Tribe of Judah's Massively Multiplayer Online Guild Sponsorship Program

Tek7 (Legacy)

Tek7 (Legacy)

CGA & ToJ President
There has been some concern that Redeemed, a guild led by and consisting mostly of Tribe of Judah members, allows non-Christians to join. First, let me assure you that the program to admit players who are not members of Tribe of Judah into the guild was not established on a "whim." Only after much prayer, consideration, and discussion with ToJ staff members did I design a rudimentary sponsorship program.

"History" or "What's the context?"
Tribe of Judah began as a Starcraft clan, then later added a Half-Life chapter. Counter-Strike eventually surpassed Starcraft as the most popular game in ToJ. Years later, the World of Warcraft chapter was established and eventually surpassed the CS sub-chapter as the most popular and active.

The clan structure popular in Starcraft and Counter-Strike is entirely different from the guild structure of MMO games. Membership in a guild has a more profound impact on the way and with whom you play the game. If your friend is a member of a different Counter-Strike clan, he or she can still play on your clan's CS server. If your friend is a member of a different guild in World of Warcraft, it makes a much more significant impact.

At first, Tribe of Judah established a policy of only allowing ToJ members to join our MMO guilds. Over time, some members asked if their non-Christian spouse, family member, or close friend could join the guild. With sadness, I would decline their request. The guild member would often leave the guild and find a new guild that would admit their spouse, family member, or close friend as well.

After time, my heart grew very heavy in separating family members, especially spouses of non-Christians who were actively seeking answers to difficult questions of faith. I reviewed the structural differences between clans and guilds and concluded that I would review and revise the policy regarding guild admissions.

With the help of other staff members, I developed a "rough draft" of a sponsorship program that was put into place late last year. It would maintain Tribe of Judah's strict requirement of profession of faith in Christ as savior while providing new opportunities to minister to non-Christians.​

"Vision" or "What do you hope to accomplish?"
Ideally, the sponsorship program will allow non-Christians to witness the love between Christians, inspired by Christ's love for us, and resolve questions they have regarding Christianity and salvation. It will give people who are struggling with the decision whether or not to accept Christ as savior a better understanding of the impact that salvation and daily grace has had on Christian members of Redeemed. It will keep spouses, family members, and close friends together.​

"Process" or "How does it work?"
As the program is new, it is still "under construction;" I had planned to type up an outline of the program next week, but since this recent situation arose, I felt it would be best to post what information is available thus far. That being said, here's what we have so far:

  1. A non-Christian expresses a desire to join Redeemed to a guild member who is also a member of Tribe of Judah.
  2. The Tribe of Judah member ("Sponsor") agrees to sponsor the non-Christian ("Sponsored").
  3. The Sponsored and Sponsor speak with the guild leader and express an interest for the Sponsored to join the guild.
  4. The Sponsored writes and sends a letter to the guild leader, chapter leader, and Tribe of Judah President explaining why he or she wishes to join the guild and agreeing to uphold the Article III ("Rules of Conduct") of the Tribe of Judah charter.
  5. The Sponsor writes a letter to the guild leader, chapter leader, and Tribe of Judah President confirming that he or she will be held accountable for the Sponsored's behavior in the game.
  6. The guild leader, chapter leader, and Tribe of Judah President approve or deny the Sponsored's request.
  7. If the request is approved, the guild leader invites the Sponsored to join the guild.
  8. The Sponsored sends an e-mail with his or her contact information (e-mail address, instant messaging IDs, etc.) to the guild leader.
  9. The guild leader forwards the information to the Tribe of Judah Lead Web Developer.
  10. The Lead Web Developer adds the Sponsored to the Tribe of Judah as a "Friend" (not Member). This allows staff members to keep records of all sponsored members and contact them when necessary.
  11. The Sponsored's guild note is updated to read, "Sponsored by," followed by their sponsor's handle. (Pending)

"Conclusion" or "Are you sure about this?"
To my knowledge, no sponsored member, to this date, has caused any trouble within Redeemed. Not having a close relationship with a sponsored member, I can not personally speak for or against the program's success. I will leave that to sponsored members and their friends and family.

While I do not know how this will pan out, I assure you all that my passion is to use games to bring glory to God. I will make mistakes along the way. I have no illusions of infallibility. I invite Tribe of Judah members to suggest changes and additions to policy, as long as they do so in a respectful manner. I understand that the sponsorship program will upset some people and please others. What it--and no person or program--can do, is please everyone.

That being said, I apologize for not posting information regarding this program sooner. In trying to keep the program "under wraps" until it was more fully developed, I made a mistake. In the future, I pledge to release information about new programs sooner.​

EDIT: Updated point 6 to reflect the program's original intended policy.
 
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Tek thanks for accelerating your posting of this information. I too think it was a mistake to bring the decision into effect before notifying the guild, but what's done is done.

I don't however see a reason for you to have locked my thread. Discussion is always good, but closing topics is as heavy handed as telling me to shut up in guild chat.

According to your post above, all a sponsored needs to do is agree to abide by Article II:

Article II: Rights of Members

right 2. n. that which is morally right; that to which one is morally or legally entitled

Members, while playing against/with other members, have the right to a game free of cheating, profanity, and verbal hostility. Members have the right to fellowship with other Christians. Other rights, specific to a particular chapter, are at the discretion of the administration of that chapter.
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This ignores that other religions do not have the same set of morals that we do, and some encourage outright lying, deception, murder, and worse to achieve their goals.

But if a Wiccan, Satanist, Scientologist, or Muslim wants to be sponsored and is allowed in, and they are willing to listen to the guild's witness (specifically in words as opposed to actions), won't they be asking "but what about this issue in my religion..." questions? Won't they be bringing in discussion and debate as part of the witness process? I wouldn't expect them to come in like sheep and meekly accept what they are told, they are going to question things and expect good answers. They *will* bring up points or aspects of their religion, it is to be expected when witnessing. That means we are going to be exposed to *their* witnessing, and more importantly, some of us who are not as strong in our faith, or are unable to engage in apologetic dialog, are going to be confronted with issues they don't know how to handle. They could be led from the narrow path.

As for the witnessing itself. It is a generous idea, but are you qualified to witness to them? Is *every* guild member qualified? Because even if you are qualified, I doubt most of the guild members are, and they are going to have a lot more contact with them than any one guild leader or officer.

What happens when someone's child is in a group with this person and the person starts asking questions about Christianity that lead to confusion? Can you risk someone, perhaps someone who still drinks milk and does not eat meat, being exposed to questions that may shake their confidence in their faith?

It is sad that people leave the guild to be with others who are not Christians, but that is a decision they need to make for themselves. We are not part of the world, our citizenship is not here but in Heaven. If people choose to live in the world that is their choice, but it is wrong of you to bring the world into the guild because some people do not have the clarity or faith to separate themselves from the world.

There are many of us who have left friends behind, or who have spouses who are not saved. It is sad, but people can't have it both ways.

This is all ironic because when I was in the guild as Nomelock, I brought up this exact issue (back in October 05 or so), from the other side (I argued that to let non believers in would be a good witnessing tool), and I was torn apart (pretty viciously) for it and I left the guild. It took quite some time for me to get over my anger, and then to think about the position further. Eventually I came to agree with the position presented to me and changed my opinion as well. Probably the convincing argument someone made to me was "I don't want my children online with non-Christians, this is a safe place for them in this guild." (paraphrased).
 
CaryF said:
I don't however see a reason for you to have locked my thread. Discussion is always good, but closing topics is as heavy handed as telling me to shut up in guild chat.
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I locked your thread immediately before I set to work writing this thread, knowing that the information posted in this thread addresses the complaints posted in your previous thread.

CaryF said:
According to your post above, all a sponsored needs to do is agree to abide by Article II:
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That was a typo on my part. It should have read "Article III," not "Article II." Original post edited.

CaryF said:
But if a Wiccan, Satanist, Scientologist, or Muslim wants to be sponsored and is allowed in, and they are willing to listen to the guild's witness (specifically in words as opposed to actions), won't they be asking "but what about this issue in my religion..." questions?
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CaryF said:
As for the witnessing itself. It is a generous idea, but are you qualified to witness to them? Is *every* guild member qualified?
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CaryF said:
What happens when someone's child is in a group with this person and the person starts asking questions about Christianity that lead to confusion?
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CaryF said:
Probably the convincing argument someone made to me was "I don't want my children online with non-Christians, this is a safe place for them in this guild." (paraphrased).
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I admit that I have no children or close non-Christian friends who play World of Warcraft. I have based the sponsorship program, which I consider a compromise, on feedback from many different people, not from personal experience.

It is difficult to create policy that creates a family-friendly environment to serve Christians and also welcomes non-Christians to witness Christ's love in us. Both are noble pursuits, but attempting either to the exclusion of the other has its own pitfalls.

There are pros and cons to either situation: only allowing Christians or allowing non-Christians under limited and closely supervised circumstances. A case could be made either way, with good intentions on both sides, so I'd like to hear from other guild members before making any changes to the sponsorship program.
 
/bump

As stated in my previous post, I'd like to get feedback on the sponsorship program from other guild members. Please post your opinions (in a respectful manner, of course).
 
I do not now, nor do I intend to, play WoW, but I think that this idea is a good one and I support it wholeheartedly. Then again, I have no fear of being corrupted by the influence of unbelievers. I think I'm already about as corrupt as a person can get, but God still manages to work in and through me sometimes and I don't think He'd be scared of a little extra 'worldly' contact. Besides, how much more of a witness would seeing the difference between a Christian guild and another be then simply interacting with a member or two of the guild occasionally?

Then again, personally, I'm morally opposed to censorship. I think children should be exposed to the harsher parts of reality in a controlled manner, with proper guidance, but that they should be exposed to it. I think lying to children is the worst thing that society can do, especially if the purpose of the lies is to maintain in them a distorted view of the world for as long as possible.

If Christianity is right, and I believe with all my everything that it is, then all creation will testify to the truth of it and we need not fear other beliefs. The only time I could think of that Christ got angry with people and told them they were wrong was when he was confronted with people who acted self-righteous. Let's not make the mistake of acting like we're better then satanists, in an attempt to maintain some false sense of purity. What we have, we have in Christ, and nothing can take it away, right?
 
I think it is a good idea. Back when I used to play SWG I was very hesitant to play with other TOJers because I knew that I wouldn't be able to invite my father, a Universalist Unitarian, into the guild. So, I played with my dad instead.

This decision paves the way for me to spend time with my father again.
 
Conditions and restrictions

This was previously posted in the WoW Staff Forum, but I wanted to post it publicly as an addendum to my first post:

Tek7 said:
Sponsorship and Staff Positions

ponsored members are not allowed to hold staff positions. This was an original condition of the sponsorship program.

[...]

Sponsor Eligibility

One of the conditions of a non-Christian joining Redeemed is that they are sponsored by a Tribe of Judah member. [...]
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Sponsored members are not eligible to sponsor other players.
 
It seems to me that everything is done verbally now between the recruiters and the guild leader to sponsor members. Would it be possible to post the "new" method of sponsoring members here for the new recruiters to see? I would like to see all recruiters using the same format for this.
 
Goblit said:
It seems to me that everything is done verbally now between the recruiters and the guild leader to sponsor members. Would it be possible to post the "new" method of sponsoring members here for the new recruiters to see? I would like to see all recruiters using the same format for this.
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There has been no change to the Sponsorship Program protocol. Communication is still to be sent and received by PM or e-mail so that there's a "hard copy" to refer to after the sponsorship application is complete. Letters from applicants do not need to be lengthy, but there must be some e-mail or PM on file to ensure accountability at all levels. Any applicant for a sponsorship may send a letter as brief as, "I'm the family member (or close friend) of guild member so-and-so, and I want to learn more about Christianity before making a decision whether or not to accept Christ as savior."

I understand there was a recent situation where a sponsored member switched sponsors within the guild, then was later removed. This was an isolated incident, and also the first instance of a sponsored member switching sponsors.

Also, to clarify, the Sponsorship Program is currently extended to all Tribe of Judah MMO chapters. It is not limited to the WoW chapter. Each Tribe of Judah MMO guild leader chooses whether or not to adopt the program; it is not required. Furthermore, while input from guild leaders has been instrumental in changing and revising the Sponsorship Program, I retain final say on sponsorship program policies. Such policies affect all MMO chapters and guilds, not just the WoW chapter and Redeemed.
 
Moderator's Note: Thread unstuck and new thread posted detailing official sponsorship program policy.

This thread is now dedicated to discussing and suggesting changes to Tribe of Judah's Massively Multiplayer Online Guild Sponsorship Program.
 
I like the way it has been done all along.....tell the guild leader who the person is in relation to a member of the guild, and then invite. Simple.
 
Goblit said:
I like the way it has been done all along.....tell the guild leader who the person is in relation to a member of the guild, and then invite. Simple.
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I understand the protocol is inconvenient, but necessary. If there's no accountability for who joins the guild and when, then anyone can claim to be interested in Christianity or claim to know a member and then use their position as a sponsored member to take advantage of members. The protocol is a safeguard against people who are not sincerely interested in exploring Christianity or, at the least, open to doing so. With several young children in the guild, it's essential that we establish some boundaries to protect them and other members.
 
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Interest in Christianity has NEVER been used as a reason when people have talked to me about having others join as sponsored, it is always about family, friendship, or relationship. Not sure how the protocol protects children though can you explain? I removed ALL my son's toons from the guild already because of members of TOJ in the guild not the sponsored members. Being a member of TOJ doesn't mean that everyone is a good person or influence on children nor does it seem to reduce the number imo.

Also unclear what responsibility a sponsor really has? Is the sponsor punished if the person they sponsor messes up? That is the impression...but with all the mistakes I've seen sponsored members make I've never seen a sponsor punished . So if all they do is say "so-in-so" is a good guy why not just do it verbally?
 
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Goblit said:
Interest in Christianity has NEVER been used as a reason when people have talked to me about having others join as sponsored, it is always about family, friendship, or relationship. Not sure how the protocol protects children though can you explain?
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When a person joins Tribe of Judah, they commit to abiding by a set of rules. If they fail to follow those rules, they are expelled from ToJ, its chapters, and its guilds.

If a person is allowed to join as a sponsored member without proof, whether through e-mail or PM, that they agreed to at least Tribe of Judah's Rules of Conduct, then there is nothing holding them accountable.

I understand that online interaction differs from face-to-face interaction in that people can more easily lie about who they are without fear of being caught. While I admit that no measure is foolproof, I mean to put as many measures into place as I feel reasonable to protect members from those intending harm. That's why ToJ now requires a profession of faith to join, and that's why this sponsorship program protocol is necessary.

As for sponsored members joining on account of family rather than faith, the sponsored members at least understand that they will be surrounded by Christians who may express and discuss their faith in guild chat. If they aren't actively seeking information about Christianity, then they at least are aware that they may hear Christianity discussed in guild chat.

Goblit said:
I removed ALL my son's toons from the guild already because of members of TOJ in the guild not the sponsored members. Being a member of TOJ doesn't mean that everyone is a good person or influence on children nor does it seem to reduce the number imo.
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While that may be true, ToJ members are the least held accountable to the ToJ charter. There needs to be a parallel document for sponsored members. When a person joins ToJ, they're on record as having agreed to the charter. If a person joined as a sponsored member just by sending a tell in-game, there's no record of that in an e-mail or on an online roster. Recordkeeping, at the least, keeps staff members accountable and ensures that Recruiters aren't inviting players on a whim.

Goblit said:
Also unclear what responsibility a sponsor really has? Is the sponsor punished if the person they sponsor messes up? That is the impression...but with all the mistakes I've seen sponsored members make I've never seen a sponsor punished (which is the way it should be).
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Then we need to review this aspect of the program and establish disciplinary measures for sponsored members and sponsors. I admit I started the program with an idealistic outlook, but from what you're telling me (and this is the first I'm hearing it), there is a need to add a set of disciplinary measures to the program.

Goblit said:
So if all they do is say "so-in-so" is a good guy why not just do it verbally?
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The sponsorship protocol requires more than a guild member saying a player is a good person. It requires the sponsored member to agree to follow Tribe of Judah's Rules of Conduct and keeps the Guild Leader, Chapter Leader, and me informed. If everything is done through in-game chat, then other staff members do not stay informed, which makes things even more difficult should problems arise.
 
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