Terms of Use

Experiencing Holy Conferencing

 

 

This online discussion forum is sponsored by The General Council on Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church and is committed to holy conferencing and discernment when engaging in dialogue and discussion in the online environment. The principles of holy conferencing include:

•  Every person is a child of God. Always speak respectfully. One can disagree without being disagreeable.
• As you patiently listen and observe the behavior of others, be open to the possibility that God can change the views of any or all parties in the discussion.
• Listen patiently before formulating responses.
• Strive to understand the experience out of which others have arrived at their views.
• Be careful in how you express personal offense at differing opinions. Otherwise dialogue may be inhibited.
• Accurately reflect the views of others when speaking. This is especially important when you disagree with that position.
• Avoid using inflammatory words, derogatory names or an excited and angry voice.
• Avoid making generalizations about individuals and groups. Make your point with specific evidence and examples.
• Make use of facilitators and mediators.

Remember that people are defined, ultimately, by their relationship with God - not by the flaws we discover, or think we discover, in their views and actions.

 

Code of Conduct

We ask you to review this information thoroughly. By placing comments, you agree to abide by the above stated guidelines for holy conferencing and discernment when engaging in discussion in the online environment. You also agree to the terms outlining the scope of this site, which is for the discussion of the use of Reserves as a component of conversation at General Conference. By agreeing with the Terms of Use, you understand that this is the limit and scope of this online conversation. This blog is monitored. Your comment will not be posted immediately. Your comment will be reviewed by a monitor. Anonymous comments will not be accepted. Anyone may comment, as long as he/she provides his/her real name and email address.

 

Comments expressing the full range of views on the subject matter of this discussion will be posted. Comments that are unrelated to the issue under discussion will not be posted, nor will comments containing profanity, obscenities, defamatory, threatening, pornographic, or other inappropriate remarks. You are prohibited from collecting or storing personal information about other users and from stalking or harassing others. You are prohibited from engaging in any conduct that is harmful to minors. Use of this site indicates your acceptance of these terms.

Confidential Information

DO NOT SEND ANY CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION TO THIS SITE. Any communication or material that you transmit to this site by electronic mail or otherwise, including any data, questions, comments, suggestions, or the like is and will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary. Furthermore, you agree that such information is non-confidential and non-proprietary. Therefore, anything that you post to this site may be used by the blog owner or its affiliates for any purpose, including, but not limited to reproduction, disclosure, transmission, publication, broadcast, and posting. Furthermore, the General Council on Finance and Administration is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained in any communication you send to this site for any purpose whatsoever.