New project looking for judges that actively participate in religion. A support group to help judges find adequate worship centers near large events, set up prayer times before or after events, and give or ask for advice on faith related questions that come up in our community, like evangelism and discipleship. May also branch out to players to give advice. Looking for all walks of faith, especially Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

https://apps.magicjudges.org/projects/596/ - Judges of Faith

I'm not entirely familiar; can you explain evangelizing, discipleship, and exhortation?

Evangelism is the spreading of religion, generally Christian but now just a coverall for all religions. So it could be relevant if church groups wanted to sponsor/encourage MtG in the community etc.

Discipleship is the same, as far as I know, you become a Christian “disciple”, spreading the faith.

Overall it wouldn't be a bad idea, especially in terms of finding places to pray or attend your faith's gatherings, when at large events, and for local groups to form if there is an audience for it.

Are there currently provisions in place at larger events for Salah, the 5-a-day Islamic prayers? I.e. 5 minutes off a match or a small area with mats. I have seen them, rarely, in some cities, but not at an event, although I haven't been looking. Things like this would help make MtG events more inclusive to people from all walks of life.

I'm all for judges of faith having a place to come together and work to find appropriate ways to exercise that faith when at larger Magic events, but I'm very concerned when talk of evangelism/discipleship/etc starts to enter the picture.

As judges, we're put into positions of authority and trust, and I feel that it's a violation of that trust to then use that position to proselytize or otherwise actively attempt to sway others to join our own faith group.

The judge program and Magic community as a whole have been making strides in the past few years to be more open and accepting to everyone. This includes the right to faith (or lack thereof) of one's choice, and having judges or others in Magic spaces attempting to use those spaces to spread their own faith feels like a huge step backwards in terms of creating a more accepting environment for everyone.

So I'm all for judges being able to work together to meet outside of events and share their faith with each other, and I'm all for encouraging reasonable accommodations for things like Salah where possible, but I don't think it's appropriate for any judge to be evangelizing within the context of a Magic event.

Whoops, I'm not paying attention; a post like this - announcing a new project, and telling people how to join (i.e., the link to the project) - shouldn't have become a discussion topic. I've fixed that, by locking the thread; any further discussion of a project should probably be within the domain of that project.

d:^D