• Effective date: October 28, 2024.
• Latest Revision: October 28, 2024.

Calvin Presbyterian Church (“Calvin,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) values your online privacy and personal security. This privacy policy describes the type of information we collect and how we use it. Information is shared only within our own ministry and occasionally shared by us on your behalf with our donations and payments merchant, Vanco Payment Solutions.

What information do we collect? Calvin only collects information you provide, or other publicly available information (such as looking up a full zip code number). This could include your contact information, such as your name, address, phone number, and email address. We sometimes collect birthdates and anniversaries as a means of connecting congregants to one another. We may also temporarily collect payment information, such as a credit/debit card numbers, the card’s expiration date, and other billing information if you donate or pay online (although such information never resides permanently with Calvin, but only with our donations and payment merchant).

How do we use your information? Calvin uses your information for internal purposes, to better connect with you and to connect you with others involved with our church. Payment information is used to process your donations and payments. Personal contact information is used to send you contribution statements.

What happens with my donation information? Your donation history and details are only available to authorized staff and certain members of church leadership. The pastors and majority of staff members cannot see your giving history. There is a small team of “counters” who help with processing donation information; this small group of people is comprised of a few individuals from the Finance Team as well as present and former members of Session. We keep donation and payment information for a minimum of seven years. Old paper financial records are securely shredded.

Will we share your information with others? We do not share your personal information with outside organizations; however, we may provide your information to third parties to process a transaction you have initiated with us. Personal information may also be shared with another church in the process of transferring membership. Statistical information absent of any personal identifiers is shared with our presbytery, Presbytery of the Northwest Coast, and our denomination, Presbyterian Church (USA).

No mobile or personal contact information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. We do not share or sell your data.

How do we protect your information? We are committed to protecting your personal and payment information. Our ministry has implemented security measures, including Internet encryption software, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol, and firewalls to prevent information from being compromised. Payment information is accessible only by authorized individuals to process this information. Our payment merchant complies with government standards for protecting credit card and banking information.

What about cookies? Our website uses “cookies” to better interact with you. A cookie is a small piece of data that is stored on your computer’s hard drive that allows our website to remember your preferences and interactions with the website. A cookie does not access other information from your hard drive or other cookie files you may have from other sites. You can decline cookies through your browser settings. However, if you do decline cookies, certain functions of our website may not be available.

Our website also collects some of your computer information, such as your device information, IP address, and referring URLs, when you navigate our website or fill out a form (such as an attendance form or a prayer request). This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our website; it may also be used for internal analytics and reporting purposes.

Links to other websites? Our website includes links to other websites. Please be aware that this privacy policy applies only to our own website, calvinpc.org. The privacy measures taken by these websites can be found in each website’s own privacy policy.

How do I remove my email address from your mailing list? If you would like to stop receiving emails from Calvin, you can do so by clicking on the unsubscribe link that is included at the bottom of every newsletter email we send. All requests to be taken off our mailing lists will be honored.

How do I contact your ministry with any questions? Reading this privacy notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our website or its services (sermons, forms, etc).

We are happy to receive and respond to any questions you may have about this privacy policy. Feel free to send your questions to finance@calvinpc.org.