Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 19, 2026

First Houston United Methodist Church ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website firsthouston.church (the "Site") and our church database portal at my.fmhouston.com. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring you have a positive experience with our digital platforms. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information.

We collect information from you in two primary ways: information you voluntarily provide to us and information collected automatically through tracking technologies.

1. Information You Provide

We collect personal information that you voluntarily submit to us when you interact with the Site or our church database. This may include:

• Contact Forms & Inquiries: Name, email address, phone number, and any specific messages or concerns you share when filling out a contact form.
• Church Profiles: Information you provide when creating, updating, or logging into your church profile via our custom domain, my.fmhouston.com (powered by Touchpoint Software).
• Donation Information: If you make a tithe or donation online, your payment information is processed securely by our third-party payment processors. We do not store your credit card details on our servers.
  

2. Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our Site, we automatically collect certain technical information about your device and your visit to help us understand how users interact with our digital presence. This includes your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, and pages viewed.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

To ensure our website provides a welcoming, intuitive, and accessible experience for our congregation and visitors, we utilize third-party analytics and user experience tools. These tools use cookies and similar technologies to collect and analyze data about your browsing session.

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors engage with our Site. Google Analytics collects information such as how often users visit the Site, what pages they visit, and what other sites they used prior to coming to ours. We use this information only to improve this Site. Google’s ability to use and share information is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy.

We partner with Microsoft Clarity to capture how you use and interact with our website through behavioral metrics, heatmaps, and session replay to improve our digital user experience. Website usage data is captured using first and third-party cookies and other tracking technologies. Microsoft Clarity obscures personally identifiable information to protect your privacy. For more information, visit the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect strictly to support our ministry and serve you better. Specifically, we use it for the following purposes:

• Connection and Support: When you submit information through our contact forms, we use it exclusively to steward you to the correct church personnel so we can help address your concerns and help you get connected to the life of the church.
• Ministry Operations: To manage your church profile, process event registrations, and manage tithing/donations through my.fmhouston.com.
• Site Improvement: To operate, maintain, and improve the Site and its user experience using our analytics tools.
• Communication: To communicate with you about church news, upcoming events, and ministries (only if you have opted in).
  

Sharing Your Information

We respect your privacy and do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties. We may share your information only in the following situations:

• Service Providers: We share data with trusted third-party vendors who assist us in operating our website and church operations. This includes Touchpoint Software, which securely hosts and manages our church database system at my.fmhouston.com, as well as analytics providers like Google and Microsoft.
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities.
  

Data Security

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure. However, please be aware that no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure.

Third-Party Links

Our Site may contain links to other websites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

First Houston United Methodist Church

Email: cms@firsthouston.church

Phone: 713-652-2999

Address: 1320 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002