O.K., this isn't quite right for any forum, but I need to ask The Forge community, so it's going to go here. Maybe it would fit better in Connections, but I don't read that forum (too much to read already, sorry) so I'd never know what was happening on it.

As part of its ongoing commitment to bridging the gap between role playing gamers and the Christian churches, the Christian Gamers Guild has been compiling a list of people in the industry who profess a personal faith in Christ, for publication on our web site--a way of informing the uninformed that many of us who create these games are Christians.

If you are someone active in the industry (publisher, author, artist, freelancer, employee, magazine publisher, et cetera) who would define himself as Christian, a believer in Christ, who is willing to be included in such a published list, please contact me, either through these forums or by e-mail. The Christian Gamers Guild in compiling this list is not limiting it to those who share its statement of faith nor any other; it is sufficient for our purposes that you believe yourself to be a Christian as you understand that.

We would need to know:

* Your name, preferably as it appears on published works;
* Your credits in the gaming industry

We also will include, if you wish to provide them:

* Your denomination; you will be listed as "unspecified" if you do not include this, which is fine, but we're hoping to have a variety of denominations represented. (We already have a diverse group, including Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Church of England, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, but it doesn't hurt to have more of each and more variants.)
* Any specific faith-related material, such as ordination, education, ministry positions, and anything else that might suggest you are more than just listed on the roles of your denomination (again, not necessary).
* An e-mail address so that people wishing to contact you with specific questions may do so. We understand that the annoyance of address harvesters will deter many from doing this, and recommend you do not use your main address if you have another.
* Links to any further information about your work or yourself.

Thank you for your attention. No one will be listed without permission. If you wish to point us to someone you "heard" is Christian, we are grateful for the assistance, but please provide some sort of contact information (e-mail address is best) so we can verify their information and get permission.

--M. J. Young

M.J.,

This is an odd question, and I hope you don't take offense, but:

What do you define as Christian in this area? I'll go ahead and give an explicit example:

I consider myself Christian. I also:
- don't believe homosexuality is an abomination, and that the explicit statement that it is is part of the Law that Christ overturned along with the moneychangers
- live with my girlfriend, unmarried, and don't see that as a problem, as we have made a commitment to each other before ourselves and God
- believe the entirety of Christ's message was:
a) love each other
b) be truly regretful of your sins, which are basically all the times you have been unkind and unloving towards others
c) believe that you, and everyone else, has the spark of God - the Holy Spirit - within them
d) and then you will be saved.
- believe these truths are fairly universal, and contained in most religions, thereby making them valid - a different cultural viewpoint with the same conclusions.

If you add that up, my beliefs aren't that different from, say, your local Buddhist. Many Christians I know would reject me outright as one of them - I often joke that I'm a "Zen Episcopalian."

But I ask you - what qualifies here? Heart or law?

I'm with Clinton here. I generally tend to define myself as an Abrahamist, since I respect all the different branches of Abrahamic monotheism (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). I also don't believe Jesus was the son of God or in the Resurrection, but I attend church regularly and consider Jesus to have been a true prophet of God.

Do you want me or not?

Clinton R. Nixon wrote: M.J.,

This is an odd question, and I hope you don't take offense, but:

What do you define as Christian in this area?

[T]hose listed here are self-identified as Christians. The Christian Gamers Guild does not by including them in this list certify that they adhere to our statement of faith or to any other....those listed here claim to be Christians as they understand that. Some have included their denomination. Some Christians will not view all of the listed denominations as within their own definition of Christian, and again the Christian Gamers Guild does not claim that all listed denominations adhere to the Statement of Faith by which we define our understanding of Christianity. We do not wish to offend anyone by the inclusion or exclusion of anyone on this list, but to provide names, information, and e-mail addresses for people in the industry who would claim the name Christian. We hope the reader will understand the difficulty inherent in attempting to compile such a list, in that each of us understands the Church Universal a bit differently--some whom you would consider Christian might well regard others as Christian whom you would not. We trust you will find at least several persons listed here whose beliefs and background are akin to yours, even if there are others listed to whom you would object.

what Jonathan wrote: Do you want me or not?

M. J. Young wrote: What I want is people who when contacted by Christians who are not gamers or gamers who are not Christians, and asked, "I hear you're a Christian and a gamer; can I ask you a couple of questions?" will say, "Yes, that's right; what would you like to know?" If that's you, and you would like to in essence put that on a public list, let me know.