Deepening Connections with Discussion Forums

a note from Ebby Watkins, Communications and Media Manager:

One of the most important parts of our mission as a church lies in our connections with one another. When we participate in fellowship, conversation, spiritual life groups, and Faith in Action, we are deepening those connections and strengthening our ability to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world.

Speaking as your Communications person, I know the issue here at St. John’s is never a lack of opportunities to participate! Rather, we have a lot going on all the time, and sometimes it can be difficult to have deeper conversations about your interest in one topic amidst many others. In the summer especially, as people enjoy vacations or visits to cabins up north, we don’t get as many chances to stay connected in person. A dedicated place online to share resources and have discussions can be very helpful.

This goal of deepening our connections as a faith community was something we had in mind when we launched an area of discussion forums on St. John’s website. They have been growing slowly yet steadily, and we wanted to share more information about what they are and how to use them. We invite you to read Terri’s helpful primer below and check them out. They may be exactly what you need to help share articles and readings that have been meaningful to you lately, to find opportunities to participate in activities — to do whatever you feel God calling you to do here at St. John’s.

by Terri Fishel

We are fortunate at St. John’s that so many members of the congregation want to be engaged in ongoing activities.  These include the Women’s Group, the Book Group, Faith Forums, and Justice, participating in initiatives led by ISAIAH/Faith in Minnesota, as well as many other activities. 

One of the challenges is keeping interested members informed about ongoing opportunities to participate in various activities without being overwhelmed with emails.  In March, Sarah Gettel wrote an article for the Justice Team for the E-vangelist, Am I Doing Enough? including information on how we communicate.  One of the ways that different groups can share communication is on the Discussion Forums on the website.

In the Discussion Forums, each ministry has its own forum (an area where many topics can be posted). Members can “subscribe” to that area and get a notification when a new item is posted, or make a point of visiting the forum of interest on a regular basis to see new postings. Within each forum, members can start new “topics” (conversation threads) and reply to other topics.

The reason to use the Forums is that it is a means of sharing time-sensitive information that doesn’t need to reside on a web page, but allows us to notify those interested without sending emails. Members can also post links to, for example, a news story or blog post they find meaningful, and discuss it thoughtfully with each other.

Currently we have active forums for the following groups:

• Sunday Faith Forums
• Book Group
• Justice
• Women’s Group

All the groups use their forums in ways that are particularly helpful to their ministry. In the Sunday Faith Forums area, members can continue discussions brought up in the forums or call attention to upcoming speakers. For the Book Group, members can see the book selections for 2026-2027 and get ready for this fall’s book conversations. The Women’s Group has used their forum to plan their Spring Brunch and to post about discussion topics for upcoming gatherings.

The Justice Team is using the Justice Forum to post updates on activities related to ongoing initiatives by ISAIAH/Faith in Minnesota as well as agencies involved in vigils or legislative efforts. We can post upcoming events that members may want to join, such as events at the capitol or elsewhere related to ongoing efforts to engage in political activities relevant to our social justice programs. The forums allow us to distribute time-sensitive information on a regular basis without updating webpages and without sending out separate emails.  

For those who want to navigate to the forums, this guide may help:

1. Visit the forums directly by bookmarking stjohnsstpaul.org/forums
   • Or navigate from the homepage, https://stjohnsstpaul.org/ and then:
     • On a desktop computer, click on “Members” (upper right heading of home page), then select “Discussion Forums”
     • On mobile, first click the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) at the top of the page, then “Members”, then “Discussion Forums”
2. Click the name of any forum you wish to visit. You do not need to log in to read the posts.
3. However, if you want to subscribe to a topic, post a comment, or start a new topic, you will need to be a registered user. Follow the prompt (yellow banner) inviting you to Please Login or Register to create posts and topics.  
4. After you are logged in, if you want to receive email notifications of new posts on a given topic or forum, select “subscribe to this topic” at the bottom of the topic’s page.

Please do try using this form of communication and if you experience any problems, please contact me by email at [email protected].

(Note from Ebby: Registration is quite straightforward but I am also here to help Terri help you troubleshoot any issues! See you on the forums!)