Dear Members, We have been thinking and discussing several ideas on what the Anglican community on the internet really needs. One of the ideas proposed was to move the theological stuff into second place, and bring the community/personal sections to more central prominence. Currently the theological discussion on Anglicanism as a theology takes the most space on the forums, in terms of the number of subforums, the number of total posts, and in terms of ranking on the website. The community sections, by contrast, are placed beneath it, rarely visited and not very well developed. Theological stuff has also been very acrimonious in the past while the daily life most of our members actually value and encounter every day has been neglected. If we flip this structure so as to bring the social, communal, family and casual personal areas to the top while submerging the heavy theological debates underneath all that, do you believe this will help the cohesion of the community and bring value to all our members? You, who are reading this, are our valued member to whom this site is dedicated; we want to know your opinion, in any form that it might be. Please everyone, chime in. Be as open as you want and we will take all the steps we can to bring greater value to every one of you. -Admins
I think most members are interested in and enjoy theological debate. One doesn't need an Anglican forum to discuss personal/community issues
Either way is fine by me. I am most interested in the theological threads....but i the community posts were more prominent it could change.
I too am a fan of the theological sections. I don't think I need to see any more food photos, I can do that on facebook. I would see some value in there being an area for more directly biblical discussions. I also think some stuff on spirituality might be well, maybe where we can post various prayers and things we find helpful. There is a little bit of community that happens in the conversations area, which I have found valuable. A couple of members here are also on Christian Forums, and they use the same software to drive the site, currently they have 270000 or so members and I don't think we want them all here. This forum is much more supportive of each other, and a lot more polite, respectful as you would expect from people who do things decently and in order. I found the thread I started on the Season of Creation very helpful for me. We have some really really very nice people here.
We could have a re-org, and it would make no difference, because people are here for the theological debate and discussion. There might be only the sound of crickets elsewhere. If we have a re-org and that attracts new members to this site, do we want that? I personally do, because more people might find Anglicanism. I think that this site will always remain fairly niche, though, and that's not a bad thing.
I am for this. It's often been a puzzle to me we don't discuss our favorite movies here, or the last book we read. "There's more to life than your philosophy, Horatio." I would love to connect more with those here, since we already share the same basic fundamental values.
I am fine with your move to reorganise the forum although for the past five days that I have joined the forum, I have been finding myself more into theological issues maybe it is due to the fact that am also new in the Anglicanism and that I want to chew more so as to understand the church and her theology.
The theology is what drew me in here. Before then, I was just tagging along with the liberal agenda of my home province. A little and quick research could tell us if the people who landed here came by way of theology inquiries or social reasons. On the other hand, it would be nice to have threads where we write more about ourselves so that we connect at a personal level.
I have been thinking about this forum. The good includes that it is reasonably sensible, without being academically ridiculous, it is solidly based and knows what it is about. The members make it, they are generally kind, courteous, and do things decently and in order. I think that there are a number of good reasons why it is a successful and good home on the web. Sometimes I think we could discuss more issues, beyond simply those matters which cause us immediate concern in terms of our Anglican Communion - I think we do, but somehow I think we skirt around stuff, we don't seem to talk much about the Anglican Communion, the ABofC, or GAFCON and those things I think are a big issue for many of us. Basically I think the structure is there. It is probably worth having a look at what others are doing with the software that runs this site (Christian Forums is the one I know). CF Have a donate button which allows people to financially support the ministry. I don't know how this is funded, however I am sure some of us would be prepared to chip in a little to help defray the costs that someone is incurring. I think most if us are getting something out of it.
Hi Phoenix, We have no media section. Along the way web design I have done a number of graphics I would be happy enough to share and add to and I am pretty sure that there are others who would be happy to add to the pile. People looking for images, might by this route find the forum and stay if they were interested. Here is one I shared on CF
I am here for the theology. This is my "safe space" after dealing with local anglicans. Parish life threads and even books would be nice. re-org how you would like. I plan on staying. Fr. Mark