Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Edmonton Central Seventh-day Adventist Church (“ECSDAC,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a registered Canadian charity (CRA number 118893494RR0001) located at 10131 111 Avenue NW, Edmonton, Alberta T5G 0B5. We are a constituent congregation of the Alberta Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada (SDACC), the North American Division (NAD), and the worldwide General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

2. Scope and the laws we follow

This policy applies to the personal information of visitors, members, donors, volunteers, contacts, and anyone interacting with this website, our membership records, or our ministries. We follow:

• The Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) for federally regulated activities and for activity across provincial borders;
• The Alberta Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) for activities within Alberta;
• Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) for commercial-electronic-message style communications;
• The Canada Revenue Agency rules for registered charities regarding donation records;
• The privacy guidance issued by the North American Division and General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

3. Personal information we collect

We collect only the information needed for our ministry and operations. Depending on how you interact with us, this may include:

• Contact information. Name, mailing address, email address, phone number.
• Membership information. Baptism date, transferring church, family relationships, ministry assignments, attendance at church events.
• Spiritual care information. Prayer requests, pastoral care requests, baptism preparation notes. This category is treated with the highest level of confidence.
• Donation records. Amount, fund designation, payment method, date. Required for CRA tax-receipt issuance.
• Children’s information. Child name, parent name, date of birth, dietary or medical notes, only with verifiable parental consent and only for Children’s Ministry, Pathfinder, Adventurer, Sabbath School, or similar children-facing programs.
• Volunteer records. Background-check status, training records, role assignments.
• Website information. IP address, browser type, pages visited, referring URL, time and date of access, cookies and similar tracking technologies (see §9).
• Images, video, and audio. Recordings of public worship, baptisms, Pathfinder events, Adventurer Sabbaths, food drives, fellowship lunches, and church services that are livestreamed or photographed.

4. How we use your information

We use personal information for legitimate church and charitable purposes only, including:

• Responding to your contact, prayer, Bible-study, baptism, or pastoral care request;
• Welcoming new visitors and following up;
• Sending the weekly eNews bulletin and event announcements (only with consent);
• Maintaining membership records and issuing membership-transfer letters;
• Processing and tax-receipting your donations;
• Coordinating ministries, volunteer assignments, and committee meetings;
• Operating club ministries (Pathfinder, Adventurer, Master Guide), Sabbath School classes, and event registration;
• Livestreaming and recording public worship for online viewers and archival purposes;
• Complying with Canadian charity, tax, and safety obligations;
• Protecting the safety and welfare of children, vulnerable adults, and our congregation.

5. Consent

We collect, use, and disclose your personal information with your knowledge and consent, except where required or permitted by law. Consent may be explicit (a checked consent box on a form) or implied (you submit a prayer request and we understand you want the prayer team to pray with you). You may withdraw consent at any time by contacting the Privacy Officer (§13), subject to legal and contractual obligations and the operational needs of the church.

For children under the age of consent in Alberta, we collect and use personal information only with the verifiable consent of a parent or legal guardian. For cookies specifically, consent is handled by the banner shown on your first visit and can be changed at any time through the Cookie preferences control described in §9.

6. Sharing your information

We do not sell or rent personal information. We share information only as follows:

• Within the Adventist Church family. Membership transfers, baptism reports, and ministry coordination with the Alberta Conference, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada, the North American Division, and the General Conference, as required by the SDA Church Manual and our denominational policies.
• With ministry teams. Information you provide to a specific ministry (for example, a Pathfinder registration form) is shared with that ministry’s leaders only.
• With service providers. AdventistGiving Canada (donation processing and CRA tax receipts), Thrive, the North American Division’s discipleship and member-care platform (member login), our website hosting provider, and the email service that delivers form notifications to the church office. These providers are bound by privacy agreements and may only use information to provide their service to us.
• For safety. If we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to protect a person from imminent harm.
• When required by law. If compelled by court order, subpoena, regulatory authority, or other legal process.

7. Donation records

Donation records (donor name, amount, date, fund) are retained for as long as required by the Canada Revenue Agency for tax-receipt and charity-return purposes (typically six years plus the current year), and as long as required by the Alberta Conference for internal audit. Donors may request a copy of their giving record at any time.

8. Children and youth

The safety and dignity of children at Edmonton Central is non-negotiable. We follow Adventist Church Safe Church / Child Protection guidelines for all volunteers working with minors, including criminal-record-check requirements, mandatory training, and two-adult supervision practices. Photographs or video of children at Children’s Ministry events are only used for ECSDAC ministry purposes (newsletter, social media, this website) and only with parental consent. Parents may withdraw consent at any time.

9. Cookies and website analytics

Website measurement. We use Google Analytics to understand how people use this website and which pages help them find the church. Analytics cookie storage is enabled by default unless you switch it off through Cookie preferences. This measurement can include pages visited, device and browser information, and referral information. It is not a promise of anonymous browsing.

Your choice. Choose Essential only to deny analytics and advertising cookie storage, or use Choose to select categories. Google Consent Mode may still send cookieless measurement signals when analytics cookie storage is denied. Your selection is remembered in this browser for up to 180 days. Change it at any time using Cookie preferences at the bottom-left of a page. Changing a setting does not erase information already sent to a provider; you can also clear stored cookies through your browser settings.

Optional marketing. The If God is Love series page includes a Meta pixel for campaign measurement. The pixel is held back unless you allow the Marketing category. If enabled, it can send information about your visit to Meta. Declining marketing does not prevent you from viewing the series information.

Essential functions and other providers. The site also uses its hosting, security, caching, and form services. Your cookie preference is stored in your browser. Embedded YouTube videos and external content networks may receive your IP address when their resources load. YouTube embeds use its privacy-enhanced domain; this does not mean that playing a video sends no information to YouTube.

For information about these providers, see Google’s privacy policy and Meta’s privacy policy. Contact the church office with questions about the website’s use of your information.

10. Photography, livestream, and recording

Sabbath worship services, Pathfinder events, Adventurer activities, food drives, and most ECSDAC public gatherings are photographed or livestreamed. By attending these events, you understand that you may appear in audio, video, or photographs that are made publicly available (livestream, sermon archive, social media, this website). If you do not wish to be recorded, please let the media team or an usher know before the event and we will accommodate your preference where possible.

11. Security

We take reasonable physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These include access controls on our membership database, password-protected administrative accounts on this website, SSL/TLS encryption for all online forms, and limited access to spiritual-care information (held confidentially by pastors only). No security measure is perfect, and we cannot guarantee absolute security; we will notify affected individuals and the appropriate authorities of any material privacy breach as required by law.

12. Your rights

Under PIPEDA and Alberta PIPA, you have the right to:

• Know what personal information we hold about you;
• Request a copy and review it;
• Request correction of inaccurate information;
• Withdraw consent for non-essential uses (subject to legal/operational exceptions);
• Lodge a complaint with the Privacy Officer or with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta.

13. Privacy Officer & contact

Privacy-related questions, requests for access, or complaints should be directed to:

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca) or the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (oipc.ab.ca).

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our ministries evolve and as the law changes. The current version is always posted on this page with the effective date. Material changes will be announced in the eNews bulletin and at Sabbath service.