Privacy policy

Reflect Church uses personal data about living individuals for the purpose of general church administration and communication.

Reflect Church recognises the importance of the correct and lawful treatment of personal data. All personal data, whether it is held on paper, on computer or other media, will be subject to the appropriate legal safeguards as specified in the General Data Protection Regulation 2017

Reflect Church fully endorses and adheres to the eight principles of the GDPR. These principles specify the legal conditions that must be satisfied in relation to obtaining, handling, processing, transportation and storage of personal data. Employees and any others who obtain, handle, process, transport and store personal data for Reflect Church must adhere to these principles.

The Principles

The principles require that personal data shall:

  1. Be processed fairly and lawfully and shall not be processed unless certain conditions are met.
  2. Be obtained for a specified and lawful purpose and shall not be processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose.
  3. Be adequate, relevant and not excessive for those purposes.
  4. Be accurate and where necessary, kept up to date.
  5. Not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose.
  6. Be processed in accordance with the data subject’s rights.
  7. Be kept secure from unauthorised or unlawful processing and protected against accidental loss, destruction or damage by using the appropriate technical and organisational measures.
  8. Not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area, unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

Introduction

Reflect Church – the church – has adopted this Privacy Policy as we recognise and take seriously the right of people to keep their personal information private.  This Policy covers the church’s use of personal information that you provide, and that we collect and hold, including the use of the website: https://reflect.church

By continuing to use this website you are agreeing to comply with the following terms and conditions of use that govern the church’s relationship with you. Should you disagree with any part of the Policy please desist from providing any personal information and/or using the website.

Data Protection

The Policy explains how Reflect Church complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that comes into effect on May 25th, 2018.

By providing your personal details/information you are agreeing to allow Reflect Church to contact you by telephone, email, mail, or SMS text in connection with its charitable purposes.

1. Maintaining Confidentiality

Reflect Church will treat all your personal information as private and confidential and not disclose any data about you to anyone other than the leadership and ministry overseers of the church in order to facilitate the administration and day-to-day ministry of the church.

There are four exceptional circumstances to the above permitted by law:

  1. Where we are legally compelled to do so.
  2. Where there is a duty to the public to disclose.
  3. Where disclosure is required to protect your interest.
  4. Where disclosure is made at your request or with your consent.

2. Use of Personal Information

Reflect Church will use the personal information we collect for the purpose disclosed at the time of collection, or otherwise as set out in this Privacy Policy.

Generally, we use and disclose your personal information as follows:

  1. The day-to-day administration of the church; e.g. pastoral care and oversight including calls and visits, preparation of ministry rotas, maintaining financial records of giving for audit and tax purposes. (This is not an exhaustive list)
  2. To establish and maintain your involvement in the church and contacting you to keep you informed of church services, activities and events.
  3. Statistical analysis; gaining a better understanding of church demographics.

N.B. although collated church data may be passed to a third party, such as number of small groups or small group’s attendance, no personal data will be disclosed.

3. Collection of Information

Data is collected through various methods when individuals:

  • Complete a Connect Card at church events
  • Visit the website at reflect.church
  • Make a donation through give.reflect.church
  • Provide personal details to church staff and volunteers
  • Communicate with the church via email, letter, or telephone
  • Access church social media platforms (Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram)

For all of these methods of data collection, the method of collection, storage and sharing will be subject to GDPR regulations.

The church does not hold debit or credit card details. Card payments are handled by Stripe, a regulated payment processor, which encrypts and stores card data according to PCI DSS standards. Reflect Church never sees or stores your card number.

Bank payments made via the giving page are processed through GoCardless, a regulated payment institution authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

4. Online Giving

Reflect Church collects donations through give.reflect.church. When you give online, we collect:

  • Your name and email address — to issue receipts and maintain our giving records
  • Your postcode and address (if you choose to add Gift Aid) — required by HMRC to process Gift Aid declarations
  • Transaction details — amount, date, payment method, and a reference from our payment processor

This information is stored securely on servers within the UK and European Economic Area. It is used only to process your donation, issue receipts, maintain financial records for charity audit purposes, and (where applicable) claim Gift Aid on your behalf with HMRC.

We do not share your donation data with third parties except as required by law or for the direct processing of your payment (GoCardless, Stripe).

You have the right to request a copy of the data we hold about you, or to ask us to delete it. To do so, contact us at admin@reflect.church.

5. The Reflect Church Database

Reflect Church maintains a pastoral database using Planning Center (planningcenteronline.com) to support the administration and ministry of the church. Information held in the database is used only for the purposes described in this policy.

Planning Center is a US-based service. Data transferred to Planning Center is subject to appropriate safeguards in accordance with UK GDPR, including standard contractual clauses. You can view Planning Center’s privacy policy at planningcenter.com/privacy.

Access to church records in Planning Center is strictly controlled — only Reflect Church trustees, staff, and authorised team leaders may access it, and only to the areas relevant to their role.

Your data will not be accessed by any authorised users outside of the EEA without your prior consent, in accordance with UK GDPR.

Subject Access Rights:

All individuals whose personal data the church holds are entitled to:

  • Ask what information the church holds about them and why
  • Ask how to gain access to it
  • Be informed how to keep records up to date
  • Be informed what Reflect Church is doing to comply with its obligations under GDPR

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at admin@reflect.church.

Data sharing:

We do not sell or pass your personal information to any other organisations or individuals without your express consent, with the following exceptions: we use Mailchimp to send email communications to those who have opted in. By providing your details you give Reflect Church permission to transfer your email address to Mailchimp for this purpose only.

Sensitive personal information:

The church may collect and store sensitive personal information such as health information or religious attendance records when you or your family attend church events. This information is kept strictly confidential and is never sold, given away, or shared with anyone unless required by law.

Cookies Policy

Cookies are small amounts of information that we store on your computer. Unless you have indicated your objection when disclosing your details to us, our system will issue cookies to your computer when you log on to the site.

You may set up your computer to reject cookies although, in that case, you may not be able to use certain features on our site.

Social Media

The church uses social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Users should verify authenticity of sites before posting or providing personal information on such sites.

Our website may provide social media buttons, permitting sharing our web content directly to a social media platform. Use of such buttons is at your own risk.Unless it is material supplied or officially posted by the church we do not endorse social media website(s) and have no responsibility for the content nor for the cookies they may contain.

Policy Changes

The church may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time to ensure compliance with changes to UK law. Updated versions will be available at https://reflect.church/privacy.

Last updated: June 2026