ecclesicon, one question kept popping up over and over,
“Why is a church holding a gaming convention?”
It’s an understandable question. Churches in our culture have not always been welcoming for people who don’t fit the societal definition of “normal.” So seeing a church run a convention which tends to appeal to “not normal” folks can raise red flags. People who aren’t religious, have tattoos 1, are LGBTQ+, or are just plain weird wonder if they’ll actually be welcome 2.
The answer to “Why?” is one word.
Connections.
Here’s one example. Last night I was watching the The Nintendads anniversary stream on Twitch 3 and three other folks who’d been at Ecclesicon also jumped into the comments. One left a chat message which read, “My wife says to say hi to your wife.”
They all met Ecclesicon.
None of these folks would have ever crossed paths if Ecclesicon had never happened. I’ve got a number of other folks I know only because I held One Shot TTRPG days in 2023. And, beyond the gaming endeavors I’ve got a whole bunch of other folks I know only because we opened our doors to the Palmyra Improvement Association and AA. It’s always been about connections, letting folks meet to have fun and maybe form some friendships.
Will any of these folks ever become part of Central Baptist Church’s membership? I have no clue, and I didn’t open up space here to attract new members or to save the institution that pays my salary. I see such attempts as little more than a bait and switch, a concept I hold in contempt 4.
I did it because I actually value community, and love to see its threads forming out of something I helped bring about.
I did it because it leads to comments like, “My wife says to say hi to your wife” popping up in places I’d have never expected it. How cool is that? It’s good.
It was also fun, which is a nice bonus.
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Not a hypothetical, someone asked if they’d be welcome even though their arms were covered in tattoos. The answer was, “Of course.” ↩
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People who are religious tend to ask why we’re wasting time with this gaming stuff. People are weird. ↩
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Which is a platform I am not cool enough to be on, not at all. ↩
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I’m the shepherd of a community rather than a CEO, which is a position I’m terrible at ↩
