FORUM RULES: 

NO FLAMING ALLOWED! "Flaming" is defined as a personal, malicious or judgemental attack on another person or on the forum in general, and will not be tolerated. Heated discussion is fine, and to be expected, but no "put downs" please! 

-- First offense gets a warning 
-- Second offense will result in your post being deleted 
-- Subsequent offenses may result in your being banned from the forum. 

Sometimes people ask "how can you tell a flame from a strong opinion?" It's not always easy! I can't see your face, or hear the tone of your voice, on the Internet. That's why I'll always give you a warning first, if I think you're stepping too close to the line. Final decision as to whether or not a message is a "flame" is mine as forum manager.

NO SPAMMING ALLOWED! It's perfectly OK to ask questions, make comments...even issue challenges (so long as you are civil), but if you try to flood the forum with irrelevant information, you will be banned. Be warned that most ISPs have strict rules forbidding spamming...if you're a persistant spammer, I may be forced to contact your ISP and let them
know what you've been up to. 

NO "VULGAR" LANGUAGE OR PROFANITY ALLOWED! If you absolutely must use a "strong" word, please use asterisks or other "filler" to obscure it. If you forget, I will edit your post or delete it if necessary. We could lose our right to use this forum, and get "redflagged" on search engines, if it contains much in the way of "X"- rated language. The forum does have a "profanity screen" that will automatically edit certain words, but nothing is foolproof, so please watch your language. Posts that contain links to X-rated sites will also be deleted or edited. 

NO COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING. It's fine to announce parish or diocesan events or other events you think our visitors may find interesting. It's also OK to put up links to your homepage or favorite sites (including commercial sites, such as Amazon.com) or to post information about books, software, or other products you think other visitors may find informative or useful. If your chief purpose in posting here is to sell a product, however, please refrain. We don't have the bandwidth to provide a free advertising service. If you're not sure whether or not the product or service you want to mention is suitable for this site, please feel free to EMAIL ME.

NO COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. Please do not post articles, jokes, photographs or graphics that don't belong to you! If it isn't your original work or a "free graphic" available to anyone on the web, it is not legal for me to publish it, and I could get into serious legal trouble. It's OK to post LINKS to articles that have been published elsewhere on the web, to
paraphrase, to quote brief passages, or to put up graphics/photos that you have created/taken or otherwise have legal ownership of. If you don't know the author of something you want to share with us, please indicate "author unknown" and, if possible, credit the source where you found it.

NO HARRASSING ONE ANOTHER VIA EMAIL. One of the nice things about this forum is that it allows us to link to our email addresses. You're certainly welcome to email one another, but if I receive complaints about harrassing or inflammatory or intimidating mail being sent through the forum, I will issue one "cease-and-desist" warning to the perpetrator. If the problem continues, the perpetrator will be banned from the forum. If the harrassment is of a threatening nature, the authorities will be notified. Note: If you are receiving inappropriate email from someone on the forum, please EMAIL ME directly...don't post an accusation on the forum. And definitely don't post the contents of a message someone has sent to you without the permission of the sender. 

HAVE RESPECT FOR OTHER SITES. As a service to our visitors, and as a courtesy to other Episcopal/Anglican/Religion-related sites, we offer an extensive list of links. Sometimes people post links to other sites on the discussion board as well. I do not want to learn from another site administrator that someone is using EpiscoTalk as a "jumping off point" to spam or troll their site. If this happens, I will issue one public "cease and desist" warning. If the problem continues, I will ban the offender from EpiscoTalk until the behavior stops and the offender has apologized to the administrator of the other site.

SO WHAT MAY I POST? FORUM FAQ: 
 

MAY I POST PRAYER REQUESTS? Absolutely! Please do! We often pray for one another, and we'll be happy to pray for you too! 

MAY I ANNOUNCE PARISH EVENTS? Of course! The rules against advertising only apply to people whose primary purpose in posting to the board is to sell a product. If you want to tell us about something interesting that's happening in your parish or diocese, please feel free! Who knows...one of us may be in the area and looking for something to do! 

MAY I POST ON CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS? Again, absolutely! We don't live in a box...debate is one of the things that makes a discussion forum fun! All we ask is that you keep it relatively civil: For example "Have you heard the latest news from____?" not "Hey, have you heard what those idiots at ______ are doing?" 

IS IT OK TO JUMP INTO THE MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION? Sure! Discussion board threads aren't private (that's what email is for!). Don't be shy! Feel free to jump in wherever you have something to say. 

I'M NOT SURE IF A CERTAIN WORD CONSTITUTES "VULGARITY." WILL I BE BANNED IF I USE IT? It's true that some words once considered shocking are now a regular part of many people's daily vocabulary. A good rule is, if you're not sure, don't use
it, or obscure it by using asterisks or dashes. If you slip, I won't ban you, but I may edit your post to remove it, if the "profanity screen" doesn't catch it. 

WHAT DO ALL THOSE STRANGE ACRONYMS AND SYMBOLS MEAN? The internet has evolved a language all it's own. In the interest of saving space, a lot of people use abbreviations for common phrases. Another phenomenon you may notice is the use of "emoticons" ...keystroke symbols that, when turned on their side, clearly indicate a certain emotional state. Some of the more common abbreviations and emoticons include: 

LOL: "Laughing out loud" 
ROFL: "Rolling on floor laughing" 
ROFLMAO: "Rollin on floor laughing my a** off" 
NT (or nt): "No Text" (there's no need to open the post...the subject line says it all.) 
BTW: "By the way" 
IMO/IMHO: "In my opinion/in my humble opinion" 
FWIW: "For what it's worth" 
dh (or dw, dd, ds): "dear (or "darling") husband (wife, daughter, son) 
:) or :} : A smile (turn it on its side and it'll be obvious) 
:( or :{ : A frown or "sad face" 
:..( : A crying face 
: O : A surprised/shocked face 
;) : A wink. 

SOMEONE TOLD ME HE'D BEEN BANNED FROM EPISCOTALK. IS THAT TRUE? Probably not. In all the time I've been moderating this forum, I haven't had to ban anyone. Most likely your friend is experiencing server problems or a glitch in his browser. The only thing that will get a person banned from EpiscoTalk is persistant violation of the Forum Rules, and then only after a clear warning. In some cases a post may be removed if it goes beyond the pale, but I won't block an individual's access to the forum unless he/she persists in violating the rules after having been warned. 

IS THIS A "LIBERAL" SITE OR A "CONSERVATIVE" SITE? The simple answer is, this is an open site. People from all points on the theological or political spectrum are welcome to post their opinions here. Dynamics may seem to shift periodically, depending on who is doing the most posting, but my goal for the forum is that it be a safe place for all who
love our diverse and lovely church to meet, talk, exchange ideas/opinions, and enjoy Christian fellowship. 

Do you have questions or concerns not addressed here? Please feel free to EMAIL ME at any time. 
 

God Bless! 

Audrey Nickel 
Forum Moderator 

DISCLAIMER 

EpiscoTalk is a public forum and, as such, all messages are the responsibility of the individual authors. Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the opinions of the forum manager, of Paradise Web Services, of GeoCities, of the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A., of the Anglican Communion, of Christians in general or of God Almighty (Father, Son OR Holy Spirit!). Any original material posted belongs to the author, and permission should be sought from the author before publishing it elsewhere. Posters should exercise caution when using previously published material...forum manager is not responsible for copyright violations made by individual posters. Please be sure you have permission to use material not in the public domain.