Privacy Policy

University Reformed Church (“URC,” “we,” “us”) cares for the people who visit this site. This page explains what information we collect, how we use it, and how to reach us if you have questions. It applies to universityreformedchurch.org and related pages we publish.

Who we are

University Reformed Church is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America in East Lansing, Michigan.

841 Timberlane St, East Lansing, MI 48823
517.351.6810
urc@urcstaff.org

Information you give us

You may choose to share information with us when you use this site—for example when you contact the church office, sign up for the weekly newsletter, request the building, volunteer, give online, or use member tools. That often includes your name, email address, phone number, and whatever you write in a form or message.

Depending on the form, your submission is processed through Gravity Forms on our WordPress site or through FellowshipOne ministry forms. Both providers receive the information you submit and handle it under their own privacy policies.

We use that information to respond to you, care for the congregation, and carry out the ministry you asked about. We do not sell it.

How this site is hosted

This website is delivered through Cloudflare’s global network. Like most hosts, Cloudflare may log technical details about your visit—such as your IP address, browser type, and pages requested—to serve the site, protect it from abuse, and improve performance. Cloudflare’s practices are described in the Cloudflare Privacy Policy.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, loaded through Google Tag Manager, to understand how people use the site—pages visited, approximate location, device and browser, how you arrived here, and similar usage details. We may also record when certain forms are successfully submitted (which form and which page—not the contents of your answers). Google may set cookies on your device and receive this information. Google’s own practices are described in the Google Privacy Policy.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser. Google also offers a Analytics opt-out add-on for many browsers.

Microsoft Clarity

We also use Microsoft Clarity to understand how people use the site. Clarity may record pages visited, clicks, scrolls, and similar interaction data, and may create anonymized session recordings and heatmaps so we can see where the site is confusing or broken. Clarity may set cookies on your device and receive this information. Microsoft’s practices are described in the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser. Clarity also offers an opt-out for session recording on sites that use Clarity.

Global Privacy Control

If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal—either the Sec-GPC request header or navigator.globalPrivacyControl—we treat that as a request not to share your browsing data with Google Analytics or Microsoft Clarity. In that case we set Google Consent Mode to denied for those tags before Tag Manager loads, so GA and Clarity do not run for that visit. We publish this commitment at /.well-known/gpc.json. Cloudflare Web Analytics, which measures traffic on our own network without those third-party trackers, may still run.

Cookies and browser storage

Cookies are small files stored on your device. We use them for analytics (including Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity) and, where needed, to keep a form or login working. Cloudflare Turnstile—a bot-protection check on many forms—may also set cookies or use similar technology when you complete a form. You can refuse cookies in your browser settings. The site may not remember preferences if you do.

We also store sermon playback preferences (such as where you left off in a message or your chosen playback speed) in your browser’s local storage. That information stays on your device and is not sent to us.

Third-party services

Parts of the site load content from other organizations. Those services have their own privacy policies. They may collect information when you watch a video, open a map, give online, submit a form, hover a Scripture reference, or follow a link off this site. That includes:

  • Gravity Forms (hosted on our WordPress site) for contact, newsletter, prayer requests, and other church forms
  • FellowshipOne for online giving, ministry sign-ups, and member portal login
  • Cloudflare for site hosting, security (including Turnstile on forms), and optional image delivery
  • Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity (often loaded through Google Tag Manager) for site analytics and usage insights
  • Vimeo and YouTube for sermon and introduction videos
  • Google Maps for directions to the church
  • The URC church app (Subsplash)
  • Crossway’s ESV Cross-Reference Tool, which loads a script from Crossway and may fetch verse text when you hover a Bible reference
  • Other linked tools, such as the church library catalog and music site

Some older pages migrated from our previous website may include additional third-party embeds not listed above.

Children

This website is for a general audience. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through the public site. If you believe a child has given us information here, please email us and we will look into it.

How long we keep information

We keep contact and ministry records as long as they are needed for pastoral care, legal, or church-administration purposes, then we remove or archive them in the ordinary course of our work. Analytics and session-recording data are kept according to our Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity settings.

Your choices

You may ask us what information we have about you from this website, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, unless we need to keep it for a legitimate church or legal reason. Email urc@urcstaff.org and we will do our best to help.

Security

We take ordinary care to protect information sent to us. No website is completely secure. Please use judgment when sharing sensitive details online.

Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. The effective date at the top of the page will change when we do. Continued use of the site after an update means you are looking at the current policy.

Contact

Questions about this policy can go to the church office at urc@urcstaff.org or 517.351.6810, or by mail at 841 Timberlane St, East Lansing, MI 48823.