NCS New Canaan

Founding Chapter

Everything Matters: 5 Things Worth Fighting For (Allan Houston – 5/26/23 – NCS New Canaan)

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Through transparently sharing the journey of his life, NBA star and Olympic Gold-Medal winner Allan Houston reveals five basic principles that have guided the journey–five things he believes are worth fighting for as we seek to let the glory of God be seen through us daily.

Houston explains that these principles came from his parents and have helped shape not only his basketball career but also his role as a husband and father. He talks about how the five words, revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, reflect lessons learned listening and watching his mother and father.

  • Faith
  • Integrity
  • Sacrifice
  • Leadership
  • Legacy

Allan emphasizes that we are in a “spiritual street fight”–a fight for a Kingdom life, for our family, for our children and for righteousness–and these principles provide a strategy for navigating the fight.

He shares the challenges of being a parent in the current culture. In describing the challenge of raising seven children, Houston honors the sacrificial role that his wife has played in holding the family together and helping him grow.

Houston also talks about the importance of remaining sensitive and open to the leading of the Holy Spirit as we engage in this spiritual fight. He stresses the importance of “believing” in times of difficulty and uncertainty because our belief can release the Holy Spirit to guide us through the challenges.

Finally, Allan describes the FISLL Project (FISLL)–a new business and brand to make these principles aspirational and tangible for the next generation by infusing them into aspects of the culture that are impacting that generation–aspects such as technology, fashion, and content.

Against All Odds: Casting Your Nets (Eric Torres – 3/17/23 – NCS New Canaan)

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With great transparency, Eric Torres shares the broken childhood that equipped him to love broken kids, and the words of life spoken into him that have allowed him to speak words of life into so many young people.

Eric vulnerably describes a challenging childhood growing up in Bridgeport with a father who was an addict and a drug dealer. He tells about the lies–the words of death–spoken into him and how he began to internalize them and believe he had no future other than to drop out of high school and follow in his father’s footsteps. He believed he had no hope, no purpose and no destiny.

Eric then explains how, on his 16th birthday, his life was set on a new trajectory. He was invited to church, and a woman took him out for pizza and a pitcher of water. He describes how she affirmed him and spoke words of life. Torres reveals that he came to know Jesus that day through the relational acts of that woman. She invested in him and gave him a hope, a purpose and a destiny.

Eric tells how he went on to graduate from high school, get a bachelors and a masters degree, teach for 18 years in the Bridgeport schools and spend two years as a principal.

Torres then talks about how his life took another turn at 40 years old when his kidneys failed. Within a year, God miraculously provided a transplant and a new job as Executive Director of Elevate Bridgeport.

With tremendous humility, Eric describes how, though Elevate, he is able to show Jesus to young people by speaking life, hope and purpose, changing the trajectory of their lives just as words of life and the love of Jesus changed his. In describing the four-part Elevate model of character building and life skills, full-time mentors, adventures, and college and career preparation, Eric shares that the Elevate motto is “No one gets there alone.”

In closing, Eric challenges us to recognize we were made “for such a time as this” and to hear Jesus’ call to cast our nets on the right side of the boat to see what He has waiting for us.

Running the Good Race (Reginald Jones III – 12/16/22 – NCS New Canaan)

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With incredible humility and authenticity, Reginald “Regg” Jones III shares a unique and fascinating faith, family and life journey that had its faith roots at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Darien, site of an incredible spiritual revival documented in the book The Miracle in Darien by Bob Slosser.

Regg describes growing up with a father who decided to change the trajectory of his family by making time with his children a priority and how Regg came to face the same challenge with his own family. He explains the four “family values” that shaped much of his educational and professional journey and how he came to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord at the tender age of 11.

Jones talks about how his faith grew through the mentorship of others, the struggle he experienced after college in deciding between pursuing a path in “ministry” or “business”, how those mentors helped him choose business, and how he later came to understand that his choice was based on a false dichotomy, learning that both paths constituted “ministry”.

Regg describes his professional path through top firms such as Pepsico, Apple, Bain and Goldman Sachs, and the lessons they taught him about organizational culture. He explains how he learned to carry and share his faith in those environments and how all those lessons about culture and faith eventually helped shape the vision and culture of Greenbriar, the private equity firm he founded in his 30’s.

Regg explains the four pillars of Greenbriar’s unique culture that was born from a vision to take the best of the corporate cultures he had experienced and shape them by his faith, and he describes why he believes “love wins” even in the marketplace.

With remarkable vulnerability, Jones talks about how he navigated the challenges along the way and how God showed up with “kisses from Heaven” to encourage and guide him at just the right times. He describes challenges such as balancing a demanding career with family life, starting a new business in the midst of 9/11, and walking the “thin green line” between success and failure, always trusting in God’s providence.

Finally, Regg explains the vision that inspired his involvement in the founding of Trinity Church Greenwich.

Three Lessons from a Journey with Jesus (Bishop Frank Caggiano – 12/2/22 – NCS New Canaan)

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With wonderful humor and great humility and authenticity, The Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano, the Fifth Bishop of the Catholic diocese of Bridgeport, CT, shares the incredible twists and turns of his lifelong faith journey, as well as three lessons learned along the path.

Caggiano describes with tremendous transparency life growing up in a closely-knit Brooklyn community as an Italian-American son of immigrant parents. He talks about his father’s extreme pride when he was accepted into Yale and his father’s heart-wrenching disappointment when he announced he was going to seminary.

Caggiano explains the two calls that have been on his life. First, the call to step up and be a man of faith–letting his life be claimed by Jesus–which he humbly admits is a project still underway. Second, his call to leadership and the challenges in discerning, understanding and finally accepting that call.

With extraordinary vulnerability, Caggiano then shares three life lessons from his faith journey, including the difficult ways in which some were learned:

  • Caggiano tells how, in choosing to pursue his call to the priesthood, he learned that the things you want in life are not always the things you need in life. He describes how he left seminary to pursue the material comfort he wanted, how God gave him everything he wanted in a lucrative business career, how he came to reorient his heart toward the one thing we need–Jesus, and how that reoriented his entire universe to see everything as a blessing.
  • Caggiano shares how, through his stubborn resistance to his call to the priesthood and God’s relentless pursuit, he learned to appreciate God’s gracious love, accept the call as a blessing, and finally surrender to Jesus as his master.
  • Caggiano explains how, through the death of a young priest and the wisdom of a mentor, he learned that his life would not be measured by its length or accomplishments but by the quality of life he shared with others in faithful witness through presence, authenticity and honesty. In sharing that what allows us to persevere is the assurance that the Holy Spirit can give us the courage to be disciples wherever we are and to stand with Christ regardless of what the world says or how it reacts, Caggiano humbly admits that this is a lesson he is still learning.

Bishop Caggiano ends with a wonderful word of encouragement about the blessing and importance of men being able to meet in the spirit of the New Canaan Society–a safe place where men can remove their masks, support each other and share the life lessons learned in our journey with Jesus.

So, let me just end by saying this. You are very blessed to have this gathering. For me, coming as a brother and witnessing what you are–don’t ever take it for granted. There are not many safe spaces where we can gather and drop our masks and be who we are called to be and to share whatever life lessons we have learned in the grace of Jesus Christ. So, I must tell you I am very grateful to have shared this morning with you, and perhaps, if time permits, I may be able to join you not as a speaker but just as a brother in faith.

Following Bishop Caggiano’s talk is an extended Q&A covering topics such as the faith implications of being a Mets fan and the important role of fathers.

The Journey of an Ordinary Man (Edward Russell III – 10/7/22 – NCS New Canaan)

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With genuine NCS vulnerability and authenticity, Ed Russell describes what he humbly calls the journey of “an ordinary man”. It is Ed’s unique journey, and he is an extraordinary man in many ways, but in many ways it is every man’s journey.

Ed explains that there were no cataclysmic events like divorce, affairs, prison or loss of a fortune–the things that can make faith stories exciting.

Describing what he calls an “Ozzy and Harriet” childhood, Ed tells about life growing up with church-going parents in the upscale Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe. He explains how his father began getting him involved in the family business from a very young age how he navigated the road to becoming the third generation leader of Russell Development.

Russell shares the story of meeting his wife in high school, getting married, having children, putting his own mark on the family business and chasing money, success, status and toys. He then emotionally opens up about the valleys and the lessons painfully learned, such as a family tragedy at the climax of his biggest business deal. Ed describes how his relentless pursuit of “success” strained relationships with his wife and daughters and how he came to see that what he thought was “all for them” was really “all for him”. He also tenderly shares about the opportunity to ask their forgiveness.

Ed explains the journey that introduced him to a Bible study led by a man who would become a mentor and friend, how he began to grow as a husband and father, and his path to the New Canaan Society that began on a private plane to Belize.

Ed ends with a heartwarming and powerful story of how one man’s life was transformed by finding friendship and meeting Jesus in the “boiler room” of NCS Grosse Pointe.

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