Last updated September 18, 2026
About this website
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Concordia Lutheran Conference at 5350 S. Fountain St., Seattle, WA 98118, runs stlukes-clc.com. The public pages tell anyone about our church, our beliefs, and our services. The members’ area is for members of our congregation.
This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect on the website and through our optional text messages, how we use it, and the choices you have. By using the website, you agree to the practices described here.
Information we collect
We only collect what we need to run the website and serve our congregation.
- Account details. When you register, we ask for a username, email address, password, and your first and last name. You can also give us a mobile phone number.
- Member directory details. The church keeps a directory of our congregation. A member’s profile may include their name, photo, email address, phone number, home address, household and family relationships, church role, and dates such as birth, baptism, confirmation, and marriage. Profiles are entered by church administrators and may include members of a household, including children.
- Photos. Photos you upload to event galleries.
- Messages to us. What you send when you email us or reply to one of our text messages.
- Technical information. Like most websites, our hosting provider and security tools automatically record basic technical information, such as your IP address, browser type, and the pages you visit. We also keep a record of sign-ins to protect accounts, and a copy of each email the website sends, for 60 days, so we can check that it was delivered. Password-reset and account-activation links are removed from those copies.
How we use information
We use your information to:
- Create and manage your account and let you sign in.
- Keep the member directory, so members of our congregation can stay in touch with one another.
- Share the church calendar and event photos with signed-in members.
- Send emails about your account, such as account approval and password resets.
- Send text messages, but only if you have separately opted in to receive them.
- Keep the website and member accounts secure.
- Answer your questions and requests.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.
Member accounts and the directory
New accounts are reviewed and approved by the church before they can be used. The member directory and event photos are only shown to signed-in members, never on the public pages.
In the directory, signed-in members can see other members’ names, photos, email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, ages, church roles, and family relationships. Full dates of birth are not shown. The mobile number you give for text messages is kept with your account and is not shown in the directory.
You can update your account details, or delete your account, at any time from your Account page. To correct or remove anything in your directory profile, email us.
One sign-in for three sites. St. Luke’s shares a single sign-in with two related community websites, partyatthepickle.com and slushsoftball.com. Many of our members use more than one of the sites, so we link accounts to make it as easy as possible to move between them with one username and password.
To make that work, your basic account details (username, email address, name, and password) are kept in sync across the three sites. When you create your account, update it, change your password, or sign in or out on one site, the same happens on the other two. Deleting your account on one site deletes it on all three.
Only those basic account details are shared. Your directory profile, your mobile phone number, your text-message consent, and your photos stay on St. Luke’s.
Photos
Event photos are shown only in the members-only galleries. Photos uploaded by members are reviewed before they appear.
If there is a photo of you, or of your children, that you would rather we did not use, email us and we will take it down. No explanation needed.
Cookies and website technologies
We use only the cookies and similar technologies the website needs to work:
- Sign-in cookies that keep you logged in and protect your account. These are set by WordPress, our membership software, and our two-factor sign-in security.
- Security and performance tools run by our hosting provider to keep the website safe and fast.
We do not use advertising cookies, and we do not use analytics or tracking services. Most browsers let you block or delete cookies, but if you block sign-in cookies you will not be able to log in.
Third-party services
We rely on a few service providers to run the website. Each one receives only the information it needs to do its job.
- Hostinger hosts the website and its database, and delivers the website’s email, such as account-approval and password-reset emails.
- Twilio delivers our text messages to members who have opted in. Twilio receives your mobile number and the content of the messages we send you.
- miniOrange provides two-factor sign-in security and may use your email address or phone number to verify a sign-in.
- Google supplies the fonts used on the website. When your browser loads them, Google receives your IP address and basic browser information.
- partyatthepickle.com and slushsoftball.com, the two related community websites that share one sign-in with this site. They receive only your basic account details, as described under Member accounts and the directory.
Data security
We protect your information with encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, two-factor sign-in security, and by keeping the directory, photos, and other member content behind a login. Only church administrators can change member records.
No website can guarantee perfect security, but we work hard to keep your information safe.
Data retention
- Account information is kept while your account is active. If you delete your account, or ask us to, we remove your account information.
- Directory profiles are part of the church’s membership records and are kept for as long as the church needs them. You can ask us to correct or remove yours.
- Photos stay in the members-only galleries until we remove them or you ask us to.
- Copies of emails the website sends are kept for 60 days.
- If you opt in to text messages, we keep a record of your consent, and of any opt-out, for as long as we need it to honor your choice and meet our messaging provider’s requirements.
Copies may remain in routine backups for a limited time before they are overwritten.
Your choices and requests
- Update your name, email address, and mobile number from your Account page.
- Download a copy of your data, or ask for it to be erased, from the Privacy tab of your Account page.
- Delete your account from your Account page, or ask us to delete it for you. Because accounts are linked, this also deletes your account on partyatthepickle.com and slushsoftball.com.
- Stop text messages at any time by replying STOP, or by unticking the box on the Text messages tab of your Account page. Stopping texts does not affect your account.
- Ask us to remove photos of you or your children.
- Ask us what information we hold about you, or ask us to correct or delete it.
To make a request, email admin@stlukes-clc.com or use our Contact page.
Mobile phone numbers and text messages
Giving us a mobile phone number, for example on the registration form, does not by itself sign you up for text messages. We only send text messages to members who separately opt in by checking the optional, unchecked text-message consent box, either when they register or on the Text messages tab of their account page.
If you opt in, you may receive:
- Schedule changes, such as a service or class canceled because of snow or bad weather
- Reminders, such as letting ushers know they are scheduled to serve
- Messages to groups you belong to, such as the choir
- Other communications related to St. Luke’s services, activities, and groups
Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply.
You can opt out at any time by replying STOP to any St. Luke’s text message, or by unticking the box on the Text messages tab of your account page. Reply HELP for assistance, or email admin@stlukes-clc.com.
No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. St. Luke’s does not sell, rent, or share mobile phone numbers or text-message opt-in data and consent with any third parties. We share your number with Twilio, our messaging provider, only so it can deliver the messages you asked for.
Children
Accounts on the website are for adults. The member directory may list children as part of their family, entered by church administrators. Parents can ask us to change or remove a child’s details at any time. We do not knowingly approve accounts for children under 13.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the date at the top of this page.
Contact us
Questions about this policy or your information? Email admin@stlukes-clc.com, or write to St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 5350 S. Fountain St., Seattle, WA 98118.