Talk:Brush Run Church

Regarding the focus of the Article

In attempting to clarify the Lead paragraph, I ran into the question of whether the focus is on the building or on the Brush Run congregation. It appears that the original intent may have been to focus on the meeting house rather than the congregation. I find it difficult to keep the focus there. Some of the existing lead section needs to be moved to the body of the article.

~~ Suggested Alternative Lead section ~~

The Brush Run Church was built in 1811 by the congregation of Christian reformers which had evolved from the Christian Association of Washington (Pennsylvania). It replaced the temporary log building in which the congregation first met. Because it was built in a brush run on the farm of William Gilchrist, both the building and the congregation became known as Brush Run Church.

It was the center of activity for Thomas and Alexander Campbell, father and son respectively, in their movement for Christian reform on the American frontier.

In 1828, the meeting house was moved to Bethany, Virginia (now West Virginia).

~~ End of Suggested Alternative ~~ John Park (talk) 12:32, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

John: I have adopted your summary beginning. I agree that there is some focus need, but not sure which direction Hal Doster wants to go with this, as he is the one who wanted this started. I think he is focusing more on the theolgoical influence of the congregation and the Campbells, although he has been isntrumental in getting a marker placed at the site and trying to raise funds for a replica building, which has not yet happened. Hal is in his mid-70's and is feeling time pressure to complete some material on the church. He has trouble with the techincal aspects of computers and software and I'm going to have to go to his home and work with him on his material. He doesn't feel comfortable editing this online, so I'm encouraging him to put his material down in a Word document. Maybe you can be of assitance along with others in reshaping what he will write. Thanks for your insight into this article. -- Bill Thompson User:gooseisland102 —Preceding comment was added at 13:54, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

John: I am awaiting material from Dr. Hal Doster on the history of the Brush Run church. I am not entirely sure that it is going to fit within the parameters of the Wiki that I started. It seems that Hal has his own thing going, hoping to eventually publish something. It is aimed at more of the history of the church, its construction, its beliefs, and its development. Am wondering if a new Wiki might be needed -- something like "History of the Brush Run Church." When I get it, may I send to you for your input and thoughts? Hal has a lot of line drawings that he has copied from outerh sources. I told him we would not be able to include these without releases. He has some original photos that he has taken, which I assume would be all right to include. I'm going to need some guidance here. His material is a dozen single spaced pages long. - gooseisland102