It is our policy to collect information that is relevant to the operation of our local church, our denomination, and information as is required by law (especially with regard to our charitable donation status). In so doing, we collect information regarding:
• Significant dates, such as: birth, baptism, marriage, profession of faith, death, Elder visitation, marital status, etc.
• Information as required by the Christian Reformed denomination as to membership status: professing (active/inactive, under 18), baptized (active/inactive).
• Contact information provided by you: address, phone (home and/or work), e-mail, occupation, etc.
• Financial donations made through the church.
• Information from the gift surveys.
• Summaries of family visit reports.
• Personal gifts and activities such as participation in various church areas – past or present
What do we do with this information; with whom is it shared?
Information is gathered and retained to provide the church and its leaders with information to assist in pastoral care of its membership; to facilitate enlightening its membership about items of interest. In so doing, we:
• Provide information to the church Council to assist in pastoral care.
• Provide records of our Council and Consistory minutes to our denomination, to be archived in the Historical Archives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• Provide family names and address information for publication in the Guelph Church Directory shared between xxxxx and xxxxxx (sister churches).
• Provide names and contact information of our youth to local Christian Schools and to our Reformed Colleges (Redeemer, TKUC, Trinity Christian, Dordt, Calvin, and Reformed Bible). These institutions in turn safe-guard this information for strict use in promoting the options for a Christian education.
• Provide birth dates for those over 65 for publication in the church bulletin.
• Provide year end tax receipts.
How do we protect Your information?
We enable safeguards to protect your information. Sensitive materials are:
• securely stored in safe areas:
♦locked rooms with restricted
access
♦locked safes
♦locked filing cabinets
♦computer stored information is password protected
• shredded when no longer needed.
• distributed via sealed envelopes.
What Privacy Rights Do You Have?
You have the right to request access to your personal information that we hold. You may also question or challenge the accuracy and completeness of that information.
Consent to share your information is implied. This consent allows us to share your personal information, in the following circumstances: sharing of information for the phone directory, publication of birthdays in our bulletin, information sent to local Christian schools and/or Reformed colleges. You may opt out or withdraw your consent. To withdraw your consent, contact the Privacy Officer by any of the means published on the back of this brochure.
We are committed to caring for your personal information and to use it only as it is necessary in the running of the local church, the denomination and its greater community.
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This may be of help as you formulate your church policy.
I use MailChimp to send out information to our church friends, as well as Outlook for those folks who aren't interested in opting in to MailChimp. MailChimp is free on a basic level, and we have found it useful. It allows for some creativity in addition to plain text message.
Our church regularly publishes the names of those members of our congregation over a specific age who are celebrating their birthdays. One of our members receives that list through our church software and looks after the postings in our newsletter. On occasion, there is a special announcement for a member, for example, someone who is celebrating their 100th birthday.
This question is less about what goes in the newsletter, and more about how to reach church constituents.
We publish a print version of the newsletter, and then post it to our subscribers through Mail Chimp. It's graphic-intensive (traditional approach in Publisher) to entice non-techy folks to read its contents, but creates disenfranchisement for those who prefer quick text and responsive format online.
How did your church choose a communication strategy that works for your church life people? How did you come to a decision about choice of format and choice of media?
Posted in: Church Privacy Policy Templates for Ontario?
The text of our policy includes the following:
What personal information is collected?
It is our policy to collect information that is relevant to the operation of our local church, our denomination, and information as is required by law (especially with regard to our charitable donation status). In so doing, we collect information regarding:
• Significant dates, such as: birth, baptism, marriage, profession of faith, death, Elder visitation, marital status, etc.
• Information as required by the Christian Reformed denomination as to membership status: professing (active/inactive, under 18), baptized (active/inactive).
• Contact information provided by you: address, phone (home and/or work), e-mail, occupation, etc.
• Financial donations made through the church.
• Information from the gift surveys.
• Summaries of family visit reports.
• Personal gifts and activities such as participation in various church areas – past or present
What do we do with this information; with whom is it shared?
Information is gathered and retained to provide the church and its leaders with information to assist in pastoral care of its membership; to facilitate enlightening its membership about items of interest. In so doing, we:
• Provide information to the church Council to assist in pastoral care.
• Provide records of our Council and Consistory minutes to our denomination, to be archived in the Historical Archives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• Provide family names and address information for publication in the Guelph Church Directory shared between xxxxx and xxxxxx (sister churches).
• Provide names and contact information of our youth to local Christian Schools and to our Reformed Colleges (Redeemer, TKUC, Trinity Christian, Dordt, Calvin, and Reformed Bible). These institutions in turn safe-guard this information for strict use in promoting the options for a Christian education.
• Provide birth dates for those over 65 for publication in the church bulletin.
• Provide year end tax receipts.
How do we protect Your information?
We enable safeguards to protect your information. Sensitive materials are:
• securely stored in safe areas:
♦locked rooms with restricted
access
♦locked safes
♦locked filing cabinets
♦computer stored information is
password protected
• shredded when no longer needed.
• distributed via sealed envelopes.
What Privacy Rights Do You Have?
You have the right to request access to your personal information that we hold. You may also question or challenge the accuracy and completeness of that information.
Consent to share your information is implied. This consent allows us to share your personal information, in the following circumstances: sharing of information for the phone directory, publication of birthdays in our bulletin, information sent to local Christian schools and/or Reformed colleges. You may opt out or withdraw your consent. To withdraw your consent, contact the Privacy Officer by any of the means published on the back of this brochure.
We are committed to caring for your personal information and to use it only as it is necessary in the running of the local church, the denomination and its greater community.
------------------
This may be of help as you formulate your church policy.
Posted in: Emailing Church Members
I use MailChimp to send out information to our church friends, as well as Outlook for those folks who aren't interested in opting in to MailChimp. MailChimp is free on a basic level, and we have found it useful. It allows for some creativity in addition to plain text message.
Posted in: Ideas for Recognizing Birthdays in a Congregation?
Hello Kathy,
Our church regularly publishes the names of those members of our congregation over a specific age who are celebrating their birthdays. One of our members receives that list through our church software and looks after the postings in our newsletter. On occasion, there is a special announcement for a member, for example, someone who is celebrating their 100th birthday.
Posted in: What Goes in Your Church Newsletter?
This question is less about what goes in the newsletter, and more about how to reach church constituents.
We publish a print version of the newsletter, and then post it to our subscribers through Mail Chimp. It's graphic-intensive (traditional approach in Publisher) to entice non-techy folks to read its contents, but creates disenfranchisement for those who prefer quick text and responsive format online.
How did your church choose a communication strategy that works for your church life people? How did you come to a decision about choice of format and choice of media?