Among other things, I serve as the webmaster for a church. Specifically, a Methodist church.
The church was recently sent a message by a web developer noting that the church site did not have a Terms and Conditions statement, nor a Privacy Policy page. One of the church leaders forwarded the message to me, asking if we needed to do anything. Here is the critical part of the message:
We noticed your website does not have a “Terms and Conditions” and “Privacy Policy”. It is recommended that all websites have these. Often times they are linked to in the website footer. Would you like to add these to your footer? If so, we just need you to forward us the text for each of these. You can have a lawyer write these up or you can use services like Rocket Lawyer or Legal Zoom to generate custom documents.
I thought about it for — seconds. Then I discussed it with my spouse. She is ordained, and has more theological education and training than I do (or want to have). While I thought the request mildly funny, she thought it hilarious.
Let us consider the idea of Terms and Conditions. These statements are usually drafted by lawyers to defend a company from people wanting their money back. Do you buy a pair of shoes, wear them out, and want your money back? The Terms and Conditions say too bad; normal wear and tear is not the company’s problem. Was the beer you just drank not to your liking? Too bad; the bar does not want it back, and isn’t giving your money back, either.
Do Methodists have Terms and Conditions? Along with many other denominations, Methodists practice open communion, allowing anyone to come forward and take communion, as it is not the province of the Methodist church (or humans) to come between an individual and Christ. Should Methodists place a Terms and Conditions statement on their church website? It wouldn’t be very useful, as it would essentially state that there are no terms and conditions. The site you are visiting right this second doesn’t have a Terms and Conditions page, either (that might change; I have an impish desire to create one), though we do have a Disclaimer.
What about a Privacy Policy? A Privacy Policy usually tells website visitors what information is collected by the website, so that visitors will have knowledge of how that information would be used. This is important on a commercial site, as they often collect gobs of information that they use for commercial purposes, mostly targeted advertising. But for a church? Methodists do not practice the Sacrament of Penance, better known as “confession,” which means there isn’t any mechanism for providing confidential information on the website, and as no personal information is collected, or required, or needed, none is collected. The site you are visiting right this second does have a Privacy Policy, but it doesn’t say much beyond stating that we don’t collect anything, either.
If you find a church site that has a Terms and Conditions statement, or a Privacy Policy, please tell us. It should be a fun read.
