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Subject:      An Apology to the Christian Church from Creation Ministries
From:         crmin@ix.netcom.com
Date:         1997/12/24
Message-ID:   <882969843.1404174345@dejanews.com>
Newsgroups:   alt.religion.christian,alt.religion.christian.adventist
[More Headers]


An Apology to the Christian Church from Creation Ministries,
Regarding the Spring Adventist Camp Meeting Announcement sent to
camp_meeting@coollist.com on December 17, 1997.

On December 17, 1997 Creation Ministries, which is the publishing
ministry of the Creation 7th Day Adventist Church, sent a Spring
camp meeting announcement, intended to be a one-time mailing, to
camp_meeting@coollist.com. This list was made up of persons residing
in the United States and Canada, having ordered FREE tapes and
literature from Creation 7th Day Adventist web sites during 1997.

A complication arose when the list server in Australia
(www.coollist.com) ceased to respond to attempted access by
Creation Ministries staff. The original message sent to the list
contained the following header:

*******************************************************************
This is not unsolicited email, however, if this message has been
received in error, or you desire to receive no further communication
from us, please accept our apologies, and advise by return mail to
crmin@ix.netcom.com.
*******************************************************************

It was later realized by the staff that the wording "by return mail"
introduced a "confusion factor" so that a small minority (fewer than
twenty) which did desire to be removed from the list, clicked on
"return mail" and sent their "remove" request to the whole list.
The reaction from others on the list was tantamount to a panic. It
seemed that the majority of recipients responded to the list at
camp_meeting@coollist.com, rather than sending Email to
crmin@ix.netcom.com which was the address designated in the
original header. The scene was similar to a grass fire on a windy
day, and Creation Ministries personnel could not access the list
server to delete names or cancel the list.

Creation Ministries maintains over 20 Email addresses for the church,
and all of them were on the mailing list. Within a day there were
a few thousand Emails in the boxes.  The panic among those on the
list soared with irritations and impatience to a peak. Still nothing
could be accomplished in the removal of any names. And the number
of persons wishing to be removed increased with the level of stress.
People were reporting hundreds of unwanted Emails in their boxes. A
very small number participated in humiliation tactics and other forms
of harassment, including character defamation, and the forwarding
of all incoming mail back to the list server over and over. This
was not controlled until we forwarded all such abuse to the offenders'
ISP administrators.

After two days an automated server was discovered where we could
unsubscribe from the list. The difficulty was compounded by the
fact that we could not do any unsubscribing for others. They had
to send the "unsubscribe request" from their Email accounts. In
addition, precise instructions had to be followed or the automated
system would not work. We sent the detailed directions for getting
free from the list to individuals as well as to the list in general.
Problems persisted from persons not following instructions properly,
the automated server not working every time, and folks on the list
deleting incoming messages wholesale, causing our instructions sent
through the list server account to them to be missed.

We eventually found more information about the list server from an
InterNIC search.  Unfortunately, the site administrator in Australia
was not available at his Email address. By this time it was the
weekend, and no one at all was going to aid in the matter. We
ascertained that Australia is 14 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time,
so a plan was devised to call the server on Sunday afternoon which
would be Monday morning in Australia.

When we called Australia, an answering device was the only option
open to us.  A request for termination of the list was recorded on
their machine, and by Sunday evening it appeared that the list was
finally terminated-- the unwanted mails ceased completely.

Character is always developed in a crisis, and the test of character
is where "the rubber meets the road."  We, at Creation Ministries,
were working around the clock to solve this problem in behalf of the
church and all persons listed.  Our heart-felt request for
forgiveness from those inconvenienced ones continues. We are terribly
sorry for your lost time, money, and/or rest. "Whatsoever a man sows,
that shall he also reap." We ended with over 10,000 Emails in our
boxes, and very little sleep during the four days. We cheerfully
accept all responsibility for whatever legitimate complaints are to
be issued in the aftermath. We know that "all things work together
for good, to them that love God-- to all who are the called according
to His purpose."

Many lessons have been and will continue to be learned through this
experience. We trust that our friends will remain our friends-- our
enemies will be won to friendship, and for any hard-hearted ones we
pray, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Church,
forgive us please. Thank you.

CREATION MINISTRIES,
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/2791/index.html
Walter "Chick" McGill, Pastor/Director,
http://members.tripod.com/~csdachurch/index.html
The Creation 7th Day Adventist Church,
http://www.netcom.com/~crmin/c_sda_church.html

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