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	About CAA
Main Menu: Home About CAA News Ask an Atheist Contact Us		Our Mission Statement: To create and foster a close-knit community of non-believers and to put a positive face on atheism through education, public outreach and community service. What Is Charlotte Atheists & Agnostics? The Past, Present, and Future of CAA By Erik T., June, 2009 Charlotte Atheists & Agnostics (CAA) has been through a number of incarnations and for the past year has truly been thriving and growing. CAA began its life through Meetup.com in 2002, and in those early days had difficulty finding a member base. Frequently, not enough people would sign up to attend, and meetings were held at best on a quarterly basis. Over time, CAA began building an online communication system through Yahoo!Groups (now defunct), and in recent years has finally found a permanent home at the dedicated CAA website, www.charlotteatheists.com. This website now hosts features such as our event calendar, discussion forums, and book reviews, with many new features proposed or under development. The group itself now has a monthly social dinner on the second Thursday of each month with typically 20-30 attendees, including a healthy mix of old regulars and new faces each time. In addition, 10-15 members attend the group planning meeting on the fourth Wednesday of each month (though it can sometimes be hard to distinguish from the social meeting!). In March of this year, we took the next major step in the evolution of the group and began the affiliation process with Atheist Alliance International (www.atheistalliance.org). To become a member of Atheist Alliance, we first had to develop a basic organizational structure, including bylaws and an executive committee. At the March meeting, we agreed on what to include in the bylaws and elected our new officers. Other than just creating the formal structure of the group, we also needed to decide on a purpose for the group. Having been merely a social group for the past seven years, the growth in membership now allows for new directions. We certainly didn’t want to take away the social outlet that the group has created as a safe haven to have fun with people sharing the same worldview, and that will not change; but we’re also at a point where we can begin outreach into the community and letting the rest of Charlotte know we’re here. Some members will stick to the social aspect and others will focus on outreach, and that’s the point: there’s a place for everyone in CAA. With that in mind, CAA has developed a mission statement that will guide the events and projects we host. The mission statement of CAA is: To create and foster a close-knit community of non-believers and to put a positive face on atheism through education, public outreach and community service. We hope that everyone in the Charlotte area without a belief in gods will find a spot within Charlotte Atheists & Agnostics. The group has hundreds of members on the website, dozens of whom actively participate in group events. Whether you’d like to suggest ideas for the group or just have a drink and good conversation with a friendly gang of people, we hope to make CAA a home for you too. CAA Facts: Charlotte Atheists and Agnostics has approximately 400 registered members throughout the metro area We welcome and encourage membership from persons of diverse social and economic backgrounds, political views, race and sexual orientation CAA was started in 2001 as social group for like-minded people in the area We are active in the community and regularly participate in volunteer and charity events We are affiliated with American Atheists and Atheist Alliance International We organize multiple events each month to promote and foster our community including movie night, a social dinner, new member meetings, and family events As we continue to grow, we intend to expand our volunteer efforts in the community, have guest speakers and raise awareness of non-belief through public events
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