Terms of Service
THEOSU
TERMS OF SERVICE
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY. SECTION 20 REQUIRES THAT MOST DISPUTES BE RESOLVED THROUGH CHRISTIAN CONCILIATION AND BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION, AND WAIVES YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION. SECTIONS 16 THROUGH 19 LIMIT OUR LIABILITY AND REQUIRE YOU TO INDEMNIFY US. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, DO NOT ACCESS OR USE THE PLATFORM.
1. ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS
1.1 The Agreement. These Terms of Service (the "Terms") form a legally binding agreement between TheosU, LLC, a Tennessee limited liability company having its principal place of business in Franklin, Tennessee ("TheosU," "we," "us," or "our"), and you, the individual accessing or using the Platform ("you" or "User").
1.2 Acceptance. You accept these Terms by creating an account, purchasing or activating a Subscription, clicking or tapping a button or checkbox indicating acceptance, or otherwise accessing or using the Platform. If you accept these Terms on behalf of a church, school, employer, or other organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization, and "you" includes both you and that organization.
1.3 Electronic Agreement and Signature. You consent to transact with us electronically. You agree that your electronic acceptance of these Terms constitutes your signature, and that these Terms, and all notices, disclosures, and other communications we provide to you electronically, satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. This consent is given under the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act and the Tennessee Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. You may withdraw this consent only by closing your account.
1.4 Additional Agreements. Certain features are governed by additional terms that are incorporated into these Terms by reference, including the Burning Bush Participation Agreement and Community Covenant and the TheosU Privacy Policy. If an additional agreement conflicts with these Terms, the additional agreement controls as to the feature it governs.
1.5 Definitions. "Platform" means the TheosU websites (including theosu.ca and my.theosu.ca), the TheosU mobile applications, and all related content, courses, features, and services. "Content" means all material made available on or through the Platform. "User Content" means Content you submit, post, transmit, or otherwise make available, including messages, profile information, comments, discussion posts, and personal advertisements. "Community Features" means direct messaging, user profiles, community discussions, the Burning Bush channel, and any other feature enabling Users to communicate with or view content submitted by other Users. "Subscription" means a paid subscription to the Platform. "Statement of Faith" means the statement of belief published at theosu.ca/beliefs, as amended from time to time.
2. RELIGIOUS CHARACTER AND PURPOSE OF THE PLATFORM
2.1 Christian Ministry. TheosU is a Christian theological education ministry. Our mission, our Content, our community, and our standards of conduct are shaped by and expressed through the historic Christian faith as summarized in our Statement of Faith. Everything we publish and every community we convene is an exercise of that religious mission.
2.2 Educational Content Is Open to All. Our courses, lectures, and educational resources are offered to any person who wishes to purchase a Subscription, without regard to that person's religious belief or non-belief. We welcome students, skeptics, seekers, and scholars alike, and we do not condition access to educational Content on agreement with our Statement of Faith.
2.3 Community Features Are Religious in Character. Our Community Features are different in kind from our educational Content. They exist to gather believers into fellowship, mutual encouragement, accountability, and — through Burning Bush — Christian courtship and marriage. They are not offered to the general public. Participation in Community Features is a privilege extended only to Users who have applied, who have affirmed the Statement of Faith and the applicable community covenant, and whom TheosU has admitted in its discretion.
2.4 Curation and Publication as Religious Expression. TheosU selects, edits, curates, and publishes the material that appears in its Community Features, including personal advertisements published in the Burning Bush channel. In doing so TheosU is speaking, and the resulting collection is TheosU's own expression of its religious convictions and mission. TheosU exercises complete editorial discretion over what it will and will not publish, and no submission creates any right to publication.
2.5 We Do Not Judge Anyone's Faith. TheosU does not investigate, verify, evaluate, or adjudicate any person's religious belief, sincerity, or standing before God, and nothing in these Terms should be read as a claim to do so. Where these Terms require an affirmation of belief, TheosU relies entirely on the User's own voluntary statement about themselves. If a User declines to make that affirmation, or withdraws it, or breaches the covenant they agreed to keep, the consequence is limited to the User's eligibility to participate in a voluntary community feature under a contract they chose to enter.
3. ELIGIBILITY AND AGE REQUIREMENTS
3.1 Minimum Age. You must be at least eighteen (18) years of age and legally capable of entering into a binding contract to create an account or use the Platform. The Platform is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from any person under eighteen (18).
3.2 Community Features. Participation in any Community Feature, including direct messaging and Burning Bush, additionally requires that you be at least eighteen (18) years of age. You must provide your date of birth when you request access to Community Features. Providing a false date of birth is a material breach of these Terms and grounds for immediate and permanent termination of your account without refund.
3.3 Group, Church, and Institutional Subscriptions. Where accounts are provisioned under a group, church, school, or institutional Subscription, the administrator of that Subscription represents and warrants that every individual for whom an account is provisioned is at least eighteen (18) years of age. TheosU may, in its discretion and without notice, disable Community Features for any account provisioned under a group Subscription, or for any group Subscription as a whole.
3.4 Prior Removal. You may not create or use an account if TheosU has previously terminated your account or removed you from any Community Feature, unless TheosU expressly reinstates you in writing.
4. ACCOUNTS, CREDENTIALS, AND SUBSCRIPTION INTEGRITY
4.1 Your Account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activity occurring under your account. Notify us promptly at support@theosu.ca of any unauthorized use.
4.2 Accurate Information. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information and to keep it updated.
4.3 Prohibited Subscription Practices. You may not, and may not permit any other person to:
(a) share, disclose, sell, rent, or transfer your login credentials or account access to any other person;
(b) permit access by any person whose access falls outside the terms of your Subscription or your organization's Subscription;
(c) resell, sublicense, or commercially redistribute access to the Platform or to any Content;
(d) use a group, church, school, or institutional Subscription to provide access to individuals outside the organization or beyond the seat count agreed with TheosU;
(e) circumvent or attempt to circumvent any concurrent-stream limit, seat limit, geographic restriction, paywall, or other access control; or
(f) create multiple accounts to evade a suspension, termination, block, or other enforcement action.
4.4 Audit and Enforcement. TheosU may monitor account activity for indicia of credential sharing or other Subscription abuse and may suspend, restrict, or terminate offending accounts, and may charge the applicable Subscription rate for unauthorized additional users.
5. SUBSCRIPTIONS, PAYMENT, RENEWAL, AND REFUNDS
5.1 Payment Processing. The Platform is powered by Uscreen, a video subscription platform, and payments are processed by Stripe. Card information is transmitted directly to Stripe and is not stored by TheosU or Uscreen. You agree to be bound by the Stripe Services Agreement, as modified by Stripe from time to time, and you authorize TheosU to share with Stripe the information necessary to process your payments.
5.2 Automatic Renewal. Subscriptions renew automatically at the then-current rate until cancelled. You may cancel at any time through your account settings or by contacting support@theosu.ca. Cancellation takes effect as provided in Sections 5.3 and 5.4.
5.3 Monthly Subscriptions. You may cancel a monthly Subscription at any time. Refunds may be issued only for the most recent billing cycle, and only if requested within ten (10) days of the date of renewal. A refund ends your access immediately. Non-use of the Platform during an active Subscription period is not grounds for a refund, and refunds will not be issued for any period earlier than the most recent billing cycle.
5.4 Annual Subscriptions. Annual Subscriptions are discounted over the course of the year. A full refund is available only if you notify us of your intent to cancel within the first thirty (30) days of the annual term. After thirty (30) days, refunds are partial and are subject to a processing fee and an assessed usage fee of Fourteen Dollars ($14.00) for each month begun or elapsed in the annual term.
5.5 Individual Subscriptions Concurrent With Group Discounts. An individual who holds a Subscription and who also belongs to a church or organization that holds or previously held a TheosU group discount cannot be refunded retroactively for any period during which the individual Subscription ran concurrently with the group discount. It is the sole responsibility of the church or organization to promote and administer its group discount and to make eligible individuals aware of it. TheosU has no obligation to identify, notify, or make any individual aware of any group discount for which that individual may qualify, and no such circumstance is grounds for a retroactive refund.
5.6 Digital Nature of the Content. Because of the accessibility and transferability of digital material, refunds are otherwise not offered. Questions regarding this policy may be directed to support@theosu.ca.
5.7 Community Features Are Not Purchased. Community Features, including Burning Bush, are provided at no additional charge as a ministry of TheosU. They form no part of the consideration for any Subscription. Denial of access to, suspension from, or termination of any Community Feature does not entitle you to any refund, credit, extension, or other remedy, and does not affect your access to educational Content.
6. COMMUNITY FEATURES, DIRECT MESSAGING, AND BURNING BUSH
6.1 Optional Features. Community Features are optional. You are not required to participate in any of them, and participation is undertaken voluntarily, at your own discretion, and at your own risk.
6.2 Burning Bush. Burning Bush is a members-only introduction and courtship ministry of TheosU through which TheosU publishes personal advertisements submitted by participating Users to other participating Users. Participation is governed by the Burning Bush Participation Agreement and Community Covenant, which you must separately accept. Access to Community Features generally, and to Burning Bush specifically, is conditioned on the eligibility requirements and affirmations set out in that agreement and in Section 2 of these Terms.
6.3 What TheosU Does and Does Not Do. TheosU publishes a curated collection of personal advertisements. TheosU does not perform algorithmic matching, does not select or recommend particular Users to one another, does not arrange, chaperone, host, or supervise any meeting or communication between Users, and does not act as a dating agency, marriage broker, counselor, therapist, spiritual director, or guarantor of any relationship. Any contact between Users is initiated by the Users themselves through direct message.
6.4 No Monitoring of Private Communications. TheosU does not monitor, review, endorse, or verify private communications between Users. TheosU is not responsible for the content of any message, or for the acts, omissions, statements, representations, or conduct of any User. TheosU reserves the right, but assumes no obligation, to review any communication reported to it.
6.5 No Screening and No Background Checks. Unless we expressly state otherwise in writing:
THEOSU DOES NOT CONDUCT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS, SEX-OFFENDER REGISTRY SEARCHES, IDENTITY VERIFICATION, FINANCIAL VERIFICATION, EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION, REFERENCE CHECKS, OR CHARACTER INVESTIGATIONS OF ANY USER. THEOSU'S REVIEW OF AN APPLICATION OR A PERSONAL ADVERTISEMENT IS AN EDITORIAL REVIEW OF SUBMITTED CONTENT ONLY. IT IS NOT A SCREENING, ENDORSEMENT, VETTING, RECOMMENDATION, OR ASSURANCE OF ANY USER'S IDENTITY, CHARACTER, INTENTIONS, MARITAL STATUS, CRIMINAL HISTORY, OR SAFETY. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR EXERCISING JUDGMENT AND CAUTION BEFORE COMMUNICATING WITH, DISCLOSING INFORMATION TO, OR MEETING ANY OTHER USER.
6.6 Meetings and Relationships. Any meeting, communication, correspondence, event, travel, friendship, courtship, dating relationship, engagement, marriage, cohabitation, business relationship, financial transaction, or other interaction arising out of or relating to the Platform occurs solely at the Users' own risk and outside the supervision, control, or responsibility of TheosU.
6.7 No Guarantee. TheosU makes no representation or warranty of any kind regarding the compatibility, character, honesty, identity, marital status, intentions, theological convictions, suitability, or safety of any User, or regarding relationship success, courtship, engagement, marriage, or any other outcome arising from participation in Burning Bush or any Community Feature.
7. USER CONDUCT AND PROHIBITED USES
7.1 General Standard. You agree to conduct yourself on the Platform with honesty, charity, and respect, consistent with the community standards TheosU publishes.
7.2 Prohibited Conduct. You will not, and will not attempt to:
(a) harass, stalk, bully, intimidate, threaten, defame, or abuse any person;
(b) engage in hate speech or unlawful discrimination, or incite violence against any person or group;
(c) transmit sexually explicit, obscene, pornographic, or lewd material, or send unwanted sexual communications, solicitations, or images;
(d) continue to contact any User who has asked you to stop, or contact any User who has blocked you, whether directly or through another account or person;
(e) misrepresent your identity, age, marital or relationship status, photograph, location, occupation, credentials, or affiliation, or impersonate any person or entity, including through the use of artificially generated images or text presented as your own likeness or authorship;
(f) solicit money, loans, gifts, investments, cryptocurrency, donations, or financial information from any User, or engage in any confidence scheme, romance fraud, phishing, or other fraudulent conduct;
(g) engage in commercial solicitation, advertising, recruiting, multi-level marketing, or promotion of goods, services, ministries, or events without TheosU's prior written consent;
(h) publish or disclose another person's private, personal, or identifying information without that person's consent, or republish, screenshot, forward, or otherwise disseminate another User's private messages, personal advertisement, profile, or photographs outside the Platform;
(i) upload or transmit malware, or interfere with, disrupt, probe, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Platform or any account, server, or network;
(j) use any robot, spider, crawler, scraper, headless browser, or other automated means to access, monitor, index, harvest, or copy any part of the Platform or any User Content;
(k) use the Platform or any Content to train, fine-tune, evaluate, or develop any machine learning or artificial intelligence model or dataset;
(l) infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, right of publicity, or other right of any person; or
(m) use the Platform for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law or regulation.
8. USER CONTENT AND LICENSE
8.1 You Retain Ownership. You retain all ownership rights you have in your User Content.
8.2 License to TheosU. You grant TheosU a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicensable (solely to our hosting, storage, delivery, and moderation service providers) license to host, store, reproduce, format, display, transmit, distribute, and moderate your User Content, solely for the purposes of operating, providing, securing, and moderating the Platform and the Community Features. This license terminates when you delete your User Content, except for (i) copies retained in routine backups for a commercially reasonable period, (ii) copies retained as required by law or to enforce these Terms or resolve a dispute, and (iii) User Content that other Users have already received.
8.3 Promotional Use. TheosU will not use your User Content in advertising or promotional material outside the Platform without your separate written consent.
8.4 No AI Training on User Content. TheosU will not use User Content to train, fine-tune, or develop any machine learning or artificial intelligence model, and will not license or sell User Content to any third party for that purpose.
8.5 Your Representations. You represent and warrant that you own or have all rights necessary to submit your User Content and to grant the license in Section 8.2, that your User Content is accurate and not misleading, and that your User Content does not violate these Terms or any law or third-party right.
8.6 No Obligation to Publish; Removal. TheosU has no obligation to publish, display, transmit, or retain any User Content, and may edit, refuse, remove, or delete any User Content at any time, for any reason or no reason, without notice.
8.7 Feedback. If you send us suggestions or feedback about the Platform, you grant us an unrestricted, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use it for any purpose without obligation to you.
9. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
9.1 Ownership. All Content, and all copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade dress, and other intellectual property rights in the Platform, are owned by TheosU or its licensors. "TheosU" is a federally registered trademark, U.S. Reg. No. 6,635,556. Content owned by third parties is used with permission and remains the property of its owner.
9.2 Limited License to You. Subject to your compliance with these Terms and your Subscription, TheosU grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and stream Content for your own personal, non-commercial, educational and devotional use.
9.3 Restrictions. You may not:
(a) download, record, screen-record, capture, copy, or store Content except through functionality TheosU expressly provides;
(b) reproduce, republish, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, broadcast, or stream Content to any third party, including in a church, classroom, or group setting, except under a group or institutional Subscription that expressly permits it;
(c) create, compile, or maintain any library, archive, database, repository, or derivative collection of Content, whether or not offered by subscription;
(d) scrape, crawl, index, harvest, or extract Content by automated means;
(e) use Content to train, fine-tune, evaluate, benchmark, or develop any machine learning or artificial intelligence model or dataset, or to create any derivative work of any kind; or
(f) remove, obscure, or alter any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notice.
10. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FEATURES
TheosU may make available features that use artificial intelligence to summarize, search, recommend, translate, transcribe, or generate material. Any such feature is provided for informational purposes only. Output may be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, or misleading, and does not represent the doctrinal position, counsel, or judgment of TheosU, its instructors, or its faculty. You remain solely responsible for verifying and for all theological, academic, pastoral, medical, legal, financial, and personal decisions you make. Nothing generated by an artificial intelligence feature constitutes pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, legal advice, financial advice, or professional advice of any kind.
11. REPORTING, INVESTIGATION, AND ENFORCEMENT
11.1 How to Report. If you receive a communication or encounter conduct that violates these Terms, report it through the in-app reporting function or to support@theosu.ca. Reports should identify the User, the conduct, and, if available, the message or content at issue.
11.2 Blocking. You may block any User at any time, which prevents that User from contacting you or viewing your profile or personal advertisement.
11.3 Investigation. TheosU reserves the right, but does not assume any duty or obligation, to investigate reports, to access and review communications reported to it, to contact the Users involved, and to take or decline to take any action it considers appropriate. TheosU's response to any report is a matter of its sole discretion, and its decision to act in one instance creates no obligation or expectation that it will act in any other.
11.4 Emergencies and Law Enforcement. TheosU is not an emergency service. If you believe you or another person is in danger, contact local emergency services immediately. TheosU may report to law enforcement any conduct it believes in good faith to be unlawful, and may preserve and disclose User information and communications where it believes in good faith that doing so is required by law, necessary to comply with legal process, or necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of TheosU, its Users, or the public.
12. SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION
12.1 By TheosU. TheosU may suspend, restrict, or terminate your account, your Subscription, your access to any or all Community Features, or your participation in Burning Bush, at any time, with or without notice, if TheosU believes in its sole discretion that you have violated these Terms or any incorporated agreement, that your continued access could harm the Platform or any User, or that suspension or termination is otherwise appropriate.
12.2 Effect. Upon termination, your license to access the Platform ends immediately. Termination for breach does not entitle you to any refund. Sections that by their nature should survive termination will survive, as provided in Section 23.4.
12.3 By You. You may terminate at any time by cancelling your Subscription and closing your account.
13. PRIVACY
Our collection, use, and disclosure of personal information is described in the TheosU Privacy Policy at theosu.ca/privacy-policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. The Privacy Policy describes, among other things, our handling of profile information, direct messages, personal advertisements, optional theological and relationship preference information, abuse reports, and law enforcement requests.
14. THIRD-PARTY SERVICES AND LINKS
The Platform is delivered through Uscreen and processes payments through Stripe, and may link to or interoperate with other third-party services. We do not monitor or review the content of third-party sites, and opinions or material appearing on them are not endorsed by us. We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or security of any third-party site or service. You should evaluate the security and trustworthiness of any third-party site before disclosing personal information to it. Your use of third-party services is governed by their terms.
15. COPYRIGHT COMPLAINTS (DMCA)
TheosU respects the intellectual property of others. If you believe your copyrighted work has been used on the Platform in a manner constituting infringement, you may notify our designated agent under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Your notice must include: (a) a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner; (b) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed; (c) identification of the material claimed to be infringing and reasonably sufficient information to permit us to locate it; (d) your address, telephone number, and email address; (e) a statement that you have a good faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (f) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the right allegedly infringed.
Notices should be sent to our designated agent at: ______________________________, ______________________________, ______________________________, support@theosu.ca.
UNDER UNITED STATES FEDERAL LAW, IF YOU KNOWINGLY MISREPRESENT THAT ONLINE MATERIAL IS INFRINGING, YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO SUBSTANTIAL CIVIL PENALTIES, INCLUDING MONETARY DAMAGES, COURT COSTS, AND ATTORNEYS' FEES, AND YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTION FOR PERJURY.
TheosU will terminate, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of Users who are repeat infringers.
16. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES
THE PLATFORM, THE CONTENT, AND THE COMMUNITY FEATURES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THEOSU DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. THEOSU DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE PLATFORM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, TIMELY, OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE PLATFORM IS FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THEOSU OR THROUGH THE PLATFORM CREATES ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS.
17. ASSUMPTION OF RISK AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
17.1 Assumption of Risk. You understand and accept that other Users are independent persons whose identity, character, and intentions TheosU has not verified, and that communicating with or meeting another person always carries risk. You knowingly and voluntarily assume all risk arising out of your interactions with other Users, whether online or in person.
17.2 Exclusion of Certain Damages. To the fullest extent permitted by law, TheosU will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, loss of goodwill, or business interruption, arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform, whether based in contract, tort, strict liability, or any other theory, and whether or not TheosU has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
17.3 Interactions Between Users. To the fullest extent permitted by law, TheosU will not be liable for any damage, injury, loss, emotional distress, reputational harm, financial loss, harassment, fraud, assault, criminal conduct, personal injury, or death arising out of or relating to the acts or omissions of any User or other third party, including any communication between Users, any meeting between Users, and any relationship formed through the Platform.
17.4 Aggregate Cap. To the fullest extent permitted by law, TheosU's total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Platform will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid TheosU in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
17.5 Limitations That Do Not Apply. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including, where applicable law so provides, liability for gross negligence, recklessness, willful misconduct, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for death or personal injury. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions or limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you. In those jurisdictions, TheosU's liability is limited to the fullest extent permitted by law.
18. RELEASE
To the fullest extent permitted by law, you release TheosU and its officers, directors, members, managers, employees, contractors, instructors, faculty, volunteers, agents, and affiliates from all claims, demands, damages, and liabilities of every kind, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with any dispute between you and another User. If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code section 1542, which states: "A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party." You waive any comparable provision of the law of any other jurisdiction. This release does not extend to any liability that cannot lawfully be released.
19. INDEMNIFICATION
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless TheosU and its officers, directors, members, managers, employees, contractors, instructors, faculty, volunteers, agents, and affiliates from and against any claim, demand, action, proceeding, loss, liability, damage, judgment, settlement, cost, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your use of the Platform; (b) your User Content; (c) your communications with, or conduct toward, any other User; (d) your participation in Burning Bush or any Community Feature; (e) your breach of these Terms or any incorporated agreement; or (f) your violation of any law or of the rights of any third party. TheosU may assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification, at your expense, and you agree to cooperate with that defense. You may not settle any matter without TheosU's prior written consent.
20. DISPUTE RESOLUTION
THIS SECTION AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS. IT REQUIRES MOST DISPUTES TO BE RESOLVED BY CHRISTIAN CONCILIATION AND THEN BY BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION, WAIVES YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL, AND WAIVES YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. YOU MAY OPT OUT OF ARBITRATION AS DESCRIBED IN SECTION 20.7.
20.1 Informal Resolution First. Before initiating any proceeding, you agree to contact us at support@theosu.ca and to attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for at least thirty (30) days.
20.2 Christian Conciliation. The parties are Christians who believe Scripture calls them to make every effort to live at peace and to resolve disputes among believers privately or within the church. Accordingly, and except as provided in Section 20.6, any claim or dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Platform that is not resolved informally shall first be submitted to mediation conducted in accordance with the Rules of Procedure for Christian Conciliation of the Institute for Christian Conciliation. Completion of mediation is a condition precedent to arbitration. If mediation is not concluded within sixty (60) days after a written request for mediation, either party may proceed to arbitration.
20.3 Binding Arbitration. Except as provided in Section 20.6, any dispute not resolved through mediation shall be resolved by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitration shall be seated in Nashville, Tennessee, and may be conducted by videoconference or on the documents where the Rules permit. The arbitrator shall apply Tennessee law and shall have authority to award any relief a court could award to the individual claimant. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Section.
20.4 Delegation. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, except that a court of competent jurisdiction shall decide (a) issues relating to the scope, enforceability, and arbitrability of this Section, and (b) any dispute regarding the class action waiver in Section 20.5.
20.5 Class Action and Jury Waiver. Disputes must be brought in an individual capacity only. You and TheosU waive any right to a jury trial and any right to bring or participate in a class, collective, consolidated, or representative action. If this waiver is found unenforceable as to any claim, that claim shall be severed and litigated in court, and the remaining claims shall proceed in arbitration.
20.6 Exceptions. This Section does not apply to: (a) claims that may be brought in small claims court;
(b) claims for injunctive or equitable relief to protect intellectual property or account security; or (c) any claim alleging sexual assault or sexual harassment, which, at the election of the person alleging the conduct, may be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction notwithstanding any agreement to arbitrate or to waive class treatment, as provided by the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, 9 U.S.C. §§ 401–402.
20.7 Right to Opt Out of Arbitration. You may opt out of Sections 20.3 through 20.5 by sending written notice to support@theosu.ca within thirty (30) days after you first accept these Terms, stating your name, the email address on your account, and your intent to opt out. Opting out does not affect Section 20.2 or any other provision.
20.8 Governing Law and Forum. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. For any dispute not subject to arbitration, the parties consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in Davidson County or Williamson County, Tennessee.
20.9 Time to Bring Claims. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Platform must be brought within one (1) year after the claim accrues, or it is permanently barred.
21. FORCE MAJEURE
Neither party is liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by an event beyond its reasonable control, including any act of God, terrorism, war, political insurgence, insurrection, riot, civil unrest, act of civil or military authority, earthquake, flood, fire, pandemic, epidemic, public health emergency, labor disruption, embargo, sanctions, or governmental action, and including any cyberattack, ransomware event, denial-of-service attack, data breach, failure or outage of the internet, telecommunications, hosting, content delivery, payment processing, or other infrastructure or third-party service provider. The affected party shall promptly notify the other and shall use reasonable efforts to resume performance.
22. CHANGES TO THESE TERMS
22.1 Modification. TheosU may modify these Terms at any time by posting the revised Terms on the Platform and updating the "Last Revised" date. For material changes, TheosU will provide at least thirty (30) days' advance notice by email to the address on your account or by prominent notice on the Platform.
22.2 Your Acceptance. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date of revised Terms constitutes your acceptance of them. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Platform and may cancel your Subscription.
22.3 Controlling Provision. This Section 22 governs modification of these Terms and supersedes any provision elsewhere in these Terms requiring that amendments be made by a writing signed by both parties. No other modification of these Terms is effective unless in writing and signed by an authorized representative of TheosU.
23. GENERAL PROVISIONS
23.1 Entire Agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any incorporated agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and TheosU regarding the Platform and supersede all prior agreements and understandings on that subject.
23.2 Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your account without TheosU's prior written consent. TheosU may assign these Terms without restriction, including in connection with a merger, reorganization, or sale of assets. These Terms bind and benefit the parties' permitted successors and assigns.
23.3 No Third-Party Beneficiaries. Except for the indemnified parties identified in Section 19 and the released parties identified in Section 18, these Terms create no third-party beneficiary rights.
23.4 Survival. Sections 4.4, 5.7, 6.3 through 6.7, 8, 9, 12.2, and 16 through 23 survive any termination or expiration of these Terms.
23.5 Severability and Reformation. If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be reformed to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable and to give effect to the parties' intent, and if it cannot be so reformed it shall be severed. The remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.
23.6 No Waiver. No failure or delay by either party in exercising any right constitutes a waiver of that right. No waiver is effective unless in writing and signed by the waiving party.
23.7 Export Control and Sanctions. You represent that you are not located in, and are not a national or resident of, any country subject to comprehensive United States sanctions, and that you are not listed on any United States government list of prohibited or restricted parties. You agree to comply with all applicable export control and sanctions laws.
23.8 Right to Modify or Discontinue. TheosU may modify, suspend, or discontinue the Platform or any Content, course, or feature, including any Community Feature and including Burning Bush, in whole or in part, at any time and without liability. If TheosU permanently discontinues a paid offering during your paid term, your sole remedy is a pro rata refund of the unused portion of your Subscription attributable to that offering.
23.9 Notices. Notices to you may be given by email to the address on your account or by posting on the Platform. Notices to TheosU must be sent to support@theosu.ca and to TheosU, LLC, P.O. Box 680549, Franklin, Tennessee 37068.
23.10 Relationship. Nothing in these Terms creates any partnership, joint venture, agency, employment, or fiduciary relationship between you and TheosU.
23.11 Headings and Interpretation. Headings are for convenience only. "Including" means "including without limitation." These Terms shall not be construed against either party as drafter.
23.12 Consumer Rights. Nothing in these Terms limits any non-waivable statutory right you have under the law of your place of residence.
23.13 Contact. TheosU, LLC, P.O. Box 680549, Franklin, Tennessee 37068 support@theosu.ca
