I won’t bury the lead: we’re changing our name.
This organization will no longer be called Social Lights. Throughout August 2026, we’ll be transitioning all of our materials to a new name and a new logo. What we do isn’t changing, and we still have all kinds of exciting things in the works for the young adult community around us. We’ll simply be hosting events and advertising under a new banner: Fireside Social.
This change also includes a new domain name. We hope to have an automatic redirect from our old website to the new one, but eventually a simple Google search for “Social Lights” will no longer lead people to us.
This is a difficult transition for us, and I personally don’t think there’s ever a good time for something like this. However, it was recently brought to our attention that the name we’ve been using is trademarked, and we’ve been asked to stop using it.
For me personally—and perhaps for many of you who’ve attended our events over the past two years—the name Social Lights carries emotional weight. It brings to mind a growing community of young followers of Christ seeking new friendships and face-to-face conversations across many denominations. It reminds me of elegant dinners, cozy bonfires, and the occasional hymn sing.
When this organization began, it was meant to be a beacon for lonely people looking for a place to experience genuine human communion. We could never promise endless new friendships for everyone, but we could offer an opportunity for anyone seeking a good conversation. If we can help even one friendship form that otherwise never would have, if we can alter the paths of just two people so that they cross when they otherwise wouldn’t have, then my goal will have been accomplished. Only the Lord can tell me whether we’ve achieved that, and only on a day after I’m gone from here. Until then, we’ll faithfully host, invite, and welcome whoever God sends our way.
A name is not an arbitrary thing. Throughout Scripture, God named and renamed people according to who they were and what He intended for them. Our first father was given the authority to name every beast as a sign of dominion over creation. Social Lights was a play on words, but it was also more than that. It expressed our desire to be a cluster of lights in an increasingly dark social landscape.
There’s a generation—or perhaps three—that has been offered the opportunity to retreat into screens. We can scroll Instagram instead of sharing a hot drink or a meal with our friends. We can debate endlessly on Reddit or X instead of having thoughtful conversations with real people. We can stay home under a blanket with our favorite streaming service instead of doing exciting and demanding things alongside others. We can numb our longing for love and fulfillment with endless pictures and videos viewed in the dark. We can make our closest friends people who live hundreds of miles away and have little to no ability or desire to help us in our everyday lives. We have nearly unlimited opportunities to build our lives around empty pursuits that benefit no one except the shysters selling us the costumes and collectibles. All of these things are within easy reach through a glowing screen.
God gives good gifts, and man turns them into commodities of greed and lust. The speed of communication and access to information afforded by the digital world have undoubtedly saved and improved countless lives. But every powerful tool also carries immense potential for evil and self-destruction. In 2020, governments around the world assumed the digital world had made face-to-face communion obsolete. We all saw how disastrously wrong that assumption was.
Yet since 2020, loneliness has only continued to increase. The ways we divide ourselves behind the shield of our screens continue to multiply. The examples above barely scratch the surface. Each of us may not participate in every form of digital isolation, but most of us probably participate in more than a few. Without intentionally investing in the people we see face to face, there will be very little reason not to choose the simpler, easier option of letting our screens mediate nearly every part of our lives.
I’m not so delusional as to believe that one Chicago-area group of a dozen twenty-somethings hosting parties and posting silly volleyball articles can solve the crisis of digital isolation. But neither am I so jaded that I’d rather do nothing about a problem so obvious when God has given me the opportunity to act. What we do is not a civilization-wide sunrise—though we pray for one—but it can be a faithful light shining in a dark landscape.
Until now, this idealistic venture has gone by the fitting name Social Lights. We’ve built a great deal of goodwill and recognition behind that name. However, in God’s providence, we’ve been asked by the owners of a trademark to stop using it, and we believe changing the name is the wisest course of action.
After much discussion, we’ve decided to rename our mission Fireside Social.
We want to welcome you—and anyone you know—to gather around the proverbial fire and share quiet conversations, heartfelt hymns, and a few gooey s’mores. Small moments that may carry eternal significance for immortal souls.
I humbly ask anyone who has made it through these ramblings to consider hosting something of your own, sharing an event happening in your community, attending one of the gatherings on our calendar, or simply telling others about what we’re doing and inviting them to join us.
There are several opportunities coming up soon. Join us at the 2026 Fine Dining Banquet this November and make some new friends. Bring your whole family to our Aloha Luau in Joliet at the end of August and experience our warm welcome. Or, if you’re looking for something more casual, come out to Monee for our August Freeform Friday. You can find more information about all of these events on our events page.
We expect there will be a season of transition during which our new name may confuse people and make us a little harder to find online. We’d be grateful if you’d help spread the word about Fireside Social. And, if God be pleased, Fireside Social may even be able to minister to more people than Social Lights could. In the end whether we’re doing something good and needful or not will be manifest by how much we can help You.
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