Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick
May, 2010
UUCB Communications Policy
Policy
It is the policy of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick to promote
effective communication both within the congregation and between the church
and the outside community.
Contents
This policy lays out general principles that apply to all communications. It also
includes policy statements that apply to specific communications media.
CONTENTS
Page #
Implementation
GENERAL POLICY
EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
Website
Parish Messenger
Order of Worship
Announcements during Worship Service
Email Policy
Church Directory
Volunteer Coordinator
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The Public Relations Coordinator focuses on communication
between the church and the outside community..
A role description of this position has been approved by the Board and
periodically will be reviewed as needed
Procedures and Guidelines
Procedures and Guidelines have been written to help members and friends
effectively work with the Public Relations Coordinator and specific media
coordinators (e.g. Webmaster, Parish Messenger Editor, and Church Office
Administrator, etc.). Please refer to
UUCB Communications Procedures for specific directions, and follow relevant
Guidelines when they exist.
Date Approved by
Board
533570306
January 27, 2010
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Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick
May, 2010
GENERAL POLICY
General Policy
All internal and external UUCB communications must adhere to the following
general communications policies:
 All informational messages must be consistent with UU philosophy and
the UUCB Mission.
 The privacy of all congregants, but especially children shall be
protected (see Website Policy and Parish Messenger Policy for specifics
related to the use of these media.)
 Individuals should take care to ensure that their own views are not
presented as representative of the views or positions ascribed to by
UUCB in general
EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS POLICY
Public Relations
approval
All church communications or announcements to external publications or
groups must go through and be approved by the Public Relations Coordinator.
Ownership of
Church Materials
Information developed for the use of the congregation shall not be externally
disseminated or published without the express permission of the individual or
group who wrote or developed the information.
INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS POLICY
Website
(approved by Board
December 18, 2006)
Purpose
The purpose of this site is to provide general information about the Unitarian
Universalist Church of Brunswick, Maine (hereafter termed “The Church”). The
audience for the site is two-fold: the current membership and potential visitors
to the church. The site is designed with the following objectives in mind:
 Present site visitors a friendly, honest, comprehensive and up-to-date
view of the essence of UUCB
 Provide information useful to UUCB members in a timely manner
Content
The public portion of this site is made available without charge to members
and to others who wish to learn about us. Member-only sections of the site
may be established if deemed best for the congregation.
Some pages on other Web sites which are linked to from this site may not be
available to visitors. The Church is not responsible for the style, content, or
availability of pages not on its server. The Church website will not be used to
publicize events or causes that are unrelated to the UUCB or its principles.
The content of the website is owned by the Board of Trustees or their
designee. All rights are reserved under copyright law by the Church.
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Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick
May, 2010
Privacy
The site does not gather personally identifiable information about visitors; if
statistics are gathered they shall be limited to a tally of the total requests for
each page.
Personal information about members of The Church shall not be disclosed on
public portions of this site except as determined necessary by the Board or the
staff of The Church, and then only by permission of the individual involved.
Specifically:
 No names are used, other than staff, without permission.
 No last names of minors will be used under any circumstances.
 Email addresses other than those of the church and staff are not to be
posted without specific permission, and only when there is a clear
need.
 The use of photographs of single individuals requires their prior
approval.
A person who does not want his or her personal information or photograph to
appear on the website under any circumstances can notify us with an email to
the Church Office Administrator. To the best of our efforts, this information
will not appear. A list of people who “opt-out” will be maintained by the
Church Office Administrator and will be accessible by all Editors / Submitters.
Every name and photograph published will be checked against that list by the
Editor / Submitter to ensure privacy is maintained.
While this Privacy Policy states our standards for maintenance of the UUCB
website, and we will make reasonable efforts to uphold these standards, we
cannot guarantee these standards. Circumstances may arise in which
information may be disclosed. As a consequence, we disclaim any warranties
or representations relating to maintenance or nondisclosure of information.
Parish Messenger
(portions previously
approved)
It is the policy of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick to provide
regularly published information about the church and its activities in the form
of a newsletter. The form and content of the newsletter may vary over time,
as may the interval between issues. The newsletter may be transmitted
electronically and/or through the postal service. The current name of the
newsletter is the Parish Messenger.
The authorship of all articles printed in the newsletter shall include the name
of the person writing the article.
(approved August
2005)
533570306
In the spirit of community, the Parish Messenger will publish notices of
personal services provided by members of the church when the following
conditions are met:
 The personal service is deemed by the newsletter editor to be of value
and interest to the church community. In the event of ambiguities, the
newsletter editor is asked to consult with the Executive Committee of
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Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick
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May, 2010
the UUCB Board.
The content of the notice is in accord with the Principles of the
Unitarian Universalist Church.
A suggested donation is made to the Church in return for publishing
the service notice.
A notice may be published for no more than two months, with a two
month break before appearing again.
The privacy of members of the congregation is to be protected. Specifically:
 Names of church members will not be used in any articles that might
be viewed with disfavor by the person in question.
 No last names of minors will be used under any circumstances.
 Email addresses other than those of the church and staff are not to be
posted without specific permission, and only when there is a clear
need.
 Home addresses will not be provided without specific permission. As a
general practice readers will be referred to the Church Directory for
contact information.
 The use of photographs of single individuals requires their prior
approval.
Order of Worship
(approved
November, 2003)
Announcements printed in the Order of Worship must be limited to churchsponsored events or activities. Information about non-church-sponsored
events and activities may be posted on the UUCB Community Events bulletin
board, at the discretion of the Communications Coordinator.
Announcements
during Worship
Service
The Minister is responsible for Worship Services. Accordingly any
announcements made during services are at the discretion of the Minister.
Email
The tone and content of internal email communications should be consonant
with the intent of the UUCB Mission statement, specifically to be a spiritual
community and to support one another. Please refer to the Email Guidelines
developed by the Committee on Ministry.
Announcements may not be made during the Cares and Celebrations portion
of the worship.
All-church emails (emails that are sent to all UUCB members and friends) are
for the conduct of church business. They will not be used to promote nonchurch events or causes.
All-church emails may only be sent by a UUCB staff member.
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Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick
Church Directory
May, 2010
The Church Directory is maintained by the Church Office Administrator.
Individuals are responsible for communicating any changes in their personal
information (e.g., email address) to the Church Office Administrator.
The directory will be updated periodically as new information is received. The
Church Office Administrator will add names to the directory upon request, or
when people have become visibly active in the church.
The Church Office Administrator may provide individual Directory copies upon
request. No copies will be available to the general public.
The Staff will meet periodically to remove inactive individuals from the
Directory.
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