Welcome to Houston's First Baptist Church (“Houston’s First,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your use of our website (https://www.houstonsfirst.org), your online account, our mobile app, online giving, event registration, check-in, and any other service we operate (together, the “Services”). These Terms, our Privacy Policy, and any additional rules we publish for a specific Service form the full agreement between you and us.
By using the Services, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.
Who Can Use the Services?
If you are under 18, you may use the Services only with the permission of a parent or guardian, who agrees to these Terms on your behalf. We collect information about children under 13 only from a parent or guardian, as described in our Privacy Policy. If you use the Services on behalf of a family, group, or organization, you confirm that you have the authority to do so.
Your Account
You are responsible for the information you give us and for keeping your login credentials confidential. You are responsible for all activity under your account. Tell us immediately if you believe your account has been accessed without permission. We may suspend or close an account that violates these Terms or that presents a safety or security risk.
Acceptable Use
The Services are for personal, non-commercial use consistent with the mission of Houston’s First. You agree not to:
- Use the Services for any unlawful purpose or in a way that harms, harasses, threatens, or defames any person.
- Access, collect, or use information about another person without permission, including information from group directories or check-in records.
- Impersonate any person or misrepresent your relationship to any person, including a child.
- Upload viruses, malicious code, or content that disrupts the Services.
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any account, system, or data, or to probe or test the security of the Services without written permission.
- Copy, scrape, frame, or redistribute the Services or their content, other than for personal use as permitted below.
- Use the Services to send unsolicited communications or to solicit for any business, cause, or organization other than Houston’s First.
Content You Submit
You may submit content through the Services, such as prayer requests, testimonies, comments, photos, group posts, and profile information (“User Content”). You keep ownership of your User Content. By submitting it, you give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to store, display, reproduce, and share your User Content as needed to operate the Services and to carry out the purpose for which you submitted it. Content you submit for public use, such as a testimony, may be used in our communications and ministry materials with your consent, as described in our Privacy Policy.
You confirm that you have the right to submit your User Content and that it does not violate the rights of any person or any law. We may remove User Content at our discretion, including content that violates these Terms.
Prayer requests and pastoral communications are handled with care by our ministry teams, but they are not a substitute for emergency services. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911.
Online Giving and Payments
Gifts made through the Services are voluntary contributions to Houston’s First. Payments are processed by a third-party payment provider under that provider’s terms. Gifts are generally not refundable. If you believe a gift was made in error or without authorization, contact us within 30 days and we will review the request. We may decline or return a gift at our discretion. Event registration fees and purchases are subject to the refund terms stated for that event or product.
You are responsible for providing accurate payment information. Annual giving statements are provided as described in our Privacy Policy. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law; consult a tax advisor for your situation.
Events, Registration, and Check-In
When you register for an event or program, you agree to the rules, schedules, and any participation requirements for that event. When you check in a child, you confirm that you are the child’s parent, legal guardian, or a person authorized by one, and that the information you provide, including allergies and authorized pick-up persons, is accurate and current. We may require identification before releasing a child.
By attending events at our facilities, you consent to reasonable safety measures, including security screening and video monitoring, and you acknowledge that photos or video taken at public events may be used in our communications.
Communications
By providing your email address or phone number, you agree that we may contact you about ministry, events, giving, and your account, including by email and text message. Message and data rates may apply to text messages. You can manage your subscriptions in My Account, reply STOP to any text message, or use the unsubscribe link in any email. We may still send you transactional messages, such as registration confirmations and giving receipts.
Intellectual Property
The Services and their content, including text, sermons, music, video, graphics, logos, and software, are owned by Houston’s First or its licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. You may view, download, and print content for personal, non-commercial use, and you may share links to our content. Any other use, including reproduction, modification, public performance, or commercial use, requires our written permission. Third-party content, such as licensed music and scripture translations, is subject to the terms of its owners.
If you believe content on the Services infringes your copyright, contact us at memberservices@houstonsfirst.org with a description of the work, the location of the material, and your contact information.
Third-Party Services and Links
The Services may link to or rely on websites and services we do not operate, such as payment processors, streaming platforms, and social media. Those services have their own terms and privacy practices. We are not responsible for their content or practices.
Mobile App
Our mobile app is licensed, not sold, to you for personal use on devices you own or control. The app may request permissions such as notifications, camera, or location; you can manage these in your device settings. Your use of the app is also subject to the terms of the app store from which you downloaded it. The app store is not a party to these Terms and is not responsible for the app or its content.
Disclaimer of Warranties
The Services are provided “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent permitted by law, Houston’s First and its suppliers and licensors disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and uninterrupted or error-free operation. Content on the Services is provided for informational and ministry purposes and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or professional advice.
Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Houston’s First and its trustees, staff, volunteers, suppliers, and licensors are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, use, or goodwill, arising from your use of the Services, under any legal theory. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of these limits may not apply to you.
Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Houston’s First and its trustees, staff, and volunteers from any claims, damages, and expenses, including reasonable attorney fees, arising from your User Content, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of the rights of any person.
Termination
We may suspend or end your access to the Services at any time, with or without notice, if you violate these Terms or if we discontinue a Service. You may stop using the Services or request account deletion at any time through Delete Account. Sections that by their nature should survive termination, including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, and governing law, will survive.
Governing Law and Disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict of law rules. Any dispute related to these Terms or the Services will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Harris County, Texas, and you consent to the jurisdiction of those courts. Before filing a claim, you agree to contact us and make a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute informally.
General Terms
If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them to a successor organization. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any Service-specific rules, are the entire agreement between you and us about the Services.
Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. The effective date at the top shows when they were last changed. For material changes, we will post a notice on the Services or contact you. Continued use of the Services after a change means you accept the updated Terms.