Social Lights

Author: David Robison

  • Aloha Luau, A Social Lights Benefit Dinner

    When: 6 pm, Saturday August 29th

    Where: 1995 Mills Rd., Joliet IL

    Ages: All

    Looking for a peaceful way to spend a summer evening? Come join us Saturday August 29th for dinner at our Aloha Luau, complete with tiki torches and tasteful island decor. Let us show you our Social Lights hospitality.

    Weather permitting we’ll be dining outdoors in the back lawn of New Covenant Community Church in Joliet. Bring the family, make it a date night, or come and meet new friends. Enjoy dinner and performances from our talented thespians and ukulele artist.

    This event will be hosted to raise funds for Social Lights, in particular our upcoming Fine Dining Banquet. We are aiming to raise $4,500 to help fund the 2026 and 2027 Fine Dining Banquets. We are recommending a $45 donation per person.

    We are greatly thankful for any amount you can give. We are thankful for the aid anyone provides us in our pursuit of creating quality spaces for people to come together and form friendships and, ultimately, honor God.

    If you’d like to join us for this special event, please let us know you’re coming and if you have dietary restrictions so we can prepare accordingly.

    Let us know you’re coming

    If you’d like to give but can’t make the dinner, visit our GoFundMe link below

    Donate Now

    Have any questions or concerns? Feel free to connect with us via sociallights24@gmail.com

    Or

    779-702-1042

  • Inter-Church Summer Volleyball League Last Chance!

    When: Starting June 10th and 17th, every other Wednesday

    Where: Joliet and Naperville

    Ages: 18+

    Registration Deadline: June 6th

    Last chance to sign up this week! Sign up by June 6th.

    Grab some of your competitive friends and compete to earn 1st place for your church or group! We’ll be meeting from June to September every other Wednesday! Locations will be determined around team members. Join our community, for a fun  friendly athletic undertaking. You can register with a friend or team, or by yourself and be assigned to a team. This is a coed league so each team will be required to have at least one lady.

    All skill levels welcome! Come and try your volleyball skill this summer!

    Register Now!

    Have any questions or concerns? Feel free to connect with us via sociallights24@gmail.com

    Or

    779-702-1042

  • The 2026 Fine Dining Banquet Early Bird Tickets Last Chance!

    The 2026 Fine Dining Banquet logo

    When: 6 pm, Friday November 13th

    Where: 1918 Donmaur Dr, Crest Hill, IL 60403

    Ages: 18-29

    Final few days to get yourself early bird tickets for the 2026 Fine Dining Banquet. Prices will increase June 5th!

    It’s back

    Social Lights is very pleased to invite all young adults to join us this November for the third annual Fine Dining Banquet. (Want to know about the 1st and 2nd banquets?)

    Come along and join us beneath fairy lit boughs to enjoy a night of delicious food and sweets, fine folks, vivacious dancing, beautiful music, uplifting speeches, exciting awards, social games, and bountiful opportunities to connect with people around you.

    Be sure to dress to impress, and to do so enchantingly. This is a formal event. You’ll have an opportunity to show off your duds and get your picture taken by one of our photographers in our photo booth.

    Please note, Social Lights aims to create social environments that are as conducive as possible to connection. For this reason, we strongly encourage all guests to leave your phones in the car on the night of the banquet.

    We will be selling early bird tickets for The 2026 Fine Dining Banquet until June 5th. At which point the price will increase from $49 to $65 for tickets. Additionally, this year we will be unable to accommodate more than 70 guests. Be sure to get these lower priced, limited tickets while you can!

    Below you can buy 1 ticket for $49. Additional tickets must be purchased separately. We are looking forward to having you as our guest this year!


    Have any questions or concerns? Feel free to connect with us via sociallights24@gmail.com

    Or

    779-702-1042

  • Freeform Friday Returns

    When: 7 pm, Friday June 19th

    Where: 11143 Ashley Rd, Yorkville, IL 60560

    Ages: All Ages Welcome

    Summer is here again, Chicagoland! Come kick it off with us.

    We’re excited to invite you to join us for the return of our Freeform Friday. Come out for burgers 🍔 and dogs 🌭 and a massive bonfire 🔥. Feel free to bring sweets and snacks to share 🧁 🍟.

    PLEASE NOTE: Seats will not be provided so please bring your favorite lawn chairs 💺.

    We aim for Freeform Friday to be a personal, low pressure environment where we can come together, eat dinner, hang out, and maybe sing some hymns or play some games. Whether one or one hundred of you show up, we intend to host an edifying time of fellowship.

    Feeling nervous to come out? Take a chance and come make some friends! We will have both male and female hosts.

    Gluesticks David and Audrey plan on being there.

    Have any questions or concerns? Feel free to connect with us via sociallights24@gmail.com

    Or

    779-702-1042

  • The 2024 Fine Dining Banquet

    On November 9th 2024 we at Social Lights hosted our first kick off event right here in Joliet Illinois. The 2024 Fine Dining Banquet was a night for young adults to come together with old friends and have a chance to make new ones. Our theme was The Roaring ’20s. Our excellent chef cooked a delicious Chicken Provencal and we all enjoyed the irresistible treat of Cheesecake Factory’s signature cheesecake. Meanwhile the musical stylings of Molly Rose and the Ragtime Rickys set the tone.

    Guests also participated in social games and wrote compliments to one another. Our keynote speaker Reverend James Stafford delivered a talk about the dangers of excessive phone dependency. The host, David Robison, also delivered a speech about the Social Lights and how it got started. Both speeches are available below.

    At the end of the night, we awarded the person who’d been voted Finest Diner. And, in true young adult fashion, we closed the night with a dance party.

    The 2024 Fine Dining Banquet was the first of what we hope to make an annual event. Yes, the rumors are true, a 2025 Fine Dining Banquet is in the works. We hope to make this year an even richer and more memorable experience than last year. It’s our hope to bring together young people from across the Chicagoland area, and farther, into a safe and friendly place where they can spend meaningful and enjoyable time with friends. We hope to give people a place to look forward to going.

    Registration for the 2025 Fine Dining Banquet will open May 5th. You’ll find the link to register here on our site and you can receive email notification when registration opens, as well as notification for all our other upcoming events, if you subscribe below.

    We hope to see you at an event soon!

    Speeches from the 2024 Fine Dining Banquet

    Reels Friendship vs Real Friendship – Reverend James Stafford

    An Introduction to Social Lights – David Robison