Ken wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 1:20 pmThis strikes me as bizarre and wrong-headed. Why is one person trying to monetize and maintain exclusivity over information that should be available universally? And why are the Beachy Amish accommodating it? It seems that Cory is using the Beachy Amish web site as his portal unless I misunderstand what those links upstream are all about.
In any event, Google is making the question largely moot as one can pull up complete church directories for just about any community simply by doing internet searches and google maps.
Jumping to way too many conclusions here...
Cory used to be Beachy when he started it but is no longer Beachy. The Beachy's do not accommodate him or his site and never have.
Cory travelled the globe doing demographic work on Plain Anabaptist churches and wants some remuneration for his work. That seems reasonable to me.
CLP and Abana Books can do directories because people buy them and it generates some revenue. Sword and Trumpet tried publishing a directory of all the Plain churches not found in the CLP directory, but there was no demand for it so they quit about 10 years ago.
I don’t have permission to do that. I could share you churches from my own denomination, there is one in Paris my wife used to teach at. She has a little Eiffel Tower souvenir from when she taught there.
This strikes me as bizarre and wrong-headed. Why is one person trying to monetize and maintain exclusivity over information that should be available universally? And why are the Beachy Amish accommodating it? It seems that Cory is using the Beachy Amish web site as his portal unless I misunderstand what those links upstream are all about.
In any event, Google is making the question largely moot as one can pull up complete church directories for just about any community simply by doing internet searches and google maps.
And who says that particular database of information ought to be available universally?
I don't get what's so bizarre or wrong-headed about asking to get paid for coalescing information in a (more or less) usable format. Why should he work for free? I also don't particularly see the problem with him using his own website as "his portal" to use your term.
What do you think the Beachy Amish ought to do about it. Sue him? Make him take the website down? Steal it from him?
I just don't think it is particularly seemly for a Christian to charge other Christians for information about churches, especially churches with which one has no association. And it seems that he is also trying to collect demographic information as well, which I assume related to his sociological work at Penn State? So there is an ulterior motive there too.
Maybe I misunderstood. But it seems like he is using the Beachy Amish web site (which I assume is put out by the Beachy Amish?) to sell his database and collect his sociological information. Or is that web site one that he runs and just makes it look like it is some official Beachy Amish site? Which is also sort of unseemly. It doesn't have his name on it anywhere that I can find. Because the site looks like some sort of official site of the Beachy Amish church other than the amateurish Comic Sans font usage.
I would feel uncomfortable, for example about compiling a database on the Holdemans or Old Order Amish or any other conservative group that I am not a member of and then charging people for access to it. That just feels sort of exploitative. But that's just me.
Last edited by Ken on Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
0 x
A fool can throw out more questions than a wise man can answer. -RZehr
Ken wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:38 pm
Maybe I misunderstood. But it seems like he is using the Beachy Amish web site (which I assume is put out by the Beachy Amish?)
No, see what I wrote above.
Ken wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:38 pmOr is that web site one that he runs and just makes it look like it is some official Beachy Amish site?
Chris wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 9:00 pm
I just want to know of EVERY SINGLE Anabaptist church in Texas...
I know of:
Grandview Gospel Fellowship (Grandview)
Osceola Christian Fellowship (Osceola)
Faith Mennonite Fellowship (Lott)
Gospel Haven (Chilton)
Living Waters (BMA - Near Lott)
There's two Eastern PA churches
Gray's Prairie Mennonite
and another (I think it's called Willow Springs)
There's a Maranatha near Wolfe CIty
Also there's a Beachy Amish in Bastrop.
There's also a Nationwide Group in the direction of Amarillo.
Churches I don't know about:
Supposedly in Seminole
Supposedly near Paris, TX
What about some German Brethren??
Joy Anabaptist Church (Barry) Unaffiliated Mennonite
Willow Springs Mennonite Church (Emory) Eastern
Disciples of Christ Brotherhood (Jones County) Nationwide
Plainview Bible Fellowship (Plainview) Nationwide
Grays Prairie (Scurry) Eastern
Shelby County Mennonite (Timpson) Unaffiliated Mennonite
Living Word Believers (Wolfe City) Maranatha Amish-Mennonite
There is also a Mennonite Church in Waco but it isn't the conservative flavor. I assume it is MCUSA but I'm not actually positive about that: https://www.hopefellowshipwaco.org/
And I think there are several of Hispanic Mennonite churches that probably aren't much listed on English web sites.
0 x
A fool can throw out more questions than a wise man can answer. -RZehr
Ken wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:38 pm
Maybe I misunderstood. But it seems like he is using the Beachy Amish web site (which I assume is put out by the Beachy Amish?) to sell his database and collect his sociological information. Or is that web site one that he runs and just makes it look like it is some official Beachy Amish site? Which is also sort of unseemly. It doesn't have his name on it anywhere that I can find. Because the site looks like some sort of official site of the Beachy Amish church other than the amateurish Comic Sans font usage.
Comic Sans is apparently the most modest font he could find.
In late 2013, the basic design was reworked modestly to improve navigation and display.
This strikes me as bizarre and wrong-headed. Why is one person trying to monetize and maintain exclusivity over information that should be available universally? And why are the Beachy Amish accommodating it? It seems that Cory is using the Beachy Amish web site as his portal unless I misunderstand what those links upstream are all about.
In any event, Google is making the question largely moot as one can pull up complete church directories for just about any community simply by doing internet searches and google maps.
And who says that particular database of information ought to be available universally?
I don't get what's so bizarre or wrong-headed about asking to get paid for coalescing information in a (more or less) usable format. Why should he work for free? I also don't particularly see the problem with him using his own website as "his portal" to use your term.
What do you think the Beachy Amish ought to do about it. Sue him? Make him take the website down? Steal it from him?
I just don't think it is particularly seemly for a Christian to charge other Christians for information about churches, especially churches with which one has no association. And it seems that he is also trying to collect demographic information as well, which I assume related to his sociological work at Penn State? So there is an ulterior motive there too.
Maybe I misunderstood. But it seems like he is using the Beachy Amish web site (which I assume is put out by the Beachy Amish?) to sell his database and collect his sociological information. Or is that web site one that he runs and just makes it look like it is some official Beachy Amish site? Which is also sort of unseemly. It doesn't have his name on it anywhere that I can find. Because the site looks like some sort of official site of the Beachy Amish church other than the amateurish Comic Sans font usage.
I would feel uncomfortable, for example about compiling a database on the Holdemans or Old Order Amish or any other conservative group that I am not a member of and then charging people for access to it. That just feels sort of exploitative. But that's just me.
It's hard to read his "church finder" page and think it's run by an organization rather than by an individual. And he makes it clear he's keeping statistics on the people that send in a request.
I'm very used to having to pay for church directories, especially for directories for churches with whom I have less association. I never thought of it as being problematic. It's not like they are supported by advertising like the phone book used to be.
ken_sylvania wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 3:05 pm
And who says that particular database of information ought to be available universally?
I don't get what's so bizarre or wrong-headed about asking to get paid for coalescing information in a (more or less) usable format. Why should he work for free? I also don't particularly see the problem with him using his own website as "his portal" to use your term.
What do you think the Beachy Amish ought to do about it. Sue him? Make him take the website down? Steal it from him?
I just don't think it is particularly seemly for a Christian to charge other Christians for information about churches, especially churches with which one has no association. And it seems that he is also trying to collect demographic information as well, which I assume related to his sociological work at Penn State? So there is an ulterior motive there too.
Maybe I misunderstood. But it seems like he is using the Beachy Amish web site (which I assume is put out by the Beachy Amish?) to sell his database and collect his sociological information. Or is that web site one that he runs and just makes it look like it is some official Beachy Amish site? Which is also sort of unseemly. It doesn't have his name on it anywhere that I can find. Because the site looks like some sort of official site of the Beachy Amish church other than the amateurish Comic Sans font usage.
I would feel uncomfortable, for example about compiling a database on the Holdemans or Old Order Amish or any other conservative group that I am not a member of and then charging people for access to it. That just feels sort of exploitative. But that's just me.
It's hard to read his "church finder" page and think it's run by an organization rather than by an individual. And he makes it clear he's keeping statistics on the people that send in a request.
I'm very used to having to pay for church directories, especially for directories for churches with whom I have less association. I never thought of it as being problematic. It's not like they are supported by advertising like the phone book used to be.
I guess I'm not. If, for example, my Catholic mother-in-law is visiting and is going to want to go to mass, I assume that I can find our local diocese web site and get a listing of all the local Catholic churches in our area along with their mass schedules without having to pay for that information.
0 x
A fool can throw out more questions than a wise man can answer. -RZehr
I just don't think it is particularly seemly for a Christian to charge other Christians for information about churches, especially churches with which one has no association. And it seems that he is also trying to collect demographic information as well, which I assume related to his sociological work at Penn State? So there is an ulterior motive there too.
Maybe I misunderstood. But it seems like he is using the Beachy Amish web site (which I assume is put out by the Beachy Amish?) to sell his database and collect his sociological information. Or is that web site one that he runs and just makes it look like it is some official Beachy Amish site? Which is also sort of unseemly. It doesn't have his name on it anywhere that I can find. Because the site looks like some sort of official site of the Beachy Amish church other than the amateurish Comic Sans font usage.
I would feel uncomfortable, for example about compiling a database on the Holdemans or Old Order Amish or any other conservative group that I am not a member of and then charging people for access to it. That just feels sort of exploitative. But that's just me.
It's hard to read his "church finder" page and think it's run by an organization rather than by an individual. And he makes it clear he's keeping statistics on the people that send in a request.
I'm very used to having to pay for church directories, especially for directories for churches with whom I have less association. I never thought of it as being problematic. It's not like they are supported by advertising like the phone book used to be.
I guess I'm not. If, for example, my Catholic mother-in-law is visiting and is going to want to go to mass, I assume that I can find our local diocese web site and get a listing of all the local Catholic churches in our area along with their mass schedules without having to pay for that information.
I don't necessarily feel like anybody owes it to me to put their time and effort into putting a directory together without getting paid for it. Why should I expect them to do it for free? I don't expect my accountant to organize my tax returns for free.
Ken wrote: ↑Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:15 pmI guess I'm not. If, for example, my Catholic mother-in-law is visiting and is going to want to go to mass, I assume that I can find our local diocese web site and get a listing of all the local Catholic churches in our area along with their mass schedules without having to pay for that information.
Plain Anabaptists are very wary of some central organization that all Plain folks are part of. They tried that back in the first part of the 20th century and it didn't work out very well for them. Then in the 60's and 70's, they began schisming and splintering into groups of people who think more alike... until they realize that they all don't think alike... and then they schism again.
So... each fellowship/conference can produce their own directory if they wish, and if not, they can rely on CLP and Abana books, or Amish Studies to do it for them.
And... the hundreds of unaffiliated churches don't have enough in common to produce their own directory.
Yes, this is very different from the Catholic church or MCUSA.