Christian Connection Review November 2018: Waste of money?

Last updated: August 2018

Our Review

Christian Connection was launched in 2000 by Jackie Elton at the Greenbelt festival — an annual festival of arts, faith and justice held in England. Later the same year, it opened for registrations and received widespread media attention. The online dating service is run by a team of Christians from the UK. Since launching, thousands of users have found love, marriage, friendship, and community through Christian Connection.

Operating on a vision of quality, Christian Connection has won several awards including Highly Commended at the UK Blog Awards 2017. At the 2016 UK Dating Awards, it won Daters' Favourite Dating Site and Best Niche Dating Site, beating mainstream competition like Match.com, eHarmony, and Zoosk.

Member Structure

Members

5,000 from Singapore

Members activity

2,000 daily logins

Gender Proportion

60 %

40 %

You get a personal profile which you can fill out

Christian singles are very active on the site
Majority of the members are between 30 - 40 years old
Diverse membership base since the site is LGBT-inclusive
60% of all members are from the United Kingdom
Most of the members fall under the Trinitarian Christian definition

Christian Connection members are very active on the site's discussion boards and regularly arrange meet-ups.There's a low chance of stumbling upon fake profiles here since the members are very keen on meeting and, if not to date, to create long-term networking groups. Anyone above 18 years of age can create an account, but the majority of the members are between 30 to 40 years old. Although they state that most of the members fall under the Trinitarian Christian definition, Christian Connection is very open to all practices and faiths. The website has about 58,500 monthly unique visitors from all over the world. The gender distribution is almost split in half, but there are slightly more women. Because of the older age group majority, most of the users on Christian Connection are serious about looking for a relationship. This isn't the website for hookups and casual affairs. The website is also blessedly LGBT-inclusive.

Signing Up

Account creation can be done in less than a minute
There's a free 3-day trial for all users
The registration consists of the basics then your life & work
Email verification is required
You can add your profile details later

All new users are given free 3 days as a trial. This trial will give more access to the site compared to a standard user. On the registration page, you only have to provide your basic information. Name, email address, gender, birthday, and location. After that, your account is created. Following that, you just have to choose between different options as you describe "The Basics" and then your "Life & Work". The basics consist of your physical characteristics, church group, what you're looking for, etc., while "Life & Work" is pretty self-explanatory. Not all of the fields are mandatory. The fields aren't heteronormative since Christian Connections welcomes LGBT members. You can start using the site even with your profile still half complete, so always remember to complete your profile details first. Once you have signed up, you're going to keep seeing a reminder to verify your email, since it is mandatory.

Making Contact

A message or a wave can be sent
There are preset replies for standard members
Free trial members can send 5 messages everyday
All membership types can send waves
Unlimited messaging is only for premium members

There is a chatroom

Upon starting to use the site as a free trial member, you will observe that you can send as many waves to anyone as many times you like. However, you can only send 5 messages per day. Once your trial runs out, if you don't pay for a subscription, you won't be able to send messages. If you receive messages, you can only reply through "preset replies", a set of pre-written messages. They read:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me, however I don't wish to take things further. All the best with your search.
Thanks for your message. I'm not in a position to offer more than friendship, but it would be nice to get to know you better. Message me or wave at me if you're interested.
Thanks for your message. I like your profile, however I'm in a bit of a hurry, so this is just a quick "Hi". I'll be in touch as soon as I can.

As you can see, the gist of these messages is pretty limited. The first is a rejection, the second is a more subtle rejection, while the last is a TTYL (Talk to you later). None of them convey "I'm sorry I can't reply right now, I'm not a paying user. Would you mind chatting on a different platform?" which would be very useful for standard users. You can still send waves though. Messaging (both sending and receiving) is unlimited for paying users.

Profile Quality

Members tend to have more than 1 photo
Contains Life and Work, Faith, and Interests
Many of the profiles are complete and very detailed
Shows when the user was last online
You can message or wave at a user

The profiles are very detailed
The profile information can be changed later
Profile pictures are visible to everyone for free

Profiles on Christian Connection are more detailed than most websites. It also helps that the Edit Profile page is very easy to fill in while maximising the amount of information that can be provided. The first part describes the user's basic details, mostly focusing on physical characteristics. Apart from the given fields, users also have the option to write their own descriptions about themselves. Fortunately, most of Christian Connection members write very detailed self-summaries. Following that, there is a section titled "Life and Work". This is where users can provide facts about their occupation, education, political views, and financial situation. Then, the "Faith" section, which is the basis of the whole site. Members state their faith's importance in their lives, their church involvement, and inspirations. It also includes a description. Pop culture makes an entrance in the Interests section. Here, people can include everything they like about TV, Films, Music, Reading, Sports, and Dream Holidays.

Real Life Review

"My fiancée and I met 3 years ago on Christian Connection. Maybe the newer members now can't relate, but back then not a lot of people were very active. Still, I persisted. I sent a lot of waves. I paid for a subscription. I talked to a lot of users. I even attended a few events. Until I met her. Our topics were never-ending and we could go on for hours - a rare feat. Naturally, I asked her to meet just a few days later. I was more inclined to know her in person than just some distant pen pal, of course. When we finally met, it was like we were old friends hanging out rather than technical strangers on a blind date. Conversation flowed so freely that we almost didn't notice the restaurant staff clearing up around us. Since then it's been 3 years full of faith, love, and peace. My fiancée loves God first, and I wouldn't change a thing. Thank you Christian Connection." - Male High School Teacher (33)

Design and Usability

The website has a neat and functional design. The photos of your matches take up the majority of the web page when you open the site. There is a separate tab that highlights how many members are currently online, but only premium members can see the actual profiles. The preface is simple: the tabs on the top left are where you'll find your matches and messages. On the top right, you'll find the discussion boards and upcoming events. Navigating is very easy since the buttons were arranged with the user's ease in mind. Only 24 matches are shown per page so members don't get overwhelmed with choices. The photo, name, age, and location are the only details shown on the page. Perhaps to impress the notion of slowing down and carefully looking through each profile, instead of just "shopping" for the prettiest faces. The overall design is simple with a pale blue background, making browsing very easy and enjoyable.

Christian Connection Costs and Prices

Search other users
Receive match suggestions
Send waves
Photo uploads
Post on Boards

Unlimited messaging
Keep list of who you viewed
Priority support
Reply to messages directly through private email account
View who's online

Duration / Credits / Coins	Costs per month	Total
Fully Paid Membership
1 Month	30.00 SGD / Month	30.00 SGD
3 Months	20.00 SGD / Month	60.00 SGD
6 Months	15.00 SGD / Month	90.00 SGD

Is Christian Connection expensive or cheap?

In comparison to other providers Christian Connection is expensive.

Credit Card

There are three types of memberships on Christian Connection: Free trial, Standard, and Fully Paid. The Free Trial is offered to all new users, and it lasts for 3 days. The only difference between its benefits and those of a Standard membership is the ability to view who's online, send 5 messages per day, and have unlimited posting in the discussion boards. If your trial expires and you don't pay for a subscription, you won't be able to view who's online, you can only reply using "preset replies" (pre-written messages), post on discussion boards once every 24 hours. Fully Paid members, on the other hand, have unlimited access to the website, and get priority customer support.

Since the site is founded on Christian faith, they offer some of the easiest and most transparent premium transactions we've seen. Users can cancel their subscription anytime, straight through the website, and still get to use the remaining duration of their membership. They allow refunds on a case-to-case basis (usually your most recent payment, if it hasn't been used to send or receive messages). They even discourage users from issuing a cancellation through their bank in fear of a "chargeback". Deleting your account, if you still have subscription time remaining, forfeits the rest of that time. Additionally, it automatically cancels your premium subscription.

Special Features

Christian Connection has provided several additional features which improve communication between members on the site and elevate the individual users' experience.

Boards

Boards are forum-type discussions where users can interact and encourage each other on different topics. The topics are divided into general sections:

Dating Chat & Support
Lighter Notes
Out & About
Culture Vulture
Anything Else

A rage of issues are included under these sections, from "Prayer Requests & Responses", to "What's your joke for today", to "Nottinghamshire Meet-ups". The topics are constantly monitored and updated, so you are likely to see the most recent and popular ones. A user would post their own topic, and others can upvote them or just ignore them. Posts with more votes are likely to be more popular and show up in the Boards overview page. The comments underneath any topic can also be upvoted.

Meetups

Meetups are, well, "social gatherings organised by Christian Connection members." Users post the event that they are hosting, include the date, time, location, and a description. Others who want to attend the event can mark themselves as "going". Much like the Boards, there is a comment section underneath where questions can be asked. The location generates an automatic map which visitors can view on Google Maps. There are separate tabs for Upcoming and Past events. For the Past events, users can still comment on how the event went; maybe a review or just a simple thank you to the host.

Our rating

Signing Up:	4.0 / 5
Making Contact:	3.0 / 5
Profile Quality:	4.0 / 5
Real Life Review:	3.0 / 5

Editors Conclusion

Christian Connection had a clear goal when they established themselves in 2000. Now, two decades later, they have managed to stick by those values and constantly deliver what they promise towards Christian singles. Although it is a niche dating site, it is widely accepting of different traditions, faiths, and sexualities. Members are surprisingly active on the forums and there is always a new event to look forward to. There are a few fake profiles due to their constant monitoring. However, although most of the profiles here are most definitely from real people, only a few are currently active at any given time. At an estimate, there are about 100 online users whenever you log in. If you want other sites with more daily active users, check out the ones in our Matchmaker category.

FAQ

Facts

What is Christian Connection?

Christian Connection is a dating site for Christian singles which is available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong. Christian Connection is operated by Widernet Communications Ltd in London, UK.

Is Christian Connection legit?

Yes, it has had over 18 years in the online dating industry.

Is Christian Connection any good?

You can read all their success stories through their review page.

Usability

How does Christian Connection work?

Christian Connection works by showing you the most currently active users on the site. You can also look for other single Christians by editing your search criteria.

Where can I find Christian Connection events?

You can find them on their official site, EventsForChristians.

What are the Christian Connection terms and conditions?

You can read about it on their terms and conditions page: christianconnection.com/terms.

Is there an app for Christian Connection?

Yes, for iOS users.

Contact

How do I contact Christian Connection?

You can contact them through their helpdesk or through their email: help@christianconnection.com.

Costs

Is Christian Connection free?

If you register, you'll get the first 3 days free as a Free Trial member. After that, you can pay for a full subscription.

How much does Christian Connection cost?

The 1-month subscription starts at £24 per month.

How long does the Christian Connection trial last?

It lasts 3 days.

Cancel

How do I cancel my subscription?

You can do it by clicking the 'cancel recurring subscription' link on the Subscription page. If you paid through the Apple App Store, you have to cancel your subscription through there.

How do I delete my Christian Connection account?

On the top right of the site, click on the thumbnail of your profile photo. From the drop down, choose "Profile & Settings". At the very bottom of the page, click on "Close your account" and follow the instructions.