I'm assuming that a new Wondercafe will be completely disassociated from the United Church of Canada, do anticipate any copyright issues with using the "Wondercafe" name or its logos, e.g. the question mark inside the coffee cup?

Hi Neo:  conversation has already started on the use of the logo, skins, etc.   Continuity of the community has been named as important.  Re-use keeps our costs down and decreases the time to implement.

RevJohn, can you outline function a bit more?  What do you mean by function? (I have my definition of it, but, I may be way off base as I am a  tech dealing with functional and technical specs )

HI Pinga,

Form and function might not be the best descriptors.

Well, the site we are now chatting on wanted to be a place of open-minded discussion and in the midst of that we find that how that open-minded discussion played out differently.

So while we have specific forums where we hoped conversations would be related by subject matter we also had different flavours where conversation ran from spicy to mild.

A comment I remember hearing often was that the R&F forum was more testosterone and Social was more estrogen.

I don't think that will change in a new setting.  I just wonder if we need to be more upfront about it?  Some way of locating all the hunger games/last poster standing places and the ummmmm the notebook/hello Kitty places.

That sort of thing (he said in an altogether vague way).

Grace and peace to you.

John

Interesting, RevJohn.  My sense is that what ever the forum looks like it will have new capabilities, after all, this technology is old.

I am excited by the new technology capabilities, but also aware that the primary driver is to get a new site in and functioning and some parts we can adjust later.  Hard to keep the halter on myself from dreaming big or biting off too much in phase I-- cutover.

I'll be looking into forum platform the next couple of days. We're thinking Xenforo as the software of choice. I have to look into hosting options and features. But I'm also planning on drinking tonight, so let's see if I make any sense later.

As for the tone of the forum, I expect a new forum would help us all start anew, and with the recognition that we have to make this work together, I hope we can get along better.

It depends what you mean by disassociated, and what you mean by United Church of Canada. 

Basically right now the UCC Genral Council Office fills certain many practical roles. The General Council Office staff have said they will no lonnger fulfill those roles.  

Howevr they have offered us assistance in different ways. There no reason if we ask that we could not recycle certain artwork. In addition I suspect the staff is so overloaded with work, that to ask would creat more work, and possible by just doing what we want, as long as we make clear that we are not managed by GCO but by the memebers of WC2 there should be no trouble.

There are also many UCC lay people and paid ministers who particpate in WOndercafe. Many have said (including I) that they will be on the renovated site. (Remebr the Church are the people, not just the GCO)

So there will be some association between UCC and WOndercafe2.

Howevr what it will be and what it will look like is undecided,

I can see a very important role for WC2 in the UCC. Or no role.  Howevr the structure of the UCC is both ossified and unweildy, so much so that I believe the future of the church can only be determined by various groups outside of the UCC courts.  Just look at the disscussion forum United Futures, ior the UCC use of Facebook. If we provide an effective alternative, that will both help the UCC and drive people to WC2.  We may find that by being outside of GCO control, we may be of greater use to the church, and have even more UCC people here than before.

Alex is pretty much on the money. With so many UCCan people coming over from WC to WC2, the connection will be there in some form. We are getting support from Aaron and others at UCCan so the connection will be there in some form. What will be different is that the UCCan won't be running the place. It will, hopefully once things are up and running, be user-run but still maintain some connection with its UCCan roots.

Mendalla

In addition, there is the opportunity to have our uccan connection be a strong positive in terms of social netowrk and marketing.

A lot will depend on who we are and are we able to retain the best parts of what we are.

Pinga

Agreed re the UC connection.

I'm not UC but I came to the WC  originally to promote  the UC. Its rather comical on my behalf. My grandmother whom I lived with as a child  loved the church. She was Presbyterian.  We had to keep the sabbath, go to church, no work  or playing allowed.   I did  attend some churches  as an adult  over the years, whichever one was closest for my daughter to attend Sunday school. 

I decided in memoriam    and in honour of my grandmother that I had better come  save the UC....!!!!! .... ..I'm not quite finished yet.

The new WC will no longer be run by the United Church. It well be user-run, although a majority of the patrons may, at least initially, belong to the UCCan. But we will not be beholden to Mother United Church.

I see it as sort of an experiment in religious and social pluralism: A very diverse group of people, from atheists to agnostics to all kinds of believers and disbelievers, discussing various topics, and maybe agreeing on what really matters, learning from each other and being active for the greater good of the greater whole.

Genuine Canadian pluralism, eh?

:) Arm.

I hope that some UCCan ministers with their own differing perspectives do go to the new site (I do appreciate the perspectives, and I actually learn more about where I'm at when ministers debate amongst themselves. Even if it's not exactly where they're at. I've kind of taken that for granted without necessarily realizing it. Because when I came here I had very little theological perspective or Biblical education.) For the sake of the participants and the lurkers considering joining- both old and new. There will be an informal connection to the UCCan because of WC's history and I think it would be good if it were honoured. Let people know there are other Christian perspectives out there besides the literalist one. I'm grateful for that. I think that was the biggest reason I came here and stayed here. I learned a lot. If it was all one view of Christianity and atheists opposing it, I don't think I would have stayed or learned much. Not nearly as much.

I am confused. Why would united church ministers be any different from any other person on deciding if they register?

I also anticipate a strong united church of canada presence in the new site.

They won't Pinga, as far as choice goes. I just think it would be good if some did. They have more formal education that people can learn from (brings to mind the thread about why congregants don't always learn of the perspectives ministers got in seminary school). They've brought a lot of knowledge about history and theology here we may not always get, and articulate it well. That's part of their job. Just saying I appreciate them taking the careful time to do so. Everyone's on their own journey, but I appreciated the insight. Others who are questioning 'nones' before probably would too. I think it's true that they're more likely to land at a place like this before joining a site like United Future, which is more formal.

I've learned a lot from GeoFee, Jim Kenney, Rev John, Rev Steven Davis, Rishi (who is not UCCan but he's pretty awesome). My apologies if I've forgotten anyone at the moment. ***Edit: Oh! Panenthism. Sorry, Pan***Who bring both their education and experience as church leaders into the mix. It's interesting for me to gain insight into how people who are at the pulpit think and deliver their message, too.

That's not to say that others don't have interesting perspectives to learn from. I just appreciate what the ministers have brought here. I think others would find themselves appreciating it too.

IF this is the case and IF there wll be a forum to discuss 'church life' - perhaps it should have a more inclusive name.  It is my understanding that 'church' refers to Christian faith communities/buildings.  How could we include mosques, synagogues, temples, fellowship halls, meeting houses etc. in a forum that discusses issues that arise in organized communities of faith?

GordW. Almost forgot him. He hasn't posted here in awhile. He had some interesting things to say, too.

Well, the forum "Church Life" could be re-named "Religious Life"

Are we defining a "mission statement"?

Hi chansen,

My concern is not for the overal tone of the forum.

My concern is for those whose preference of engagement is more co-operative than combatitive.

I'm not afraid when fur flies because I am a big boy and can handle myself.  If I start to fear for the safety of others I can bench myself.  Hop into a different thread and get all rough and tumble there.

Playing rough doesn't mean you have to ditch the rules.

Truth to tell.  I love going at things hammer and tongs.  I was a wrestler, I loved it.  If I can throw my mind into something similar I'm very, very happy.

Some people want to talk about their feelings.

I can do that too.  Most of the time that is kid glove territory.

Or maybe this makes things clearer.

WonderCafe.ca is a buffet and its successor will likely be a buffet as well.  Most restaurants that serve buffet lable each dish and some go so far as to say spicy or hot.  it is a warning so that folk can know what to expect.

WonderCafe.ca does not now, nor has it ever, had a way of identifying how spicy each dish was.  As a result someby thinks they simply have a forkful of peas and they like that fine until the wasabi kicks in.  Then they are uncomfortable and probably mad as hell.

I know that there will be spillage.  Some clod is going to drop their wasabi peas into another dish not meant to be spicy and there will be a shock for the next person to find it.  As a community we deal with that fine most of the time.

I think the problem is when folk just don't appreciate wasabi.  Sure they love peas but wasabi peas, no deal.  Because they don't like wasabi they think they can pile up on the peas and be immune from the effects.

For folk like that who wilt when the heat is on.  I'd like to see a way to give them a head's up at the very least.  If it isn't doable that's fine, we've done seven years without anything like it.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Maybe there should be a temperature button/ thermometer at the bottom of posts instead of a like button - maybe in addition to a flag button, for people to 'vote' on if desired (something like stars or tomotoes for movie reviews). Then, somewhere in the thread listing or above the OP- the collective 'temperature' of the thread can be indicated- if it's red hot or has 4 chili pepper symbols, they can choose to avoid it or not. Then, those of us who get into hot water can't complain.

Or maybe not. Maybe people just need to learn how to adapt when talking to different people.

Could we call it "Varied Religious Life"

If the "Church" one contains the word "Religious", then perhaps the word "Religion" should be taken out of "Religion and Faith" (Too much "Religion/Religious" might get confusing .)

How about if we take out the word, "Religion" altogether and replace it with something like "Spirituality".

The admin team have had some thoughts on forums and forum names, too. Glad to see people starting to discuss them here as well. It is something that we'll probably intiate a more formal process around later.

Mendalla