In this feature we seek out answers to questions of broad interest, drawing on experts in congregations, the UUA, and elsewhere. If you would like to submit a question, please write to InterConnections at 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA, 02108, or e-mail dskinner@uua.org.

Q. We are considering publishing our church newsletter on our Internet Web site. This could save us a lot of money in printing and postage costs. However, we have a concern about putting the names and phone numbers of members mentioned in articles on the Internet for anyone to see. How can we can get around this problem?

A. It's a bad idea to post personal information on a Web site, says Margy Levine Young, co-author of The Internet for Dummies. Even though a newsletter is publicly available, there's nothing as public as the Web! Avoid children's full names, people's home addresses and phone numbers, and information about people's personal lives including joys-and-concerns-type info like who's sick or who's going away.

Making a password-protected part of the site to post personal information is a reasonable idea. If you use one ID and password for everyone, you can e-mail it to church members. Be sure to change it from time to time — maybe quarterly. Or you can assign each member an ID and password.

Deborah Weiner, director of electronic communications for the UUA, adds: "There's another important question here that should be addressed. Will people actually go to the Web site to read the newsletter? My guess is that many won't. My suggestion would be that you e-mail the newsletter just to those who actually want it that way, using a PDF (for Portable Document Format) file. This retains all the formatting and layout of the original newsletter for those who want to print it, and yet transmits it electronically to those who want it in that form. In any case, doing so reduces your postal mailing list size, but you would continue to mail it the regular way to everyone else."

Q. Our Board is considering the creation of a Youth-Adult Committee. Have any of you had experience with such a committee? What are the opportunities and challenges we should prepare for?

A. "I don't think that you can have a viable youth program without such a committee," says Stan Kidder, a member of Foothills Unitarian Church Fort Collins, CO (352 members) and Youth Interface Committee and Mountain Desert District Youth Adult Committee Adult Treasurer. "Youth empowerment, the goal of any good youth program, means neither letting the youth do whatever they want nor telling the youth what to do. Working things out together is the only workable solution, thus a YAC.

"Your biggest challenges? Getting enough committed adults to serve on the committee, and not overpowering the youth with the adult presence."

Q. I understand the UUA staff was reorganized recently. How can I locate the right people and departments when I have questions?

A. Remember that the UUA district offices are a good place to start with questions. A reorganization of the UUA staff did take effect July 1. Most staff phone numbers remain the same.

The reorganization will affect the way some information is located on the UUA Web site. If your customary Web addresses don't locate what you need, try the search engine on the UUA Web site.