This group is put together to further communication and connection between members of 1st Parish U/U Church in Arlington to discuss religious and spiritual matters, as well as to connect for special interests and hobbies, and for social activities. You can discuss church politics, but please do so with great circumspection and care. The original idea of having an e-mail group came from a Ferry Beach discussion at the Church weekend there.

Deborah Weiner, the UUA director of electronic communication in 2006, makes these good points about church email:

If you're responding to an emotional situation, let your email sit overnight before sending it. Adopt a measured tone. Don't forward emails of others without their permission. Remember that once you send an email you lose all control of it; it can be copied, sent to others, and quoted out of context even years later.

Every congregation should have rules about email. "We can't live without email these days, so we need to live with it. Using an email list is a privilege, not a right. There is no first amendment right to destroy a congregation with ill-considered emails. Don't assume that everyone knows how to act appropriately on email. People don't all come from the same place. You need to spell it out."

Finally, never say anything about someone in an email that you wouldn't want that person to see. If someone wants to have an email conversation about someone else or a complicated issue, invite them to meet with you in person.