It's quite a contrast staying in a large (and very fancy) hotel right in the center of such a bustling metropolis than it was in the quiet kibbutz by the Sea of posted on We spent the majority of the day in the old City of Jerusalem, the old City of David, and ended the day across the north side of the city at posted on Please note that we score Women in Leadership policy a bit differently than LGBTQ policy as we factor into account gender representation on leadership teams. Well be sharing our travel experiences online with you, our friends and family, 2011-2018 GTI Tours Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece. at After a three hour delay in Newark, we spent the next almost ten hours flying the friendly skies and arrived today in Tel Aviv just before noon, local time.
at
While many of the team are from Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City, we have others who have joined from places like Michigan, Louisiana, and Texas. Becoming Verified Clear is the most tangible embodiment of our mission to increase the standard of clarity throughout the church economy. What can I do? Take a look at our Scoring Definitions, to begin with, to understand the difference between Clear and Unclear websites. 1:13 am UTC. Our second day in the Holy land began with a huge breakfast buffet and another day of unseasonably warm weather. The second reason is that the church does affirm the full LGBTQ+ spectrum, but it is hard to locate the church's affirmation statement on the church's website.
It is also the only score that a church obtains by proactively self-disclosing its policies through our Verified Clear survey, which is sent to all churches that have been scored in our database. Undisclosed scores are given to churches whose websites provide inconclusive evidence as to the churches policies. Whats the difference between Clear and Unclear and Undisclosed? Today we began with a devotional down by the beautiful Dead Sea and learned that water flows from the Jordan River into posted on Because personnel is policy (H/T @BroderickGreer). The Verified Clear score is the highest and best score a church can receive. Is it really already Friday? 12:38 am UTC. We started today with devotions on the shore of the Sea of Galileepinch me, I have to be dreaming.
Sunday Mar 13 2016 What an honor to stand where Jesus and the Disciples stood and sing.
Wednesday Feb 24 2016 We arrived in Jerusalem Monday evening after dark and we are now staying at the beautiful Dan Hotel, Jerusalem for the remainder of our trip. We do not take into account: stories submitted by people, news articles, offline PDFs, etc. 12:20 am UTC. Similarly, the church may mention they affirm people, "gay or straight," but not mention "transgender" folks. at
Thursday Feb 18 2016 Now that weve returned from our study tour youll hopefully be able to talk to one of us in person about what we saw, heard, learned, and experienced! at at Sunday Feb 28 2016
Thank you!
at If not, then the church will get an Unclear:Egalitarian score.
Unclear scores are given to churches whose policies are difficult to find on their websites (e.g. 12:56 am UTC. If the senior minister is a woman, then that counts too. Clarity is reasonable on your website. We toured the grounds that included a Biblical garden planted posted on
Our goal is to motivate churches to become clear on their websites because that is presently the most visible advertisement to the public.
This churchs discernment process is scheduled to conclude: Will you hire LGBTQ+ people for any ministry role? What do you take or NOT take into account when scoring churches? at 12:55 am UTC.
Because it was Sunday, Pastor Terry preached a mini-sermon on Matthew 8 where the disciples and Jesus, who was sleeping, posted on at We were surrounded by almond trees, olive trees, mustard posted on Thursday was our final day in Israel and like every day prior, it was packed full of sightseeing, walking, climbing, history, spiritual lessons, and fellowship. If you're a pastor at a church, email us to receive the survey. Why do we strongly believe that policies should be on websites? 12:58 am UTC. Sometimes this helps people find churches that are aligned with their values -- thats great, but that is not our primary goal.
Our trip to Israel will be here before you know it! Some people assume that our database exists to point LGBT people to LGBT-affirming churches, for instance, or to warn them about non-affirming churches. We cannot score based on the reality of what happens in their congregations, but rather based on their online presence. If a church has an egalitarian policy, we provide a Clear or Unclear score based on whether the leadership team consists of at least 50% women and/or non-binary people. Representation is essential.
Why do we do this? Wednesday Feb 17 2016
Learn more about Verified Clear. Thats great news! We have an answer for that in our FAQ.
COPYRIGHT 2018-2022 Church Clarity. Learn more about Verified Clear Membership and why these churches are featured on our home page, A church receives a Verified Clear score when an authorized representative completes a standard policy survey that we send to every church that is submitted to our database. As we looked out over the Sea of Galilee where so much of Jesuss three years of ministry took place, the sky was overcast.
For more detail, see our Score Definitions page. The day looked like it would be gray all day and we expected rain. We could either take a nearly one hour hike up the mountain or enjoy posted on Why is this church scored as "Unclear: Egalitarian"? The day again started on the shores of the Galilee with a devotion. Im a church leader and Id like our church website to be more clear. at Why?
There are typically two reasons. 12:54 am UTC. Your submission has been received! Its website does not provide conclusive evidence as to its Women in Leadership policy, thus its score is Undisclosed.
See this. Today was our last day in the Dead Sea region and it was another picture-perfect day. Tuesday Feb 16 2016 Our goal is to score churches for how clearly they communicate their actively enforced policies. The language in the policies is clear and contains all necessary information. Check back often or get update notifications using the subscribe options on this page. Feel free to email us with a story that you want to publish on our blog; we do not publish anonymous submissions.
NO. Can women preach in the primary church service? How does my church become Verified Clear? We again started with a devotional time on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in gorgeous weather.
Today was a long day full of special sightseeing in and around the old city of Jerusalem. 12:56 am UTC. Thursday Feb 25 2016 At the base of the Mount of Olives is a Jewish cemetery and off to the side were excavated posted on 1:28 am UTC. Clear scores are given to churches whose policies can be easily found on their websites primary pages (e.g. 12:06 am UTC.
Who knows, but we are enjoying it. We always respond by saying, Thats good to know; please update your website so that this information is publicly available and also consider becoming Verified Clear; wed love to update your score. Or, Please provide us with online evidence of what youre talking about on the church or denomination website, and wed love to update the score.. at Why is this church scored as "Unclear: Affirming"? About, Beliefs). That is why we confine our scope purely to any online evidence available on a churchs website, on its denominations or networks website, and any pastor statements.
Monday Feb 22 2016 Our team has certainly come together well during our first week. Our first stop was the Mount of Olives, which overlooks the Temple Mount and old city, with the Kidron Valley in between. Please review the Score Links & Notes section for the rationale for this church's score. located in sermon archives, blogs). If that was so, then we would certainly enable people to post personal reviews of their experiences in churches, much in the way that Yelp does. Then, read our Church Clarity resource PDF, How to be clear: For Church leaders. You can also email us to receive our Verified Clear survey so you can obtain the highest score available on our database. Great question. 10:40 pm UTC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
1:59 am UTC. If so, then the church will get a Clear: Egalitarian score. What is the difference between Verified Clear and other scores? Saturday Feb 20 2016 Gosh the time is flying and we are all happy that we still have another week to go. It's Sunday in Israel; the Jewish Sabbath is over and our normal day of worship has begun. The weather was picture perfect and our first stop was a picnic lunch in a nearby park. We had our devotion and then set for a short ride to Masada, which is its own mountain that Herod the Great built into a huge fortress/palace/city.
That said, we do regularly link to the latter category of information (e.g. Sunday Feb 21 2016 Will it last?
3:59 am UTC. at RESPONDINGTOGEORGEMEKHAIL's STATEMENTS.
We factor representation into our scoring for Women in Leadership. Why? We are now in posted on So is Church Clarity kinda like Yelp for Churches. It is a communication score above anything else. at For additional questions email us. But we dont. Friday Feb 19 2016 Tuesday Feb 23 2016 All scores, except for Verified Clear, are assigned to churches by our volunteers based on our scoring definitions and publicly available information online. Its actively enforced policy is not located in the church's website, but in a sermon dated November 2015. The first is that the church has a statement affirming "sexual orientation" but not "gender identity." Everyone said it would be pretty chilly in Israel in February, but so far it's been short sleeves, sunscreen, and gorgeous weather. Leave us a comment below or head over posted on Although this is a common byproduct of our public database, it is actually not our primary goal. Once were on the ground in Israel, well post periodic updates and photos. at The language in the policies may also be unclear. We sometimes get emails from pastors and congregants telling us that the score weve given to a church does not accurately reflect what happens in their church. Something went wrong while submitting the form. After loading the bus it was a short posted on
Below is a wrap up video that serves as a nice summary of the trip and a reminder of all that we did.
Please see our score definitions for more.
We take into account: public information available on churchs website, denominations website, and pastors statements (including social media). This congregation belongs to an egalitarian denomination which permits, but does not require, congregations to be egalitarian. stories, news, PDFs) in church entries, even if it doesnt affect the churchs score. Oops!
Additionally, if it's hard to locate the leadership team on the website, then we will also score the church as Unclear.
We then headed out to Yad Hashmona, which is a complex built by Finnish Christians to honor seven Finnish Jews who died in Auchwitz. We have people from several different denominations and church backgrounds within posted on Monday Jan 04 2016 posted on