Hi Canadian,
Unfortunately, in any group of Christian-identifying people, you are going to find wolves in sheep's clothing, but even more than that, you are going to find sincere and well-meaning people who are extremely lonely. And for someone, the loneliness can bring out very unpleasant side effects that must be confronted, even when they are genuine Bible believers.
Thank you for giving us an idea of what you'd like this thread to be. I hope I can make some positive contributions.
Just for the record, the meetups I've had with people here on CC have been small, "private" (I'll explain in just a minute,) gatherings with those I've gotten to know over several years here on the forum, through countless emails, and in live chats (so we could see what we were all like in real time and over long amounts of time.) Some people who seemed great on the forums turned out to not be so great in chats (always getting into fights with people, etc.), and some people who might not say much in chats had a lot more to say on the forum or in private emails.
When I say "private," what I mean is, it's never been more than about 6 people at one time, and we all already knew each other well (over years) and/or have already met one or more of the others in person.
We have talked for years about trying to host "free for all" events, saying something like, "Hey, we're going to be here on this day at this time, come on by if you can!" but have always hesitated because of privacy. Our meetups are always close to where at least one person lives, and that person would rather not have just anyone knowing where they are. None of the meetups have ever been close to where I live -- I always have to travel all day by plane to get where others are.
We also had an instance years ago where we kept the group private because we had noticed a person on the forum who seemed to fixate on members of the opposite gender, and their current fixation was someone in our group. I don't think this person was dangerous in any way, but I think if they would have known where this person in our group was located, they would have very strongly pursued them, even though their object of fixation had already said they weren't interested on the forum.
This is why Lynx and I have been trying to host regular live meetups in the chat rooms -- it's a chance for people to meet, talk, and attend from all over the world -- in a relatively safe manner.
I don't know when the next one will be. I'm always open about struggling with depression and I'm such an introvert that this affects my ability to be online as well. Lately, I haven't been feeling like I can put on my "public face," even in a chat, so we'll see. And I don't want to pressure Lynx to act as host alone, though he is more than capable at any time.
Whenever we do have a live chat meetup, please feel free to stop by! We post threads announcing the days and times.
Right now we are limited to our own (Lynx and my) schedules, but we're hoping others might be inspired to host their own chat times so there can be more opportunities for people to meet.
May God bless you, Canadian, for helping other singles!