First Parish Church Email Policy
November 16, 2005
Email to First Parish church members and
friends falls into three categories:
- Messages from the church office to the
all-church list
- Messages from individuals to other
individuals whose email addresses were obtained through
either the all-church distribution list or through the
church directory
- Messages about committee business
This policy covers all of these categories.
Messages from the Church Office to the
All-Church List
Messages from the church office to the
all-church list are to be limited to the following:
- Official church communications, such as
meeting announcements, meeting minutes, announcements or
requests for volunteers for church fundraisers, and so
on.
- Information about non-church events that
relate to our principles and purposes. For example, the
notice of a town-wide peace vigil would fall into this
category. These messages must be channeled through the
church administrator.
- Other information of general interest for
which an individual church member/friend has requested
general distribution. For example, a member’s
address change or a member/friend’s death would fall
into this category. These messages may not be partisan
political messages or solicitations or advertisements for
for-profit businesses or events. These messages must also
be channeled through the church administrator.
- Individual email addresses are to be
masked in the "To" line of church emails, so
that recipients cannot copy other individuals’
addresses for their own purposes.
- Twice a year, a message from the church
office to the all-church list will invite recipients to
unsubscribe to the list.
Messages from Individuals to Individuals
Messages in this category are not required to
be related to church business. This policy does not intend to
impose restrictions on the exchange of email between individuals
who are personal friends and who both happen to be church
participants. Rather, it is intended to set guidelines for email
from church members/friends to lists of other members/friends in
which the email addresses of recipients were obtained from an old
all-church message or from the church directory.
Messages in this category may not:
- Consist of partisan political messages.
- Consist of solicitations or advertisements
for for-profit businesses or events.
Messages About Committee Business
Messages about committee business can contain
sensitive material. They are therefore to be treated as
confidential and not be forwarded to anyone outside of the
committee.