Community Guidelines for Online Bible Study
As a participant in the Bible Cafe™ Community, you agree to comply with our guidelines.
Bible Cafe™ Group Rules
#1 You are a guest and will need a book
These studies are led by a team of volunteers who facilitate group discussions based on a topical study book. To answer and discuss, you will need to get the current study book.
#2 Guests are not permitted to share or stream videos
Church videos, prophetic videos, prayer videos, and ministry videos are not relevant to our studies. Please keep content focused on the current study.
#3 Guests are not allowed to sell or ask for money.
No fundraising, product promotion, selling videos, asking for donations, or seeking financial support from our community.
#4 Guests will respect differences and denominations
Being a guest in this group requires mutual respect. Authentic, expressive discussions make groups great, but everyone is in a different place of spiritual maturity. Give grace to maturing believers.
#5 Guests resolve offense with love
Online communication is lacking both tone of voice and nonverbal language. Therefore, it can be misunderstood. Pray before you respond and take all thoughts captive to Christ. Love one another.
#6 No hate speech, putting people down, or bullying
It is not acceptable to put down authors, pastors, leaders, people of diversity, or attack the character of others. We are called to be one body of Christ.
#7 Volunteers are not counselors
Our volunteers are not counselors, please seek professional help as needed. We do not provide counseling, legal, financial, medical or other advice for which a professional license is required.
#8 Respect our work, ministry name and copyrights
Do not create confusion by imitating Bible Cafe™ Ministries LLC. Guests are not permitted to create subgroups or pages using our name.
#9 Group archive or termination
This group is not lifetime access it may be archived, moved, or shutdown by Facebook at any time, without notice, due to Facebook terms of use.
#10 Privacy and safety
Please do not share personal information. See Facebook safety recommendations to protect yourself online.
Guidelines For Our Community
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT
HOW WE CREATED OUR GUIDELINES
WE ASKED OUR BIBLE CAFE FOCUS GROUP TO CREATE A LIST OF COMMUNITY GUIDELINES BASED ON THEIR USER EXPERIENCES.
WE AGREE ON THESE STANDARDS
BIBLE VERSIONS: It is appropriate to use a Bible translation you’re most comfortable with. It’s appropriate to see something differently than someone else in your group. It’s not appropriate to turn it into a debate or put someone down because of her Bible preference.
BULLYING: It is inappropriate to bully or harass our volunteers and community members. It is appropriate to contact us if you are uncomfortable about how someone in the community is treating you or another member.
COUNSELING: It is inappropriate to provide counseling, legal, financial, medical or other advice for which a professional license is required. It is appropriate to refer someone in need to professional resources- such as domestic violence, affair recovery, addiction recovery, or suicide hotline.
DISCUSSIONS: It is appropriate to ask a question of the group if you need help with a Bible study clarification and stay on the current topic. It is not appropriate to carry on a lengthy conversation or going off-topic about your personal issues.
IMPERSONATING: It is not appropriate to steal a profile image, name or identity.
POLITICS: No politics.
PRAYER: It is appropriate to share legitimate worries, concerns, and ask for prayer. It’s not appropriate to reply in a condescending and judgmental manner. It is not appropriate to give advice or to use gossip as a prayer request.
PRIVACY: It is appropriate for members to know their privacy is always respected in our community. It is not appropriate to share information about group members or their prayer requests, unless safety is a concern. Report safety concerns to a director, Facebook security, or local authorities.
RESPECT: It is appropriate to respect the work of our ministry directors and volunteers. It is not appropriate to gossip, undermine, copy our website content, or use our name for your own ministry.
ROLES: It is appropriate be a listener and a contributor and remember we’re in different places of spiritual transformation. Both spiritually young and spiritually mature add value to the conversations. It is appropriate to filter all responses through love and through the Word, remembering we are all members of the body of Christ and we need each other.
SCREENSHOTS: It is inappropriate to take screenshots of our community content.
SELF-PROMOTION: It is inappropriate to use our ministry as a place of self-promotion or asking for money.
SEXUAL CONTENT: It is inappropriate to use our community as a place for discussing sexual content. It is appropriate to have these conversations with your local church, pastor, or medical team.
THEOLOGIES: It is acceptable to respectfully disagree with the book author, leaders, and students because we are nondenominational. We look for a common denominator of agreement on in our discussions and we do not debate one another. It is not appropriate to shame someone for her theology and opinions