Every week hundreds of new UU sermons are created
by UU ministers all across the United States and Canada
—and beyond in the wider world of UU thinking.

    But a few sermons do transmit important meanings 
even when shared in writing on the Internet.
These would be the first candidates for cyber-sermons.

    Because the pool of possible sermons is so large,
FUUCI can seek the very best thinking
to be shared with the world-wide audience.

    We define the best by a direct vote of the members.
Each member has two votes—first and second choice—
among the proposals presented.

    These cyber-sermon proposals contain four elements:

(1) a clever title that describes the content of the sermon.

(2) a synopsis of the content of the cyber-sermon
—one or two paragraphs that will catch the interest of readers,
making us want to read further.

(3) an outline of the various points to be included.

(4) a description of the minister (or other person)
who is the author of the cyber-sermon.
(The identity of the author is not mentioned
when the proposals are voted upon,
only the first three elements: title, synopsis, & outline.)

    Such synopses and outlines are included at the beginning
of each cyber-sermon published by FUUCI.
The people sitting at their computers all around the world
must be convinced in the first three minutes
that this is a sermon they want to devote 15 minutes to reading.
In contrast to most UU congregations,
the First Unitarian Universalist Church of the Internet is not a captive audience.
We the readers of cyber-sermons are not committed
to reading all the way thru once we begin.
So the title, synopsis, outline, & description of the author
must catch our attention to encourage us to read further.

    This is also one reason these brief proposals
are used as the basis for voting
to select the next Cyber-Sermon-of-the-Month.
If the proposals do not grab the members,
the sermons will probably not grab
the attention of readers world-wide either.

    Those who create cyber-sermons should remember
how they will be received: on computer screens.
Besides being short
(3 or 4 pages, 10 screens, 100 sentences, or 10KB),
they should include section titles,
which themselves might catch the attention of a reader scrolling thru.
(These section titles are often the items of the outline.)

    As an aid to easy reading,
the lines of cyber-sermons are divided according to meaning,
as illustrated in what you have just read.

    If a winning cyber-sermon already exists in another format
—such as audio and/or video—
links to such versions can be included.
But the basic format is written words on computer screens.
And the proposals must also be offered in written form.
We should remember that not every computer has audio or video capacities.
So with respect to format,
our cyber-sermons will be primarily written discourses.
Additional formats will be optional
and will be appreciated by members with those extra capacities.