Question 1. What is the Grace Ministries Digital Library?
For nearly 45 years Grace Ministries has been producing resources for churches across the world. Our programs have been considered the very best available and we only work with the most respected and trusted speakers and authors. With the recent advances in technology we can now make all of these fantasitc courses much more accessible to our ministers and their congregations. The Grace Digital Library is designed to give our customers easy, convenient, affordable, and unlimited access to any of the ministry tools. All of our top of the line tools are in the media library, with more being added every month.There are no monthly fees and no contracts, it's just a one time cost for a full year of online viewing for the entire church. We NEVER collect parishoners private information and promise to never solicit them personally.
Question 2. How do I access the Grace Ministries Courses?
Once an individual course or a full license is purchased we can assist you in settng up your account. Only one account per church is needed. All members will access the library through that one account, we don't require that everyone establish their own account. We trust our churches to be fair and stay within the limits of the pledge to keep the access within their own congregations and ministries.Once an account is set up, any member can go to www.grace101.org/login.htm or hit Login at the top of the Grace 101 Home Page. Plug in the established Username and Password and click the Login button. Once logged in just click on any icon and it will take you to that course page to view any of the sessions. Keep in mind that not all resources have restricted video sessions. Some, like Worship 101 Hymn Stories, can be downloaded from the Leader Portal to all Library Members. Others, like Ministry Match, offer non-video resources like surveys. Call us anytime if you have questions at 800-527-4014 or go to the Chat Line.
Question 3. Can I Purchase Just One Course?
Certainly! All the Grace Ministries resources are available on an individual basis. Once an individual course is purchased you may also receive full online viewing for that course along with the hard copy DVD's.* The best value will always be to receive a full library license that will give you access to all the courses, past, present and future. But it's entirely up to you. Full library customers also receive huge disounts on DVD sets, hard copy participant manuals and downloadable manuals. Feel free to contact one of the library specialists at 800-527-4014 with any questions about the advantages of a full library license.
*Not all resources include full online access when purchased separately
Question 4. How Do I Purchase Manuals & Leader Guides?
Participant Manuals (Workbooks) are available in the Store. You can see the link at the navigation bar at the top of this page. Click on the link and you will see a section titled "Participant Manuals & Books". Click that link and all the manuals are listed as you scroll down the page. If you have a library license you receive deeper discounts than what is listed online so please call 800-527-4014 and ask for your representative to get the best prices for any additional material. Some manuals are available as pdf files that can be downloaded and printed off as needed. These downloads are copyrighted so please only share them with your local congregation. Again, licensed customers receive deeper discounts than those listed online so please call us at 800-527-4014 to place your order.
Question 5. Do You Collect Members Private Information?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!! Some online libraires require each new congregation member to provide their complete name, address, phone, and email. This gives them the opportunity to market materials to every church member. Grace Ministries DOES NOT do that!! The church will create one main account and all members will log in with that same username and password. We don't require or desire to have your church members personal information. We believe that it is private and should not be required to access the material that the church has licensed.
Question 6. Who is the Producer for all the Resources?
Ninety percent of all the resources and courses you see listed in our library were directly produced by Grace Ministries. We take pride in the fact that we have worked with over 75,000 churches over the years and they trust us to provide them solid, Bible-based material. We do, occasionally, invite a few trusted and respected teachers to participate and include them in our offerings. Any inclusions are thoroughly screened and monitored to insure they are in keeping with our standards and tradition. You can be completely assured that your congregation will find only the best Bible-Based discipleship, worship, and counseling resources in the Grace Library.
Question 7. What Source Do You Use for Streaming Videos?
Streaming online is a relatively common practice in these times. But finding a reliable and trustworthy platform can be challenging. We, at Grace Ministries, have partnered with one of nations leading streaming services called Vimeo. Vimeo offers full HD streaming in a dependable format with no annoying advertising interfering with the video feed. It features custom settings that will automatically adjust to your internet speed to provide you the best possible view of each session. We promise to continually monitor all our technological hardware and software to bring you an enjoyable experience whenever you log in.
Question 8. What is the Leader Portal?
The Leader Portal contains all sorts of extra tools, graphics, promo clips and exercises to help a leader implement the various courses. This is also where leaders will go to download the Worship 101 Hymn Stories. It can only be accessed with a specific username and password that is given to the purchaser of an individual series or a leader that has a full library license. It is NOT the same login information that is used for access to the courses. You can login to the portal by going to www.grace101.org/login.htm or by clicking Login at the top of the page. Enter the appropriate username and password for the Leader Portal. You MUST be logged out of the main library to access the portal since the system won't let you have access to both at the same time. Call 800-527-4014 x0 for more info on how to acquire access to the Leader Portal.
Question 9. How Do I Use All These Great Products?
Now that is an excellent question! With all these choices how do you decide which to use and where to use it? Since the library contains material to minister to every need in a church it can be challenging to plug them in to make the best use. Thankfully, we have an answer for you. First, each course is carefully chosen for it's effectiveness and impact. Second, we have a staff of library specialists that will assist you in implementing each one in the place that best suits your needs. Need help with marriage enrichment or premarital counseling, Marriage 101 is your answer and your specialist will help you discover the many ways it can be used. How about helping hurting families, hospital visitation, or a grieving widow? Crisis 101 can certanly be used in several ways in each of those situations. Maybe it's in discipleship, then the KNOW series, Periscope, or Measure of a Man can fill that need. Need Men's ministry material? Then Fathering 101 or Lessons from the Tackle Box is your answer. Or perhaps your Bible study leaders need some expert advice on a particularly difficult topic or passage, direct them to the 1,500 Bible Principles link to find the help they need. Let's not forget your Worship Leader, the Worship 101 Hymn Stories are a unique and meaningful way to bring a deeper appreciation to classic hymns of the faith, and Hymnody 101 can help your congregation of learn the history of Christian music. Your Library Specialist can assist you in exploring and implementing any of our amazing courses. Call 800-527-4014 and ask to speak to one of them.
Question 10. How Do I Link Our Church Site with the Library?
Placing a link from your church website directly to the Grace Ministries Library login is quite easy. Your webmaster should be able to easily place the code at this link login code. It is a direct link back to the Library login page. It would also be a good idea to put the church contact email near the logo so that members could email the church office to obtain your church Username and Password. Please do not post that information on your site as it would give access outside your congregation. As always, you can have your webmaster call us at 800-527-4014 x0 if you have any further questions.
Question 11. How Do I Cast a Video Session on to my TV?
More and more class leaders are now casting the video sessions directly to their large screen TV systems from the library website instead of using the DVD's. Their are several processes to do that and most are really quite simple. You will, of course, need to have wifi in your home to take advantage of most any casting situation, the higher the speed, the better. Some have direct internet access on their TV and will simply log in and navigate to the session. Others, and this is what we will be discussing, use Chromecast, or a simliar type device. Most newer TV's have Chromecast or Smartcast built into the software, if not, a Chromecast device is readily available at local electronic retaliers. Follow the Instruction Manual included with your TV or the casting device to be sure it is properly installed. Enable Chromecast on your TV. To cast from any PC or mobile device just pull up the video session in the Chrome browser, click the row of three vertical buttons in the very top right corner of the browser window and choose "Cast". Your device will ask where you want to cast, just choose your TV and it will automatically begin playng on your TV. Many smartphone apps already have several different casting options installed so they can be used outside of Chrome. Feel free to call us at 800-527-4014 x0 if you have any further questions. We may be able to help in some situations but with technology moving so quickly, and each set up so different, we are limited in how much we can remedy if problems arise. You can go to any search engine and find tons of info on casting from one device to another.
Question 12. What does the expanded web license allow me to do?
The Expanded Web License includes our standard license (public performance in a single setting), as well as a couple of additional features:
It allows you to:
- Post the video on your website (using a native player)
- Include the video in a live stream of your service online
- Include the video in a recording of your service online
The Expanded Web LicenseDOES NOTallow you to:
- Upload the video to YouTube or other video sharing sites UNLESS posted in the context of a service
- Broadcast the video on television or any other medium
*While this license makes the content available for you to use in these ways, we cannot guarantee that social sharing sites like Facebook and YouTube will not flag or block this content unintentionally. We encourage testing to ensure these possible issues don't arise as you stream or share your service online.
We strongly encourage you to remove our video sessions from whatever streaming platform you are using once a program is completed. This will help us preserve the copyright.
How does this apply to the Worship 101 Hymn Stories?
Since our member churches can download the Non-Watermark HD versions of the Hymn Stories those files can be uploaded to various social media platforms. That, obviously, opens up the possibility to gross misuse.
We ask our member churches to please limit uploads on public media platforms for their use only, and only in the context of teaching and/or worship services.
If a Hymn Story is uploaded for viewing on a member church Facebook page, YouTube channel, or other media outlet, we ask that it would be pulled down after the time it is used. This will limit the amount of copyright infringement that may occur.