Church Agreement (Terms of Service for churches)
Last updated: October 28, 2026 (draft v2.1)
This agreement is between SermonWeek, operated by [DECISION NEEDED: legal entity — Stacey Tam (individual) or SermonWeek LLC], [DECISION NEEDED: mailing address — PO box or USPS-registered private mailbox] ("we") and the church that creates a SermonWeek account ("the church"). The person who signs up confirms they may agree for the church. Members and visitors use SermonWeek under the shorter Member & Visitor Terms; they never pay. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle information.
Plans and billing
- Lite — free: Free forever, no card; 1 sermon a week: recap email + sermon-notes page; Congregation phone app (installable, no app store); One short daily notification, Mon–Sat, from Sunday's sermon; One pastor channel for prayers, blessings and announcements; Bible widgets for your website; Faithfulness check on every draft; Large-print sermon notes with read-aloud; Small “Powered by SermonWeek” badge.
- Starter — $19/month: Everything in Lite, without the badge; Every sermon, every week; Small-group leader + participant guides; Social posts (3 per sermon); Daily devotionals for members (Tue–Sat); Kids, teen and family editions of every sermon (approved with the package); In-depth study guide for each sermon passage (word study, cross references, leader's timing); A channel for every pastor and leader (prayer, worship, announcements); New admin features as they ship.
- Plus — $39/month: Everything in Starter; Ask the Sermon for members (18+); Private prayer requests + Friday care report.
Lite allows one sermon per week (Sunday to Saturday, in the church's time zone).
Founding churches (proposed, pending owner confirmation). A church that chooses a paid plan during our founding period pays the founding price ($19 Starter, $39 Plus) on whichever plan it picks, including upgrades, and keeps it if it cancels and later comes back, for as long as we offer that plan. If we stop offering a plan we'll give 30 days' email notice and offer the closest plan at no more than the church's founding price.
Founding invite (proposed, pending owner confirmation). A church that joins by founding invite gets everything in Plus free for 12 months, with no card. After 12 months the church moves to Lite unless it chooses a paid plan; nothing is charged automatically.
Renewal and cancelling. Paid plans renew monthly at the price shown at checkout until cancelled. Cancel any time under Billing; cancelling takes effect at the end of the paid month. We'll email 30 days before any price increase. Payments are processed by Stripe under Stripe's terms; card details never touch our servers.
Refunds. [DECISION NEEDED: refund policy — e.g. no refunds for partial months, or a refund within N days]
Giving. SermonWeek doesn't currently process donations, and nothing on SermonWeek is a request for money from SermonWeek. If your church links to its own giving page, that page is run by your church or its provider under their own terms.
The church's data
The church owns its data: sermons, transcripts, drafts, its member list and what members send it. We process it only on the church's instructions to provide SermonWeek, as described in this section and the Privacy Policy, which together are our data processing terms (proposed, pending owner confirmation).
Data processing terms
- Instructions. We process the church's data only to provide SermonWeek and on the church's documented instructions (its settings and requests), and tell the church if we believe an instruction breaks the law.
- Confidentiality. Everyone who can access the church's data is bound to keep it confidential, and access is limited to support, security and legal needs.
- Service providers. We use the providers listed in the Privacy Policy, hold them to written terms at least as protective as these, give church admins 30 days' notice of a new one so the church can object or close its account, and remain responsible for them.
- Security and breaches. We keep reasonable safeguards and notify the church within 72 hours of confirming a breach affecting its data.
- Rights requests. We help the church answer its members' requests to see, correct, download or delete their information.
- Showing compliance and reviews. We'll give the church the information it reasonably needs to show how its data is handled, and answer reasonable questions or reviews (assessments) of our safeguards, including by an independent reviewer the church chooses under a confidentiality agreement, at reasonable times and on reasonable notice.
- End of service. When the account closes, the church can export its data, then we delete it as the Privacy Policy describes, unless the law requires us to keep it.
Export and closing. A church admin can download the church's data as a file at any time (Settings → Your data). An admin can close the account under Settings after cancelling any paid plan. The church can still export for 30 days, then we delete its data and files as the Privacy Policy describes. Public pages stop as soon as the account is closed.
The church's duties. The church decides who is on its care team (its admins are always on it), asks its care team to delete care emails it no longer needs, answers its members' privacy requests (we'll help), and uses member information only for church ministry. The church is responsible for its own legal duties, including mandatory reporting of suspected abuse. SermonWeek's privacy promises don't limit those duties.
Sermons, recordings and songs
Ownership. The church (or the preacher, if the preacher owns the sermon) keeps ownership of its sermons and of drafts made from them. The church confirms it owns them or has the preacher's permission (including guest preachers), and gives us permission to store, process (including with our AI providers) and show that content only to provide SermonWeek (proposed, pending owner confirmation).
Recording notice (proposed, pending owner confirmation). The church will tell its congregation that services are recorded and processed by SermonWeek's AI (for example, a bulletin line: "This service is recorded. Our sermon notes and devotionals are drafted with AI from the sermon and approved by our pastor."), and won't upload private meetings, counseling or confession.
Songs. If a recording includes songs, the church is responsible for its own licenses: for example, a CCLI Church Copyright License for reproducing song lyrics, and a separate CCLI Streaming License if it streams or posts recordings online. SermonWeek uses recordings only to transcribe the sermon, tells the AI to leave song lyrics out of drafts, doesn't publish the original recording, and deletes it 3 days after drafting. Before posting hymn words, check they're the original public-domain words, not a newer version.
Scripture. AI drafts quote the KJV (public domain). Pages can show the passages in another public-domain or openly licensed translation the church chooses. See Attributions for each translation's license.
Copyright complaints. If you believe content on SermonWeek infringes your copyright, send a notice to [DECISION NEEDED: support contact email, e.g. support@sermonweek.org] at [DECISION NEEDED: mailing address — PO box or USPS-registered private mailbox]. We remove infringing content and close accounts of repeat infringers.
Acceptable use
Don't use SermonWeek to break the law, post others' private information without permission, harass anyone, send spam, upload malware, try to reach another church's data, or overload or reverse-engineer the service. We may suspend content or accounts that break these rules, and will tell the church why unless the law or safety prevents it.
AI drafts. AI drafts can be wrong. The church reviews and is responsible for what it approves and publishes.
Pastoral care
SermonWeek is a tool for the church; it doesn't give pastoral, medical, legal or counseling advice, and it isn't an emergency service. The church, not SermonWeek, is responsible for its pastoral care. Please know: pastors and church leaders may be required by law to report suspected abuse or neglect of a child or vulnerable adult, and may share information to keep someone safe. If someone is in danger, call 911. To report child abuse in Mississippi, call 1-800-222-8000. In a crisis, call or text 988.
Accessibility. We aim to meet WCAG 2.1 AA. Tell us at [DECISION NEEDED: support contact email, e.g. support@sermonweek.org] if something doesn't work for you.
Liability and disputes
A lawyer must confirm this section before it takes effect.
No warranties. SermonWeek is provided "as is" and "as available." To the extent the law allows, we disclaim implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.
Limit of liability. To the extent the law allows, our total liability for all claims relating to SermonWeek is limited to the greater of what the church paid us in the 12 months before the claim or $100, and neither side is liable for indirect, consequential or lost-profit losses. This doesn't limit liability that can't be limited by law.
Indemnity. The church will cover our reasonable costs, including legal fees, if a third-party claim arises from content the church uploads or approves, or from the church's use of member information.
Resolving disputes. If something goes wrong, email [DECISION NEEDED: support contact email, e.g. support@sermonweek.org] first; we'll both try in good faith to resolve it within 30 days before going to court. There is no forced arbitration. Mississippi law governs this agreement. Disputes go to the state courts in Lee County, Mississippi, or the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, except that either side may use small-claims court.
Changes and ending. We'll email church admins 30 days before material changes. The church can stop using SermonWeek and close its account at any time. We may end the agreement with 30 days' notice, or sooner for serious misuse, and will still let the church export its data.
General. This agreement, the Privacy Policy and any order or plan the church picks are the whole agreement between us. If a court finds part of it unenforceable, the rest still applies. We may transfer this agreement as part of a merger or sale of the business, with notice to the church. Neither side is responsible for delays caused by events beyond its reasonable control. Notices to the church go by email to its admins; notices to us go to [DECISION NEEDED: support contact email, e.g. support@sermonweek.org]. The sections on fees owed, the church's data, sermons and content, and liability and disputes survive after the agreement ends.
Contact: [DECISION NEEDED: support contact email, e.g. support@sermonweek.org] · [DECISION NEEDED: mailing address — PO box or USPS-registered private mailbox]