About Us  I  Create an Account  I  Individuals  I  Churches  I  Groups  I  Behavior  I  Advertising
The Christian Tales  I  Technical Difficulties  I  Stupid Questions

About Us

What is the Body of Christ Online?
         The Body of Christ (BOC) Online is an online community for Christians throughout the world. By bringing individuals, churches, and groups together, we hope to provide better fellowship and unity within the Church.

What is the purpose of the Body of Christ Online?
Our main mission is to provide greater unity within the Church. Our goals in fulfilling our mission are:

• To allow Christians to come together regardless of their location, church denomination, work schedule, or social class;
• To provide newsletters, literature, and other works of artistic merit to inspire Christians to live closer to God;
• To strengthen fellowship within individual churches, while at the same time, strengthening fellowship in the Christian Church at large;
• To provide members access to online Bible studies, group discussion, church services, and small group interaction;
• To encourage members to use their spiritual gifts to help our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ;
• To provide access for Christians to receive help in times of need;
• To provide a place on the Internet where Christians can feel at home and have FUN!

Why should I join the Body of Christ Online?
         We hope you will join because you see how this website can strengthen your faith, as well as providing greater unity within the modern-day Church. This website also provides many effective tools for its members.  

       By creating an account, individuals can 1) communicate with friends regardless of their location and schedule, 2) make new friends with similar interests 3) link to their church and stay informed about church happenings, 4) search for other churches when traveling or looking for a new church home, 5) share their spiritual gifts with those in the Christian community, 6) take advantage of free literature and other sources given to the BOC community, 7) have fun with other Believers on the Internet.

         As for churches, church leaders can 1) create a simple webpage that can serve as their church's website, 2) send messages to all members of the church with one click of the mouse, 3) schedule church events on a calendar, 4) provide information to interested visitors.

         As for groups, group leaders can create unique groups based on anything from online Bible studies to publicizing their Christian business. Group leaders will have the same tools as church leaders.

Create an Account

Who can create an account?
         The Body of Christ Online welcomes anyone who has a love for Jesus. We are not God, so we feel that we have no right to restrict anyone because of their church affiliation (even if they do have radical beliefs that we do not agree with). You just ask you agree to the following three things: 1) I have recognized that I am a sinner who is in need of God's grace. 2) I have accepted Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice who died for my sins. 3) I now strive to live as God wants.

Are there any requirements to create an account?
         Yes, members must be 13 years of age or older. However, we do allow parents to create an account for their child. Even though we believe that this is one of the safest places on the Internet, we ask that all parents frequently monitor their children's activity. Members must also have a valid email address.

How long does it take to create an account?
         Less than one minute. It's just a matter of typing in your email address, name, and where you're from.

Individuals

Can I change my email address?
Yes. Simply go to "Account Settings" on your home page.

Can I prevent others from seeing my profile?
Yes. Each individual can adjust their privacy setting, as well as block other members from viewing their page.

What are BOC #'s?
We assign an individual BOC # to each member upon registering. We assign numbers to everyone because it makes searching for friends much easier. We do NOT want to make you feel like you're a number in our system - we believe that each of us is a unique child of God. However, it is much easier to type in a number, rather than trying to find your friend named John Smith in New York City.

Churches

Who can create a church?
Any active member of that church can create his or her church's page. One does not have to be a church leader or staff member. We just ask that you thoroughly SEARCH to make sure your church does not already exist.

Is it okay to share the church password?
Yes, we encourage several members to have access to the church's administrative page. This way several members can send messages to the church members, in addition to keeping the webpage updated.

Is it okay to "join" several churches?
Yes. We encourage members to have more than one church in your list. We want members to stay involve with other churches in the community. We hope that this will facilitate two or more churches coming together to plan events.

Groups

Who can create a group?
Anyone. We just ask that you group has a purpose.

What are the type of groups?
1. Business - a Christian business or business run by a Christian staff (i.e. restaurant, private school).
2. Fellowship - Used for purposes such as online Bible studies, accountability partners, and prayer groups.
3. Social - Meant to bring people of common interest together (i.e. Houston soccer Moms, Christian webmasters).
4. Church - group within the church (i.e. Youth Groups, Small Group studies)
5. Arts & Entertainment - i.e. Christian poets, film directors

Behavior

Are there any rules that I need to know?
Just remember to "treat others as you would treat yourself." Other than that we just ask that you would not: 1) create phony accounts, and 2) get offended by trivial matters.

Can I send messages to others about my business or services?
As long as it is not SPAM. Our definition of spam is sending the same advertising message to multiple users that you do not know. On the other hand, we encourage interaction between groups and individuals that you do not know. For example, if you own a coffeehouse that offers poetry readings every Wednesday night, it's perfectly fine to send a message to a person who has poetry on his interests list. Sending spam would be sending the exact same message about your coffeehouse to everyone in the city.

What if I receive spam?
Please email us at: contact.boc@gmail.com

Advertising

Is there anyway to advertise on the BOC?
First off, we did not build this site to make money. It is a priority to keep this site from being filled with outside advertising. However, as the site grows and the overhead costs increase, we may be willing to add small banner advertising. If you would be interested in advertising on this site, please email: advertising.boc@gmail.com

The Christian Tales

Can I use passages from the book in papers, devotional readings, and sermons?
Yes. Even though the work is copyrighted, the author does not mind if you use it as long as you are using the stories and teachings to inspire others.

Technical Difficulties

What if I have technical problems viewing a page?
Please email us at: technical.boc@gmail.com

Stupid Questions (who said there's no such thing)

Where can I get an email address?
I am sure there's a Christian friend that would love to help. I bet they'll even set up your BOC account while there at it. Welcome to the 21st century, by the way.

What does BOC stand for?
Body of Christ (or Body of Christ Online).

How do I get back to my home page?
Click on the left side on the top toolbar where Body of Christ Online is written.

Have another question? Please email them to: contact.boc.org@gmail.com