Basic overview
Your registration and access to basic content are free, and we offer products, content, events, and services that do require payment.
The principles in our Terms of Service are intended to help govern your conduct as a participant in the Lifeway.com Community and help protect Lifeway Christian Resources as a ministry and business. The site is monitored by Lifeway.com staff members to help ensure everyone is abiding by the Terms of Service. These guidelines were created for the purpose of keeping the Lifeway.com Community healthy and strong.
We hope you enjoy your experience on Lifeway.com. If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback, please feel free to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.
As an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, Lifeway Christian Resources adheres to The Baptist Faith and Message. Opinions posted by community members do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or doctrinal positions of Lifeway Christian Resources.
And now for the legal version.
The following general agreement is a legal agreement among you and Lifeway.com:
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF SERVICE CAREFULLY AS USE OF THE SERVICE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT REGISTER.
This Agreement constitutes a legally binding agreement between Lifeway Christian Resources, (hereinafter referred to as “Lifeway.com”), and the subscriber (hereinafter referred to as “User”) who agree as follows:
1. Purpose of site
Lifeway.com is an internet-based software application to provide users with helpful resources for ministry. Lifeway.com helps user manage their Lifeway Account and Order History. It allows users to organize and track all of their data in one central location.
Lifeway.com services (hereafter referred to as “Services”) include, but are not limited to: maintaining a library of resources, the storage of User’s Data, and sending approved correspondence to Users or third parties. Lifeway.com may provide any other services, as necessary, to achieve the purpose of the Lifeway.com services.
2. Security and integrity of User’s Data
Lifeway.com attempts to ensure the integrity and security of User’s Data, including the use of automated daily system backups, secure servers, and restricted access to back office systems. However, such procedures cannot guarantee complete security and integrity of Data. Therefore, Lifeway.com makes no guarantee and assumes no liability for the security of any Data on any server including “secure servers.” Lifeway.com shall not be liable for the loss or modification of any User content due to any breach of security. Lifeway.com’s backup systems are reserved for Lifeway.com’s use and are not available to User for the purposes of requesting Data when such missing or defective Data are the results of circumstances not related to Lifeway.com’s system failures or breach of security.
3. Standard Term/Length of Agreement
The Term/Length of this Agreement shall begin on the Effective Date and shall not end. Terms of any written Agreement between Lifeway.com and User shall override any inconsistencies or contradictory terms of this Agreement. For purposes of this Agreement, the “Effective Date” shall be the date on which Lifeway.com delivers notification of Service activation to User. Without expanding the obligations or responsibilities of Lifeway.com under paragraph 10.a., 2, or under other provisions of this agreement or otherwise making Lifeway.com responsible for User’s data, it is the intention of Lifeway.com to store the data of User.
4. Limitations on User
User agrees to be bound by, and agrees that the Service is subject to, the following limitations:
a. User shall not post, submit, email, include, or modify content, or internet links to such content, on or to Lifeway.com that contain, promote, or involve any of the following:
i. any infringement or misappropriation of any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or other intellectual property right, or any violation of the rights of any third party, including without limitation privacy rights and proprietary rights;
ii. content that User does not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationship (such as proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);
iii. profanity, obscenity, nudity or pornography;
iv. content that exploits or harms in any way children under 18 years of age;
v. hate propaganda;
vi. unlawful, libelous, defamatory, scandalous or inflammatory content;
vii. racist, threatening, or otherwise abusive content;
viii. any content that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law.
ix. mail fraud, multi-level marketing (pyramid) schemes or any other fraudulent activities;
x. content promoted through the sending of unsolicited email (also known as spamming);
xi. warez, cracks, hacks, spam software, and their associated utilities;
xii. information or other content that contains a virus, worm, time bomb, corrupted data or file, or any other software or program that may damage the operation of the Lifeway.com server or another computer;
xiii. requests for information from visitors that would constitute a violation of any applicable federal, state, or local statute, regulation or ordinance, including without limitation, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998.
xiv. storage of log files or content on the Site.
b. User agrees not to use the Service to:
i. impersonate or otherwise misrepresent User’s affiliation with any other person or entity;
ii. falsify or delete any attributions, legends, or other proprietary designations of origin or source of anything contained in the Data that is stored on the Lifeway.com server;
iii. conduct, display, or forward contests or chain letters;
iv. interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers of networks connected to the Service;
v. attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, or computer systems or networks connected to the Service, through password mining or any other means;
vi. stalk or harass another individual; or
vii. violate any applicable local, state, federal or international law or regulation.
c. User agrees that Lifeway.com is not responsible for User’s Data stored on Lifeway.com and acknowledges that Lifeway.com does not endorse or verify any such content.
d. User agrees to assume full responsibility for all content associated with User’s Data that is not provided by the Service and acknowledges that User may be held legally responsible for such content.
e. A confidential user name and password will be assigned for the User or by the User that will be required for establishing and maintaining the Service. User agrees to protect this information in confidence. User agrees to sign out and close the internet browser window following Service setup and all edits. User agrees to promptly notify Lifeway.com of any loss or theft of User’s password or any unauthorized access to the Service.
f. User agrees to the guidelines and expectations for participating in the Lifeway community through Ratings and Reviews of products.
i. Please be respectful in your comments and reviews. Positive and negative reviews will certainly be allowed, but please remain respectful of others who leave comments. Refrain from any name calling or inflammatory language.
ii. Vulgar language and inappropriate material will not be allowed and will be removed. Attempts to circumvent word censoring – abbreviations or other means – also violate this guideline. We want to maintain a family-friendly atmosphere throughout all of Lifeway.com.
iii. Advertisements are not allowed. Generally, posts made specifically to promote a website, product, or service will not be allowed.
iv. You are not allowed to post an affiliate URL that leads to you earning cash, banner impressions, credits, points, and so on.
v. Do not post personal, real-life information. Home addresses, phone numbers, and other personal information are not permitted in posts.
vi. Non-product related comments are prohibited. Comments should relate specifically to the product being reviewed. Simply offer your opinion and experience with the product.
vii. Posts that discuss illegal activities, transactions, or websites will not be allowed.
viii. Do not post copyrighted materials (articles, videos, audio, etc.) that you do not have permission to use.
5. Notice to officials
If Lifeway.com determines that law enforcement officials should be notified regarding potentially illegal content edited or added to the Service by the User, User agrees that Lifeway.com may provide copies of User’s content to the appropriate officials without notice to User. Lifeway.com will cooperate with all law enforcement efforts to disclose the identity of or locate persons who have posted content that is illegal or promotes illegal conduct.
6. Policies and guidelines
User agrees to abide by all requirements, procedures, regulations, policies, or guidelines, together with any amendments thereto, set out, from time to time, by Lifeway.com anywhere in this Agreement.
7. Amendments
User agrees to be bound by any amendments to this Agreement that are set out, from time to time, by Lifeway.com anywhere in this Agreement.
8. Ownership
Lifeway.com and its associated logos, products, and services are the property of Lifeway Christian Resources. User agrees not to display or use in any manner these marks without our prior written permission. Any third-party trademarks appearing in connection with the Service is the property of such third party owner. User may not use any content, images, or other items from this Service, except as contemplated in these Terms of Service, without the written permission of Lifeway.com.
9. License grant
Lifeway.com grants User a non-transferable, nonexclusive, worldwide right and license to use, execute, and display the Service as anticipated by, and described in, these Terms of Service. No other use of the Service is allowed. User shall not (nor allow any third party to)
i. copy or modify the content available on this site,
ii. reverse engineer the basic designs, of any part of the Service, or
iii. sell, assign, sublicense, grant a security interest in or transfer in any way any right to the Service. Failure to follow any of the rules of this Agreement will result in a termination of this Agreement.
10. No representations or warranties
The Service is offered on an “as is” basis without any representations or warranties of any kind either expressed or implied. For greater certainty and without limitation to the generality of the foregoing:
a. Lifeway.com makes no representations, warranties or guarantees of any kind whether written or verbal regarding the reliability of the Services offered;
b. Lifeway.com is not responsible for any deletion, alteration, or loss of data due to network or system outages, file corruption, accidental deletion, or any other reasons;
c. Lifeway.com makes no representations, warranties, or guarantees with regards to server reliability, speed or consistency;
d. Lifeway.com makes no representations, warranties or guarantees as to the accurateness or correctness of any content hosted or provided through the Service and is not responsible for any errors or omissions arising from the use of such information;
e. If Lifeway.com allows links to, or included on, its web resources, information provided by third-party partners and providers, Lifeway.com does not guarantee or warrant the reliability of this information nor does Lifeway.com recommend any of these services.
11. Limitation of liability of Lifeway.com
a. Lifeway.com is not responsible for any failures, delays, or interruptions in the delivery of any data, content or services contained on the Lifeway.com server; or losses or damages arising from the use of the content or Services provided by Lifeway.com.
b. Lifeway.com’s liability to User for actual damages for any cause whatsoever, related to content or Services regardless of the form of action, will be limited to a maximum of the fees paid by User to Lifeway.com, if any, for the prior billing period exclusively for such services.
c. IN NO EVENT WILL LIFEWAY.COM OR ITS OFFICERS, TRUSTEES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, OR LICENSORS (COLLECTIVELY, THE “RELATED PARTIES”) BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES OR DAMAGES TO YOUR COMPUTER HARDWARE, DATA, INFORMATION, CONTENT, OR BUSINESS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH:
i. THE SERVICE;
ii. USERS’ USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE;
iii. USERS RELIANCE ON ANY CONTENT PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICE;
iv. ANY GOODS OR SERVICES ADVERTISED IN ANY WAY IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE OR ANY OTHER SERVICES OR PRODUCTS PROVIDED TO USER BY LIFEWAY THROUGH THE LIFEWAY.COM WEBSITE, WHETHER IN AN ACTION UNDER CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, EVEN IF LIFEWAY.COM OR ANY OF ITS RELATED PARTIES HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
d. Because some states/jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion or limitation or liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitation may not apply to User.
e. Lifeway.com and its Related Parties shall in no way be liable to User or anyone else for any loss or injury resulting from use of the Service.
f. In no event shall Lifeway.com be liable for any damages, whatsoever, as a result of notifying any official of potentially illegal content in a Data, providing copies of User’s Data to the appropriate officials or cooperating with law enforcement efforts to identify or locate persons who have posted content that is illegal or promotes illegal conduct.
g. In no event shall Lifeway.com be liable for any damages, whatsoever, as a result of the termination of this Agreement for any reason.
12. Indemnity
User agrees to indemnify and hold Lifeway.com and its Related Parties harmless from and against, and to reimburse Lifeway.com and its Related Parties with respect to, any and all losses, damages, liabilities, claims, judgments, settlements, fines, costs, and expenses (including reasonable related expenses, legal fees, and costs of investigation) of every nature whatsoever incurred by Lifeway.com or its Related Parties by reason of or arising out of or in connection with
i. User’s failure to comply with or User’s breach of this Agreement;
ii. User’s infringement of any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or any other intellectual propriety right of any third party;
iii. any content included by the User in the Service; Claims brought against Lifeway.com by User’s guests, members, employees, invitees or others that use Lifeway.com licensed by User or arising from such use; or
iv. User’s violation of any applicable law or regulation.
13. Termination
a. This Agreement takes effect on the Effective Date when Lifeway.com delivers notification of Service activation to User and will continue until terminated in accordance herewith.
b. Lifeway.com may terminate this Agreement, or discontinue the Service at any time without notice to User in any of the following circumstances:
i. User violates any term of this Agreement, any municipal, provincial or federal law or regulation, or any policy or guideline set out, from time to time, by Lifeway.com anywhere on this Agreement;
ii. User engages in conduct or includes content or Data that Lifeway.com in its sole discretion believes is harmful to other Users, the business of Lifeway Christian Resources, Lifeway.com, or any third party;
iii. User disputes the terms of this Agreement or any amendment set out, from time to time, by Lifeway.com anywhere in this Agreement. Following termination of this Agreement, for any reason, User agrees not to use the Service in any manner or for any reason.
14. General
a. Consent to Breach Not Waived. No term or provision of this Agreement is deemed waived and no breach excused, unless the waiver or consent is in writing and signed by the party that is claimed to have waived or consented. Any consent by any party to, or waiver of, a breach by the other, whether expressed or implied, does not constitute a consent to, waiver of, or excuse for, any other different or subsequent breach.
b. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be construed and governed in accordance with the laws of the State of Tennessee. Lifeway.com and User consent and agree that all legal proceedings relating to the subject matter of this Agreement shall be maintained in courts sitting within the State of Tennessee, County of Davidson, and further agree that jurisdiction and venue for such proceedings shall lie exclusively with such courts.
c. Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, all other provisions will nevertheless continue in full force and effect.
d. Entire Agreement. This Agreement, together with all policies, guidelines, and amendments set out, from time to time, by Lifeway.com in this Agreement, constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement and supersedes all previous negotiations, proposals, commitments, writings, and understandings of any nature whatsoever, whether oral or written.
e. Survival. Any terms and conditions of this Agreement which by their nature extend beyond the term or expiry of this Agreement shall survive the termination or expiry of this Agreement. This includes, without limitation, Article 12 (Ownership), Article 14 (No Representations or Warranties), Article 15 (Limitation of Liability), Article 16 (Indemnity), and this Article 18 (General).
f. Headings. The headings and captions used in this Agreement are inserted only as a matter of convenience and for reference and in no way are to be construed as defining, limiting, or describing the scope or intent of this Agreement.
g. Remedies Cumulative. Unless otherwise set out in this Agreement, the rights and remedies granted to each party under this Agreement are cumulative and are in addition to each party’s rights provided by law or otherwise. Each party may exercise its rights concurrently or separately and the exercise of one remedy is not deemed an exclusive election of that remedy or preclude the exercise of any other remedy.
h. Counterparts or Electronic Acceptance. This Agreement may be executed by indicating assent through electronic means or may be executed in counterparts, each of which is deemed to be an original and all of which together are deemed to be one and the same instrument.
15. Privacy
This is a Service of Lifeway Christian Resources. We respect your privacy. We do this by carefully protecting information that you provide to us. A current copy of Lifeway.com’s privacy statement can be found at http://www.lifeway.com/article/privacy-policy.
16. Electronic signature
It is agreed by User that selecting and clicking “Register” on the New User Registration page will constitute acceptance by User and such action will constitute an electronic signature having the same force and effect as if User had done so with a hand written signature.