Acceptance of Terms

The United Methodist Publishing House (referred to herein as “UMPH”) provides MinistryMatters.com (referred to herein as “MinistryMatters.com, “Ministry Matters™”, the “website” or the “service”) as a service to you, subject to the following Terms of Use which may be updated by us from time to time without notice to you. You agree that each use of the website is subject to the then existing Terms of Use, including any modifications or amendments made hereto from time to time. In addition, when using this website, you shall be subject to any posted guidelines or rules applicable to such services which may be posted from time to time. All such guidelines or rules are hereby incorporated by reference into the Terms of Use. Since Ministry Matters™ is owned, managed and published by UMPH, both will be referred to collectively herein as “UMPH/Ministry Matters”.

UMPH has created Ministry Matters™ for your personal enjoyment, enrichment, and education. You are authorized to access Ministry Matters™ or to use the materials contained in the site (regardless of whether your access or use is intended) if you agree to abide by all applicable laws, and to these Terms of Use which constitute an agreement between you and UMPH. Please read these Terms of Use carefully. If you do not agree with them, you should leave this site immediately. Any questions or comments regarding, or problems with, this site should be sent to the Site Administrator at .

Description of Service

MinistryMatters.com currently provides users with access to a large collection of various online resources, including text, audio, and video services. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any new features that expand or enhance the current service, including the release of new content, shall be subject to the Terms of Use.

MinistryMatters.com Privacy Policy

Registration data and certain other information about you is subject to our Privacy Policy which, together with any modifications or amendments thereto, is incorporated herein by this reference. For more information, please see our full Privacy Policy.

No Resale of Service

You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell, or exploit for any commercial purposes any portion, use of, or access to MinistryMatters.com.

Dealings with Advertisers and Other Third Parties

Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in contests or promotions of, advertisers and other third parties (i.e., entities other than MinistryMatters.com) found on or through Ministry Matters™, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such party. You agree that neither Ministry Matters™ nor UMPH (including its employees and affiliated entities) shall be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers on the service.

Links

Ministry Matters™ provides links to other websites, some affiliated with UMPH and some not. UMPH cannot be responsible for and does not endorse the content of websites not under UMPH’s direct control, and you use such websites at your own risk. You acknowledge and agree that neither Ministry Matters™ nor UMPH (including its employees and affiliated entities) are responsible for the availability of such external websites or resources, and do not endorse and are not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such websites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that neither Ministry Matters™ nor UMPH (including its employees and affiliated entities) shall be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on MinistryMatters.com.

Personal Information and Interactive Services

Certain features of MinistryMatters.com may require you to register personal information and obtain a user name and password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account number and/or password. You are responsible for all uses of your account, whether or not actually or expressly authorized by you. Ministry Matters™ grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to create an account for and use Ministry Matters™ in accordance with this Terms of Service Agreement. To enable Ministry Matters™ to protect our users and respond to user needs and complaints, you consent to UMPH employees being able to access your account and records on a case-by-case basis to investigate complaints or other allegations or abuse. UMPH/Ministry Matters™ shall not disclose the existence or occurrence of such an investigation unless required by law. All interactive communications (email, chat, commenting, discussion boards, etc.) are subject to public access. Although we reserve the right to remove without notice any bulletin board posting for any reason, we have no obligation to delete content that you may find objectionable or offensive. Information and opinions expressed in discussions or other interactive communications are not necessarily those of Ministry Matters™, UMPH or the United Methodist Church. Users alone are responsible for the contents of the messages they communicate when using our services as well as the consequences of any such messages.

You are welcome to post, transmit, or submit messages and other materials (collectively "messages") to bulletin boards, chat rooms or other public areas within, or in connection with, this site (collectively "forums"). However, UMPH accepts no responsibility whatsoever in connection with or arising from such Messages. In addition, children under the age of 13 are not authorized to post messages or participate in forums on this site.

UMPH/Ministry Matters™ does not endorse and has no control over the content of messages submitted by others to forums. Messages submitted to forums are not necessarily reviewed by UMPH/Ministry Matters™ prior to posting and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of UMPH/Ministry Matters™. UMPH/Ministry Matters™ makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the content of the messages in the forums or the accuracy and reliability of any messages and other materials in the forums. Nonetheless, UMPH/Ministry Matters™ reserves the right to prevent you from submitting materials to forums and to edit, restrict, or remove such messages for any reason at any time.

UMPH/Ministry Matters™ assumes no responsibility for actively monitoring forums for inappropriate messages. If at any time UMPH/Ministry Matters™ chooses, in its sole discretion, to monitor the forums, UMPH/Ministry Matters™ nonetheless assumes no responsibility for the content of the messages, no obligation to modify or remove any inappropriate messages, and no responsibility for the conduct of the user submitting any message. In submitting messages to forums, you agree to strictly limit yourself to discussions about the subject matter for which the forums are intended. You agree that UMPH/Ministry Matters™ accepts no liability whatsoever if it determines to prevent your messages from being submitted or if it edits, restricts or removes your messages. You also agree to permit any other user of this site to access, view, store, or reproduce the material for that other user's personal use and not to restrict or inhibit the use of the site by any other person.

You agree that you will not submit messages to forums that:

• Are unlawful, threatening, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, or indecent including any communication that constitutes (or encourages conduct that would constitute) a criminal offense, gives rise to civil liability or otherwise violates any local, state, national or international law;
• Violate the copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights of any other person. By submitting Messages to Forums, you represent to UMPH/Ministry Matters™ that you are the rightful owner of such material or that you have first obtained permission to submit the material from the rightful owner;
• Improperly assume or claim the identity, characteristics or qualifications of another person
• Are for purposes of spamming
• Contain any virus or other harmful component
• Are libelous, or an invasion of privacy or publicity rights or any other third party rights; or
• Are for commercial purposes or contain advertising or are intended to solicit a person to buy or sell services or to make donations.

UMPH/Ministry Matters™ reserves the right to edit, restrict, or remove such messages for any reason at any time.

You agree that any message whatsoever submitted by you becomes the property of UMPH/Ministry Matters™ and may be used, copied, sublicensed, adapted, transmitted, distributed, publicly performed, published, displayed, or deleted as UMPH/Ministry Matters™ sees fit.

You agree to release UMPH/Ministry Matters™, its parents and affiliates together with their respective employees, agents, officers, and directors, from any and all liability and obligations whatsoever in connection with or arising from your use of forums. If at any time you are not happy with the forums or object to any material within forums, your sole remedy is to cease using them.

Subscriptions and Product Purchasing

While offering many resources free of charge, Ministry Matters™ offers many products for sale via monthly or annual subscription or a one-time purchase of a digital or physical product. “Digital products” may include e-books, text, audio, or video downloads, or online access to text, audio, or video resources. “Physical products” include printed books, CDs, DVDs, and other items that must be shipped to you. All physical items purchased from UMPH/Ministry Matters™ are made pursuant to a shipment contract. This means that the risk of loss and title for such items pass to you upon our delivery to the carrier.

Subscriptions are offered for digital content and can be subscribed to on a monthly or annual basis. Subscription charges will be applied to your credit card or Cokesbury account on a monthly or annual basis, based on the choice of the subscriber at the time of subscription. The monthly or annual renewal date will be based on the subscriber’s original subscription date, not prorated to the first, fifteenth, or another specific date of the month. You will be notified via e-mail prior to your renewal date, offering you the opportunity to not renew your subscription. This non-renewal can be designated online at MinistryMatters.com or by phone with a UMPH/Ministry Matters™ customer service representative. Your account will be automatically charged at the time of automatic renewal if you do not respond with your non-renewal via one of the aforementioned methods. Midterm cancellations of an annual subscription must be handled by phone with a UMPH/Ministry Matters™ customer service representative.

MinistryMatters.com’s Proprietary Rights

You acknowledge and agree that Ministry Matters™ and any necessary software used in connection with the service contain proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. You further acknowledge and agree that all content, including that contained in sponsor advertisements or information presented to you through Ministry Matters™ or other third parties, is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents, or other proprietary rights and laws. Except as expressly authorized by Ministry Matters™, its advertisers or the appropriate third party, you agree not to modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on the service, content or the software, in whole or in any part.

Copyright

All content included on this site, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips, and software is the property of Ministry Matters™ and UMPH or their content suppliers and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. The compilation (meaning the collection, arrangement, and assembly) of all content on this site is the exclusive property of UMPH and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. All software used on this site is the property of UMPH or its software suppliers and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. Any use, including the reproduction, modification, distribution, transmission, republication, display, or performance, of the content on this site is strictly prohibited.

Disclaimer of Liability and Warranties

While UMPH/Ministry Matters™ does its best to ensure the optimal performance of the site, you agree that you use this site and rely on material contained in this site at your own risk.

The site, and all materials in this site, are provided “as is” and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, are provided without warranties of any kind either express or implied. This means, without limitation, that UMPH/Ministry Matters™ DOES NOT WARRANT that the site is fit for any particular purpose; that the functions contained in the materials in the site will be uninterrupted; that defects will be corrected; that the site is free of viruses and other harmful components or that the site is accurate, error free or reliable.

You acknowledge that UMPH/Ministry Matters™ and third party content providers, their parents and affiliates together with their respective employees, agents, directors, and officers, ARE NOT LIABLE for any delays, inaccuracies, failures, errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, viruses, communication line failures or for the theft, destruction, damage or unauthorized access to your computer system or network.

You acknowledge that UMPH/Ministry Matters™ is not liable for any defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct or material found in connection with this site, including such conduct or material transmitted by any means by any other person.

You acknowledge that UMPH/Ministry Matters™ and third party content providers are not liable for any damages, including, without limitation, direct, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, in connection with or arising from your use or from your inability to use the Site.

Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless UMPH/Ministry Matters™, its parents and affiliates together with their respective employees, agents, directors and officers, from and against all the liabilities, claims, damages and expenses (including reasonable attorney's fees and costs) arising out of your use of this site; your failure to use the site; your breach or alleged breach of this agreement or your breach or alleged breach of the copyright, trademark, proprietary or other rights of third parties.

Termination

UMPH/Ministry Matters™ reserves the right to immediately terminate your use of, or access to, this site at any time if UMPH/Ministry Matters™ decides at its sole discretion that you have breached this agreement or any relevant law, rule or regulation or you have engaged in conduct that UMPH/Ministry Matters™ considers to be inappropriate or unacceptable.

Copyright Infringement

If you believe that any material contained in this site infringes your copyright, you should notify UMPH/Ministry Matters™ of your copyright infringement claim in accordance with the following procedure.

UMPH/Ministry Matters™ will process notices of alleged infringement which it receives and will take appropriate action as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) and other applicable intellectual property laws. The DMCA requires that notifications of claimed copyright infringement should be sent to this site’s Designated Agent:

Manager of Content and User Experience, Ministry Matters™, 201 8th Avenue, South, PO Box 801, Nashville, TN 37202: FAX 615-749-6061, .

To be effective, the notification must be in writing and contain the following information (DMCA, 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3)): 1. Physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; 2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site; 3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material; 4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted; 5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; 6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

General Information

The Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and MinistryMatters.com and govern your use of the service, superceding any prior agreements between you and Ministry Matters™ relating to the use of the service. You also may be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use affiliate services, third-party content or third-party software. The Terms of Use and the relationship between you and Ministry Matters™ shall be governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and Ministry Matters™ agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts having jurisdiction over the city of Nashville, State of Tennessee. The failure of Ministry Matters™ or UMPH to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms of Use is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms of Use remain in full force and effect. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the service or the Terms of Use must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred. The section titles in the Terms of Use are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

Applicable Law

This site is created and controlled by UMPH in the State of Tennessee, USA. As such, the laws of the State of Tennessee will govern these disclaimers, terms, and conditions, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of laws. We reserve the right to make changes to our site and these disclaimers, terms, and conditions at any time.