Effective: 7/23/08

1. Terms

By accessing this web site, you are agreeing to be bound by these web site Terms and Conditions of Use, all applicable laws and regulations, and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. If you do not agree with any of these terms, you are prohibited from using or accessing this site. The materials contained in this web site are protected by applicable copyright and trade mark law.

2. Use License

1. Permission is granted to temporarily download one copy of the materials (information or software) on ReNew Partnerships’s web site for personal, non-commercial transitory viewing only. This is the grant of a license, not a transfer of title, and under this license you may not:
   1. modify or copy the materials;
   2. use the materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display (commercial or non-commercial);
   3. attempt to decompile or reverse engineer any software contained on ReNew Partnerships’s web site;
   4. remove any copyright or other proprietary notations from the materials; or
   5. transfer the materials to another person or "mirror" the materials on any other server.
2. This license shall automatically terminate if you violate any of these restrictions and may be terminated by ReNew Partnerships at any time. Upon terminating your viewing of these materials or upon the termination of this license, you must destroy any downloaded materials in your possession whether in electronic or printed format.

3. Disclaimer

1. The materials on ReNew Partnerships’s web site are provided "as is". ReNew Partnerships makes no warranties, expressed or implied, and hereby disclaims and negates all other warranties, including without limitation, implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property or other violation of rights. Further, ReNew Partnerships does not warrant or make any representations concerning the accuracy, likely results, or reliability of the use of the materials on its Internet web site or otherwise relating to such materials or on any sites linked to this site.

4. Limitations

In no event shall ReNew Partnerships or its suppliers be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption,) arising out of the use or inability to use the materials on ReNew Partnerships’s Internet site, even if ReNew Partnerships or a ReNew Partnerships authorized representative has been notified orally or in writing of the possibility of such damage. Because some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or limitations of liability for consequential or incidental damages, these limitations may not apply to you.

5. Revisions and Errata

The materials appearing on ReNew Partnerships’s web site could include technical, typographical, or photographic errors. ReNew Partnerships does not warrant that any of the materials on its web site are accurate, complete, or current. ReNew Partnerships may make changes to the materials contained on its web site at any time without notice. ReNew Partnerships does not, however, make any commitment to update the materials.

6. Links

ReNew Partnerships has not reviewed all of the sites linked to its Internet web site and is not responsible for the contents of any such linked site. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by ReNew Partnerships of the site. Use of any such linked web site is at the user’s own risk.

7. Site Terms of Use Modifications

ReNew Partnerships may revise these terms of use for its web site at any time without notice. By using this web site you are agreeing to be bound by the then current version of these Terms and Conditions of Use.

8. Governing Law

Any claim relating to ReNew Partnerships’s web site shall be governed by the laws of the State of Ohio without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

9. Terms and Guidelines for our Community Areas

The “community areas” of our website include all sections where users can share questions, answers, opinions, information, etc.  These include our resources section, comments area, discussion forum, etc.  We expect everyone to abide by the following Biblical principles when in these areas:

"Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” – Jesus Christ (Luke 6:32, NIV)

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV)

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. – Galatians 5:22-26 (NIV)

²⁵ Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶ "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸ He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. ²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. – Ephesians 4:25-32 (NIV)

General guidelines:

1. Treat others the way you want to be treated (kindly)
2. Speak the truth (be honest) but do so in a loving and compassionate manner
3. Do not be rude and/or try to provoke other people by your comments or questions
4. Do not slander or attack (other people, churches, ministries, ethnic groups, anyone!)
5. Be teachable. Don’t just voice your opinion – listen to what others have to say as well.
6. Nothing “unwholesome” – everything must be “G” rated (nothing obscene, illegal, immoral, sexual, racist, vulgar, etc)
7. Do not try to use the forum to promote or sell anything (your website, books, cd’s, anything!)
8. Stay on the topic of building and sustaining biblical, multi-ethnic community (use other forums for other topics)

Specific policies:

Users must be at least 13 years old to participate in any community areas.

The use of community areas for any unlawful purpose is prohibited.

The use of community areas to endorse or criticize political candidates, parties, etc. is prohibited.

Only users who have registered with full registration data including real name and a valid e-mail address are permitted in ReNew Partnerships community areas.  Failure to register, or registration with false information, especially misrepresentation of age, gender or email address, is grounds for immediate blocking of access. Additionally, it is the member’s responsibility to update and maintain a valid email address with their membership. Individuals who have been locked, barred, secured, or banned are not permitted to create a new account as a way to circumnavigate the consequences for violations of the Terms of Service and ReNew Partnerships reserves the right to terminate any new accounts which have been established in this manner as well as remove any content posted.

Community users understand that, notwithstanding our commitment to providing the safest and most Christian values sensitive community environment possible, participating in the online community is done at one’s own risk.

Any language, text, data, information or graphics that could be considered vulgar, pornographic, obscene, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, hateful, unlawful; that are racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; or that violate any copyright or other intellectual property rights of any person is prohibited. Referring to particular vulgar terms or words in any manner that brings them to mind such as purposefully misspelling or using symbols to suggest bad language or referring to something by a letter that identifies the word is unacceptable.   Creating a handle or making comments that are sexually suggestive is a violation of this rule. Linking to a site that contains information that violates this Terms of Service is prohibited.

Our community areas are not to be used to criticize or endorse political parties or candidates.  We believe these types of conversations are important but should happen in a different forum than this.

You will not harass, threaten, embarrass or distress users, either in the community itself or via personal email, phone, physical mail or in person. You will not engage in name-calling or personal attacks in the course of discussion or debate. You will not post inflammatory remarks simply for the purpose for evoking reaction or starting fights with other community members. Overall, promoting a spirit of divisiveness in the forums community will not be tolerated.  Attacking the character or motives of someone who differs with your view or denying that he or she is a Christian is unacceptable.

You will not ask users for the phone number, physical, email or instant message or other identifying information of a third party that is not present, nor provide such information if asked. Both the one asking for such information and the one supplying it will be viewed as violating this rule.

You should always view the online community area as a public meeting place. To the extent possible, all conversations are the property of ReNew Partnerships. By participating you have granted ReNew Partnerships the license to use them for any purpose whatsoever. For this reason you may not post any material for which you do not own the copyright. Posting entire articles is prohibited, even if permission has been granted by the copyright holder. Instead please only post a portion of the article with a link to read the rest.

You will not disrupt the normal flow of dialog in the community or act in a manner that negatively affects other members, including and perhaps especially in the defense of Christianity, in offering unwelcome spiritual counsel, or in debating doctrinal issues. Respect someone’s request if they say they don’t believe in Christ or are doubting their faith and express that they do not wish to discuss it, don’t try to "cram" Jesus down their throat. If another Christian disagrees with you theologically do not immediately jump to the conclusion that they are not truly saved just because they disagree, as there are differences of opinion in translating Biblical doctrine.

You will not impersonate in the community any person, including ReNew Partnerships staff, volunteers, and website moderators.

You will not attempt to "spam", "crack," "hack," or "bomb" the community. You will not attempt to access moderator-only sections or features. Posting the same or similar message in more than one place in the community is considered spamming and is not permitted. Do not try to crash the site by cracking into the code or hacking the server or sending mass amounts of posts or bomb or in any way do anything that would cause the site to go down or access secure areas. Posting the same or similar message in more than one place is considered spam.

You will not post or transmit either in the Community, or via private message any unsolicited advertising of websites, products or promotional materials or any other forms of solicitation. (Even if the site is not selling anything.)

Discussion of sexual issues is strictly prohibited. Using the forum to intitiate dating relationships with other forum members is strictly prohibited.  This is not a dating website!

You will not promote by repeated statements, by provision of URLs to other Web sites, by recommendation to engage in non-community activities such as watching programs, reading books, or attending events, or by any other means, beliefs or teachings contrary to those of Christianity as articulated in our Statement of Faith and as interpreted by ReNew Partnerships in its sole discretion.

ReNew Partnerships reserves the right to determine what forms of Christian "ministry" can be safely practiced within the community and to prohibit at its sole discretion any form of ministry that it deems inappropriate or unsafe. ReNew Partnerships prohibits the exercise of prophecy, dream interpretation, "words of knowledge," speaking in tongues and praying for or coaching others in the receipt of speaking in tongues, and various forms of deliverance ministry within forums. This is not, however, reflective in any way of the views of ReNew Partnerships or its staff on the legitimacy of such practices in a local church setting.

Do not use community areas to air your grievances against other fellow members. If you have observed a violation of the Terms of Service please contact us.

ReNew Partnerships has designated certain users in forums, commonly called Moderators, to moderate the discussions. All users are required to immediately comply with any moderator directive. Failure to do so may result in loss of access to the site. If you believe a moderator directive is incorrect you should not discuss it in the community. Instead please contact us and we will review the problem and make final judgment.

ReNew Partnerships reserves the right to:

- move any discussion in community areas to other sections of our website for any reason at our sole discretion

- edit any discussion, post, or chat room title for any reason at our sole discretion

- respond to the violation of any of the above Terms of Service with any of the responses available to Community administrators and moderators without warning including involuntary movement to another area, "booting" (involuntary expulsion from forums), and various forms of prevention of access to all community services for any duration of time including permanently at its sole discretion.

- to report any violations of the Terms of Service to law enforcement and/or the Internet Community Alliance.

- to bar, restrict, block any user including Internet Community Alliance offenders for any reason as well as remove any content or chat rooms at our sole discretion.

Please contact us with any questions, comments, or concerns regarding these Terms of Service.  Our contact information is posted at: http:/renewpartners.org/contact