spiritbear's picture

spiritbear

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Wondercafe highlighted in national media

Wondercafe afficienados will be interested to know that Wondercafe was featured in the national media (CBC radio) this morning (Feb 27/2013).It was in the context of how different churches were perceived by younger demographic groups. Unfortunately, Wondercafe was portrayed as a recruiting tool for the UCCan (which was and is not its purpose).

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AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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Really? Do you know which show it was on? Thanks for the heads up!

 

Aaron 

spiritbear's picture

spiritbear

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It was featured on the morning drive-in show, in my area Ottawa morning (played at 8:30am) but it sounded like one of the national "plug-in" pieces that they often feature.

revjohn's picture

revjohn

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Hi spiritbear,

 

spiritbear wrote:

Unfortunately, Wondercafe was portrayed as a recruiting tool for the UCCan (which was and is not its purpose).

 

Well.

 

That is better than presenting it as a recruiting field for non UCCan types.

 

Grace and peace to you.

John

SG's picture

SG

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I have put my personal comments in bold type
 

I do not think we can deny what the purpose of Wondercafe really was. It may have changed along the way, but....

 

The following was from the United Church of Canada web site:

Emerging Spirit is an initiative focused on establishing and nurturing a new relationship between the United Church and Canadians, especially those between 30-45 who are one of the first Canadian generations to grow up largely outside of the church.

The two parallel strategies of Emerging Spirit are:

  • creating a media presence to raise awareness about The United Church of Canada and extend an invitation to those aged 30-45
  • encouraging, training, and resourcing congregations as they work to develop the quality of their welcoming ministries to 30–45 year olds

    Emerging Spirit also offers important opportunities for congregations to:

  • reclaim and proclaim the key elements of the gospel they are called to live out in their context
  • reassess how they are perceived in their local communities
  • strategize about things they might do to be more welcoming to those who don't currently attend a faith community

 


In conjunction with the iniative, the United Church has launched the Emerging Spirit advertising campaign. The ads are designed to attract attention, elicit conversation, and point people toward the Wondercafe, a rich and fascinating web site.

 

 

Now, I read... "raise awareness, extend invitation, develop welcoming for...,  as well as "outside the church" and "don't currently attend" as recruiting. I understand the UCC did research into "potentials"....

 

IMO What most needs to change is that we need to start speaking honestly and not spinning things or trying to mislead or hide behind words...
IMO We need to acknowledge that people have been "had" by the church before. The world hears us with the ears that have heard it before. They get it from politicians and car sales folks... they have heard it from church too.
They hear what we try not to say or avoid saying or what goes unsaid...

 

So, personally, I will say it was about potential growth and reasearching who those folks were and what their beliefs were and why they did not attend and.... it was a recruiting tool.

 

Recruiting however does not need to sound negative. People are recruited for good things too.

 

 

 

spiritbear's picture

spiritbear

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Recruitment or not?  In trying to track down more info on the CBC web site, I came across this comment from an older segment:  " A striking aspect of Wondercafe is that if the user doesn't look hard enough, they might not realize that the United Church sponsors the site".  That speaks volumes.

SG's picture

SG

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spiritbear,

I think church speak was one of the things people mentioned in Emerging Spirit research. Folks feel like church folks speak in code...

Loking at the home page-
Someone needs to know what the UCC seal looks like.
Someone needs to know what "Moderator" means...
Someone needs to know "UCRD " means...
 

 

They can, however, read the type below the ad, or scroll down to the bottom of the page,  to see "brought to you by the people of the United Church of Canada"

Arminius's picture

Arminius

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Yes, WonderCafe is a fully inclusive and open discussion forum. That some people are so impressed by its very openness and inclusiveness that they join the UCC, as I did, is inevitable. But WC is not primarily a recruiting tool. I believe that the UCC, as a whole, is genuinely interested in what Canadians think about religion and spirituality. Although Religion and Spirituality is the busiest forum, religion and spirituality play into the other forums as well.

 

The UCCan is a grassroots denomination. Therefore, having a genuinely open forum, where the grassroots can express their ideas and hear the ideas of others, is very important.

 

The UCC is quintessentially Canadian, inasmuch as it is pluralistic and inclusive. The pluralism and inclusiveness of the UCC is not liberalism, as some of its detractors say. A wide variety of religious, spiritual and political viewpoints is accepted in the UCC, from the far Right to the far Left and anything in-between, but maybe rigid absolutism is frowned upon.

 

Keep up the good work, everyone!

 

InannaWhimsey's picture

InannaWhimsey

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too cool :3

 

ooo, i wonder if we're gonna get another whole load of 'new blood' like what happened after the whole bus campaign...

InannaWhimsey's picture

InannaWhimsey

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ooo, just found out that Aaron is the producer of the UCC Emerging Spirit campaign & Wondercafe.ca...his babies :3

 

bless Him for giving others the opportunity to inhabit his lovely BS (belief systems); they're quite roomy and comfy

ninjafaery's picture

ninjafaery

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InannaWhimsey wrote:

too cool :3

 

ooo, i wonder if we're gonna get another whole load of 'new blood' like what happened after the whole bus campaign...

Looking forward to it! I'm Stocking up on popcorn...

paradox3's picture

paradox3

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InannaWhimsey wrote:

too cool :3

 

ooo, i wonder if we're gonna get another whole load of 'new blood' like what happened after the whole bus campaign...

 

Those were some lively days for wondercafe.

AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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I don't think anybody has ever done any recruiting for the United Church on WonderCafe that I am aware of. I know the church is slow, but you would think if that was the secret mission, we would get around to it by now! This is our seventh year!

 

WonderCafe has always been more or less what it was created to be - an online place hosted by the United Church of Canada for people who may or may not attend church to engage with each other about "spiritual issues, moral topics, and life's big questions."

 

If there's anything unsaid, it might be that "the medium is the message" and that the hosting of a [relatively] open discussion site by a church does say something about what kind of denomination The United Church of Canada is.

Arminius's picture

Arminius

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AaronMcGallegos wrote:

If there's anything unsaid, it might be that "the medium is the message" and that the hosting of a [relatively] open discussion site by a church does something about what kind of denomination The United Church of Canada is.

 

Right on! yes

SG's picture

SG

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I love it. (Not really)

Emerging Spirit researched who might be interested in connecting with the church.... engage non-churchgoers....

 

But, we were not trying to recruit.

 

No wonder people don't trust us or wonder what we hide behind our words.

Rev. Steven Davis's picture

Rev. Steven Davis

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AaronMcGallegos wrote:

I don't think anybody has ever done any recruiting for the United Church on WonderCafe that I am aware of. 

 

That's probably true in the sense of "active recruitment." However, not all recruitment needs to be active, and some would argue that "active recruitment" is not effective. It's also fair to say that there's been a fair amount of mud slung at the United Church on WonderCafe - but that also could be considered "recruitment" in that some people at least might be impressed that we are open to such divergent viewpoints. If I remember correctly, even chansen has said that we're less crazy than other Christians - a high compliment indeed coming from him! I don't think that there's any doubt that WonderCafe is intended to promote the message that the United Church is open to and welcoming of divergent viewpoints. That we're a place you can come to and be yourself and raise your questions. In my mind, WonderCafe is a part of the denomination's attempt at branding, and that is, at least implicitly, a form of recruitment. I don't think we should hide that or start playing with words to deny that WonderCafe is, at least a part of a perhaps "subtle" recruitment strategy. We don't want to call it that, because "recruitment" sounds like "evangelism" - which, as we all know, is a dirty word in the United Church. We can't evangelize. We can't recruit. So we'll just try to make ourselves look really open and welcoming and respectful of all sorts of different viewpoints and, by golly, people will learn what great folks we are. If, in fact, this weren't an attempt to recruit, then there'd be no link on the home page to the United Church's Facebook page and no link at the bottom of the home page to the United Church's website. We're subtly suggesting (as much as we don't want to admit it) that people should check us out. And of course it doesn't hurt to have a few cute and cuddly United Church ministers around to give people the warm fuzzies!

 

Why can't we just admit, in the midst of an open discussion site to help people engage with each other about "spiritual issues, moral topics, and life's big questions," that, while we won't push the issue, we'd also like those people who engage to think about joining the United Church? Not to admit that is somewhat less than honest in my opinion.

 

So - here we go, in the interests of honesty. To everyone here on WC: I would really like you to think about becoming either a member or an adherent of the United Church of Canada. While we're not perfect, in my opinion the United Church is a place where you will find spiritual nourishment, and I highly recommend that you check us out.

AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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I guess it depends on what you mean by recruit. If could be said that the research that was done was used much more to help inform churches of current expectations and attitudes toward organized religion in Canada and to help them become more welcoming. I wouldn't call that recruiting per se, but simply a way to express mission that may be more effective and relevant. Of course, it would have been great if millions of people joined the United Church because of WonderCafe and the ads, but that really was never the plan.

SG's picture

SG

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http://www.united-church.ca/communications/news/releases/090731

Speaking of Emerging Spirit/WonderCafe initiative-
"This initiative, which was approved at the last General Council, focused on establishing and nurturing the relationship of the United Church with Canadians between the ages of 30 and 45 who are not part of any organized faith group."
 

 

We wanted to establish and nurture a relationship with people not part of church, but just to talk?

 

Anyone read about words, people's ears .... bait and switch and car salesperson tactics in the church in "When God is Silent" by Barbara Brown Taylor?

SG's picture

SG

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I personally think that saying, "we hoped we would engage you, we would get to know each other, and you might like us and join" sounds better than "we were just Tuskegee'ing you" (You were an initiative an experiment to learn from).

AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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Rev. Steven Davis, you're right that WonderCafe was created to be a way to provide information about the United Church. But that's very different from thinking people are going to become members because of it, or even visit a church. Certainly in that way WonderCafe promoted the church, but I think the word "recruit" is too strong. Not that anything is wrong with it or the word "evangelize." I just think that the research showed pretty strongly that membership in a church isn't really what 30-45 year olds were looking for. The research also showed that a majority of people in that demographic really didn't know much about the UCCan at all, and WonderCafe was one attempt at addressing that.

 

And the invite to join the United Church on Facebook was mostly put there so folks would know they have a place to go just in case WonderCafe is one of the items that can't be afforded in 2014. We also don't recruit on that page :-)

AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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SG wrote:

 

We wanted to establish and nurture a relationship with people not part of church, but just to talk?

 

Actually, yes.

chemgal's picture

chemgal

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AaronMcGallegos wrote:

Rev. Steven Davis, you're right that WonderCafe was created to be a way to provide information about the United Church. But that's very different from thinking people are going to become members because of it, or even visit a church.

Then why bother having a church search feature?

AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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So people could go if they liked. Is that recruitment?

chemgal's picture

chemgal

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It seems like there was at least some thought that people would visit a church because of WC laugh

 

I think the campaign was a form of indirect recruitment.  Aaron, do you think that the church does anything to recruit people?

Rev. Steven Davis's picture

Rev. Steven Davis

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In this context, what would make people want to go to a United Church or check out the United Church? Presumably, Wonder Cafe. Of course, this is indirect or subtle recruitment. I don't know why you won't just say it. 

SG's picture

SG

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So, Aaron, it was an initiative to simply talk with and listen to 30-45 year olds?

 

the word initiative was not about a step of a plan or anything...

 

See, I understood the campaign of Emerging Spirit to be about raising awareness and an unobtrusive invitation. Raise awareness of what? Invite to what?
 

I understood Wondercafe to be a component of that, offering a website for raising awareness along with that invitation again through conversation. Again, awareness of what and invitation to what? Initiating conversation is pretty typical for evangelizing.

 

We expected nothing? For $10 million?

 

Targetting an age group, having market research done on that group centered on what life
is like today in Canada for people aged 30-45, what their views are, and how best to reach them... Reach them to talk? We already knew where they are, not in church, we did not have to create a non-church place.

 

We created an open and safe space.... for conversation to reach them. Again, pretty typical evangelism.

 

Now, IMO we can say we spent the money as good stewards and say that it was about the church and people in the pews OR it was about the gospel and we were bearing witness (which is not counting butts in the pews).

 

That we spent all this money on research, advertising, design... because what? We just were lonely and wanted to talk?

 

Sorry, my BS sensor is going off....

SG's picture

SG

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I am not surprised that we cannot be honest and call it what it is, because our research and marketing folks likely think that is not condusive language.

 

 

SG's picture

SG

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I guess that when the Emerging Spirit stuff was released someone should have told Leslie Harrison what it was NOT about (She was involved with Emerging Spirit and is now with Edge). Or maybe that old material be removed from the annals of the internet so it cannot make us be more honest than we perhaps care to be.

 

One can look at the "established goals" at

 

http://domino-11.prominic.com/A55971/mnwo/mnwomain.nsf/0/715C4A131B7D4A008525752200503E9D?openDocument

 

Now, reading a) and b) .... would we say the goals sound like recruiting?

AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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chemgal wrote:

I think the campaign was a form of indirect recruitment. 


Those wouldn't be my words, but I see how people would call it that.

chemgal wrote:

Aaron, do you think that the church does anything to recruit people?


That's a good question. I would hope so.

AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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Rev. Steven Davis wrote:

In this context, what would make people want to go to a United Church or check out the United Church? Presumably, Wonder Cafe. Of course, this is indirect or subtle recruitment. I don't know why you won't just say it. 


I don't use those words or think that way because I think the church has just as much to learn from those who don't go to church as we do to share with them. That's where the goal of "relationship" fits.

Jim Kenney's picture

Jim Kenney

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Hi SG, thanks for the comment about Leslie Harrison.  I was thinking about her the other day and weondered what she was doing now.  She was Camp Director at Tapawingo when My wife and I were volunteers there.  I was very pleaseed when she went on to become an ordained minister.  I hope it is the same Lesli Harrison.

 

ALso, thank you for challenging some fo the other comments and for emphasizing how important it is to be as completeley honest as we can be in our use of language.  I will try to keep remembering your comments as I work on church renewal here.

AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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SG wrote:

I am not surprised that we cannot be honest and call it what it is, because our research and marketing folks likely think that is not condusive language.

 

 


I'm being honest SG. I just don't see it that way. It's more my theological take I guess. Not a marketing decision. In fact, the marketing decision, based on research, was that recruitment would not work on the audience we sought to connect with in the Canadian context.

AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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SG, I think Lesley was talking about the Emerging Spirit work with congregations, not WonderCafe. Yes, it's good if churches can learn to be as welcoming as they can be, but it was also clear there are others who would not be interested in attending church, but with whom it would be good to "nurture" a relationship with if possible. If any of these decided they were interested in "discovering" a UCCan congregation, we tried to offer some tools to make that possible through WonderCafe, both for the congregations and for those who are interested in "discovering."

revjohn's picture

revjohn

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Hi SG,

 

SG wrote:

Now, I read... "raise awareness, extend invitation, develop welcoming for...,  as well as "outside the church" and "don't currently attend" as recruiting. I understand the UCC did research into "potentials"....

 

I think that is a fair read.

 

SG wrote:

IMO What most needs to change is that we need to start speaking honestly and not spinning things or trying to mislead or hide behind words...

 

I think that is a fair comment.

 

SG wrote:

IMO We need to acknowledge that people have been "had" by the church before. The world hears us with the ears that have heard it before. They get it from politicians and car sales folks... they have heard it from church too.
They hear what we try not to say or avoid saying or what goes unsaid...

 

That too, is fair comment.  Whether we believe we are recruiting or not.

 

SG wrote:

So, personally, I will say it was about potential growth and reasearching who those folks were and what their beliefs were and why they did not attend and.... it was a recruiting tool.

 

I think that speaks clearly to the Emerging Spirit Campaign and I am aware that WonderCafe.ca is an element of the Emerging Sprit Campaign.  What I am less clear about was how WonderCafe.ca carried the Emerging Spirit recruitment initiative forward.

 

I am not convinced that there was not at the time a disconnect between Emerging Spirit's goals and WonderCafe's usefulness in meeting them.  The potential was clearly there to be used.  I don't know that it was or even is.

 

That might just be a failure on my part to identify the strategy employed.  Quite frankly if I was using WonderCafe.ca as a recruiting tool I'd be limiting who had access to it.  Or, if not limiting who had access to it making sure that what I thought represented the brightest and the best of the UCCan outclassed others here to poach.  I certainly wouldn't be leaving everything to chance.

 

SG wrote:

Recruiting however does not need to sound negative. People are recruited for good things too.

 

Agreed.  It certainly sounds more positive (to my ears) than poaching, bagging and tagging or a number of other labels that have been slapped on the evangelism process.  

 

Yes.  I went there.

 

Grace and peace to you.

John

SG's picture

SG

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Aaron,

 

I have no doubt you do not use such language or even think recruitment would work. I believe you do think that there is much we can be taught by the unchurched and that relationship is the goal.

 

Yet, the goal seems to be something else. It may be that you and the church had a different goal in mind.  It may be that the languagemean one thing to you and another to others.

 

I come from the target group. I am not quite 2 years outside it now, after my years here.

 

I also come from those numbers that left church or had no interest.

 

I was told I was not good enough. Oh, they did not use those words. Not the good Christians.... They also did not call me a pervert, a child molestor, sick, unworthy, evil... they skirted most or all those words. It was about what I was and what the Bible said. It wasn't about me. I should take my problems up with God or Jesus. Maybe have the Holy Spirit be invited to join me....

 

I was told I needed "saved" with and without someone saying saved. I was told I was not made this way by God. I was not going to heaven. I was going to eternal hell. I was not among the sinners Jesus died for. My sins could never be wiped clean. I was not loved. I was hated, though they tried hard not to say it.

 

Sure, they changed their tune, but I heard them.

 

I was 22 when the UCC reached their 1988 decision. 22! You think of what I heard in 22 years.

 

Think of what most people heard?

 

I "get" the person who heard they were immoral and loose. The aboriginal. The person who heard that touching themselves made them bad. The the person who heard that being divorced was horrible, that not being a virgin meant God didn't like them. The person who thought church was his/her family until they were disowned. The person who thought peoplein church were family and loved each other and watched them destroy each other because they were on opposite sides.

 

So, I "get it".  Words matter. Playing semantics does not fly.

 

The church has fences to mend. They mend those not by talking, but by listening. Then, after they hear the truth, they can reconcile by picking up a hammer and helping build a fence. Not hoping they come over to that side....

 

So, I hope they one day we really, really start listening ..... words matter. They will always matter because of what they did with them. They gave them their meaning. They owned them. They weilded them like weapons. They sold people BS with words. They snowed people with words. They divided families with words. They abused and harmed people with words.

 

AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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I guess it's difficult for me to see WonderCafe as a recruitment tool when it hasn't been used for that in the 6.5 years it has been running (and we don't have any plans to start). I do hope it raises knowledge and awareness about the United Church, its leaders, values, and work. And it would be great if people without a church started attending a United Church because of this, but that hasn't been the goal of the site. It would also be great if WonderCafe helped those who do go to church to learn more about other's perspectives about religion and spirituality and other life issues. And in my opinion, the best thing of all is if WonderCafe could offer a platform to help people of various backgrounds and situation connect with each other, share thoughts and beliefs, and perhaps build some form of mutually beneficial relationships.

 

I don't think of any of that as recruitment per se.

Mendalla's picture

Mendalla

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Rev. Steven Davis wrote:

In this context, what would make people want to go to a United Church or check out the United Church? Presumably, Wonder Cafe. Of course, this is indirect or subtle recruitment. I don't know why you won't just say it. 

 

I'm not the best person to speak to this given that I come from a UCCan background and if I return to the UCCan it will be out of familiarity and connection as much as anything you've done on the web. With that out of the way, I'd say it would only be one piece of the puzzle. Knowing that a church was willing to sponsor this kind of site where the discussion was open and not restricted to those who believe as they do would definitely attract my attention. But there would also need to be a good UCCan website or other venue focussed more on telling me what you are about and helping me find a church. WC doesn't necessarily tell me enough about the UCCan as a church. It tells me something about the character of the church by its existence, though.

 

Mendalla

 

AaronMcGallegos's picture

AaronMcGallegos

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Yes, SG. I hope WonderCafe, by providing an avenue for communication and perhaps relationship building, can help this healing process in some way. We all have a lot to learn from one another, and listening is more important than convincing.

Rev. Steven Davis's picture

Rev. Steven Davis

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Exactly, Mendalla. I'm not suggesting that WC is, in and of itself, a recruitment tool. It does, however, exist (among other things) to pique curiosity about the UCC. That it also facilitates discussion and builds relationships does not negate its use as an evangelistic tool. These are not mutually exclusive purposes.

Dcn. Jae's picture

Dcn. Jae

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Well -- I would say that some effort has been made on wondercafe to recruit people into the UCCanada -- for example with the Church Search feature.

 

As an example, here is part of the listing of just one church, Knox United Church (emphasis mine) -- "Greeters will welcome you to worship as you arrive. Ask the ushers to show you where the nursery is and give your child a journal to colour in as worship begins. Most Sundays the children attend Sunday School, after spending time sharing good news and talking with our minister. On communion Sundays the children remain with us through worship. Everyone old and young, members and guests are welcome to share in communion. Journey with us as we seek to know God more fully."

 

Rich blessings.

Witch's picture

Witch

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You mean I'm not being groomed?

paradox3's picture

paradox3

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MC jae wrote:

Well -- I would say that some effort has been made on wondercafe to recruit people into the UCCanada -- for example with the Church Search feature.

 

 

Agreeing with you, Jae, on this one. We might prefer the language of "invitation" rather than "recruitment", but I see this site as an advertisement of sorts.

InannaWhimsey's picture

InannaWhimsey

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Witch wrote:

You mean I'm not being groomed?

 

with the right people and hairdoo, bay bee, you too can have your name in LIGHTS :3

 

like this lucky person

 

before

 

after

Witch's picture

Witch

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I'm ready for my close up now, Mr UCC

SG's picture

SG

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Witch,

If we have not groomed RevJohn with his beard melding into his hair shirt, I think you are pretty safe

Dcn. Jae's picture

Dcn. Jae

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This is your brain...

 

nosadcryingangrybroken heart

 

This is your brain in the United Church of Canada...

 

yessmileylaughcoolangelheart

 

^^^Recruitment!

 

Rich blessings.

somegalfromcan's picture

somegalfromcan

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What I am seeing here is different definitions of the word recruitment. When I think of recruitment, I think of something active that we are doing - of us, both as a denomination and as individuals, saying (in person, online, etc.) "come and join our church - we want you here because we think you will be of some benefit to us." The Wondercafe, to me, is more of an invitation. We are inviting to people to take a look at this website, and if they like what they see, we offer them tools that they may use to find out more. 

 

Here's a more secular way to describe what I am trying to say. Imagine a scenario in which you are looking for a job:

 

Recruitment would be a head-hunter coming to you and saying we want you to apply for this position in our company for the following reasons... and here's what we will offer you in return.

 

The Wondercafe website would be more like a job posting - you see the posting, decide to research it and then decide whether or not you want to apply.

paradox3's picture

paradox3

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Good analogy, somegalfromcan.

revjohn's picture

revjohn

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Hi SG,

 

SG wrote:

Witch,

If we have not groomed RevJohn with his beard melding into his hair shirt, I think you are pretty safe

 

The testimony of my wife appears to be that despite all attempts to the contrary there is not one hair on my body that willingly submits to grooming.

 

Several prominent hairs making up the contingent known as left eyebrow have a proclivity for growing like weeds and then dashing off madly in all directions.  A freedom I am not authoritarian enough to dissuade, to my wife's consternation.

 

In fact with only 10 minutes to spare before my wedding my Best Man, utterly despairing the fact that my hair refuses to submit to all but industrial strength product made a concerted effort to put every follicle in its place or whatever place pleased him most.

 

As he progressed his disgust became more apparent that previously laid back and mellow strands were now rising up in support of their scalp mates who were having their liberty restrained.

 

Eventually, we managed to calm him down, take the brush away from him and establish a truce for photographs.

 

21 years later he still refuses to accept that it isn't something I do on purpose.

 

Grace and peace to you.

John

DKS's picture

DKS

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(scratches head) And what happened to the segment someone heard on CBC? Anyone find it?

kaythecurler's picture

kaythecurler

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It seems anyone can put whatever spin they want on anything whatsoever!  Words are constantly changing their meaning and also mean different things to different people.

When I heard about Emerging Spirit and WC it struck me as a worthwhile venture.  Obvioously, I checked it out and still do that!

However, local UC members were appalled by news items about the campaign - hardly anyone seemed to have been aware that it was being planned.  People shared their 'embarrassment' about the ads.  I rather hoped for some invitations to discussion groups on a local basis even though I was too old to meet the selected target group.  Didn't happen even after I shared that with the minister.

Personally speaking, I see nothing wrong with the concept or the info online.  If one wants to indicate that seekers and question askers are welcome then you have to say 'something' to indicate that.  It was unfortunate that this whole thing appeared to come from the top down instead of getting congregations and individuals talking about it first.

Of the people I have met or heard of who tried attending the UC none were lovingly accepted into the congregation.  Other people may have had different experiences with this, of course.

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