Christian.com - Christian Singles

ChristianCafe.com is the largest Christian-owned and operated on-line dating service. With over 100,000 members world-wide, Christian Cafe is a top choice for anyone looking for a personals-style singles site. With several ways to browse personals and find Christian singles you may want to connect with, and with an easy and safe environment to start communicating, this site is ideal for any Christian new to on-line dating, and also for those who have tried other sites but still haven’t met that special someone.

Number of Users:	Over 100,000 members (not all active)
Year Founded:	1999
Search Criteria:	“QuickMatch” and advanced search options
Interesting Fact:	Christian founder met his wife on-line
Cost:	$34.95/month - $49.95/3 months $79.95/6 months - $99.95/year
Free Trial?	Yes- 7 or 10 days*

Based in Ontario, Canada, ChristianCafe.com is Christian-owned and Christian-operated. This is actually a rare thing…

You may be surprised to know that many of the other “Christian” dating sites are not Christian at all- they are secular dating sites, often run by non-Christians and some even make most of their money with adult-oriented sites, and have a “Christian” dating site simply to take money from Christians in the on-line dating market. (Please do not give your money to those types of companies!) But rest assured that Christian Café is a truly Christian company.

So in a world-wide-web with deceptive “Christian” dating sites, this site and company is refreshing to find. Sam, the founder and owner of Christian Cafe, is a strong Christian, and met his wife through on-line dating. The team at Christian Cafe believe in the mission of connecting Christians with other Christians, and the result is thousands of successful Christian marriages!

The only restriction before starting is that you must be 18 or older, and of course you should be a Christian single- not a stated but an obvious pre-requisite.

First you will fill out your profile, which only takes a few minutes (much faster than eHarmony’s in-depth profile). You will enter basic information, then answer multiple choice questions about your likes and dislikes, physical characteristics, etc. The last section has a few questions that you can write out a few sentences, which will help others understand you a bit more. Go ahead and fill this out up-front, but if you are impatient, you can come back later and complete this part or edit what you have written.

Once you’ve completed the profile, you will receive your password via email, and you can log-in right away. Your free trial gives you access to the entire system, with the exception of the chat rooms (those are reserved for paid members only). So you can start browsing other profiles (sometimes called “personals” on other sites) as soon as you log-in. Christian Cafe is easy to use, but you might need a few pointers.

If you are comfortable doing so, we recommend adding your picture to your profile. You will be browsed and contacted more often, plus you get an extra 3 days added to your trial period.

There are 3 main ways we recommend to search for your perfect match- “Quickmatch”, Search, and browsing the “Who’s On”. First, try the “Quickmatch”- this is a query that matches up your multiple-choice answers (location, denomination, etc.) to find singles of the opposite sex that match 80-100% with the responses you entered on your profile. This is not scientific like eHarmony, but definitely narrows the list down for you, and is a good place to start browsing profiles.

Next, create a search yourself by clicking on the Search option. Here you decide what criteria to filter by, and a maximum of 300 profiles are displayed based on your criteria. If you choose a lot of criteria, be patient because it might take a minute or so before the results load into your browser.

We also liked browsing the “Who’s On”- viewing the profiles of those who are on the site right then. This is particularly useful once if you want to send a message to someone right away, or if you are a paying member and can use the chat room.

You’ll notice when you do this how many people world-wide use Christian Cafe. Just keep in mind if you start communicating with someone far away, are you really willing to travel to meet them if the relationship goes that far? Use extra care in conversing with anyone overseas, and use prayer, caution and wise counsel from others before agreeing to travel to meet anyone you meet on-line.

There are a lot of high-quality profiles of Christian singles- many more than you’ll find on other sites. And since it is a Christian site (not a secular dating site with a Christian section), in general, most of the singles are more committed believers than on other sites.

Once you found someone you would be interested in talking to, you can add them to your “Friends List”, and then use the built-in, internal e-mail system to contact them. Others might see your profile, and initiate an email to you. Don’t worry- your email address is not given out since this all happens within the site. If things go bad with a conversation, no worries because you can also block a person from contacting you.

Check out the FAQ’s page for more tips, training, and how-tos, and you’ll be an expert in no time!

We suggest using the service a lot during your trial period, and post your picture to get an extra 3 days. Then by the end of the trial period, you will be ready to make an informed decision regarding continuing your membership as a paid member. Because of their price breaks, you save a lot by signing up for 3 months to a year.

Ask yourself how many possible soul mates you have met on the site. Do you meet more in a week on Christian Café than you do in a week of your daily life? If so, and if you like your experience so far, then save some money by signing up for 3 months or more. If you are still not sure, though, you can always just extend for another month.

Good search tools, and internal email system (member-to-member only). Also, you can always block someone from sending you a message if they get annoying.

The site is easy to use, but the look and feel of the site needs to be updated. We spoke with ChristianCafe (7/06), and they are working on an updated look to the site right now and plan to launch that soon.

If you are looking for an easy-to-use, no upfront hassle way to meet Christian singles, then Christian Cafe may just be the place you’ll meet your soul mate! Unlike eHarmony, this is a “do-it-yourself” singles site, so be prepared to be active in searching and browsing profiles, and don’t be shy if you see someone you might be interested in. Once you’ve check their “last on” date to see if they are active members, send them a message.

Use the 7-day free trial period to find out if the service is right for you, and upload your photo to get an extra 3 days.

Finding the right person on-line doesn’t happen overnight, so check back often to browse new members and check your messages. God willing, maybe one day soon you will be adding your “happily married” story to the Testimonies page!