Privacy Policy

Saint Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church ("Saint Elias," "we," "our," or "us") respects your privacy. This policy applies to our website and describes how we handle information you share with us here.

Last updated: [to confirm]

Information we collect

We try to collect only what we need to serve our parish and those who reach out to us:

• Contact-form information. When you use a contact or inquiry form, we collect the information you choose to give us — typically your name, email address or phone number, and your message.
• Giving and donation information. When you make a gift, your payment details (such as your card or bank information) are collected and processed by a trusted third-party payment processor, not stored by us directly. We may receive a record of your gift, such as the amount, date, and your name and contact information, for our stewardship records and to thank you.
• Basic website analytics. Like most websites, we may collect limited, largely anonymous technical information — such as the pages visited, general location, browser type, and referring links — to understand how the site is used and to improve it.

How we use your information

We use the information above only for ordinary parish purposes, including to:

• Respond to your questions, prayer requests, and messages;
• Process and acknowledge your gifts and maintain stewardship records;
• Send parish news, service updates, and announcements — but only if you have asked to receive them;
• Maintain, secure, and improve our website.

We do not sell your information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to anyone. We do not share it for others' marketing. We treat what you share with us as a matter of trust.

Third-party services

We rely on a few reputable outside services to run the website and parish life. When you use those features, your information is handled under their own privacy policies as well as ours. These may include:

• A payment processor that securely handles online giving and any purchases;
• Streaming and social platforms (such as Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram) where we share services and posts;
• An email service we may use to send parish news to those who have opted in.

We encourage you to review the privacy practices of any third-party service you use.

Cookies and analytics

Our website may use cookies or similar technologies to help the site function and to gather the basic, largely anonymous analytics described above. Most web browsers let you refuse or delete cookies through your browser settings. Turning cookies off should not prevent you from reading the site, though a few conveniences may not work as smoothly.

How we protect your information

We take reasonable, common-sense steps to protect the information entrusted to us and to work with service providers who do the same. Please understand, however, that no method of transmitting or storing information online can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Children's privacy

Our website is intended for a general audience and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children online. If you believe a child has provided us information through the website, please contact us and we will remove it.

Your choices

• Unsubscribe at any time. Every parish email includes a way to unsubscribe, and you can always ask us to stop contacting you.
• Request access or deletion. You may ask us what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or request that we delete it, subject to any records we are required to keep.
• Decline optional data. You are never required to give more than you wish; some information is simply needed to respond to you or to process a gift.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time as our website or practices change. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above. Significant changes may also be noted on the site.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this policy or about how your information is handled, we would be glad to hear from you. Please visit our contact page to reach the parish office.