Thank you all very much for your replies. I know your time is precious. I've posted often about how I feel spread thin during this season of life, but I understand that many are in similar seasons and it means all the more to me that you would take time out to read what I've posted and post replies.
We have financial matters covered now that our monthly donors are covering our costs for the year. There's a strong possibility we'll move the forums from vBulletin 4 to XenForo in the near future; I understand this isn't a pressing short-term concern, but we'll need a forums package that we can use for the long haul and it's clear that vB4 ain't it (nor is vB5).
Some of you have asked me to clarify "bite size" duties and I admit I've only had a few ideas thus far. The one idea I keep coming back to is weekly threads, where a forum member takes the lead and posts a recurring thread on related topics once a week on a set day. Think of it as a counterpart for the Verse of the Day, but geared more toward discussion than reading and absorbing.
As an example, I would like to start a thread on Mondays where I ask all of you what you learned in your local church on Sunday. Community members could share summaries of the sermons they heard (or, in the case of pastors, preached), providing links to podcasts or recordings if such resources are available and if people feel so inclined.
Maybe we could have another weekly thread where we check in once a week to share what games we've been playing in the last week. I've been so fixated on the forums that I sometimes forget that the forums are not the only (and often not even the primary) way we connect, so it would help to get people connected to each other in-game and on our TeamSpeak server to share what games we're playing.
Another idea is a thread for Thursdays where we share either what we learned in church on Wednesday night (for those who attend two services a week) or insight we've gained from sermon podcasts or radio shows or in our own time reading Scripture.
I'd also like to see more threads pertaining to PC gaming news so we can discuss new games, trends in gaming, industry news, and so on. Maybe we could even have someone post a "week in review" with links to top gaming stories for the week and we can just discuss whatever interests us.
I think all of these are manageable (with perhaps the "week in review" demanding the most time and effort) for almost any of us. And even if someone isn't available to "own" a weekly thread, we could all contribute to topics that interest us.
Shifting gears, Atown mentioned that the average age of the CGA community member has been on the rise for years now and we don't seem to be attracting younger members. I've noticed this trend and given it considerable thought, but I confess I'm at a loss as to how to rectify it. I'm not interested in drawing a young crowd just to bolster our number or ensure the longevity of our community, though those are both positive goals. I'm mostly interested in bringing in younger people because we have such a wealth of experience and knowledge in this community and I really want to see us start pouring into the lives of the youngin's.
On a related note, I started ToJ when I was 19, not yet married, had no kids, and hadn't started attending college yet. I was attending a church with strong tendencies toward Prosperity Gospel and working through some difficult questions in my own faith. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had all the time in the world to do it. I hardly delegated anything, but I got stuff done. Now I have more life experience, but I also have less time to, well, get stuff done.
Any community like ours benefits from a wide range of ages among our members: Young people with the energy, drive, and free time to pitch in and get work done. Older people with wisdom and experience to share with younger people, support them, and, when necessary, nudge them in the right direction while they're figuring things out. I'd love to see high school kids, college kids, young single adults, married couples, parents, grandparents, and more join this community and make it vibrant again. But it's going to have to be God who makes it happen. We need to be ready to do our part because God, though we may not understand why, chooses to work through people. But we need to always turn and return our attention to Him to ensure we don't start working in our own efforts. It's one of the great questions of our faith: How does God accomplish His work through His servants? It's a question worth asking each and every day.
I need to start winding down for the night because I've stayed up late the last several nights and it's beginning to wear on my body, but I'm glad I took the time to share these thoughts with you all tonight. I'd love to hear your thoughts and I'd also love for people to volunteer to take on a weekly thread or suggest new ideas for threads or other ways to help this community grow and work out our faith together.
We have financial matters covered now that our monthly donors are covering our costs for the year. There's a strong possibility we'll move the forums from vBulletin 4 to XenForo in the near future; I understand this isn't a pressing short-term concern, but we'll need a forums package that we can use for the long haul and it's clear that vB4 ain't it (nor is vB5).
Some of you have asked me to clarify "bite size" duties and I admit I've only had a few ideas thus far. The one idea I keep coming back to is weekly threads, where a forum member takes the lead and posts a recurring thread on related topics once a week on a set day. Think of it as a counterpart for the Verse of the Day, but geared more toward discussion than reading and absorbing.
As an example, I would like to start a thread on Mondays where I ask all of you what you learned in your local church on Sunday. Community members could share summaries of the sermons they heard (or, in the case of pastors, preached), providing links to podcasts or recordings if such resources are available and if people feel so inclined.
Maybe we could have another weekly thread where we check in once a week to share what games we've been playing in the last week. I've been so fixated on the forums that I sometimes forget that the forums are not the only (and often not even the primary) way we connect, so it would help to get people connected to each other in-game and on our TeamSpeak server to share what games we're playing.
Another idea is a thread for Thursdays where we share either what we learned in church on Wednesday night (for those who attend two services a week) or insight we've gained from sermon podcasts or radio shows or in our own time reading Scripture.
I'd also like to see more threads pertaining to PC gaming news so we can discuss new games, trends in gaming, industry news, and so on. Maybe we could even have someone post a "week in review" with links to top gaming stories for the week and we can just discuss whatever interests us.
I think all of these are manageable (with perhaps the "week in review" demanding the most time and effort) for almost any of us. And even if someone isn't available to "own" a weekly thread, we could all contribute to topics that interest us.
Shifting gears, Atown mentioned that the average age of the CGA community member has been on the rise for years now and we don't seem to be attracting younger members. I've noticed this trend and given it considerable thought, but I confess I'm at a loss as to how to rectify it. I'm not interested in drawing a young crowd just to bolster our number or ensure the longevity of our community, though those are both positive goals. I'm mostly interested in bringing in younger people because we have such a wealth of experience and knowledge in this community and I really want to see us start pouring into the lives of the youngin's.
On a related note, I started ToJ when I was 19, not yet married, had no kids, and hadn't started attending college yet. I was attending a church with strong tendencies toward Prosperity Gospel and working through some difficult questions in my own faith. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had all the time in the world to do it. I hardly delegated anything, but I got stuff done. Now I have more life experience, but I also have less time to, well, get stuff done.
Any community like ours benefits from a wide range of ages among our members: Young people with the energy, drive, and free time to pitch in and get work done. Older people with wisdom and experience to share with younger people, support them, and, when necessary, nudge them in the right direction while they're figuring things out. I'd love to see high school kids, college kids, young single adults, married couples, parents, grandparents, and more join this community and make it vibrant again. But it's going to have to be God who makes it happen. We need to be ready to do our part because God, though we may not understand why, chooses to work through people. But we need to always turn and return our attention to Him to ensure we don't start working in our own efforts. It's one of the great questions of our faith: How does God accomplish His work through His servants? It's a question worth asking each and every day.
I need to start winding down for the night because I've stayed up late the last several nights and it's beginning to wear on my body, but I'm glad I took the time to share these thoughts with you all tonight. I'd love to hear your thoughts and I'd also love for people to volunteer to take on a weekly thread or suggest new ideas for threads or other ways to help this community grow and work out our faith together.
