Thank you all for your comments regarding the removal of the comments section from our website. We know this will be a hard change, and we apologize for the disappointment and hurt this is causing. Pick a question from the list below to see the answer:


Why was the comments section removed?

Please know this decision was not made lightly and has been in the works for some time. We recently released an updated website to address a backlog of issues with our current site. When planning for this new site, the ministry determined it would be better stewardship of our resources to utilize social media for community-building, rather than to develop, build, and maintain our own platform. While you may not agree with this assessment and our decision, we are asking you to trust that we are doing the best we can to steward the resources God has given us.


You have all built such a beautiful, loving community in this space and we are grateful to have been able to witness it. We pray that you carry the community-building skills you've learned here into whatever spaces God calls each of you into next, and we hope to see you on Facebook and Instagram if you're able and willing.


How can we connect now that comments are gone?

We encourage you to move to our Facebook or Instagram channels to continue to engage with each other. For the first few weeks, it may be helpful to post what your ODBM account name was so that people can connect your social profile to your ODBM name!

Using a hashtag, like #odbcomments, on Facebook or Instagram will make it easier to find comments from other users from this platform. 


Is there any way we can change your mind?

We want you to know that we hear your disappointment, anger, sadness, and confusion, and your comments are being shared with our web team. However, at this time, we can't make a change to the new site to include comments and we can't maintain the old site now that the new site is live. Our design teams will review comments to help inform future development, but we cannot guarantee that comments will be brought back. As of now, this is intended to be a permanent removal.