Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Christianity/Outreach

Welcome to the talkpage for the Outreach Department
Here you can find discussions, notices, and requests that in some way deal with outreach. If you would like to discuss, place a notice about, or if you have a request about outreach, please do include it here.

Chritianity/outreach

This is a first - I am 60 and a recent born again christian.

I locked myself away in a caravan for 10 years suffering depression, alcoholism and self harm thoughts. I had a fall last May 2010 and finished up in a Vet hospital on detox and debrief of my fears etc.

My concern is: before this I didn't really know God and if I didn't fall and cause myself to go to hospital, I would probably still be locked away in my caravan.

Question: How many others are out there in that situation - what can I, we do to let these people, and there a lot of them, know, there is a way out of that black hole. I found my way by choosing to travel down God's road. I certainly wouldn't recommend my way tho - it hurt! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Edge60 (talk • contribs) 10:12, 10 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Newsletters

Are there no newletters after Aug 2007 ?? Is there something I can also help ?

- Tinucherian (talk) 10:37, 24 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is anyone working on the newsletter? With regards, Anupam^Talk 16:39, 7 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, it would be a great medium for promoting the WP:WikiCup contest. – Lionel ^(talk) 08:17, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I actually have never heard of that contest before but sure, that would be fine. I can work on a couple sections and will post them here in a little bit. I can write sections including a Welcome, information on the current season in the Christian year, as well as a spotlight section on a subproject. If anyone else has anything they would like to contribute, they can post that here. Would you be willing to format the newsletter and put it together? I'm afraid my expertise falls out of that area. I look forward to your response. With regards, Anupam^Talk 20:08, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hey Anupam! Sounds good. I'll put something together. Regarding format, I can resuse the code from WP:TRS. Can we come up with a new name? The WPChristianity Newsletter is boring. MILHIST has "The Bugle". What about the "The Bells"? – Lionel ^(talk) 20:20, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your prompt reply. "The Bells" does indeed sound catchy; do all Christian denominations use bells, however? How about something like "Ichthus," which was a symbol used by the early Church? Actually, Harvard University has a journal called The Harvard Ichthus, which sets a precedent for the name as a newsletter. What do you think? I look forward to your response. With regards, Anupam^Talk 20:37, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, Ichthus. You're going way, way back, now. I Support.– Lionel ^(talk) 20:44, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Alright, if you would prefer to use "The Bells," that is acceptable too. I just thought I would offer my comments. I wrote a couple of the sections. Should I post them here? I look forward to your comments. With regards, Anupam^Talk 21:05, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Here it is [1].– Lionel ^(talk) 21:22, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wow! What a brilliant job of coming up with template! I will copy the sections that I said I would write and you can format them as you see fit. Thanks again for putting that together! With regards, Anupam^Talk 21:29, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The Liturgical thing is a little bland. I'll see if I can liven it up. – Lionel ^(talk) 21:47, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

My apologies, feel free to edit that (or any of the sections I wrote) as you see fit. Perhaps you could call it "Church Year" or something else? I hope this helps. With regards, Anupam^Talk 21:50, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Well that should do it. If there aren't any other changes, I'll send it out.– Lionel ^(talk) 22:37, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What are you Doing For Lent? Contest

Entries

Post your Lenten observance in this section. The judges will review all of the entries and the day after Easter the winner of the best response will win a shiny barnstar. "Best response" is defined as being entertaining yet reverent.– Lionel ^(talk) 22:37, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

In northern New Mexico, where I live, bands traditionally give up playing gigs and even practicing during Lent. After a somewhat serious discussion, the band that I play in, The Pathetics, decided not to follow this tradition. Put another way, I'm not doing anything special for Lent. Carptrash (talk) 23:32, 5 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I began a 54-day Rosary novena on Ash Wednesday. It will of course keep going past Easter. --Sephiroth9611 (talk) 00:10, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The only options I had were to give up the Bible, give up theology books, or cut back on smoking. St John Chrysostom ^view/_my bias 07:42, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

I saw your revision of my section concerning the liturgical year. Rather than defining "best response" as being entertaining, perhaps we could use the word "thoughtful," which better reflects the somber tone of the season. I look forward to your response. With regards, Anupam^Talk 23:21, 23 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Unsubscribe

If you do not with to receive the newsletter, please add your name to the unsubscribe list here. Note: listing yourself here will no longer unsubscribe.

Not a christian, not a member of this project. Cease further newsletter deliveries. Thank you.--Amadscientist (talk) 00:52, 24 February 2012 (UTC) Done[reply]
Sadly, no. That's now how it needs to work. The throw-it-all-in approach seen at User:Lionelt/test is not the way to create an inclusion list, and asking us afterwards to sort ourselves out is even worse. - Aaron Brenneman (talk) 03:51, 24 February 2012 (UTC) Done[reply]

Unsubscribe Option

Please add a note at the bottom of the newsletter telling users to add their name here if they wish not to receive the newsletter. Thanks, Anupam^Talk 04:20, 24 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Can I suggest, really nicely, that you instead take more care with your inclusion criteria? The list currently at User:Lionelt/test is not an appropiate start. - Aaron Brenneman (talk) 04:46, 24 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

As of now, User:Lionelt's list is the best option that encompasses the members of WikiProject Christianity and its subprojects/workgroups. Individuals who wish to unsubscribe can do so by easily adding their name here, as compromise determined at WP:ANI. I hope this helps. With regards, Anupam^Talk 04:52, 24 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I do not think it would be a big deal to apply some some human discretion to the list, and work with the subprojects to tighten up their membership rosters. – Lionel ^(talk) 05:00, 24 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

User:Aarron Brenneman mentioned removing users without talk pages from the newsletter list here. How does that sound? Then we can continue the delivery of the newsletters. I look forward to your response. With regards, Anupam^Talk 05:40, 24 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

At the very least, users who do not have a talk page and users whom have not edited Wikipedia in the last year should be excluded. (toolserverer can do that last one easily once you've got a smaller list.) I'd also suggest that some metric be put in place based upon how long ago people signed up for the various wikiprojects. - Aaron Brenneman (talk) 10:43, 25 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Working on: (1) unsubscribe inactive members w/out talk pages (2) add unsubscribe instructions to subproject member pages. – Lionel ^(talk) 10:39, 25 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Cleaned up the project member rosters and added unsubscribe instructions on the member pages, the newsletter full page and the link talkpage version. Ready to publish the missing alphabet.– Lionel ^(talk) 04:11, 4 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Did you unsubscribe inactive members? I look forward to your response. With regards, Anupam^Talk 20:55, 4 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

A few of the projects identify inactive members and move them to the "inactive" section on the roster. All of these members have been unsubscribed. – Lionel ^(talk) 21:51, 4 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The newsletter has an unsubscribe link to Wikipedia:X/O which redirects to Wikipedia:WikiProject Christianity/Outreach rather than Wikipedia:WikiProject Christianity/Outreach/No delivery as required. Please consider changing the redirect until the next issue. – Fayenatic L (talk) 14:05, 5 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Why did I haver to unsubscribe to a newsletter that I never subscribed to?·ʍaunus·snunɐw· 18:37, 5 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'd like to know that too. -- Lear's Fool 20:13, 5 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Story ideas

Point/counterpoint op-eds on the recent battles over the leads of Genesis creation narrative & The Exodus. JohnChrysostom is on board--also asked Dougweller. How many words should be allocate? – Lionel ^(talk) 00:06, 18 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

DYK

In the DYK section, would you like me to collate the WP:X DYK's from the previous month for each issue?--Gilderien Chat|List of good deeds 14:46, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Newsletter delivery

Does the Newsletter delivery system work? I got one random newsletter when I wasn't even part of the project (but I was a member of a sub-project), but now I don't get any newsletters. Jargon777 Leave a message 15:15, 11 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's not really a system of delivery, but rather a few bot-operators who have agreed to deliver it. I have made a request for the current issue to be delivered by the owner of the bot who delivered the last one, but I think I see that the bot has also got a few other standing requests out that it has recently been attending to. It should be delivered in the next day or two, I sincerely hope. John Carter (talk) 15:21, 11 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

April 13 newsletter

I've just received a copy of the April 13 newsletter, even though I never signed up for it. I'm told this is because I'm mentioned in relation to a DYK (Church of St Bartholomew, Yeovilton), however when I took a look at the newsletter I see Wells Cathedral, which has recently been promoted to GA, wasn't included.— Rod ^talk 13:19, 29 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It was because your name was listed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Christianity/Outreach which allows us to send the newsletter to everyone who signed up plus anyone who is mentioned in it as a courtesy. Because, as noted in the newsletter, that issue covers several months, the content reports (GA & DYK) are being staggered so that the newsletters are of reasonably similar size and readers are not overwhelmed by at TLDR report one month and then far less the next. Rest assured that Wells Cathedral will be featured in the next one.--Gilderien Chat|List of good deeds 14:15, 29 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks - several of us are considering trying to get Wells Cathedral to FA standard at some point (my task is to get some photos of some of the less obvious features) so if anyone wanted to help, particularly as it is strong on history and architecture but weaker on religion, that would be great.— Rod ^talk 16:11, 29 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Would you like me to mention this effort in next month's newsletter?--Gilderien Chat|List of good deeds 16:43, 29 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Can't do any harm. Thanks— Rod ^talk 17:21, 29 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Has Ichthus gone the way of all electrons? The last one went out 2 years ago, I believe. Pleonic (talk) 02:53, 7 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

We should revive this! --1990'sguy (talk) 18:55, 31 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, it would be nice to restart Ichthus again for WikiProject Christianity and its subprojects and workgroups, e.g. WikiProject Catholicism, Methodism workgroup, etc. I hope this helps, Anupam^Talk 22:49, 31 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, strong support for this. Here's the April issue.– Lionel^(talk) 00:24, 3 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

At WP:ANI#Taking a position on whether Billy Graham was a "profound loss" to Wikipedia. we mentioned some problems with the current author of the newsletter. Suggest holding off on any further work on this until the POV issues are resolved. jps (talk) 01:29, 4 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

April edition comments

Thank you all for your work in this area, certainly a very important one in the encyclopedia. In view of that, I think it's probably particularly important to err on the side of caution in POV issues in communications on behalf of the project; editors are entitled to their personal opinions (and couldn't avoid having them if they tried!) but for the project I think even bylined comments should take care to adhere to NPOV in order to encourage the same approach in the project's editing, as well as inclusivity to a diverse editorship. My personal concerns regard the comment about Billy Graham and the one about Black Christmas (I'm not sure why it being at GA is strange or lol-worthy?) To me both could be resolved simply by shortening the remarks by striking the "profound loss" and the "how did that get in there lol" comments.
Thanks for considering my thoughts; I really appreciate your work to energize the project. The encyclopedia is the better for it. Innisfree987 (talk) 01:41, 4 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]