In the beginning...

For the next few months people from the Church in the Cliff and City Gallery communities will semi-serendipitously meet around Dallas for coffee, kayaking, trips to the zoo, skydiving for the adventurous etc. to experience conversation as a spiritual practice and be a part of an exhibit of living art in a experiment of chance and community.

This is how it works...

Definitions:

Events: We’d use the word “date” but that might scare away some people or get us media coverage that we would rather avoid. An event is the semi-serendipitous meeting of two people; it is the core of this experiment. Each event has a specific date, time, duration and location chosen by a host. The host plans and the guest shows up to the event not knowing whom they will meet. During the event, the host and the guest will “interview” each other with some questions that we’ve provided. You can choose to stick to stick to the questions or to make your own, the point is to learn about each other in unique and interesting ways (not just their hometown, job, hobbies, etc, but rather what makes each person individually fantastic).

Host: The person who plans the event. This person is anonymous to the guest. For September, the hosts have already been chosen to make the pilot version of this experience go smoothly.

Guest: The person who meets the host at the event. This person is anonymous to the host. If you want to participate as a guest, keep an eye out for e-mails from the moderator or let the moderator know you want to participate.

Moderator: This person is chosen at the beginning of each month. She or he is publicly known and will send out the call for entries at the beginning of each month. The moderator is responsible for two very important things: 1) Connecting the host and the guest through an appointment with specified time, location and date, and 2) Making sure that each person gets to said appointment. The moderator is the omnipotent (but benevolent) being in this experiment. He or she knows who is meeting, where, when and for how long.

The Process:

1) At the beginning of the month, the moderator and hosts are chosen. Because September is our pilot month, the hosts have already been chosen.

2) The hosts notify the moderator of their event details.

3) The moderator will send out a call for entries inviting people to look at the scheduled events for that particular month. Look for the call for entries in your e-mail box (if you’re on the Church in the Cliff e-mail list, if not, let us know!) and in the Church in the Cliff Facebook group.

4) If you would like to participate in any of the scheduled events listed in the e-mail or on this blog, you must e-mail the moderator ASAP – this is a first come, first serve basis.

5) Once the moderator knows who is going to meet whom at each event, he or she will notify the guest of the location. The locations of each event are not listed on this site for security reasons.

6) The moderator will let the host and the guest know that the event is set and is responsible for reminding the guest and host of the event a few days prior. If you are a guest or a host, please put the event into your calendar and remember to show up!

7) When the guest and the host meet for the thrilling, semi-serendipitous event it’s up to each of them to make it awesome. We’ll provide some question and answer activities to make it less awkward….or if that makes it more awkward for you, just recycle it!

8) Let the art happen, take pictures, tell us about your experience!