The opening night, and for most people the only night. It is the one session where people tell you how they came to faith, and the one where the room is most likely to contain someone who has not.
Same topic, three different evenings, three different rooms.
| Run | When | Venue | Min | Voices | Film | Film % | Intro→Disc | Facil. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cohort 1 | — | startup hub | 125 | 19 | standard | 20% | 1.5 → 2.41 | 42% |
| Cohort 2 | 2025-04-16 | startup hub | 105 | 19 | substitute | 15% | 2.16 → 2.83 | 30% |
| Cohort 3 | 2026-02 | corporate office | 102 | 21 | standard | 23% | 1.76 → 2.31 | 14% |
Expect first-timers who are not Christians. Two of the three recorded Session 1s had them. Never correct someone on their first night.
Cohort 1. Met in a startup hub for 125 minutes with 19 voices in the room. The standard film was shown, taking 20 per cent of the evening. 7 questions were put. Coded depth rose from 1.5 in the introduction round to 2.41 in the discussion. The facilitator took 42 per cent of the turns.
Cohort 2 · 2025-04-16. Met in a startup hub for 105 minutes with 19 voices in the room. A substitute film was shown, taking 15 per cent of the evening. 7 questions were put. Coded depth rose from 2.16 in the introduction round to 2.83 in the discussion. The facilitator took 30 per cent of the turns.
Cohort 3 · 2026-02. Met in a corporate office for 102 minutes with 21 voices in the room. The standard film was shown, taking 23 per cent of the evening. 7 questions were put. Coded depth rose from 1.76 in the introduction round to 2.31 in the discussion. The facilitator took 14 per cent of the turns.
Plan for 19 to 21 people. The sequence is the one feature of the evening with a measurable effect, and it should be run whole.
Ask for the faith-journey story explicitly in the opening round. This is the only session where people volunteer it.
Standard package: FDE promo reel, Justin and Henry Kaestner intros, the Dave Munson / Saddleback Leather profile, then J.D. Greear on the call to create.
Cohort 2 substituted two films, including the Pete Ochs prison-labour profile and the Praxis redemptive frame, and produced the deepest discussion in the corpus.
Either works. The substituted night scored highest, but that is one evening, and film substitution across all 24 sessions made no measurable difference to depth.
A substitute was used in 1 of the three runs. Across all 24 sessions, substitution made no measurable difference to depth (2.10 against 2.19, p = 0.24). What it changes is the subject matter.
Share of the 101 participant contributions carrying each subject, against its share across all 618 contributions in the corpus.
Frames raised: Expatriate and transnational life (10), The multi-faith workplace (7), Differences between church cultures (5), Mission abroad (4), Contrast with a home country (4).
Where the room took a position on that material, it pushed back or negotiated 11 times against 4 endorsements.
Who speaks: 34 contributions from women, 58 from men.
Choose three. No recorded session got through more than about three at any one table, so the rest are a reserve rather than a plan.