Worship Section on Taylor Forum

[Lonesome Picker]

Hey All,

I knew this topic would grab everyones attention. What a blessing that it does. Activity on Worhsip Music and Christian topics seems to beg for a Worhip Section on Taylor Forum. How about it JR? Is it possible that we can justify a Worship Section here? The topics can vary from music to sermons to whatever threads fit into the Worship arena.

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In His Service

Ron
Lonesome Picker (NC)

[James Willer]

I'm with ya! I also would like to see a worship/christian topic section, that way nobody else would get offended at christian conversation or worship idea's. Although, I wonder if other topics would feel they need there own section too, it could get out of hand. Still, I think it's a good idea.

[cotten]

I, too, would be interested in a worship section, but we already have the freedom to discuss in "Anything Goes". Perhaps a new section is not really needed.

I participate in a couple of other church music discussion groups, and from experience I can tell you that sometimes it's hard to stay on track. We tend to chase a lot of unnecessary rabbits, in my opinion, occasionally with more heat than light. We worship leaders can be rather opinionated, and are not always Christ like in our love and respect for those who OUGHT TO KEEP THEIR STUPID IDEAS TO THEMSELVES. (Sorry, that was meant to be funny - it's a quote from one of the other group's posts.) See what I mean?

cotten

[frayne48]

OK with with me as long as us heathens get equal time. Trying to be tolerant, diverse and objective here. Hope you can reciprocate as well.

[david_m]

At the risk of being labeled a heathen, pagan, philistine or any other traditional christian ne'er do well I would prefer we keep any specific religious affiliation AWAY from the TGF. Having a specific area devoted to christian discussion would be, at least, tacit approval and affiliation with a specific religious tradition on the TGF.

This is a place to discuss guitars, not to exclude a segment of the Taylor population because of religious preferences.

I know several of you out there would be thrilled by the inclusion of a christian section. However, my personal opinion is that creating a christian section would be a bad idea. I can speak for no one but myself, but if a christian section were created I would no longer contribute to this forum.

Before anyone gets hot under the collar, I would like to say that my religious views are my own business and not for public discussion. I have very deep and personal views on spirituality. I agree with and embrace tenets from several religious traditions (including christianity), but I would not consider myself affiliated with any one tradition. For my own personal spiritual health I would prefer to keep it that way.

My request is that we keep religion and politics away from the TGF. One thing we can all agree on is Taylor guitars. Why should we splinter the wonderful community that has developed here by bringing in areas that are only going to create separation?

For those of you who are true believers in christianity I applaud your faith and commitment. I just don't want to separate any members of this forum.

David

PS If you feel the need to flame me for my views, please mail me directly rather than creating a holy war on the TGF.

[Atlantis]

First of all, let me say that as a fellow Moderator, I applaude trpullen's decision to lock the Christian thread. These decisions are not easy, but for all the reasons he already mentioned, I feel he did the right thing. As far as having a separate category for Worship and Christian topics, I am against it. I am a Christian, in fact I served as a Deacon in my church. But this is not about that. This is about guitars, Taylor guitars in particular. There are many excellent Christian boards to participate in. We have many categories to choose from now, without adding another. I also do not think it would be fair to all members to add a Christian section without adding a Jewish, Hindu, Moslem, Atheist, or any other religion who might want to be represented here. I feel that if we open up a category, it would be like unlocking the thread again, and the same thing will happen all over. Let's argue over wood grading, strings, and other guitar related things, not over our belief in God.

[Lonesome Picker]

Ref Atlantis...
"First of all, let me say that as a fellow Moderator, I applaude trpullen's decision to lock the Christian thread."

Didn't know this had happened. There have been sooooooo many contributions to the "how many Christians are here thread" and other contributions to Worship Music that it seemed logical to talk about a a Worship Music section. No problem whatsover though, there are many other places to discuss Worship Music on the net. But, does this mean all threads related to Christian or Worship Music will be locked? Would just like to have the details or guidelines from here on out. As always keep on pickin.

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Ron
Lonesome Picker (NC)

P.S. HEy DavidM (RDU) have never been involved in any flame type thread, don't see a need for any, no matter what the topic. I do see value in Worship Music threads however as so many Taylor owners, here and elsewhere, use their Taylors for in Worship Music.

[beatlenut]

What are some links to Christian worship music boards?

[ScottyMac]

I intentionally avoided getting into the fray with the "How Many Christians" thread, other than my post affirming my beliefs. I'm not sure what Shemp's original intentions were, but for the most part, I interpretted most initial posts to be comraderie between people who both profess Christ and play Taylors.

As for a worship forum, I could go either way. In fact, I suggested it to TRPullen some weeks back via e-mail, and I believe the "Now Hear This" forum was the end result. I believe it was a good compromise to those of us who want to discuss the use of our Taylor's in worship.

It is difficult to understand the apparent assumption that if somehow a thread or forum excludes "me", than it must be devisive or wrong. If you extrapolate that logic to it's conclusion, than all forums and all threads must be totally encompassing to include everyone's interests. Obviously, that would be impossible.

As I daily read threads and posts on the TGF, there are many subjects that exclude my interests...12 strings, nylons, electric, etc. Somehow, I'm not hurt by that, because I don't feel the need to be included in everything.

I honestly believe that there is a large group of people on this forum who, among other things, want the ability to discuss their Taylor guitars and music in the context of the church. I believe their intentions are honorable, and have no desire to impose anything on those who have no interest in the subject.

The common denominator here is still Taylor guitars. The TGF is a great house to visit everyday, and we shouldn't be afraid of adding a few more playing rooms. Let's keep it fun, and learn more about Taylors...no matter where we play them.

[kenliu]

I don't think so. The primary purpose of this board is to discuss topics related to Taylor guitars. It doesn't make sense to include a Christian forum unless the vast majority of the people here want one.

I recently joined a mailing list (email list) called CHRISTIANGUITAR. You can check out the archives and join at http://lists.regent.edu/archives/christianguitar.html

This list was started up at the beginning of this year but is already fairly active. Go check it out.

[Mike G]

Sure we can go to other web based forums and discuss worship, but a significant common denominator here is that we are all playing Taylors. There is no better forum to discuss worship and Taylors together.

As worship leaders/Christian musicians, Taylor guitars have become an integral part of our lives. As fun as it is, why should we be limited to discussing, trussrod covers, strings, and tonewoods, etc.?

It is real simple, if you're not interested, don't participate. The ol' television analogy, don't like the programming...turn the channel. If you're not interested, then why should you care if another catagory gets opened for discussion. Just "turn the channel"

[Lonesome Picker]

Ref kenilu.....
"I don't think so. The primary purpose of this board is to discuss topics related to Taylor guitars. It doesn't make sense to include a Christian forum unless the vast majority of the people here want one."

Hey Kenilu.. I really don't agree, very respectfully of course. From what I see on TGF there are a number of sections that are not strictly related to Taylor guitars. One or two have been previously mentioned. That being said, this is really not a public forum, it is in fact a private forum owned by the moderator(s). In the end the Forum Owner can make it what he thinks is best. We can't change that, although I see great value in a Worship Music section. if you just review the number of posts to Christian realted music and related topics, it is overwhelming. So in th eend I have to respect their decision while respectfully disagreeing with the reasons and the final outcome.

So, while we will all continue to post here I would like to suggest a Forum for discussing Worship Music for Taylor owners everywhere. There are a couple of sights out there for sure, but none in my opinion that are as well "traffiked" or read as this one. If I am wrong please jump in and tell me. If anyone is interested in another Private Forum, for Taylor Owning Workship Musicians and leaders, e-mail me with the subject Taylor Worship Music. IF there is enough interest lets give it a go..

Now, PLEASE understand that this is in no way a slap in the face to TGF. This IS a GREAT forum for Taylor owners. But, where there is a demand to discuss Worship music or related topics, there should be a product or a place to do so. I don't think anyone would disagree with this. So e-mail me hear from you inf you are interested..IN the meantime I will continue to contribute here as always.

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Ron
Lonesome Picker (NC)
[email protected]

[david_m]

Ron,

My reference to the possibility of flames was just a precaution. If somebody felt it necessary to vociferously disagree with my position I felt like that should be done outside the realm of the TGF. However, just like everything else associated with this forum, this potential powder keg of a topic has been handled in an open, mature and friendly manner. That's why I really like this place.

Maybe this is splitting hairs, but..... Personally I have no problem with folks discussing their guitars and how prevalent the guitar is at their church. As Mike G suggested, whenever a church and guitar related thread got going I just ignored it. I'm certainly not offended that the thread exists. It just isn't relevant to me. However, having a special section of the forum specifically reserved for "Activity on Worhsip Music and Christian topics ..." is divisive. It specifically splits those who are christian into a separate area. I don't want to see the christian members leave the general forum!

I say keep the worship music threads going as it relates to guitar in general and Taylor guitars specifically. As long as the thread is guitar related it's appropriate for this venue. But I don't think this is really the place for christian topics.

Like Mike G suggested, just don't read a thread if it doesn't interest you. Why create a separate area that will seem somewhat exclusionary when it doesn't appear to be necessary?

Finally I do want to again say what a great place this has become. I've seen apparently harmless discussions devolve into vicious arguments when religion is brought up. The folks here have been great in creating an open discussion out of what could have become a flame war.

[trpullen]

I had this question posed to me offline and during the impending discussion, I shared my feeling on this. I will try to recap for you here.

1) I am very much against anything that appears to be we Christians are talking about stuff...everyone else STAY OUT!!! I am not into the exclusivity of Christianity or any kind of club mentality. I am afraid that a section that focuses only on that would have that air about it and just send the wrong message to those with conflicting views. After all, we are charged with bringing them into the flock...not alienating them. The shepherd went in search of the lost sheep, not created a club for those who stayed.

2) We decided to revamp this section into NOW HEAR THIS as a place to start threads regarding everything from coffee house gigs to recording to playing in church. We face many of the same issues and we should be learning from each other.

So, my vote is NO. Not because I think we should refrain from discussing our faith or the performance of Christian music here, but because I think it to be a huge mistake to further cordon ourselves off.

[trpullen]

Originally posted by Lonesome Picker
Ref Atlantis...
"First of all, let me say that as a fellow Moderator, I applaude trpullen's decision to lock the Christian thread."

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But, does this mean all threads related to Christian or Worship Music will be locked? Would just like to have the details or guidelines from here on out. As always keep on pickin.

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Ron
Lonesome Picker (NC)

If ANY threads, Christian or not, began to fester in Hate like that one did, they will be locked. There are two guidelines for posting here.

1) Do not discuss price!!!!

2) In the words of Bill and Ted "Be excellent to each other". Ok, in reality, it is more like, disrepect and hate will not be tolerated...but I always loved the B&T quote.

Outside of that, things are pretty much fair game.

Hope that helps :-)