Would like to say something. editing
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I have been in CFT for almost 6 years and I modded for 13 months at some point. Over these 6 years I have followed a number of changes in CF, watching processes run their course and begin other processes. I was surprised to find a "mess" like this. I gather similar things to what Atlantis posted in post #25.
I would like to comment on the age thing as that seems to be the big point of contention. My main qualifications here are these:
1. I recognize that CF is a private forum.
2. I also recognize that CF exists to benefit Christians.
3. I believe that the entire admin staff and related operate with good intent.
That said, here is my comment. I have had extremely positive, formative relationships with older "teen" members. They helped shape various disciplines and orientations that have been of great benefit, to myself and to others. Others whom I less interacted with brought important perspectives and helped begin various paradigm shifts in my thinking. These I credit as the key agents in why I remain a Christian despite being deeply ashamed to be related to Christianity.
Personally, I began a personal research project into academic biblical studies several years ago. That, as others will appreciate, began some huge paradigm shifts. In the last 1-2 years I have introduced many "teens" to biblical scholarship and challenged them to be far more rigorous in their personal readings than Sunday School and "devotions" allow. This exposure simply doesn't happen until college and various insular discourses encourage suspicion towards academia. (Yes, I know there are exceptions.) The result is that quite a number of young Christians who have never known anything but "devotional" ways of reading have their "faith" utterly decimated by the alien world of biblical scholarship.
I would not be a Christian now if it weren't for the older "teens" who showed me that engaging with biblical scholarship and following Christ are compatible. Serious intellectual engagement is not a characteristic of mainstream Christianity. Many still think that "intellectual Christian" is an oxymoron and even more think that those who call themselves such are simply prideful fools who cannot accept God's wisdom.
A world of personal growth happens after highschool. For many, their only exposure to what kind of changes are possible was in CFT. It is perhaps too inorganic to simply excise 19-21s based on abstract models that apparently had significant issues in implementation.
Y'all should have led off with meh's explanation than the way you did. It would have done wonders.
Now, for the mods who ended up fired and banned, they went to the mat that night to try to stop the trolling and hacking. It would have been much, much worse if they hadn't literally stayed up all night consoling hurting teens. You really ought to reconsider the bannings/firings. They have a heart for teens and will be needed if you want to have a hope of rebuilding the teens forum. I guess it will come down to whether you value mindless adherence to the rules or a true heart for ministry with teens.
Thank you for posting that. These are the mods that I know. When I modded, several of the CFT staff's time was 50% PMs with individual members. I remember group prayers for certain people for weeks and weeks and very intense discussions over MSN. Having known a few of the... now ex-mods for a few years, I am proud of what they did.