Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Emmanuel Baptist Church — Terrell, Texas

Effective Date: July 5, 2026
Last Updated: July 5, 2026

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Emmanuel Baptist Church respects the privacy of our members, visitors, donors, volunteers, ministry participants, families, and online users. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, protect, retain, and share personal information.

For purposes of this Privacy Policy, "Emmanuel Baptist Church," "the Church," "we," "our," and "us" refer to Emmanuel Baptist Church, located in Terrell, Texas.

• Church Address: 1717 North Frances Street, Terrell, TX 75160
• Website: ebcterrell.org
• Privacy Contact: Church Administration
• Email: info@ebcterrell.org
• Phone: (972) 563-5635

1. Scope of This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to personal information collected through:

• Our website
• Online giving platforms
• Church membership records
• Worship services, events, classes, groups, and ministries
• Children's and youth ministry forms
• Volunteer applications and ministry service records
• Prayer requests and pastoral-care communications
• Email, text message, phone, and mail communications
• Photos, videos, livestreams, and other media (including Facebook Live)
• Other interactions with Emmanuel Baptist Church

This Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites, applications, or services that we do not own or control, including Facebook and other social media platforms.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect the following types of information.

A. Contact and Identification Information

• Name
• Mailing address
• Email address
• Phone number
• Household or family relationships
• Date of birth or age group
• Emergency contact information

B. Church Participation Information

We may collect information related to membership, baptism, church attendance, ministry involvement, small groups, classes or Bible studies, volunteer service, event registrations, and pastoral or administrative records. Because participation in church activities may reveal religious affiliation or beliefs, we handle this information with care and limit access to people who need it for ministry, administrative, safety, legal, or operational purposes.

C. Donation and Giving Information

If you give to Emmanuel Baptist Church, we may collect donor name, contact information, donation amount, donation date, giving method, fund or designation, giving history, and transaction confirmation information. Online donations may be processed by a third-party payment processor. We do not intentionally store full credit card, debit card, or bank account numbers.

D. Children's and Youth Ministry Information

For children's and youth ministries, we may collect child's name, parent or guardian information, age or date of birth, allergies, medical or special-care information, emergency contacts, authorized pickup information, event permission forms, and check-in and check-out information. We collect this information to help provide safe and appropriate ministry care.

E. Volunteer and Safety Information

For certain volunteer or ministry roles — especially those involving children, youth, vulnerable adults, transportation, finances, security, or facility access — we may collect volunteer applications, references, background-check information, training records, and safety-policy acknowledgments.

F. Prayer Requests and Pastoral Care Information

If you submit a prayer request or seek pastoral care, we may collect the information you choose to provide. Prayer requests may be shared with pastors, staff, deacons, ministry leaders, or prayer teams. Requests marked as confidential will be handled with additional care.

G. Website and Technical Information

When you use our website, we may automatically collect limited technical information, such as IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, date and time of visit, and general usage data.

H. Social Media and Facebook

Emmanuel Baptist Church operates a Facebook Page and uses Facebook Live for worship services and ministry content. When you interact with our Facebook Page or view our livestreams, Facebook's own privacy policy and data practices apply. We may use Facebook Page insights for general ministry planning. We do not collect or store your Facebook account information beyond what Facebook makes available through our Page.

3. How We Use Personal Information

Emmanuel Baptist Church may use personal information to:

• Communicate with members, visitors, donors, volunteers, and ministry participants
• Provide worship, discipleship, pastoral care, and ministry support
• Register individuals for events, groups, classes, and ministries
• Process donations and provide giving statements
• Maintain church membership and administrative records
• Coordinate volunteers and ministry teams
• Send church announcements, newsletters, reminders, and updates
• Respond to prayer requests and inquiries
• Support safety, security, and emergency response
• Improve our website, communications, and ministry operations
• Comply with tax, accounting, legal, insurance, and regulatory obligations

4. Text Messages, Email, and Communications

By providing your phone number or email address to Emmanuel Baptist Church, you may receive church-related communications, including ministry updates, event reminders, prayer updates, service changes, volunteer notices, and emergency messages.

You may opt out of non-essential communications by following the unsubscribe instructions in an email, replying "STOP" to applicable text messages, or contacting the Church.

5. Children's Privacy

Our children's and youth ministries are intended to serve families in connection with the Church. We generally collect children's information from parents or guardians, not directly from children online. If our website or online services collect personal information from children under 13, we will seek parental or guardian consent where required by law (COPPA).

Parents or guardians may contact us to review, correct, or request deletion of their child's information, subject to legal, safety, and recordkeeping requirements.

6. Photos, Videos, Livestreams, and Media

Emmanuel Baptist Church may take photographs, record video, livestream services on Facebook, or publish ministry-related media in connection with worship services, events, classes, outreach activities, and church communications.

Photos and videos may be used in church website content, social media (including Facebook), printed materials, newsletters, and historical or archival records.

We will use care when publishing images of children and youth. If you do not want your image or your child's image used in church media, contact us at info@ebcterrell.org. We will make reasonable efforts to honor your request, but we cannot guarantee removal from group images, livestreams already published, or third-party platforms.

7. Sharing of Personal Information

Emmanuel Baptist Church does not sell personal information. We may share personal information with:

• Church staff, pastors, deacons, ministry leaders, and volunteers who need the information for church purposes
• Service providers that help us operate the Church (payment processors, website hosts, email platforms, background-check vendors)
• Insurance providers, legal counsel, auditors, accountants, or other professional advisors
• Law enforcement, courts, or government authorities when required or appropriate
• Emergency contacts or medical responders when needed for safety
• Other parties with your consent or direction

8. Sensitive Information

Some information collected by the Church may be sensitive, including information related to religious participation, pastoral care, children, health needs, allergies, background checks, giving records, or emergency situations. We limit access to sensitive information and use it only for appropriate church, ministry, safety, legal, or administrative purposes.

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These safeguards may include limited access to records, password-protected systems, role-based access permissions, secure payment processors, locked physical files where appropriate, and staff training.

No system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If you believe your information has been improperly accessed or disclosed, contact us promptly at info@ebcterrell.org.

10. Texas Data Security and Breach Notice

Emmanuel Baptist Church intends to maintain reasonable procedures to protect sensitive personal information. If we determine that a breach of computerized data has occurred involving sensitive personal information, we will take appropriate steps under applicable Texas and federal law. Texas law requires notice to affected individuals without unreasonable delay and no later than the 60th day after determining that a breach occurred. Texas law also requires notice to the Texas Attorney General within 30 days if the breach involves at least 250 Texas residents.

11. Retention of Information

We retain personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for church, ministry, accounting, tax, legal, safety, historical, or administrative purposes. Donation records may be retained for tax, accounting, and audit purposes. Membership records may be retained for church governance and historical purposes. Children's ministry and youth ministry records may be retained for safety, administrative, and legal purposes.

12. Your Choices and Requests

You may contact Emmanuel Baptist Church to request that we:

• Update your contact information
• Correct inaccurate personal information
• Remove you from non-essential communications
• Review certain personal information we maintain about you
• Delete certain information, where appropriate
• Update your household, ministry, or giving records
• Update photo or media preferences

We will make reasonable efforts to respond to requests promptly. Some requests may be limited by legal, safety, ministry, or recordkeeping requirements. We reserve the right to verify your identity before acting on certain requests.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, law, or ministry operations. We will post the updated Privacy Policy on our website and update the "Last Updated" date. Your continued use of our website or services after the updated Privacy Policy is posted constitutes your acknowledgment of the changes.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact:

• Emmanuel Baptist Church — Church Administration
• 1717 North Frances Street, Terrell, TX 75160
• Phone: (972) 563-5635
• Email: info@ebcterrell.org