I've done many and helped many do this

My experience with Google apps has been that they are very attentive, helpful and they even call YOU with questions about how your site it running as they observe your practices. This is world class service for very active users… such as WEEKLY congregations who initiate service projects, fund raising campaigns, fill up email servers, and calendar events regularly.

Contrast that sort of "faith based" non-profit with the one who has one administrator logging in one or two times per month to add an update or calendar an event. Chances are they would be a lot LESS maintenance and much less of a burden on the nice guys standing by when you call.

Bottom line, thats what its about. Google is simply stating, "will not work for free, but still want to help the little guys out IF possible."

Like the service? Be happy to pay for it!! Otherwise take a picture because tomorrow it'll be gone. ($50 a year is still ridiculously inexpensive for such a great IT service)

Give honest labor for pay, and pay a man what he is worth… the days of slavery in America are long gone. How can you hate Google for trying to stay profitable. I'll support them! Thats my advice and I'm sticking to it.

I'd gladly give to Caesar what is Caesar's.

I never said that Google or any other company was hostile towards Christian world views simply because of a decision to stop offering services. You read that into what I said.

It is my observation that companies who want to do business with as broad of a market as possible will, many times, support groups that Christians would not. In addition, these same companies potentially could remove legitimate content even if it offended just one of their constituencies due to their overly broad acceptable use policies.

Also, please read some of the concerns about data storage and the cloud. You do not control your data as much as you think. Again, read the terms of service.

From what I have read, it seems that Fourth amendment protections which apply to data in your home do not necessarily apply to content you store with third parties.

Also, a recent article in the Christian Post reported that The National Religious Broadcasters found that many new media sites have policies which allegedly violate religious free speech.

Just some things to think about…

It is impossible for Christians to do business with just Christians. We are in the world but not of it. However, if a company has terms of service which seem to restrict the content that a user can upload to their servers, and if their terms were written so broadly that almost anything the provider deems objectionable could be removed… well, I think you can see where this is going.

Read the terms of service of some of these tech giants. It is eye-opening to say the least…

I said in the above comment that "It can't be proven whether Google is anti Christian or not. But, it appears that they have no problem with excluding many faith-based organizations from using their suite of tools."

It should be noted in fairness to Google that a church or any other faith-based organization may sign up and use Google Apps for Business. The free apps account for groups with 10 or less employees is also available. My comment was written to mean that Google seems to have no problems excluding churches and faith-based groups from their non-profit suite of tools.

I did not want to imply that Google's restrictions apply to all of its products as it clearly does not…

Thank you!

It can't be proven whether Google is anti Christian or not. But, it appears that they have no problem with excluding many faith-based organizations from using their suite of tools.

The more you study their terms of service you will find that Google holds all of the cards. If you are going to play in their sandbox, they reserve the right to change the terms at any time.

Now, really… what church or other faith-based organization would want to do business with an entity who could change their terms at any time and leave them without recourse?

I say keep the IT guy but run Linux in your church or faith-based organization and control your data and operations on your OWN terms…

That is MY advice and I am sticking to it.

I also think that your characterization of "hostile to Christian world views" is inaccurate as well. For a business to stop giving away free service is not hostile. It is simply business. They have not singled out any belief system – certainly not Christian world views – they have changed their policy for all faith-based organizations.

I recommend that churches seek out great values and use industry recognized leaders. Google easily fits the bill. So, yes, I do want Google…. amazon… and Apple…. to store my data. I control my data, they just store it.

To say "whoever controls your data controls you" is sensational and has a nice conspiracy-theory ring to it, but it is not accurate. I control me. And my data. I can take my data and move to another service at any time. All these cloud services I mentioned allow you to get all your data and cancel service.

I understand there is a rising sentiment against Google among some churches, but I think being grateful for the years of free service that many enjoyed, and for the current free service (limited to 10 email addresses) that countless still enjoy – is a better tact.

I don't think it would be possible for a church to only do business with Christian organizations. There is nothing wrong with doing business with unbelievers or people that think differently. We all do it everyday.

regards,
Brook

Remember, whoever controls your data controls you.

Which brings me to my next situation..2) we have few staffers and we all use Google. QUESTION: How do i run Google at my station as the admin and get my Contacts shared out so that everyone is looking at the same info real time? I would also need to have the ability to give out privileges so that my notes and such doesn't need to be broadcasted to the other staffers, just pertinent info they need. Right now, i Export things and then Import them into their accounts, but it only adds to the contacts i originally gave them…doesn't take away and such.

Anyone got ideas/solutions on these 2 points?
thanks!!! http://www.thecrossingchurchnj.org

In His love & repair,

I'm completely surprised by this, and more than a little disappointed…

Religious content or proselytizing on website as well as organizations that use religion or sexual orientation as factor in hiring or populations served

Church websites don't all fall in this category.