These terms explain, in plain language, how membership in Gathered in Bloom works. By joining, hosting, or giving through gatheredinbloom.com, you agree to them.
Who we are
Gathered in Bloom is a reading fellowship for women, run as a ministry by a Wyoming limited liability company. Our mailing address is 30 N Gould St, Sheridan, WY 82801. When we say "we" or "us" on this page, we mean that company and the people who serve in it.
Membership
- Every member reads with a group. You join a group near you, join with a code from a host, or host a group yourself. There are no read-alone memberships.
- Your membership is personal. Your sign-in and the companion are for you; please don't share them. If a friend wants to come, invite her to join, or point her to a scholarship.
- Hosts are members too, and pay the same dues, except when the host reward below makes a renewal free.
Dues and renewal
- Membership is $49 for 12 months, starting the day you join.
- Your membership renews automatically each year on the date you joined, at $49, charged to the card you used when you joined. We email you 16 days before it renews, with the date, the amount, and which companion will ship.
- You can cancel anytime before your renewal date from your account page. Canceling stops the next renewal; your membership continues until the end of the 12 months you already paid for.
- Dues are non-refundable, and all sales are final. That includes a year you stop attending partway through.
- Dues are dues, and the companion is included with them. We don't sell the companion on its own: an early copy (see "The companion" below) is paid ahead of your next renewal and taken off it.
Setting up renewal after a year that doesn't renew
- A Sponsor a Sister gift year, a scholarship year, or a paid year whose renewal you canceled ends on its own. Sixteen days before a gift year ends, we email you a link to your account page, where you can set up renewal at $49 a year.
- If you set it up at least two days before your current year ends, you are not charged until it ends, and your renewal date stays the same. Otherwise you are charged when you set it up, and your new year begins when the current one ends, or that day if it has already ended. Either way, it then renews automatically each year at $49 until you cancel.
The companion
- A new 9-book companion comes out each year, in December or January, and every companion stays available after that. Your host chooses the companion your group reads, and the group reads its books in order at the rhythm she sets; most groups meet once a month.
- Your membership includes the companion your group is reading. You don't choose your own; it follows your group.
- When you renew, we send the companion your group is reading on your renewal date. If you already have that one, nothing new ships that year.
- If your host moves the group to a new companion partway through your year, you can get it right away for $15, which comes off your next renewal, or receive it when you renew. You choose on your account page. The $15 is non-refundable, like dues. The offer ends if your group changes companions again before you buy, if you leave the group, or if your membership lapses.
- Members on a scholarship receive their group's companion as a PDF, whichever one the group is reading.
What members receive
- A seat in a group that meets once a month.
- The reading companion. Members whose year is paid, by their own dues or by a Sponsor a Sister gift, receive it in print; members on a scholarship receive it as a PDF.
- The member documents, on your account page while your membership is active.
- Every PDF we provide is marked with your name and email address. It is for you alone.
Scholarships and Sponsor a Sister
- If you can't afford dues right now, you may ask for a scholarship privately. Brittany reads every request and decides each one personally. A scholarship covers 12 months from the day it is approved and does not renew on its own; you may ask again.
- Sponsor a Sister gifts are gifts to our ministry, not charitable donations: gifts are not tax-deductible, and they are non-refundable. Each gift is $49 for one 12-month membership. You may give in two ways:
- A general gift goes into our Sponsor a Sister fund, which pays for scholarship memberships. You don't choose who receives it, so every scholarship stays private.
- A named gift gives one membership each to one or more women you name, by name and email. You can't name yourself. We email each woman her own personal link to claim it. The link works once, and it doesn't expire; if a gift stays unclaimed, we may move it into the Sponsor a Sister fund, where it pays for a scholarship instead. We tell her who gave it only if you ask us to.
When you receive a named gift
Claiming a gift signs you in. What it does depends on your membership on the day you claim it:
- If you aren't a member, you choose a group by the same rules as joining, and give a US mailing address. Your gift year starts that day and includes the printed companion.
- If your membership has lapsed or been canceled, a gift year starts that day, and that becomes your new renewal date. If a failed renewal payment is still being retried, we stop it.
- If your membership is active and renews automatically, your next renewal is free, dues and companion. After that it renews at $49 as usual.
- If your membership is active but doesn't renew automatically, your gift year begins when your current year ends.
A gift year doesn't renew on its own. See "Setting up renewal" above.
Groups and hosts
- Hosts lead their own groups, in their own homes or churches. We train hosts, but each group is hosted by a volunteer, not by our staff, and we are not responsible for what happens at a private home or a church building.
- A host may add or remove people from her group. If a membership lapses, her host may give one 30-day grace period or let us know you are no longer in the group.
- The host reward. A host's renewal, dues and companion, is free when, on her renewal date, her group is live and has at least 6 members besides her whose current year was paid, by their own dues or by a named Sponsor a Sister gift. Scholarship members don't count toward the 6. It is judged on the renewal date only, and applies to a host whose membership renews automatically. The reward is a discretionary benefit of the program, not part of what dues buy; we may change or end it, and we will tell hosts before a change takes effect.
- Attendance is never required. If you miss two meetings in a row, we may send you a note of encouragement.
Content
- The books we read are written by others. Reading a book together doesn't mean we agree with everything in it. Each book comes with an honest content note so you can decide for yourself.
- The companion and this site belong to Bloom. Please don't copy or share them outside your membership.
Changes and contact
- We may update these terms. When we make a change that matters, we will email members before it takes effect.
- Questions? Reply to any email from us, or write to us at 30 N Gould St, Sheridan, WY 82801.