Inman Mills Baptist Church Website Policy
Introduction: Inman Mills Baptist Church maintains a website to provide church members and the general public with a convenient source of information about the ministries of IMBC. Information posted to the website can come from a variety of sources within the congregation, but principally the information comes from within the ministries themselves, either by action of the associated church staff or by ministry members directly.
Goal of the Policy: Since the website is publicly accessible, this policy seeks to guide two groups: 1) those who are preparing information to be posted to the website, and 2) those staff, members, guests, friends and visitors who attend worship services, special events, tours, concerts, Sunday school classes, fellowship meetings, ministry meetings or other gatherings taking place in the life of this congregation. For both groups, this policy is to provide guidance about what information is appropriate for posting to the site and to set the expectation about what information is likely to be posted. Special care has been given to create a balance between the utility of the website and the privacy of individuals.
Administration of the Policy: Every individual of ministry who posts to the site is responsible for the content they post. To assist in the administration of the site, periodic reviews will be made of the contents of the website to ensure that this policy is being followed. All ministries, deacons and staff will be given copies of this policy and will be expected to familiarize themselves with the policy’s objectives and provisions.
Policy: IMBC does not guarantee the confidentiality of information that is placed on the website, but will make reasonable efforts to restrict its use to IMBC related activities and staff.
IMBC will not sell, trade or release any personal information that an individual provides to us, with the exception of situations where IMBC is required to comply with government, court, and law enforcement requests.
The following information can be posted without prior written permission of the person depicted or described:
- Names, office phone numbers, extensions, and email addresses of staff persons.
- Photographs of staff members leading or attending an IMBC event.
- Narrative descriptions of events which contain the names of staff persons.
- Staff biographical information.
- First and/or last names of adult members when those members are designated as a contact person for an event or activity.
- Photographs of adults attending an IMBC sponsored event or activity, with accompanying first name identification.
- Photographs and full names of staff members.
- Calendar dates and physical locations of Associational meetings, and the names of IMBC officers and staff who will be attending.
- Descriptive announcements of scheduled events which contain the names of persons in a leadership role. For example, a visiting speaker, musician, or other local dignitary.
The following information must not be posted without prior written permission of the person described or depicted. This permission must be provided using the IMBC Web Privacy Release Form. If the person is a minor, written permission must be received from the parent or legal guardian and placed on file in the Church Office.
- Personal email addresses of IMBC staff persons, members, visitors, friends or anyone unrelated to the congregation.
- Personal home or mobile phone numbers of IMBC staff persons, members, visitors, friends or anyone unrelated to the congregation.
- Narrative descriptions of events which include the last names of persons.
- Photographs of adults with accompanying last names.
Whenever photographs of minors attending IMBC events are published on the website, the following criteria must be observed:
- No identifying captions will be used with any picture. In other words, no child’s name will be published with his or her picture.
- We will not post close-up or individual photos of minors without first receiving written permission from a parent or guardian.
Information concerning any individual’s birthday, age, wedding anniversary, illness, death, marriage, prayer requests or praises are not appropriate for posting.
Media Notice: Photography and video recording take place during our public services and events. This media may be used on our church website and social media channels. We never publish names or close-up photos of children without direct parental consent. If you prefer not to be photographed, or you would like a photo removed from our website or social media, please contact the church office at 864-472-6324 or email us at info@inmanmillsbaptist.com.