Observer Article: "Defunct WonderCafe site is reborn"

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chansen said:
ChemGal, the reporter and I discussed at length the opportunities for discussion in a myriad of topics.

To be fair, he said it was all fascinating and that he was going to ask permission to write a much larger piece on WC2 at a later date. He kept asking questions and then apologizing that very little of it would fit in the space allotted.
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I didn't suspect it was proportional based on your interview. I get it, it's a short article. Still better than no mention :)
 
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chansen said:
Dammit, I tried to give you credit!
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I've been interviewed by the media a few times - and they do tend to cut important parts out - and even take some things the wrong way. Sadly this time they didn't talk about Mendalla - probably to simplify the article.
 
chansen said:
ChemGal, the reporter and I discussed at length the opportunities for discussion in a myriad of topics.

To be fair, he said it was all fascinating and that he was going to ask permission to write a much larger piece on WC2 at a later date. He kept asking questions and then apologizing that very little of it would fit in the space allotted.
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How much more would have had to be added in order to mention Mendalla's name.
 
Jae, I do not need you or anyone else taking offense on my behalf. Read my earlier response to Tabitha. That is my take on it and should be the end of it.
 
The Three Musketeers did a wonderful job of a wonderful thing when they resurrected WC and transformed it into WC2. Unfortunate that the article omitted one name - but those who matter automatically include it.

Seems to me the UCCan made their decision to close and simultaneously closed their minds a bit tighter.
 
The quick story behind the interview was that the reporter wanted to find someone who was behind the WC2 launch. I was active on the UCCan Facebook group at the time, and this was just around the time Aaron banned me. I think the reporter found me because I referenced being a WC2 admin in one of my posts. We set a time, and had a wonderful chat. I'm not exactly media savvy, and perhaps wasn't the best choice of interview subjects due to my tendency to say what I really think, but the conversation was long and far-reaching. We talked about the discussion of spiritual topics, how the original WC attracted a diverse cross-section of beliefs and how topics ranged from news to personal lives. I talked specifically about how Pinga was UCCan, Mendalla was agnostic and a UU, and I was a heathen. Again, the reporter continuously apologized that most of what I said would be left out, but he hoped he could convince the editor to run a larger piece at a later date, or maybe devote more space to this one.

Clearly, I think that the UCCan closing WC was a positive move, in part because of how Aaron felt he had to moderate it. I've said the same thing at WC1. I found it maddeningly restrictive, and curiously selectively so. But I don't think a church can host a freewheeling discussion that allows viewpoints counter to its message, or ones that might enrage other churches. It's just not good for business.

So what ended up on the page, it seems, is the juiciest part of the interview to the reporter, where I basically laid out that the UCCan can not be seen to host the views of what an independent group of people can allow. But that was only a small part of the conversation.

As far as the numbers, he asked how popular the site was, so I told him. I used numbers, rather than, "quite busy", because I'm an engineer and I quantify things that are quantifiable.

I also suggested he talk to Pinga and Mendalla.

I asked to see the piece before it was submitted, but the reporter would not do quite that. At the time, I was acting on the concern of council that my words might have been too aggressive against Aaron, given our acrimonious history. The reporter would admit that I never brought up Aaron's name, and did not quote me on Aaron, so I left it at that.
 
Just to continue, I talked at length about how the community rallied around the story of Carter as well, and how that was a help to me, and how WC served as a necessary outlet.

I mean, so much ended up being discarded.
 
Yes, a turnaround for the UCCan and other denominations is possible.

I think there is a hunger for genuine spirituality out there. What is being resented in conventional Christianity is its absolutism, its abuses of power, etc. Not its quest for spirituality and spiritual expression, and not its moral practices!

Spirituality is a feeling, and spiritual expression an artistic expression of this feeling. And doing good deeds is part of our spiritual expression. None of these require absolutism or dogmatism or abuse of power.
 
Pr. Jae said:
The UCCanada is dying. It's far from being dead though - and turnaround remains possible.
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Survival is possible, but not likely a turnaround. Churches are going to have to amalgamate. It's inevitable. Many should be scouting out potential dance partners in small towns, or be left in the cold.

I don't think churches, as much as they complain about it, recognize the severity of the problem they face. They don't have the critical mass of people under the age of 40 necessary to keep their institutions running in 20 years. Not only that, they continue to lose even adults faster than they can replace them. That Catholic Church is about the only exception in Canada, due to immigration from Catholic countries. Evangelical churches claim to be, but they are not immune. Especially when they rail against gays and scientific facts, they are losing young people, and most important, they are losing their best and brightest, and are left with the dolts who don't know how to ask questions.

There is going to be a huge collapse due to declining faith. Anecdotes of individual healthy churches does not negate the fact that most churches are not like that.
 
Pr. Jae said:
Actually - I find it sad that the UCCanada chooses to charge its members anything for its denominational magazine. Our Fellowship magazine is delivered to us free.
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Just to note that the Observer , is not a magazine of the united churrch of canada.

It is a separate entity.
 
chansen said:
There is going to be a huge collapse due to declining faith. Anecdotes of individual healthy churches does not negate the fact that most churches are not like that.
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Which, I think, suggests that the future of Protestantism is not going to lie in large denominational organizations, but in congregational structures with coordinating bodies, much like UU'ism (where the congregation is the governance unit and CUC and UUA are associations of congregations that help and coordinate, not govern) or Jae's Fellowship Baptists. That leaves the local church with the flexibility to organize and scale itself to suit its community and needs. If lay-led works, then you can be lay-led (which, as I understand, is a problem in the current UCCan due to the need to have someone of some order of ministry to officiate at communion and baptism). The UCCan is kind of partway there and the new model being discussed leans further that way.

This model allows those individual healthy churches to thrive and be a model for/help to neighbouring churches without worrying about the financial and administrative demands of supporting higher levels. The coordinating bodies can help struggling congregations re-organize or make other changes needed to survive/thrive as well as developing shared resources like curricula, positions on social issues, and qualifications for ministry.
 
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