St Charles Church .org   News & Events Faith Ministries Parish Volunteer Help Contact Us

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about E-mail Lists at St. Charles

Q: What the heck is a Mailing List?

A: An Internet Mailing List is simply an easy way to send email messages to a group of people interested in a particular topic. LISTSERV and Majordomo are two common Mailing List programs that you may have run across on the Internet. St. Charles is currently using Topica.com. Once a List is established, email sent to a special List address will automatically be forwarded to everyone on the List. In most cases, automatic provisions are provided to subscribe or unsubscribe to a particular List.

Q: What is the purpose of Mailing Lists?

A: The Lists will be used to send announcements of upcoming events or communicate other important information of general interest to the group. Each List is separate - you can subscribe to one or to all, as they suit your interests.

Q: Who's paying for this new service?

A: Good question... There is no cost to you. However, unfortunately, there's still no such thing as a free lunch. Topica provides this list service to organizations such as St. Charles free of charge -- BUT, each message sent to the list may have a small (a few lines) advertisement appended to the message.

Q: If the list is supported by advertising, does that mean I'll be getting a flood of junk email (i.e. SPAM) in my inbox?

A: Absolutely not. Topica is dedicated to providing SPAM-free service. The only advertisement you should ever see will be the small ads tacked on to the bottom of the messages List members send out over the list. The company does not sell lists of email addresses to other advertising organizations. The St. Charles Web Team detests SPAM and, if we find that Topica does not live up to its philosophy, believe us, we'll be the first ones looking for a different List-provider.

Q: I'm picky about who knows my email address. Will all the other List subscribers see my address?

A: Only someone called the "List Owner" can view email addresses of subscribers. This is a great advantage to Mailing Lists, as one of the alternatives is just to paste a bunch of addresses into the "to:" field when you send each email -- but then everyone knows who you're sending mail to.

Q: Who are these List Owners and what do they do?

A: The List Owner is the individual who establishes and runs the List. He or she is responsible for determining what type of List it is and what rights List members might have. The List Owner can also invite people to join and remove List members (those who subscribed) from a List. The List Owner issues the email announcements to the List members. If the List Owner has made the List a discussion List, List members can also send messages to the List. In reality, each St. Charles List Owner is typically a St. Charles volunteer involved in the specific ministry sponsoring the List.

Q: What is a discussion List?

A: The C'YA List is an example of a discussion List. C'YA List members can send messages to that List. All messages from List members are immediately sent out to all subscribers of that List.

Q: OK, how do I get on this list?

A: Go to the Mailing Lists page and type your full email address in the box provided next to the Mailing List of your choice, and push the "Join" button to its right. You will receive further instructions via email, including information on how to unsubscribe from the List at some later point. Additionally, the main sub-ministry pages sponsoring Mailing Lists (e.g., C'YA, Social Justice, Circle of Caring, and any newer Lists) at St. Charles may have subscription access to the List they sponsor.

Q: OK, I'm on the list... now how do I use it?

A: Simple. To receive messages, just sit back and read the email announcements as you would any email.

Q: I no longer want to be on a List. How do I get off the List?

A: Follow the instructions including at the bottom of each email list message that you receive for unsubscribing.

Mailing Lists page »