Communication (Organizational Guidance)
Privacy
PRIVACY CONSIDERATIONS
Maintaining privacy of personal information of visitors to the website and respecting the privacy of our staff, church members and friends is of the utmost importance.
Privacy of Visitors to our Website
Personal information is obtained from our visitors on a voluntary basis. Personal information may include name, address, phone number, and email address. This information is not required to obtain access to any public part of the website.
The personal information collected may only used to process a request that has been placed by the visitor. Typically this is in the form of a request for material or newsletters, but it may on occasion include other voluntary submittals of similar information for survey purposes or for event registrations. We do not sell or rent this personal information to other organizations, including other UU organizations.
PRIVACY OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH
No information (names, pictures, phone numbers, email addresses) about persons under the age of 18 will be published on any pages of the website unless written permission by a parent or guardian is granted and kept on file in the office. This permission is for one event or one purpose only.
Copyright Procedures
Any intellectual property copied on website pages or any original intellectual property written for a website page must be released by the author. A statement to that effect must accompany the material. Such material includes sermons, music, articles, or pictures, whether or not they contain the copyright label. Blanket permission can be granted for use of one type of material. Each page of the website will contain a copyright statement. If the author grants permission for copying of information, that statement will appear on that page and the permission supercedes the blanket copyright statement.
Website
PURPOSE: The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for development and ongoing management of the Foothills Unitarian Church Website.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The Senior Minister is ultimately responsible for the content of the website, and the accurate representation of the church. The Communications Manager maintains the website with the support of our contracted web developer.
WEBSITE CONTENT MANAGEMENT
Content management and design rests with the submitting staff members, committees and webmaster.
WEB SITE CONTENT GUIDELINES
The purpose of the website is to make information about the church available to church members, community members searching for a church, and the general web-browsing public around the world.
The website will represent Unitarian-Universalist principles and the Foothills Unitarian Church accurately and positively. In addition to providing accurate and timely information, the site will attempt to capture the spirit of the church in its design and tone. The site will employ generally accepted guidelines for ease of navigation
While the website may contain articles of interest authored by members, the website shall not be used as a forum for editorial commentary.
Each committee, Church Affiliated Group, or Board-approved informal organization desiring a web page(s) may submit their request to the Church Administrator at any time.
Sharing Our Content
We are always happy to share our online content with any other UU Church or other organization/individual who aligns with our values. This includes them using it for their worship services or in other programming. We believe that our mission calls us to be "for" the whole, and to be generous in sharing what we produce for a greater good.
We do not require any compensation for this content. However, if you are moved to support our mission and help us continue to grow the reach of our mission, we are always grateful for financial support. People can go to foothillsuu.org/donate and select "donation" from the drop down. Again, this is not required for any particular use, but only if you want to help be a part of our mission and work more generally.
Additionally, if it is content that is Christopher's original music, we encourage people to go to his band website and send him financial support directly.
We ask that Foothills Unitarian Church be credited in all usage, and that people not post our videos on their own youtube channels but instead direct people to our youtube channel.
Finally, we make no claim at all about copyright usage / permissions for anything beyond our production. We do not mean to imply that our license for the music or the images transfers to anyone else, and people should do their own research and secure their own licenses.
Foothills Style Guide
This is an in-process and imperfect guide
Communicating About Gender
Always write in ways that affirm people’s self-identified gender, center inclusion, and avoid language rooted in assumption, erasure, or biological essentialism.
Core Commitments
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Respect self-identification.
Use the name, pronouns, and identity terms people choose for themselves—always. -
Center inclusion, not explanation.
Write with the assumption that trans and nonbinary people belong, not as if their inclusion needs justification. -
Use plain language that affirms dignity, not technical jargon.
✅ DO
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Say “trans and nonbinary people” when referring to all who are not cisgender.
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Use “they” as a singular pronoun when gender is unknown or when someone uses they/them.
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Use phrases like:
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“All who identify as…”
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“People of all genders”
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“Trans, cis, and nonbinary people alike”
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Say “sex assigned at birth” instead of “biological sex.”
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Refer to reproductive health using “people who can get pregnant” rather than “women,” when gender diversity is relevant.
❌ DON’T
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Don’t say “transgenders,” “the transgendered,” or “preferred pronouns.”
Say: “transgender people” and “pronouns.” -
Don’t refer to someone’s past name or gender without consent.
That includes “before they transitioned” or “used to be a woman.” -
Don’t say “born a man/woman,” “biological male/female,” or “opposite sex.”
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Don’t write “women and trans women.”
Say: “all women, including trans women.”