World Wide Young Adult Congregation

Pro:

    This name is correct and descriptive.

Con:

    The UUA did not like "young adult" this name
because some said it would be confused
with the official young adult efforts of the UUA.

    Also the UUA does not host e-mailing lists for congregations.

World Wide Cyber Community

Pro:

    Has good initials: WWCC
    Includes more people than just young adults.

Con:

    Not as descriptive as "World Wide Young Adult Congregation"
    This name could be taken to mean everyone interested in the Internet.
It does not suggest anything religious to strangers.
Would such a "cyber community" be interested
only in discussing computers and the Internet?

World Wide Computer Church

Pro:

    This is also descriptive:  The subscribers and members
will be 'going to church' at their computer screens and keyboards.

Con:

    Does this sound too much like a group of geeks?
Are they worshiping the computer?
Will they just talk about computer stuff,
using letters and numbers instead of words in English?

World Wide Desktop Church

Pro:

    A wonderful paradox, that it could be as wide as the world
and still fit on the top of a desk.
"desktop" suggests user-friendly, anyone can do it,
which is correct for the WWCC.

Con:

    Can we really call it a church?
What does it share with a conventional, local church?

World Wide Unitarian Universalists

Pro:

    Interesting initials: WWUU.

    By avoiding "Church", "Congregation", "Community", etc.
this name refers to the PEOPLE instead of to an organization.
Since the WWCC is more a network of people than an organization,
some such name might be best.

Con:

    Whenever the words "Unitarian Universalist" are used,
they need to be explained to strangers.
They do not immediately communicate meaning,
especially not to people outside the United States.

Last Unitarian Universalist Church

Pro:

    This is a fun name for ourselves.
It makes us laugh, because it seems
about half of our congregations claim to be "First".

Con:

    In reality we are one of the first Internet communities.
Who wants to join something that is going out of style?
We do not really want to end the UU movement.
Rather, we want to extend it into cyber-space.

First Internet Unitarian Universalist Church

Pro:

    Very accurate and descriptive.

Con:

    Perhaps we should not call our organization a church.

First Internet Unitarian Universalist Congregation

Pro:

    "Congregation" does not sound as much like a Christian church.

Con:

    The UUA does not host mailing lists for either churches or congregations,
except the Church of the Larger Fellowship.

First Internet Church

Pro:

    Short and sweet.

Con:

    Are there other organizations already using this name?
Without the UU designation,
we could be confused with ordinary churches.

First Internet Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Pro:

    A fellowship usually means the group has no paid professional leader.

Con:

    Fellowship might seem sexist.

First Internet Unitarian Universalist Ministry

Pro:

    This could suggest that we minister to one another.

Con:

    Does "ministry" still suggest something
too close to organized religion as we have known it?

First Unitarian Universalist Church of the Internet

Pro:

    This name begins with the same four words
as many other congregations.
But when the place is described, it is everywhere!

Con:

    Same problems as noted above with the word "church".
But this could be an attractive name for people looking
for an organization only slightly different from a local church.

First UU Church of Cyber-Space

Pro:

    Follows the pattern of many other UU congregations,
but its location is nowhere and everywhere: cyber-space.

Con:

    Does this seem too cool?

Other suggestions submitted without pros and cons:

UUWeb
UUWWeb
WebUU
Digital UU
AUUM

Please send additional comments on these suggestions,
plus other suggestions to the webmaster: James Park:
PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.