Privacy, Media & Online Ministry
Privacy, Media, and Online Ministry Policies of
The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Allegan - A Parish of the Diocese of the Great Lakes
Effective Date: September 5th, 2026 - Last Updated: September 5th, 2026
A Note About This Page
We use our website and online presence to help the people of Good Shepherd stay connected with our parish, welcome new people, share information regarding our worship and ministries, and participate in the wider life of The Episcopal Church.
Because doing that involves things like online forms, cookies, analytics, digital giving, photographs, livestreams, and social media, we want to be straightforward about how those things work.
This page explains, in plain language, what information we may collect, how we use it, and what you can expect when you interact with Good Shepherd online or participate in our worship and ministries.
We have tried to make this understandable rather than overly technical. If you have a question that isn't answered here, please don't hesitate to ask your Vestryman of the Day on a Sunday or send your query via the Contact Form.
Who We Are
The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Allegan is a parish of the Diocese of the Great Lakes and part of The Episcopal Church.
Some of our ministries—particularly those involving children and youth, pastoral care, community outreach, and the life of the wider Church—are also guided by policies and practices established by the Diocese and The Episcopal Church. Where applicable, those policies apply (and may at times supersede) the information described on this page.
Information You Give Us -
Most of the information we have about you is information you choose to give us.
For example, you might provide your:
Name
Email address
Phone number
Mailing address
Prayer request
Event or ministry registration information
Volunteer information
Donation information
Message or question sent through our website
Other information you choose to share with us
We use this information for ordinary Church and ministry purposes—for example, responding to you, communicating about an event, coordinating a ministry, responding to a prayer request, or maintaining appropriate Church records.
Please use good judgment when sharing personal or sensitive information online! In particular, remember that a prayer request or message submitted through a website form should not automatically be assumed to be confidential or legally privileged.
Website Forms & Prayer Requests
Our website may include forms for contacting us, requesting prayer, registering for events, volunteering, signing up for communications, or participating in other ministries.
Information submitted through these forms may be received and stored by Good Shepherd and/or by services that help us operate our website and ministries.
A word about prayer requests
We know that prayer requests can involve deeply personal circumstances. If you submit one through our website, please only include information you are comfortable sharing with the people who may reasonably need to see it—for example, clergy, staff, or members of an appropriate prayer ministry.
If you want us to know about a prayer concern but do not want it shared beyond a particular person or group, please tell us that when you submit it or contact us directly. Otherwise the name of the individual(s) for whom prayer has been requested may appear in the bulletin and be read in the “Prayers of the People” on Sunday.
Online Giving -
We are grateful for the many ways people support the ministry of Good Shepherd.
If you choose to give online, your donation is processed through Squarespace and its applicable payment-processing services.
The Church does not receive or maintain your complete credit-card number, debit-card number, or banking credentials on our own systems. Squarespace and its payment-processing partners handle the actual payment transaction.
The Church may receive information we need to properly record and acknowledge your gift, such as:
Your name
Contact information
Amount of your gift
Date of your gift
The ministry or fund to which your gift is designated
Transaction or receipt information
We may retain donation records as needed for financial accounting, tax reporting, acknowledgments, legal requirements, and appropriate Church recordkeeping.
If you have a question or concern about an online donation, please contact us:
Secretary@GoodShepherdAllegan.org
(269) 673-2254
Cookies -
Like most modern websites, our website uses cookies and similar technologies.
Cookies are small pieces of information that a website may store on your device. Some are necessary simply to make the website work. Others can help us understand how people use the site or remember certain preferences.
Our website's cookie settings allow visitors to choose how cookies are used. You can choose to allow only cookies that are necessary for the website to function, or you can permit additional categories of cookies.
The choices you make through our cookie controls are respected by the website to the extent supported by the technologies we use.
Because our website is hosted and operated through Squarespace, Squarespace and services integrated with it may use cookies or similar technologies as part of providing the website.
You can also manage cookies through your web browser, although disabling certain cookies may affect how some websites function.
Website Analytics
We use Squarespace Analytics to help us understand how our website is being used.
This helps us answer fairly ordinary questions, such as:
Which pages are people visiting?
Are people finding the information they're looking for?
How are visitors finding our website?
Are there parts of the site that could be made clearer or more useful?
How much interest is there in particular online ministry resources?
Analytics may involve information such as pages visited, general geographic information, browser or device type, referring websites, and general patterns of website use.
We use this information to improve our website and online ministry. We are not using website analytics to build personal profiles of individual visitors for unrelated purposes.
Where applicable, non-essential analytics technologies are subject to the cookie preferences selected by the visitor.
Social Media, Photos & Streaming -
Facebook & Instagram
Good Shepherd maintains official accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
We use these platforms to share things such as worship information, parish announcements, photographs, ministry activities, educational material, sermons, community information, and other parts of our life together.
Our website may link to or display material from these platforms.
Facebook and Instagram are independent companies and services. When you use them, their own privacy policies and terms apply. We cannot control what information those companies collect about their users or how they use it.
YouTube and Online Video
We may occasionally use YouTube for livestreaming, worship recordings, sermons, or other Church-related video content.
As with Facebook and Instagram, YouTube is a third-party service with its own privacy policy and terms.
We may also link to or embed YouTube videos on our website. Depending on how an embedded service works, visiting a page containing third-party content may result in that service receiving technical information about your visit.
Photos, Video, Audio & Livestreaming
We love sharing the story and goings-on of our parish with the community! This is also the best way for our parishioners to get the best photos and videos of special events around the parish such as pagents, holiday services, etc. so we work with our two professional photographers in the congregation and share a lot of pictures to our socials when possible!
From time to time, worship services and parish events are photographed, audio recorded, videotaped, or livestreamed.
Our worship and other Church activities may be livestreamed through Facebook, Instagram, and occasionally YouTube.
We may also use photographs and recordings in:
Our website
Facebook and Instagram
YouTube
Newsletters and parish communications
Promotional or informational materials
Sermon and worship archives
Historical records
Other ordinary Church and ministry communications
In short - if you're at church, you may appear in a recording.
We make reasonable efforts to provide notice when photography, recording, or livestreaming is taking place. However, it isn't always possible to identify every person who may appear incidentally in the background of a photograph, video, or livestream.
If you do not wish to be photographed, recorded, or included in a livestream, please let a member of the vestry, staff, or livestream/media team know before the service or event whenever reasonably possible.
We will make reasonable efforts to accommodate such requests!
The Church intends to conduct its photography, recording, and livestreaming activities in accordance with applicable Michigan and federal law.
Nothing on this page is intended to authorize the recording of a private conversation or activity where doing so would otherwise be unlawful.
What if you find a picture of yourself?
If you find your recognizable likeness in a photograph or other Church media on our website or official social media and would like us to remove it, please just let us know.
Send us an email at:
Secretary@GoodShepherdAllegan.org
If possible, include a link to the photograph or a description of where it appears.
We'll review the request and make reasonable efforts to remove or replace identifiable photographs or other media that are under our control.
Please understand that once something has been shared online, we cannot guarantee that copies haven't been downloaded, reposted, shared, or archived by other people or platforms.
A Note About Children & Youth
The safety and well-being of children and youth are important to us.
Good Shepherd follows applicable safeguarding and child-protection requirements, including policies and practices of the Diocese of the Great Lakes and The Episcopal Church, as well as applicable state and federal law.
Photographs, recordings, or other information involving children and youth may be handled differently depending on the circumstances and the applicable Church policies.
Parents and guardians who have questions or concerns about a child's appearance in photographs, recordings, livestreams, publications, or online content are always welcome to contact us.
Parents and guardians should also use discretion when providing information about children through online forms.
Music & Worship Recordings
Our worship services may include hymns, service music, readings, performances, and other copyrighted material.
Good Shepherd maintains music licensing through RiteSong where applicable to our worship and music ministry.
Because music licensing and online distribution can involve different permissions from those required for in-person worship, portions of a service may occasionally be muted, edited, omitted, or otherwise treated differently in an online recording or livestream.
We appreciate your understanding when this happens.
Copyright in music, artwork, readings, or other material that belongs to someone other than Good Shepherd remains with its respective copyright holder.
All Else to be Mentioned… -
Custom Fonts & Website Design
Our website may use custom or hosted fonts and other technologies that help give the site its visual appearance and make it easier to read.
Depending on how a particular font or technology is provided, your browser may need to request information or files from our website or from a third-party provider.
As with any request for online content, this may involve ordinary technical information such as your IP address, browser type, or device information.
We use these technologies simply to provide the website's appearance, branding, readability, accessibility, and functionality.
Information We Share
We may share information within the Church when it is reasonably necessary for ministry or administration.
For example, information may be shared with appropriate clergy, staff, ministry leaders, or volunteers when needed to respond to a request or carry out a ministry.
We may also use third-party services that help us operate the Church's website and online ministry, including services for:
Website hosting
Online giving and payment processing
Email and communications
Analytics
Event registration
Technology and website support
We may also disclose information when required by law or legal process, or when reasonably necessary to protect the safety, rights, property, or legitimate interests of the Church or others.
We do not sell your personal information.
How Long We Keep Information
We keep information for as long as we reasonably need it for the purpose for which it was collected or for legitimate Church purposes.
Some information may need to be kept longer for financial, tax, legal, administrative, safeguarding, historical, or recordkeeping reasons.
Third-party services such as Squarespace, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have their own data-retention practices and policies, which are outside the Church's control.
Keeping Information Secure
We take reasonable steps to protect information that is within our control.
At the same time, no website, email system, online form, or Internet transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
For that reason, please use appropriate discretion when deciding what personal or sensitive information to send to us online.
Email Communications
If you give us your email address, we may use it to respond to you, provide information you've requested, communicate about Church activities, or send parish announcements and other ministry communications.
If you receive non-essential email communications from us, you may unsubscribe using the instructions provided in the message or by contacting us.
We may still send necessary administrative or transactional communications when appropriate.
Accessibility -
We believe everyone should be able to participate in the life of Good Shepherd, including online. We have intentionally designed this website with accessibility in mind, including clear and consistent navigation, readable text and contrast, keyboard-friendly navigation, appropriately sized controls, straightforward forms, and a simple, uncluttered design that works well for people who use screen readers, have visual, hearing, mobility, cognitive, or other disabilities; or simply prefer a more straightforward online experience.
We know that accessibility is not a one-size-fits-all matter, and we welcome your feedback. If you encounter something that makes our website difficult to see, hear, understand, navigate, or use, please let us know—we want to keep making our online ministry better and more welcoming for everyone!
Links to Other Websites
Our website may include links to other websites, ministries, organizations, or services.
A link from our website does not necessarily mean that Good Shepherd endorses or controls that website.
Once you leave our website, this policy no longer governs your activity. We encourage you to review the privacy practices and terms of any website you visit.
Church Materials & Copyright
We create and share a great deal of material as part of our ministry, including written content, photographs, graphics, videos, sermons, logos, and other creative works.
Unless otherwise indicated, original materials created by Good Shepherd are owned by the Church or are used with appropriate permission.
Please don't reproduce or commercially use Church-owned material without permission, except where permitted by law.
Materials belonging to other individuals, organizations, or copyright holders remain theirs.
Website Accuracy & Availability
We do our best to keep our website accurate and current, but information can change.
Worship times, events, schedules, contact information, and other details may occasionally be out of date or contain errors.
We also can't promise that the website, livestreams, online giving, forms, or other online services will always be available or work perfectly. Internet outages, maintenance, technical problems, and problems with third-party services can happen.
Your Questions, Requests & Concerns -
If you have a question about this policy, information you've submitted to us, online giving, a website form, photography or recording, or anything else related to our online ministry, please contact us.
The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Allegan - A Parish of the Diocese of the Great Lakes
101 N. Walnut Street
Allegan, MI 49010
Email: Secretary@GoodShepherdAllegan.org
Phone: (269) 673-2254
If you ask us to make a change to information we maintain, or request removal of a photograph or other media, we may need enough information to identify the material or verify the request.
Some information may need to be retained for financial, legal, tax, safeguarding, administrative, historical, or other legitimate Church purposes.
Changes to This Page
As our website, technology, ministry practices, and the services we use change, we may update this policy.
When we do, we'll update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page.
We encourage you to check back from time to time for the current version.
One Last Thing…
This page is intended to give you a clear and honest picture of how Good Shepherd approaches privacy, information, photography, recording, online giving, and our digital ministry.
It is not intended to replace applicable law or policies of the Diocese of the Great Lakes or The Episcopal Church. Where a particular ministry or activity is governed by additional Church, diocesan, safeguarding, or legal requirements, those requirements continue to apply.
Thank you for visiting Good Shepherd (online), and thank you for being part of our community—whether you've been with us for years, are just finding us, or are joining us from somewhere far beyond Allegan!