Describe yourself and what do you do? 
I am a creative person to the core. I started a creative company. I serve the church
through creativity, and I follow a creative God.

Describe church in one word.
Family.

What does community mean to you?
Community to me is a group of people who are committed to giving their time, energy,
and resources for the betterment of all.

You’ve got one Tweet to convince a busy New Yorker that church is worth it. Go?
The Community your hearts been looking for, but never knew that you needed.  #C3Manhattan #sofreakinsweet #changedforever

What’s your favorite thing/s about New York?
You mean besides the food? The coffee? The shows? The energy? The fashion?
The People? Central Park? The diversity? C3Manhattan? I can’t think of anything…

How did you find C3 Church Manhattan? How long have you been involved?
My wife Laura and I found C3Manhattan through our dear friends Frank and Kathleen Monteleone and have been committed to the church for over 4 years.

What’s your individual role/s at church?
I serve at church as a worship leader, drummer & photographer/filmmaker.

What inspires you?
Nothing inspires me more than getting to play a role in encouraging people to step into
their callings and giving them an environment and opportunity to walk it out.

Any three people you would want to have at a dinner party?
Jesus, a paralytic, and a dead person.

I collect?
Wine, scotch and cigar experiences.

What book can you recommend?
The Supernatural Ways of Royalty by Kris Vallotton and Dreaming With God by Bill Johnson (which inspired me to open Red Door Studios with Melinda DiMauro Culp)

If you could each have toured with any band in history, who?
U2…or Schoolhouse Rock.

Describe yourself and what do you do?
I am a busy mom who juggles raising an amazing 4-yr-old boy and working in the fast
paced world of lifestyle public relations and marketing. For fun I love movies, live music, yummy food, and traveling to unexpected places.

Describe church in one word.
Home.

What does community mean to you?
Community means support, accountability, fun, essential.

You’ve got one Tweet to convince a busy New Yorker that church is worth it. Go?
You may blink and find that your life has passed you by. Stop, connect to a living church,
go into your best life visit @C3Manhattan.

How did you find C3 Church Manhattan? How long have you been attending?
I found C3 Manhattan through a google search with my good friend Erica Pyle. Our first Sunday was in late June 2002 and I have been here ever since!

What’s your individual role/s at church?
I have the pleasure of running a women’s Connect Group in Brooklyn. I also serve on the welcome team, which is a great way to stay connected to new people coming
into the church.

What inspires you?
I am inspired by an individuals ability to change in a safe, loving, Christ-centered church.
You can’t join C3 Church Manhattan and not have your life changed for the better.

Any three people you would want to have at a dinner party?
Queen Elizabeth I, Mark Zuckerberg, and Abraham (as in the Abraham from Genesis) .
How crazy to be able to show Abraham and Queen Elizabeth I what has become of this
world and technology.

If you could each have toured with any band in history, who?
It may be cliche, but probably the Beatles, during Abbey Road time.

Describe yourself and what do you do?
Melinda: a Commercial Photographer, mom, wife, etc.
Dennis: a music maker, studio owner, husband and Dad.

Describe church in one word?
Family.

What does community mean to you?
A tapestry of all the people that matter most.

You’ve got one Tweet to convince a busy New Yorker that church is worth it. Go?
“Who needs hell when you have the F train. Come to church.” — Dennis
“When NY makes you feel alone, C3 is a place that feels like home.” — Melinda

What’s your favorite thing/s about New York?
We got married in Bryant Park!

How did you find C3 Church Manhattan?
We had friends on both coasts tell us, “We had to go.”

What’s your individual role/s at church?
“Comic relief” — Dennis. Plus Dennis plays with the worship team, Melinda helps with photography and we lead a Connect Group at our home and are D-Group leaders.

What inspires you each?
The intricacy of God’s art work.

Any three people you would want to have at a dinner party?
Dr. David Yonggi Cho, Grace Coddington, and Daniel Lanois

What book can you recommend?  
The 4th Dimension by Dr. Cho, Experiencing the depths of Jesus Christ by Madame Guyon

If you could each have toured with any band in history, who?  
Five Iron Frenzy.

Describe yourself and what do you do?
I am an artist who hopes to inspire others. I am a professional dancer with the American Ballet Theatre.

Describe church in one word.
Love!

What does community mean to you?
Community is coming together to support one another. It’s that atmosphere in which you
feel connected with everyone.

You’ve got one Tweet to convince a busy New Yorker that church is worth it. Go?
If you want to feel happy and carefree for a moment in your busy life, listen to inspiring
music and hang out with some cool people, see you Sunday #TheTimesCenter

What’s your favorite thing/s about New York?
The culture! Nowhere else in the nation will you find such a diverse group of people.

How did you find C3 Church Manhattan?
My parents found it online when we moved to New York to pursue my dance career.

How long have you been at C3 Church Manhattan?
Almost three years.

What’s your individual role at church?
Hanging out with the youth!

What inspires you?
Art, music, and positive attitudes.

Any three people you would want to have at a dinner party?
My mom, dad, and little brother… I miss them a lot!

Where did you grow up?
Lawrenceville, Georgia.

What book can you recommend?
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell.

If you could each have toured with any band in history, who?
U2! Or the Beatles.

Describe yourselves and what do you do?
Nathan is the general manager at Brand Building Communications.  Alison is an actor and singer. We have been married since July of 2010.

Describe church in one word.
Relevant & inspiration.

What does community mean to you?
Community is about having a place – a place to serve, a place to find your gifts/talents and
to use them, a place to live generously, to be accountable, to be inspired, to be encouraged.
It is a place to put down roots, a place to celebrate success and to share burden
— a place to love and to be loved. A place to call home.

You’ve got one Tweet to convince a busy New Yorker that church is worth it. Go?
Why have a digital social network when you can have a REAL
social network @C3Manhattan?

How did you find C3 Church Manhattan? How long have you been attending?
Alison: I was hired as a babysitter for the C3 nursery in the summer of 2008 and after
falling in love with all the people I had met, decided I wanted to go to some of the services.
I have been attending since.
Nathan:  I was a member of C3 Oxford Falls in Sydney, Australia. I moved to New York in July of 2008 and naturally wanted to stay within the C3 family.

What’s your individual role/s at church?
We are both on the Worship team, we both sing and Nathan is also a drummer. Nathan also volunteers with Production & Alison with Nursery, and we also co-leading a Connect Group.

What inspires you?
Alison: how God is constantly moving in my life. His vision for me is so much bigger than I have ever dreamed.
Nathan: God is the ultimate storyteller. Trusting His version of the story requires me to
think bigger, dream bigger and grow bigger every day!

If you could each have toured with any band in history, who?
Nathan: Dave Matthew’s Band.
Alison: Heart (complete with the 80′s hair).

Describe yourselves and what do you do?
Will played ACC basketball at University of Virginia; Ivonne studied applied math at Harvard. We got married in 2006 and have two children, Diego and Lucia. Will is partner at
a boutique trading firm on Wall Street. Ivonne left the corporate world in 2010 to take on the much more challenging role of full-time motherhood.

Describe church in one word.
Family.

You’ve got one Tweet to convince a busy New Yorker that church is worth it. Go.
How often do you feel awesome just for being yourself? Come find out what that’s like.

What’s your favorite thing/s about New York?
The freedom of expression, level of acceptance, and access to basically anything, anytime.

How did you find C3 Church Manhattan? How long have you been attending?
Shortly after we were engaged in 2005, Will’s sister, a long-time member of C3 Church
Long Island, suggested we look into the pre-marriage course at C3 in Manhattan.
We took the course that fall and found our church home in the process. Now, seven years later, we’re teaching that course!

What are your roles at church?
We are directors of the church’s Rise & Build program (the building fund), we co-lead the Relationship Course, and Ivonne heads up the Welcome Team.

What inspires you?
Anyone who has the courage and faith to jump with two feet into their calling. We’re also inspired every day by the beauty, joy and freedom of our children.

Any three people you would want to have at a dinner party?|
We started getting possessive of our respective dinner party guests, so we decided to
make it a joint, six-person dinner party. We would invite J.John, Steve Jobs, Bill Clinton, Joyce Meyer, Melinda Gates and Ivonne’s mom.

What book can you recommend?
Will: Playful Parenting by Lawrence J. Cohen. It’s a great reminder for all of us — parents or not — to seek connection by lightening up.
Ivonne: My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. A favorite from my childhood that still transports me to a peaceful, magical place. Ageless.

If you could each have toured with any band in history, Who?
Will: Led Zeppelin (Ivonne might tag along)
Ivonne: The Black Crowes opening for Celia Cruz (OK, maybe an unlikely combo,
but I can dream, right?)

Describe yourself and what do you do?
I’m a model, makeup artist, photographer and singer. I’m detail-oriented and naturally very curious. I ask a lot of questions and don’t always remember all of the answers. I’m drawn to beautiful things and one might say I wear rose-colored glasses. I love NYC, I love God,
and I love His church.

Describe church in one word.
Home.

What does community mean to you?
Community inspires you, challenges you, holds you accountable, believes in you, laughs
with you, cries with you, celebrates with you, journeys with you, and runs the race with you.

What’s your favorite thing/s about New York?
What’s not to love? (Don’t answer that.) Some of my favorite things are the commonplace things you could do anywhere, like walking through a new neighborhoods and just being still. I love looking across the East River from Williamsburg and trying to pick out the building of my first Manhattan apartment. More than anything, I love that I found God here, because that was definitely not in my plan—but it’s been the very best part.

How did you find C3 Church Manhattan? How long have you been attending?
I was working with one of my now-very-good friends, Colleen. I’d heard that she was really invested in her church, and I remember thinking that was the weirdest thing ever: she was kind, intelligent, talented — and wasn’t trying to convince me into anything. Eventually,
out of my own hunger, I started asking questions. She had answers, and an open invitation.
I started coming in August of 2009.

What’s your individual role/s at church?
I’m on the worship team as a vocalist and co-lead a Connect Group in Brooklyn.

What inspires you?
I’m inspired by a lot of things — it’s the rose colored glasses. Beautiful details, moments,
and people’s stories. Textures, colors, size, and sounds. I find that I’m also inspired by listening to live music. Two semi-recent concerts that left my heart beating and hungering were Hey Rosetta and Gungor.

If you could each have toured with any band in history, who?
I’m inclined to say U2 because I’d love to worship with Bono. Led Zeppelin would be pretty cool, too. Or my dad.

Describe yourself and what do you do?
I work in Investment Management for a private equity firm – something I never saw myself doing, but I love going to work every day. Seeing where God takes me from here is the next big question.

Describe church in one word.
Home.

What does community mean to you?
The people around me with whom I interact regularly – encouraging, seeking inspiration, listening to, growing up with and generally doing life together!

You’ve got one Tweet to convince a busy New Yorker that church is worth it. Go?
Church is what Mayor Bloomberg had in mind when he created 311
— the answer to everything!

What’s your favorite thing/s about New York?
Anything is possible in NYC – you can meet a sailor during war and start a beautiful family (like my  90 year old Gramma), land a ballet career in the most profound companies in the world (like one of our youth), live the American dream, from Ellis Island to Vanderbilt status (like so many before us), work daily to protect Human Rights at the United Nations, find a happy career as a comedian, or join the most recent and hottest campaign
of endless possibilities!

How did you find C3 Church Manhattan? How long have you been attending?
The now-fiancé, had friends at church and recommended I check it out my first Sunday in NYC. I have been here ever since.

What’s your individual role/s at church?
I serve on Service Team and also help lead Current weekly
— the most amazing teens in NYC!

What inspires you?
Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city. I am inspired and feel called toward this prophecy/vision/statement/calling.

Any three people you would want to have at a dinner party?
Nelson Mandela, Steven Tyler and the better half.

If you could each have toured with any band team in history, who?
I think I would be afraid to tour with a band… I would however had loved to have traveled to the Atlanta 1996 Olympics with the USA Gymnastics team.

Describe yourself and what do you do?
I’m an army brat, a Nigerian currently living in New York City (concrete jungles baby) and a filmmaker.

Describe church in one word.
Citadel.

What does community mean to you?
Solidarity. It’s a place where I can bring my strengths to help someone else overcome their difficulties whether it’s helping someone move, grabbing a coffee or just being present to
what they’re experiencing.

You’ve got one Tweet to convince a busy New Yorker that church is worth it. Go?
“If you’re into finding ‘a river in the middle of a desert’, I can assure you, this is the place
for you.” (The “find a river in the middle of a desert” bit is from Jason Upton.
I’m not that poignant.)

What’s your individual role/s at church?
I’m currently a Kids Church volunteer.

What inspires you?
I’m inspired by people who have the courage of their conviction.  It takes so much strength
to step out and choose boldness over fear in big things and in small things as well.  That always inspires me to choose life in the things I do.

Any three people you would want to have at a dinner party?
Off the top of my head: Sir Richard Branson, Nelson Mandela and William Makepeace Thackeray because they’re my birthday mates and we could make it a birthday dinner party

Where did you each grow up?
Harare, Zimbabwe; Plateau State, Nigeria; Abuja, Nigeria; Yonkers, New York;
and New York City.

I/We collect?
Mannerisms.  I love to observe people’s physical and verbal quirks and store them in the back of my mind.

What book can you recommend?
Right now, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” by John le Carré.

If you could each have toured with any band in history, who?
Queen for sure.

Describe yourself and what do you do?
I am funny girl/woman. I am addicted to JOY, and the One who gives joy.
And I’m obsessed with the human condition. I love to love. I am an Artist.
The performing kind.

Describe church in one word.
Family.

What does community mean to you?
A group of individuals who are in agreement on a core belief and live it out together.

You’ve got one Tweet to convince a busy New Yorker that church is worth it. Go?
Tired of striving yet? Well, when you are, let me know. We’ll get coffee and
then head to church.

What’s your favorite thing/s about New York?
C3 Church Manhattan

How did you find C3 Church Manhattan?
One of my best friends from high school, Jared, brought me.

How long have you been at C3 Church Manhattan?
Going on 6 years

What’s your individual role/s at church?
Worship Leader, Connect Group Leader, and undercover agent for Christ

What inspires you?
When Truth comes from the mouth of the broken.

Any three people you would want to have at a dinner party?
Judy Garland, Jesus, and TD Jakes

Where did you each grow up?
Houston, Texas

I/We collect?
Journals

What book can you recommend?
The Shack

If you could each have toured with any band in history, who?
Hmmm….get back to me on that.