You Will Be Missed at CFL

The year 2016 has treated me well so far. I have engaged in exciting projects personally and professionally, and I regret very few things. Let me share one of them: despite my best efforts to time things as perfectly as I can, I am unable to attend CFL 2016. I have helped plan the previous two (and this one), and I was a speaker at the first two. Believe me when I say I will dearly miss you.

Sure, most of you haven’t met me, though we may be Facebook friends or part of the Christian Libertarian Facebook Group. But that doesn’t really matter, because what I will miss most is being in the same room as you who show a similar passion for a free society.

I suspect that, like me, many of you have a handful of friends who lean libertarian, but most people in your circle probably do not share your concern for the future of our country, or at least they do so for very different reasons. You need to know how important an experience like CFL can be.

When it comes to sharing ideas and identifying as a libertarian Christian, there are few rivals to being in the same room with like-minded individuals. Real face-to-face interactions can be priceless. You create lasting memories by laughing over a cup of coffee or debating over dinner. You have the chance to entertain new ideas and share your own with strangers whom you can call your friends. You hear their stories and learn best practices to preach liberty in your own circle. Who knows, maybe you will meet your future spouse!

Let me be transparent for a moment and reveal a secret. Preceding the first conference in 2014, I was a bit skeptical it would be worth my time, but I attended anyway (it helped that I was a speaker). I’m a natural introvert, so larger gatherings do not appeal to me as easily as smaller ones. But CFL is designed to make it easy to mingle in a way that almost everybody can enjoy. With only a little bit of effort coming out of my shell, I made new friends, met virtual ones for real, and was exposed to ideas and feedback from important liberty movement figures who would have otherwise been inaccessible to me. I came away both encouraged and refreshed. It was more than worth the time and effort.

So if you are undecided about attending, I’ll simply ask for a favor: go in my place. Experience something I cannot. Meet people, encourage them, provide feedback to their ideas, and seek out feedback about yours. The Internet age has made us reachable in mere seconds, but there is no substitute for good old-fashioned table fellowship.

And that is why you will be missed this year at CFL.

Ready to sign up? Learn more at the official conference page or register via Eventbrite right now!