Community Guidelines

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

John 13:35 · KJV

Agape takes its name from the selfless, unconditional love described throughout Scripture. We built it so people can read the Bible together, carry each other's burdens in prayer, and find real community, online and in person. These guidelines describe how we treat one another here. They apply to everything on Agape: prayer requests, comments, groups, messages, events, profiles and anything else you share.

Agape is for every Christian, from every tradition, and for anyone exploring faith. You do not have to agree with everyone to belong here. You do have to treat everyone with respect.

Contents

1. Encourage one another
2. Disagree with grace
3. Share prayer requests with care
4. Respect privacy
5. Keep people safe
6. Protect young people
7. Be authentic
8. No spam, scams or solicitation
9. Keep content appropriate
10. Groups and group leaders
11. Events and meeting in person
12. Respect creators
13. Reporting and enforcement

1. Encourage one another

The best posts on Agape leave people feeling seen, loved and closer to God. Celebrate answered prayers, share what you are learning, welcome newcomers, and pray for people you have never met.

• Respond to struggle with compassion, not lectures. Someone sharing grief or doubt usually needs presence more than correction.
• Welcome new believers and seekers. Everyone starts somewhere, and no question about faith is a stupid one.
• Do not mock, belittle or shame anyone for their questions, struggles, background or level of faith.

2. Disagree with grace

Christians have disagreed about doctrine, worship and practice for two thousand years. Conversations about theology are welcome, and iron sharpens iron, but how you disagree matters.

• Discuss ideas, not people. Never question someone's salvation, sincerity or worth because they see a passage differently.
• Do not attack or ridicule any denomination, tradition or church. Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, non-denominational and every other tradition is welcome here.
• Keep debates out of prayer requests. If someone asks for prayer, pray; do not use their post to argue.
• Agape is not the place for partisan political fights. Talking about how faith shapes your life is welcome; campaigning, attacking politicians or their supporters, and inflammatory political content are not.
• If a conversation turns heated, step away. You can always mute, leave or block.

3. Share prayer requests with care

Prayer requests are the heart of Agape. They are often deeply personal, so share and respond thoughtfully.

• Choose the right audience: your circle, a group, everyone, or anonymous. When in doubt, share smaller.
• Ask before sharing someone else's story. Use a first name or "a friend" instead of full names, and leave out medical, legal or other sensitive details unless they have said it is okay.
• Pray for others' requests sincerely. Do not use prayer requests to gossip, guilt, manipulate or call people out.
• Do not use prayer requests to ask for money, promote anything, or collect personal information.
• Anonymous does not mean unaccountable. Anonymous posts follow the same guidelines, and we can still act on violations.

4. Respect privacy

• Do not share anyone's private information without permission, including addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, financial details, health information, or private messages and screenshots.
• What is shared in a circle or private group stays there. Do not screenshot or repost it elsewhere without permission.
• Do not photograph or record people at events and post it without their consent.

5. Keep people safe

We do not allow content or behavior that puts people at risk. This includes:

• Harassment and bullying: repeated unwanted contact, insults, threats, intimidation, or encouraging others to target someone.
• Hate: attacking or demeaning people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, or religion, including other faiths. You can hold and share your beliefs; you cannot dehumanize people.
• Violence: threats, glorifying violence, or supporting violent groups or extremism.
• Self-harm: encouraging or instructing self-harm, suicide or disordered eating.
• Spiritual abuse: using Scripture, prayer or spiritual authority to control, shame, threaten or exploit someone.
• Dangerous misinformation: content that could cause real harm, such as telling someone to stop medical treatment or medication.

6. Protect young people

• Users must be at least 13. Teens use Agape with the involvement of a parent or guardian.
• We have zero tolerance for any content that sexualizes minors or any attempt to groom, exploit or isolate a young person. We remove it, ban the account, and report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and law enforcement.
• Adults should not privately message minors they do not know in real life. Youth groups on Agape should be led by adults approved by their church or ministry.

7. Be authentic

• Use your real identity. Do not impersonate another person, pastor, church, ministry or organization, or misrepresent your title, credentials or affiliation.
• Do not create fake or duplicate accounts, buy or sell accounts, or use bots or automation to post, pray, follow or invite.
• Do not artificially inflate prayer counts, streaks, referrals or other activity.
• If you post AI-generated images, audio or text that could be mistaken for real, label it.

8. No spam, scams or solicitation

• Do not post repetitive, unsolicited or misleading content, or send mass messages or invites.
• Do not ask people for money, gifts, gift cards or financial information, including through prayer requests or private messages. Requests for financial help are one of the most common scams in faith communities, so be cautious and report anything suspicious.
• Do not promote products, services, multi-level marketing, crowdfunding or outside links for commercial gain, unless you are an approved partner or a group's rules allow it.
• Churches and ministries may share their own services, events and resources in relevant places, as long as it is not spammy.

9. Keep content appropriate

• No nudity, sexually explicit or sexually suggestive content.
• No graphic or gory images or videos.
• No promotion of illegal drugs, weapons sales, gambling or other illegal activity.
• Keep language respectful. Agape is a place people of all ages read Scripture.

10. Groups and group leaders

Groups are where much of the real community on Agape happens. If you lead one, thank you.

• Group leaders may set extra rules for their group, such as staying on topic or following a church's statement of faith, as long as those rules do not conflict with these guidelines.
• Leaders should welcome members, moderate fairly, and remove content that breaks these guidelines or their group rules.
• Leaders may not use a group to exploit, control or collect information from members, and must not share what members post in confidence.
• Agape may remove groups, or remove someone as a leader, if a group repeatedly breaks these guidelines.

11. Events and meeting in person

Meeting other believers face to face is a gift. Please keep everyone safe.

• Describe events honestly, including the host, location, cost, and who the event is for.
• Meet in public places like churches, coffee shops or parks, especially the first time. Tell someone where you are going.
• Respect people's boundaries, and never pressure anyone to attend, give, join or share personal details.
• Events involving minors should be hosted by a church or ministry with proper supervision.
• Agape does not screen hosts or attendees. If something feels wrong, leave and report it.

12. Respect creators

• Only post photos, music, videos, sermons, books or devotionals you created or have permission to share.
• Short quotes with credit are fine. Copying whole chapters, songs or paid content is not.
• Bible translations are shared under their publishers' terms. Use the share tools in Agape to quote Scripture correctly.

13. Reporting and enforcement

Everyone helps keep Agape a safe place. If you see something that breaks these guidelines, report it using the report option on any post, comment, profile, group or event, or email info@agapebibleapp.com. Reports are confidential; the person you report is not told who reported them.

When content or behavior breaks these guidelines, we may, depending on how serious it is and whether it has happened before:

• remove the content or limit who can see it;
• send a warning;
• temporarily restrict features like posting, messaging, creating groups or hosting events;
• suspend or permanently remove the account; and
• report illegal activity or credible threats to law enforcement.

Some violations, such as child exploitation, credible threats of violence or serious scams, lead to immediate removal without warning. If you believe we made a mistake, reply to our notice or email us and we will review it.

You also have tools of your own: you can mute, block, or leave a group at any time, and use Quiet mode to pause sharing.

More information

These guidelines are part of our Terms of Service. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your information. We will update these guidelines as Agape grows and will note the date above when we do. Questions or ideas? Email info@agapebibleapp.com.

“Let all your things be done with charity.”

1 Corinthians 16:14 · KJV