We’re so glad you’ve found us online, and we hope you’ll always feel welcome in our community.
We understand that online community isn’t quite the same as face-to-face community, but we hope to represent Jesus well in both.
We also understand that people can be nervous about the way their personal information is used, and we aim to be responsible with any that you share with us.
In general, as we interact with each other, we would like us all to speak with love and respect, remembering the principles of James 3:7-12 (NIV):
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
To repeat, we aim to show love and respect in our online “speech,” remembering that all people are made in the image of God, and the way we interact with others reflects our attitude toward God. We do this for our own sake—and for the sake of those we speak to, wanting to encourage, not destroy.
Since we’re all human, undoubtedly we’ll encounter some problems from time to time in our online community. If an issue comes up, it may be most appropriate to try to address it privately first (through a form, email or messenger), but if that doesn’t work (or if the issue seems to already be public), we hope to be honest and open about the issues.
However, when we “speak” online, even when we’re addressing problems, we want to show love and respect for all people, not insulting each other or gossiping.
On our sites, we want to speak kindly. To encourage. To provoke thoughtful debates that respect all the people engaging in them.
We do not want to engage in talk that is hurtful. We reserve the right to delete any content that is profane, that insults, or that seems (to us) to be abusive or destructive.
If an individual makes a habit of repeatedly making such sorts of posts, we may block them from our pages or sites.
Typically, when you connect up with us on Facebook or other social media or browse our website, we are not collecting any information from you directly, though the site (Facebook, YouTube) or hosting service (GoDaddy) may be collecting information about you and/or your computer according to their own privacy policies.
If you fill out a form or contact us directly, we usually ask for a name and email address (and you may give us other information.)
If you donate to the Rising, Mission Arvada of the Rising, or one of our projects online, PayPal or GoFundMe or Colorado Gives will handle the transaction, and it will follow that site/service's privacy policies.
In the process of donating, you may choose to send us (through the services) information about your donation (amount, whether it’s recurring, any special restrictions) and yourself (like name and contact information). We do not collect financial details online—that is handled by the various payment services.
We collect information when you have questions or issues so that we can answer those questions or address those issues.
We also collect contact information when you’d like to be kept updated about our ministries or about volunteer opportunities, and we use that information to send you the information you’ve asked for.
If you submit a prayer request to us, we use that information to pray for you. (This is not shared beyond the leadership who is praying unless you ask it to be shared more widely so that the congregation as a whole can pray for you.)
Information we get in connection with a donation is used to make sure we’re using the donation in the way it was intended. It is also used to give donors charitable gift receipts (for tax purposes) and reports on how their contribution is being used (newsletters about our ministries). If you’d rather not get the latter, you may opt out.
We do not share information you’ve given us outside of The Rising and Mission Arvada of the Rising.
We keep information we’ve received in our private files, on our own computers.