Archive-Name: music/christian/welcome

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Welcome to rec.music.christian
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last modified: 11 July 1996

This document is intended for new users, however, everyone could benefit
from reading it every once and a while to refresh one's memory about
what rec.music.christian is all about.

This document is maintained by Andrew D. Taylor
<af883@freenet.carleton.ca>

Contents:

1.0	What is rec.music.christian?
2.0	Recommended reading list for newbies
3.0	List of rec.music.christian FAQs
4.0	rec.music.christian Activities
5.0	Posting tips
6.0	How to post and read rec.music.christian

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1.0	What is rec.music.christian?
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1.1	A newsgroup on Usenet
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rec.music.christian (r.m.c) is an unmoderated newsgroup which passed its
vote for creation by 403:156 as reported in news.announce.newgroups on
19 April 1991.	r.m.c is for discussion of Christian music as outlined
in the charter.

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1.2	The Charter
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Subject matter:
  1. primarily contemporary christian music, and its
     a. artists
     b. concerts
     c. books, magazines, TV and radio shows and other mass media which
	cover ccm including its music videos and the shows they are
	carried on
     d. affect on secular music, media, and worship
  2. and not excluding any christian music not considered
  contemporary, such as:
     a. traditional christian music such as hymns, etc.
     b. heavy metal, rock, pop, inspirational, etc.
     c. Hosanna-type worship, etc.
  3. but excluding subjects such as
     a. politics
     b. abortion
     c. discussions about christian doctrine
	except as they relate to specific artists and songs.  All
	threads that diverge to these subjects should be cross-posted
	to the appropriate group (talk.abortion,
	soc.religion.christian, etc.).

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2.0	Recommended reading list for newbies
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A newbie is one who is a new user, whether to Usenet or just to r.m.c.

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2.1	New to Usenet
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The following is a list of articles that are recommended to new users to
Usenet.  They point out some of the Internet etiquette (formally called
netiquette).  All of the following are periodically posted to the Usenet
newsgroups news.announce.newusers and news.answers.

	Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette
	A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community
	Rules for posting to Usenet
	Hints on writing style for Usenet

These articles plus some others of interest can be found at
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.announce.newusers

They can be obtained via e-mail as well.  Just send mail as follows:
	To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu

	send usenet/news.answers/usenet/emily-postnews/part1
	send usenet/news.answers/usenet/primer/part1
	send usenet/news.answers/usenet/posting-rules/part1
	send usenet/news.answers/usenet/writing-style/part1

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2.2	New to rec.music.christian
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r.m.c has a variety of FAQs associated with it which are listed are
section 3.0 List of rec.music.christian FAQs.  It is recommended that
you read at least the General FAQ.  It contains a cross-section of
information not found in the other FAQs.  This way questions like "When
is Mark Heard releasing his next album?" and millions of replies will be
avoided.  (If you read the General FAQ you will know what is wrong with
that example question.)

The other FAQs associated with r.m.c tend to be massive lists which
attempt to answer a single and quite specific question, eg What is
available in the xxx geographic area in the way of Christian radio.
While they may be of interest, they are by no means required reading. It
would be good, however, to at least familiarize yourself with what they
are about.

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3.0	List of rec.music.christian FAQs
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A FAQ (rhymes with Iraq) is a periodic posting which lists Frequently
Asked/Answered Questions.  A FAQ is created in order to reduce traffic
and bandwidth on the Internet and to keep questions which keep popping
up answered fully and correctly in order to best help the people who
have the questions.  Another accepted pronunciation of FAQ is
"eff-A-cue" (And therfore "a FAQ" or "an FAQ" are both grammatically
correct depending on pronunciation.)

rec.music.christian has various FAQs.  The following is a list of
them. In general, they are posted at least once a month to
rec.music.christian, however a few have different posting frequencies.
They can also be obtained via e-mail using the To and Subject headers
listed with the FAQ description.  Some are available via WWW and
Anonymous FTP as well.

The General FAQ for rec.music.christian is maintained by Miles O'Neal.
This document is recommended reading for new and old users alike.  It
is posted twice a month (or more often when required) to
rec.music.christian.  It is also available via WWW on the r.m.c Home
Page (see below) and e-mail.
	To: meo@pencom.com
	Subject: REQUEST CCM FAQ

The CCM Discography FAQ is maintained by Matt Honnold (Matt at
E.I.U.). It contains a partial discography of CCM artists, which are
(broadly speaking) any Christian recording artist that uses a
contemporary rather than a traditional style.  With so many different
CCM artists, and new albums being released daily, the CCM Discography
FAQ is always under construction. Thus, additions and corrections are
always welcomed (at the address listed below). It is posted bi-weekly
during the school year and monthly during the North America summer to
rec.music.christian.  It is also available via e-mail.
	To: cumph@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu
	Subject: REQUEST CCM DISCOGRAPHY FAQ

The Radio FAQ is maintained by Andrew D. Taylor.  It attempts to
answer the question, what is available in the xxx geographic area in
the way of Christian radio by listing Christian radio stations and
Christian music radio programs on otherwise non-Christian stations.
It is posted monthly to rec.music.christian.  It is also available via
WWW on the r.m.c Home Page (see below) and e-mail.
	To: af883@freenet.carleton.ca
	Subject: REQUEST CCM RADIO FAQ

The Country Christian FAQ is maintained by John R La Plante.  It lists
Christians performing in the country music genre and is not limited to
those singing "Christian" music. Suggestions of artists who should be
added to the list, as well as brief (1 or 2 line) descriptions
welcome. It is posted sporadically to rec.music.christian.  It is also
available via e-mail.
	To: jlaplant@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
	Subject: REQUEST COUNTRY FAQ

The Wedding Song List is maintained by Andrew D. Taylor.  It is a list
of songs which varioous r.m.c readers have suggested for use at a
wedding.  It is posted monthly to rec.music.christian.	It is also
available via WWW on the r.m.c Home Page (see below) and e-mail.
	To: af883@freenet.carleton.ca
	Subject: REQUEST WEDDING SONG LIST

The Christian Music Industry E-mail List is maintained by Andrew D.
Taylor.  It lists the e-mail addresses of people involved in the
various sides of the Christian music industry.	It is posted monthly
to rec.music.christian.  It is also available via e-mail.
	To: af883@freenet.carleton.ca
	Subject: REQUEST INDUSTRY E-MAIL LIST

A list of funeral and wake songs is maintained by David N. Wallace.  It
is posted regularly to rec.music.christian.  It is also available via
e-mail.
	To: dnw@gateway.dircsa.org.au
	Subject: REQUEST FUNERAL SONGS LIST

A resource FAQ on Worship is maintained by Charles Wolff, Timo
Jaakkimainen and Kim Anthony Gentes.  This FAQ contains a huge list
(and database) of praise & worship songs and other worship resource
information.  It is posted monthly to rec.music.christian. It is also
available via e-mail.
	To: listproc@grmi.org
	Subject: [blank]
	Message Body:
	   SUBSCRIBE WORSHIP-FAQ FIRSTNAME LASTNAME

The Phil Keaggy Information Phile is maintained by Peter Thompson. It is
a mini-FAQ, micro-biography, and macro-discography for guitarist Phil
Keaggy. It is posted irregularly to rec.music.christian in three parts
and may also be obtained via e-mail.
	To: pdt@cs.mu.oz.au
	Subject: REQUEST PHILE.

The r.m.c Home Page, a HTML format page in the World Wide Web, is a
document with links to information relevant to rec.music.christian as
well as some of the above mentioned FAQs.
	http://www.netads.com/rmc/

If anyone has any other FAQs, wishes to start one or has changes to
existing information, let me know so I can include it on the above list.

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4.0	rec.music.christian Activities
=======================================================

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4.1	rmc Top50
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The rmc Top50 is a monthly list of what people in this newsgroup
(rec.music.christian) have been listening to in the previous month.

The purpose of the list is to provide an alternative to the
sales-based lists which appear in magazines like Billboard or CCM. The
hope is that the Top50 will give people an idea of albums actually
being listened to on a repeated basis.

Anyone can submit a list and indeed everyone is encouraged to
do so. Some guidelines on submitting:

1. The list should not just be a list of your favorite albums or
   artists. It rather should be a reflection of what you listened to
   in that particular month.

2. It should be ranked (from 1 to whatever) in order from
   most-listened to least. How you keep track of this is up to you.
   Some people actually record how many times they listen to each
   album. Others just take five minutes at the end of the month and
   guess. Any method is fine as long as it is ranked in some order.

3. The list can be as long or as short as you'd like. There have
   been lists of 1 album and lists of 73 albums.

4. Only one list per person, please.

5. There is no interest in igniting the Christian vs. secular debate.
   If it's in your list, it gets counted.

6. Submit your list any time during the last week of the month.
   jparks@midway.uchicago.edu is the e-mail address to send them to.
   Three reminders are posted during that last week for anyone who
   might forget.

The final compiled list comes out sometime during the first
week of the next month.

Previous months' Top50's are archived at Mark Rice's web-site.	The
address is: http://www.gwis.com/~mark/top50/

J. Robert Parks <jparks@midway.uchicago.edu> collects and complies the
information for the list each month.  If you have any futher questions
on the rmc Top50, e-mail J. Robert.

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5.0	Posting tips
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5.1	Shouldn't we act like group of Christians?
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On this topic, in response to a post slamming r.m.c for not being a good
witness to the world as to how a group of Christians should act, John
Streck summed it up:

	You can't expect this group to always act like a group of
	Christians when it's not always a group of Christians.

While the name says Christian in it, that does not mean that one must be
a Christian to read this newsgroup or even post to it.	The fact is a
number of non-Christians do contribute to the discussion on r.m.c and
probably a fair number more that lurk.

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5.2	Offensive or foul language
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rec.music.christian has no rule regarding such language.  You may,
however, want to check with your site.	There may be a policy your site
has against its use.

The following suggestions regarding this language are meant to make it
less likely that someone who does not want to read such language will not
just stumble upon it in r.m.c.	Please note these are only suggestions.

1.  If you use such language, put a warning at the beginning of your post
    to the effect that it contains language that may offend some.  This way
    anyone who wants to avoid it can avoid it.
2.  Avoid using this language in the subject header.
3.  Avoid using such language in general.  Is there a need to use it?
    What does it add to your post?

It should be understood that some topics would be quite difficult to
discuss without such language.	For example, discussion about the song "If
I Had A Rocket Launcher" by Bruce Cockburn.

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5.3	Christian Binaries
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So you just scanned a cool picture of your favorite band or you have
some other binary data file related to Christian music and you want to
make it available to people here on r.m.c.  r.m.c is a discussion group
not a binaries group for uuencoded files.  Find an appropriate newsgroup
in the alt.binaries or some other *.binaries hierarchy and post it
there.	Or make it available through FTP or WWW.  When you make it
available, post a note in r.m.c letting us know where to find the
picture or other binary.

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5.4	Common Net Abbreviations on rec.music.christian
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You may have seen the following abbreviations in posts on
rec.music.chrisitian and wondered what they mean.  They of course may
appear in a different case (ie upper or lower).

	ACM	- "Alternative Christian Music"
	AFAIK	- "As Far As I Know"
	BTW	- "By the way"
	CBS	- "Christian Bookstore" (usually preceded by local)
	CCM	- "Christian Contemporary Music" or "Conteporary
		   Christian Music"
	IMHO	- "In my humble opinion"
	IMO	- "In my opinion"
	r.m.c	- "rec.music.christian"
	ROTFL	- "Rolling On The Floor Laughing"
	WRT	- "With respect to"

It's cool to make use of them but over use can reduce the readability.

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5.5	So and so is a satanist and other such rumors
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The following is used as an example and in this case is an untrue rumor.
Most of the points brought up about the appropriateness of posting
something like this are valid even if it is true.

You heard that the president of Proctor and Gamble was a satanist and was
using his position to fund the Church of Satan.  As well you heard that
this was well documented on an episode of Donahue.  You want to post this
info to r.m.c to alert Christians worldwide of this evil and to help start
a boycott of Proctor and Gamble.

First of all that is not true and for that reason does not belong in
r.m.c.	Donahue says that no such episode was produced.  In fact, this may
be a rumor created to make Christians look like paranoid fools and
spreading such false rumors helps it achieve that goal.

Second, what does this have to do with Christian music?  r.m.c was created
solely for the discussion of Christian music as outlined in the charter.

Third, you are making a broad assumption about the beliefs of everyone who
reads r.m.c.  That assumption being that we are all Christians.  It may be
true for the most part but one does not have to be a Christian to discuss
Christian music.

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5.6	Advertising and Commercials
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The Usenet, in general, is not intended for advertising of products for
sale.  rec.music.christian is no exception to this intention.

Generally, it is acceptable to post a list of used music (or other music
related products or memorabilia) that you bought for personal use but wish
to pass on (at a price) to someone who might get better enjoyment out of
its use.

Other forms of advertising that are considered acceptable are posts
informing users of Internet resources, ie web pages etc.

In general most other forms of advertising are frowned upon and should
therefore be avoided.  The more commercial sounding it is, the large
will be the negative response from r.m.c readers.

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6.0	How to post and read rec.music.christian
=======================================================

Check with you system administrator how to use the news software if you
don't know how to.  The rest of this section assumes that your site
does not have news setup or is not going to get the rec hierarchy of
newsgroups.  Use your news software if you have it as it is much more
convenient.

The following methods require only e-mail access.  The details of
these methods are condensed considerably to allow you to get started
quickly.  Additional details as to the operation on these methods is
not presented here.  It is strongly suggested that if you plan on using
these methods on a regular basis that you read the document "Accessing
the Internet by E-Mail FAQ".  It will present other sites for
accessing Usenet which may be more efficient than those presented here
as well as giving more details.

"Accessing the Internet by E-mail FAQ" can be obtained via ftp from
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email.
This can be obtained by by e-mail as well,

To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
Enter only this line in the BODY of the note:
  send usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email

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6.1	Reading rec.music.christian
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Put the following info in an e-mail message.

   ------- begin gophermail message (do not include this line)
   Name=rec.music.chrisitan
   Type=1
   Port=4320
   Path=nntp ls rec.music.christian
   Host=gopher.ic.ac.uk
   ------- end gophermail message (do not include this line)

and send the message to gophermail@calvin.edu

This will send back a message with a list of the current articles and
instructions on how to get the messages you wish.

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6.2	Posting to rec.music.christian
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If you can send e-mail then you can post to r.m.c.  Send
your post as e-mail to one of the following addresses and it will be
automatically posted to r.m.c through these mail->news gateways.

	rec.music.christian-news@newsbase.cs.yale.edu
	rec.music.christian@news.demon.co.uk

Use these gateways only if you cannot post using your news software.
This is not a complete list of mail->new gateways.  Check out
"Accessing the Internet by E-mail FAQ" for a more comprehensive list.
