Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Difference Between our Web Site and The City?
The site you’re on right now (www.faithbiblelincoln.org) is our public website which provides information to people that are interested in learning more about us as a church. The City, on the other hand, is a separate, private website that we will use as a church family to communicate with each other, run our ministries, share prayer requests, plan events, and list opportunities to serve.
In some areas, we've been able to integrate our website with The City. You can now log into The City from our home page, and our home page pulls both its News and Announcements and Upcoming Events from special feeds from our City Plaza.
Is The City Just Another Social Network?
No. Popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter are geared toward individuals and their needs. Instead, The City is geared toward groups and the needs of the local church. And, whereas Facebook targets users with commercialized advertisements, The City targets private church communication to members of specific groups with laser-like precision.
What Happens to Constant Contact and The Email Lists That I Subscribe To?
Our plan is to transition users into The City as soon as possible and to make it our primary method of communicating with church members. The City actually gives the user more control over the lists that they are in and when messages are delivered. The same plan calls for Constant Contact to be phased out sometime during the month of March so you will need to join The City if you want to stay informed.
Do I Have to Join The City?
You're welcome to just come to FBC on Sunday mornings and enjoy worshiping together with us, and you obviously don't need The City to do that. But once you decide you're ready to make friends here and want to get involved in giving, serving and growing together with us... The City is the place to be!
The City is also the only database that we use as a church... so if you don't join and share your contact information with us... pastors, staff, and other church members won't have any way of contacting you.
Is The City Secure? And Will the Things I post on The City be Kept Private?
You need an email invitation to join The City, and then you will need to sign in each time to use the website.
And while it is possible to post things publically on The City Plaza, most things will be posted privately and will not show up in search results returned by Google. This makes The City a safe place to do things like share a prayer request with your friends, give online, and view your giving history.
Will The City Overload my Email Inbox with Unnecessary Information?
No, you are in complete control. You decide. Avoid information overload. Get only the information you need... when you want it.
Why Do They Call It The City?
There’s a big vision behind The City, and it comes from the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:14-16. It’s a vision of technology being leveraged to help the Church live as a city set on a hill, shining the light of the Gospel to the whole world.
How Do I Sign Up?
On Sunday mornings, look out for our "City Champions" (recognizeable by their special The City T-shirts), and they will help you sign up. You will only need to provide your name, phone number, and email address. It shouldn't take longer then 40 seconds. Once the sign up process is done The City will send you an invitation to the email address you provided, with some simple instructions.
Note: Once we launch The City you will only be able to join The City by coming to church and signing up after the service, or by having one of our ministry leaders invite you to join one of the groups in The City.
How Do I Set Up or Join a Small Group in The City?
Everyone who creates an account automatically becomes part of the church-wide Faith Bible Church group. Then do a “group search” and if a ministry/small group to which you belong has already set up a “group” on The City, you can send a request to join that group. If your ministry/small group would like to create a “group” on The City, please contact the church office.
Who can Set Up an Account?
In order to join The City, we ask that you are either a regular attender of Faith Bible Church or one of our church ministries. You must have your own email address, be at least 13 years of age and have parental consent if you are under 18 years of age.
Can I Share an Email Address with My Spouse?
No. Unfortunately each user account on The City must be tied to a unique email address, and The City simply won't allow 2 accounts to share a duplicate email address. Because The City is based on groups (and group membership) and because many of the groups in The City are gender-specific, no two people will belong to the same groups. We don't even expect couples to belong to the same groups!
Note: The only way The City can provide users with a personalized experience is by having a unique email address based on the individual groups that the person is in.
If a couple shares an email address, it is recommended that one of the parties use the current email address and the other person create a separate email account so he/she can maximize their experience in The City. Several good, free email options are available (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.), and we will be glad to assist you in setting up a new account, if desired.
