A Listserv sponsor is being sought to provide a listserv for
rural ministry in conjunction with the web page "Church and Rural
Social Science Information Exchange," (CHASSIE) URL:
gopher;//seorf.ohiou.edu:2001/hGET/seorf.stuff/Cul/xx042/homepage.html
The goal of CHASSIE and its web page sponsors is to provide a
central location on the Internet where the constituencies of various
ecumenical rural church organizations and rural ministry training centers
may find resources on the social sciences and rural development projects
which are conducted by universities, non-profit organizations, and
governmental groups.
CHASSIE is a non-profit corporation registered in the State of Ohio.
It has no capital assets and currently owns no equipment. It was established
with the purpose to provide an electronic communications site where
information might be shared on social issues and social ministries by
clergy and laity across denominational lines.
CHASSIE's first goal is to provide a way in which pastors and laity
serving and living in rural areas might have access to Internet. That
hurdle has been partially met by using a commercial telnet service that
charges a $10 monthly fee for 2 hours of connection time and a flat fee
of .083 cents for each additional minute. With this connection the
constituents of the sponsoring organizations then log on to the South
Eastern Ohio Regional Freenet (SEORF) for access to the Internet.
SEORF, is a cooperative venture of Athens community
representatives, the Ohio University Computer Sciences Department,
Rural Action, and The Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACENET)
which serves 29 Appalachian counties in southeastern Ohio. Rural
Action is a regional non-profit rural development organization.
SEORF is a member of the National Public Telecommunications Network.
The Ohio University is currently providing the internet connection
for the free net. It provides space on an older Sun Sparc computer.
Rural Action provides a VISTA worker who acts as a liaison with the SEORF
steering committee in incorporating Rural Datafication objectives in the
freenet design.
SEORF currently has about 2,000 members primarily in the Athens, Ohio
area. The freenet shares a computer with one or two other university
entities. At this time the server is near capacity and the SEORF
steering committee is in the process of writing a grant request for a newer
and larger server. The rural development projects and the freenet are
enthusiastically endorsed by the Ohio University President.
Until a new server can be obtained SEORF can neither provide a
listserv nor space for archived files. Therefore this request is being sent
for your consideration.
The listserv "RURALMIN" or "RURALMIN-L" will provide a way in which
pastors serving in rural areas can share ideas and seek answers to questions
about their ministerial roles and their involvement in the social and economic
life of the communities where they serve. The list will be open to laity as
well as clergy. It is thought that the list will also appeal to social
scientists and other scholars who have an interest in the church and who
desire to provide interpretations of resources and data that affect rural
living.
This is a request for a moderated list-serv so that discussions center
primarily on the issues of ecumenical communications, rural worship,
rural sociology, rural church administration, rural economics, and rural
development.
Usenets exist for theological debates and "hot topic" values debates.
Ideally, the list-serv would also include an archive site that could be linked
to the CHASSIE web page where significant messages could be located. However,
not knowing how much traffic will be generated makes it impossible at this
juncture to know how much space archives takes or needs. (An archive is not
a necessity, but it would be appreciated.)
The term "sponsoring organizations" on the CHASSIE web page needs to
be defined. At this time no direct fees or charges are being made. A
sponsoring organization is one that has been solicited or has requested
to be placed on the page. All of the sponsoring organizations thus far are
rural organizations, programs, or centers that operate on membership dues,
or are missions projects or seminary programs that operate on limited budgets.
The current sponsors represent the United Methodist Church, the Lutheran
Church (ELCA), the Roman Catholic Church, the United Presbyterian Church (USA)
and the United Church of Christ. Invitations for participation on the web
page also include the Anglican Church, and the British Methodist Church.
Sponsors have been asked to make a modest donation to SEORF and gifts have
been received for as little as $50 and as much as $500. These gifts
will be used by the freenet for equipment purchases or system upgrade.
The incorporator of CHASSIE is Dr. J. Brien McGarvey, pastor of the
Richland United Methodist Church in Athens, Ohio and Adjunct Professor of
Rural Studies at the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio and the
Methodist Theological School in Ohio (METHESCO) in Delaware, Ohio. Brien
is a board member and treasurer of Rural Action and the founder of the
Rural Chaplain Association.
In preparing this request I attempted to get the document
GET NEW-LIST CREATE from [log in to unmask] but received no response.
The listserv document that I did use suggested that I request that responses
be sent to my personal e-mail address which is:
[log in to unmask]
I apologize if this request is too verbose. If anyone who considers this
request requires more information or clarification I can also be reached by
telephone at (614) 592-2111 or (614) 593-8541.
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Brien McGarvey | No ray of sunshine is ever lost but the green which
[log in to unmask] | it awakens needs time to sprout, and it is not
| always granted for the sower to see the harvest.
| All work that is worth anything is done in faith.
- Albert Schweitzer - "Reverence for Life"
|
