We’re looking forward to welcoming you to the Sheldon Hub but as we’re committed to ensuring that the Hub is a safe and secure place for people in ministry, there are a few steps to complete first.
To ensure this security, there is a three-stage registration and login process for the Hub:
- Complete your details
- Validation by Sheldon
- Signing in
To complete your details, click on the 'Login' button at the top of the Hub home page. You will be taken to the Login and Registration page.
If you are a new user, complete the details under the Register / Check section on the right-hand side of the page
- Name
- E-mail address
Click 'Next'
At this point, your details will be checked against our database just to make sure that we don't have a record of you already.
If we cannot find your details in our system, we ask you to complete further information.
Contact details
Firstly we need your contact details, including:
- Full name
- Postal address - the postcode look-up will hopefully find your address and so fill in the details automatically.
- E-mail address - we will need to verify your e-mail address belongs to you so if you can to use a formal e-mail address as shown on your church website or denominational listings that will help us verify more quickly. (You will be able to change it to your personal e-mail address once you log in.)
- Telephone number.
As the Hub is for people in ministry (find the definition of 'in ministry' that we use here), we ask next for your ministry details
Ministry details
Tick the 'In ministry' box and fill in the additional fields that appear. In several places, you just need to choose from a drop-down list.
- Denomination.
- Area - the choices will be dependent on the denomination chosen.
- Who Is In Ministry - usually either you or your spouse/partner.
- Ministry Status - the choices are Active, Retired, In Training, Other.
- Ministry Type - the choices are Ordained, Full Time Stipendiary Lay, Religious Order, Other.
- Current Post - details of the ministry post that you hold currently (e.g. Vicar, St Mary's, Somewhere-by-the-Sea). If retired or out of ministry, please enter your most recent post. If your spouse is the one in formal ministry, please enter their details.
- Your Website - for speediest validation, find a web page showing you (or spouse/partner if applicable) in role (e.g. parish or district website) and copy and paste the whole web address into this field.
- Ministry Notes - we recognise that ministry comes in many variations which don't always meet pre-defined choices, so please include explanatory detail if you selected 'other' in any of the previous fields.
Click 'Continue'.
Validation
A member of the Sheldon team will validate your details as quickly as possible (we aim to do this within 48 hours but please be patient with us if it takes a bit longer). Hopefully, the details that you provide will enable us to do this easily. We will use on-line resources where possible (e.g. church websites, Crockford's Clerical Directory, etc) but on occasions, we may need to contact you directly.
When this is done you will receive another email with a validation link so you can create a password and log in.
First login
When you login for the first time, you will be asked to:
- Choose a 'Screen Name'. This is an identity which will enable you to post comments, etc within the Hub whilst protecting your true identity. This is a crucial part of our commitment to making the Hub a safe space. Only Hub Administrators (who are members of the Sheldon Community) can relate Screen Names to Real names.
- Agree to the Hub Covenant (our version of terms and conditions).
You're then free to explore and contribute to the Hub. We look forward to seeing you there.