• What is BuildingChurchLeaders.com?
• What's available?
• What does the Premium Content symbol represent throughout the site?
• Who's behind BuildingChurchLeaders.com?
• What People Are Saying
• As a non-profit organization, why do you charge a fee for the downloadable tools?
• How do I join BuildingChurchLeaders.com?
• What are the benefits of joining BuildingChurchLeaders.com?
• What can I get for free?
• How do I find what I want?
• How do I order and download something as a nonmember?

Find content that fits a particular Bible text:

1. In the search box at the top of the BuildingChurchLeaders.com homepage, type a Bible reference. The search engine does recognize standard abbreviations such as "1 Cor" for "1 Corinthians." With books such as Corinthians that use numerals, you must use the numeral (1 Corinthians) rather than the word (First Corinthians).
2. Right above the Search box click on the link "Bible Reference." The word "Bible Reference" will become highlighted.
3. Hit the Enter key on your keyboard, or with your mouse, click the arrow button.

Find content for a certain topic:

There are two different ways to search by topic.

Option A: Search by keyword

1. Type the keyword you're looking for into the Search box found at the top of the page.
2. Right above the Search box click on the link "Topic." The word "Topics" will become highlighted.
3. Then hit Enter or click on the arrow button in the Search box. This searches the keywords that have been applied to the content, but not the full text of the context. This is the best way to search when your keyword or topic has more than one word.

Option B: Word/Phrase Search

1. Type the word you're looking for into the Search box found at the top of the page.
2. Right above the Search box click on the link "Word or Phrase." The link "Word or Phrase" will become highlighted.
3. Then hit Enter or click on the arrow button in the Search box. This searches every word in the video description, as well as the title and citations. Searching by "Word or Phrase," versus "Topic" or "Bible Reference," is the most extensive search you can perform because it not only searches the description, but also the title, keywords, filters, and citations.

Get the maximum number of results:

1. At the top the page, find the Search box and type a word in the box that would most likely be unique to the content you are looking for.
2. Directly above the search box, click on "Word or Phrase." Hit the Enter key on your keyboard or use your mouse to click the "arrow" button. This searches every word in the description as well as the title, and citation. Searching by "Word or Phrase," versus "Topic" or "Bible Reference," is the most extensive search you can perform because it searches the description as well as illustration title, keywords, filters, and citations.
3. To expand the search wider still, type multiple related topics and synonyms in the search field, such as grace, mercy, forgiveness, salvation. (Multiple topics in a search may be separated by a comma, semicolon, period, or space. Do not use the word "and" between words.)

Get the minimum number of results:

1. At the top of any page, find the Search box and type a topic in the box.
2. Hit the Enter key on your keyboard, or with your mouse, click the "arrow" button. Your results will include any content with that topic. We assign every type of content a list of topics, visible in the summary of each piece of content.

Refine your search or do an advanced search:

Apply filters to your search:

1. Click the "Advanced" button at the bottom right corner of the Search box.
2. Select one or more filters by clicking the box next to the filter. Then enter the topic, word, Bible reference, or author that you want to search on.
3. With your mouse, click the "arrow" button. This will display only the content that have the particular filters applied that you choose. For example, a search on "glory" yields a certain number of results, but when you apply the "Discipleship" filter, the number is reduced.

Search by Bible reference:

1. Click on "Bible Reference" directly above the Search box.
2. Directly under "Bible Reference" type the Scripture reference in the search box. The search engine does recognize standard abbreviations such as "1 Cor" for "1 Corinthians." With books such as Corinthians that use numerals, you must use the numeral (1 Corinthians) rather than the word (First Corinthians).
3. Hit the Enter key on your keyboard, or with your mouse, click the "arrow" button.

Get only the content closest to what you really need by using filters:

Sometimes you may want something that appeals to people with a particular interest. For example, you are speaking to your worship team, and you want training tools geared just for them or you want a PowerPoint to use in a meeting.

At these times, BuildingChurchLeaders.com filters can help you find just what you are looking for. There are several different types of filters: Type, Ministry Role, Ministry Area, Author, and more. Here's how to apply filters to your search:

1. Click on the "Advanced" button found in the bottom right hand corner of the search box. This will bring down a list of filters that can be used.
2. Suppose you are looking for a PowerPoint for an orientation meeting for your worship team. You can find only those tools that involve worship by clicking the box next to "Worship" on the filters list.
3. Enter your search term in the box above the filters and click the "arrow" button with your mouse.

You may choose multiple filters by clicking on more than one. This will narrow your search even further.

To search by multiple words:

1. Enter all the words in the search box (make sure they're separated from each other by a space).
2. Click "Word or Phrase" above the search box.
3. Hit the "enter" key on your keyboard, or click the "arrow" button just right of the search box.

This will search all content: descriptions, titles, and topics, even citations. Note that you will get only results that have all of your words.

To search by phrases:

1. Enter the phrase in the search box—surrounded by quotation marks (for example, "spiritual gift assessment").
2. Click "Word or Phrase" above the search box.
3. Hit the "enter" key on your keyboard, or click the "arrow" button just right of the search box.

This will search all content: descriptions, titles, and topics, and citations. Note that you will get only results that have all of your words—and in that exact order.

Narrow your search when there are too many results to display:

Sometimes your search query uses a common word that appears in hundreds of items (like searching on the word "leader" alone).

Here are three ways to narrow your search.

1. Add topically related words to your query. Click on the links below to explore examples of narrowing a search on "leader."
• For tools on new leaders try: new leader
• For tools about leader roles, try: leader roles
2. Use BuildingChurchLeaders.com filters to help you find just what you are looking for. There are several different types of filter: Type, Ministry Role, Ministry Area, Author, etc.

Here's how to apply filters to your search:

• Click on the "Advanced" button found in the bottom right hand corner of the search box. This will bring down a list of filters that can be used.
• Suppose you are looking for a PowerPoint for an orientation meeting for your worship team. You can find only those tools that involve worship by clicking the box next to "Worship" on the filters list.
• Enter your search term in the box above the filters and click the "arrow" button with your mouse.

You may choose multiple filters by clicking on more than one. This will narrow your search even further.

3. Browse the topics for the type of content you are looking for.

Click the "Browse Topics" link found in the top right corner of the Search box.

• Scroll down the page to find "Browse by Topic".
• Click a letter to find the all the topics associated with that letter.

If you can't find training tools that you think we probably have:

• See if we index using a different form of the word. For example, instead of searching on "forgiving," try "forgiveness." To check on possible forms of words, click on the "Browse Topics" link found in the top right corner of the Search box. Then scroll down to "Browse by Topic" section. Click on the first letter of your topic and then look for your keyword or one close to it.
• Check that you spelled the word correctly in the search field.
• Try synonyms and related ideas. For example, if you search on "money," you might not receive as many results as if you search on "stewardship."
• If you search by Bible reference and get few results, try a topic search. For example, if you search on "Acts 2:47," and don't get as many results as you needed, try searching on "membership" for more results.

The different options on the top of the search box mean:

1. "Topic," which searches only the topics (keywords) of the training tools. See the entire topic list here.
2. "Bible Reference," which searches the Bible References that have been assigned to the content.
3. "Word/Phrase," which searches the description, keywords, citation, and full text of the content. This is the most complete search available on our site.
4. "Author," which searches the original author of the training tools and citation fields of the content.

More FAQs | Back to Help & Info

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