Forum Covenant

[Nik P.]

Please read and discuss your position on our covenant of Christian behavior before posting.
Originally borrowed from House2House, we have personalized it considerably. As a community, we will hold our brethren to this covenant as gently as possible, and as strictly as necessary.

1. WE COME IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, JESUS CHRIST.
This is a Christian board for those who recognize the Lordship of Christ or who are exploring a relationship with Him. We have come out of denominations and no longer subscribe to their doctrines.

2. WE COME WITH HOSPITALITY
We all have vastly different life experiences; we come from all over the world; and we span many generations. In many ways, we are strangers who might be entertaining angels. So, while we want to bring the truth to the subjects discussed, we try to do so with grace, kindness and brotherly love. We do not need complete agreement to treat each other with hospitality.

3. WE COME WITH AGAPE
Exploration and learning of various Christian theologies are welcome on the forum section, Simple Church 101. Maturation and integration of simple church theology and practice are welcome on the forum section, Simple Church 201, where iron sharpens iron and challenging debate, first-hand experience and biblical discussion can be expected. We believe in the wisdom of the combined ekklesia over solitary prophets.

4. WE ARE TEMPERATE OF TONGUE
We critique our brother's behavior in TRUTH and LOVE. We only speak of their personhood, to encourage the growth and outcomes that we hope for them. We avoid all tattling, backbiting and excessive anger; and seek God’s help in abstaining from all practices which jeopardize our own or another’s faith.

5. WE HONOR EACH OTHER'S WORK
We applaud the work of others and respect copyrights on performances and written work. We re-post from other websites with the author's permission. When discussing an article, we post short quotes from the article and/or give a link to the original article. We learn from each other in mutual submission as each of us can grow from challenges. We ask questions or show appreciation for each other's interests when they differ from our own.

6. WE RESPECT THE INTENTION OF THE DISCUSSION / GROUP / BOARD
We gathered this website to support missionally focused members of simple or house churches. New groups will be accepted in keeping with the focus of the board. Inactive groups or members may be deleted after 2 months. The initiator of a discussion may set intentions for the thread, such as "this thread is not for theological debate, but for sharing experiences." If so, we honor the intention of the thread and start a new one if we wish to discuss theology related to it. We simply state that we have started a related thread and provide a link. When we share our own stories on someone else's thread it is not to turn the attention to ourselves, but to illuminate the discussion.

7. WE COME WITH SHALOM
We reflect God in our content, and avoid posting anything inflammatory, unnecessarily harsh, overly aggressive, sexually explicit, inciteful of hate or otherwise likely to cause problems. If our brother takes issue with our post, we will hear their concern in private. We will delete the content if convinced and work towards reconciliation with the person. See Forum Reconciliation.

8. WE ARE A PEACEMAKING AND SELF-MODERATING COMMUNITY
As we seek to provide a safe and peaceful community, we follow the Forum Reconciliation process to resolve our own issues. We serve as neutral witnesses to assist others resolve conflicts. We seek the Holy Spirit's counsel when we should step into the role of moderator for a season. The current moderators will pray and discuss before affirming the new appointment. Moderators cover the board with prayer, peace and wisdom.

Current Moderators: Miguel, Katie Mather, Chaplain Nik, Tim Mather.

Discussion on this covenant is open!

[Rick Knock]

Hi Nik,

Forum Covenant? Good idea! I wondered as I read it if it would be possible to word it as a covenant also. I'm thinking that sharing how we relate to each other may bring comfort to people, as opposed to a knee-jerk negative reaction some may have (at present time) to rules & authority structures. The covenant would still be just as clear, and I think would help people see this as a "safe" place to share without feeling like they were being watched for infractions. Here's #1 as an example of what I'm talking about:

Old: So, while we want to bring the truth to the subjects discussed, please do so with grace and kindness.
New: So, while we want to bring the truth to the subjects discussed, we try to do so with grace and kindness.

Anyway, that's just an idea. I haven't actually tried rewording the other parts to see how it would work.

The only other thought I had was that we might need to explain how to "go with witnesses." :)

God Bless!

Rick

[Claudia]

Nik, I would just like to say that these covenant points seem as though they truly should be common-sense guidelines for anyone and everyone who claims to be walking in the Holy Spirit. Whom shall we fear? Certainly not anything that challenges us, including a few guidelines. Thank you for your hard work in gathering all of this info and laying it all out in such a godly way. I am excited to be a participant here and look forward to seeing it grow. Bless you Sister!
Love, Claudia

[Nik P.]

Rick Knock said:

I wondered as I read it if it would be possible to word it as a covenant also. . . . I haven't actually tried rewording the other parts to see how it would work.
The only other thought I had was that we might need to explain how to "go with witnesses." :) Rick

Yes! Sorry, I guess I was too subtle. That's exactly what I was hoping we would do. But, I didn't want to throw it all together alone because that would make it MY RULES rather than OUR COVENANT.

Rick's line is now in.

[Rick Knock]

Hi Nik,

The headings exactly reflect what I was thinking. My idea would be to continue to convert the body text in similar manner. But keeping in mind that if you or the others think something different would be better I'll gladly yield. :)

God Bless!
Rick

[JaJireh]

Well-spoken and beautifully put.

I agree, my comment my signature. :D

[Nik P.]

Here is the latest re-write. Thanks for all the input so far. If anyone has ideas on how that "1-2 witnesses should work" please post them! So far, all I can think of is scheduling a meeting in the chat room. Moderators can open an entire page for scheduled chats.

Or, maybe creating a private group for discussion between the few of you. The group can be deleted when the issue is resolved. It could also be useful if a moderator must look at the progress that has been made thus far.

I like this ratio of 1 moderator per 7 members. I hope we continue to keep it under 1 per 10, or am I being too optimistic?

[Al Silvestri]

The covenant is a good idea. Knowing that there will be moderation is comforting after witnessing unbriddled unbiblical nonsense.
Insofar as the issue of witnesses involved in the whole Matt 18, what if it came from one or two others who have also shared in the thread, and thereby they are necessarily coming from a pool of witnesses directly involved in the discussion, and not having been brought in under the slant of the person calling for witnesses?
In Him,
Al
PS- Thanks for the invite Rick!

[Rick Knock]

Hi everyone,

Nik, what you've done is exactly what I was thinking... only now that I see it I wonder if it sounds a bit more like a creed than a covenant? After the first couple items I thought it also started sounding like we were bragging on ourselves. Or does it sound ok to you? What does everyone else think?

Without actually doing this... I wonder what would happen if we were to change the "we do this or that" to "we will..." or "we agree to do this or that." Of course, the opening paragraph will also have a bearing on how the rest sounds. I'm ok with it however you do it, and it can always be tweaked again later too if someone has a good idea.

As to how the several could speak privately with someone I lean toward the group because of the record, but it's not entirely private because others can see who the group members are. Chat records likely can't be saved, and email only works if all are friends. Maybe someone else will have another idea. I think Al's idea is great as far as establishing credible witnesses, but the matter of how to go privately to the one...? I haven't quite figured that one out.

Al, you're welcome! I'm really glad you accepted. Hope you like it here! :)

God Bless!

Rick

[Rick Knock]

Nik,

As to the moderator to member ratio, 1:10 sounds really high to me. Keeping in mind though that my past experience has mostly been with technical forums, and passions don't often run high there unless someone is obviously out of line. It seems the most important thing is that each thread have at least one moderator responsible for it, and it's a big plus if the moderator is interested in and knowledgeable of the topic, and contributing as a member. That way potential problems can be dealt with gently before they have a chance to escalate and get ugly.

Again, my experience is with tech forums. Perhaps someone with other experience will see this and offer guidance. :)

God Bless!

Rick

[Dana Cashwell]

Sign me up!

[Leah]

Sorry, I didn't see the "read the Forum Covenant before you post" statement. And I already posted, but now I am rectifying that.

I agree whole heartedly with the Forum Covenant and say "kudos" for having one. I really don't like it when people say they want to discuss things, but they really want to beat you over the head with their opinion and have NO clue that maybe other people disagree with their opinion.

Let's discuss in love and friendship and agree to disagree if we need to.

Leah

[Nik P.]

Rick Knock said:

.. I wonder what would happen if we were to change the "we do this or that" to "we will..." or "we agree to do this or that." Rick

Well?? Who's gonna' take a crack at it? Even bit by bit? Pick your favorite section and try a re-write!