1 x 75 min.
C3 is an Evangelical church that opened in Toronto in 2013 and quickly amassed a large following among the city’s young, hip and tattooed. #Blessed offers an intimate look inside this fast-growing millennial church, following the process of selling salvation in the 21st century.
As pastor Sam Picken and his team grow the church from two locations to three, we explore the lives of some of its young members. Aspiring pastor David works on a new and chaste relationship with his girlfriend Mona as he prepares to go to C3 College in Australia for a year; former party girl Aimee does a 180 as she turns away from drugs and ends a relationship with a woman to embrace a church-centred life; and Conan throws himself deeper into the church community while struggling to believe. Tying all these stories together is Galen, a young academic who is fascinated by the church’s pull but questions its tactics.
Much like other viral church startups of the 21st century, C3 is tapping into something very real and apparently much needed in the hearts of many millennials. While Picken and his team have given church a modern rebranding, it becomes clear as the characters’ stories unfold that what these youth are searching for is not new at all. It is, in fact, fundamental: the age-old need to be part of something bigger than oneself. But how will C3’s new converts react to the conservative Christian values hidden beneath the church’s shiny new packaging?