Sacred Steps Community Guidelines

How to be a good neighbour here

Most of what follows is common sense. Three things carry most of the weight.

• Be welcoming. New people join every day. Some have visited hundreds of churches. Some are checking in for the first time. Leave room for both.
• Be respectful. People will disagree here, about churches, about art, about faith. Disagree with the idea, not with the person. If a conversation stops being useful, step away from it.
• Be thoughtful.Sacred Steps is used all over the world, by people whose beliefs and background may be very different from yours. Read what you wrote once more before you post it. Ask whether you would say it to the person’s face, standing in the church you are both writing about.

What is not allowed

The rules below are firm. They apply to every part of the app.

Graphic violence

Graphic violence is not allowed on Sacred Steps.

Do not post photos, video or writing that shows real violence, gore, serious injury, mutilation, or the abuse of a person or an animal. Do not post content that celebrates, glorifies or encourages violence against anyone. Do not post content that supports or praises a terrorist or violent extremist group.

One thing needs saying plainly, because of what our app is for: religious art is not graphic violence. Churches are full of crucifixes, martyrdom paintings, relics, tombs and ossuaries. Photographing that art on your visit is allowed and always will be. The rule above is about real violence and about content made to shock, not about the art and history inside the buildings you came to see.

Nudity and sexual content

Nudity and sexual content are not allowed on Sacred Steps.

Do not post pornography. Do not post photos or video of sexual acts, of genitals, or of nude or partly nude people, whether that is you or anyone else. Do not post sexually suggestive photos or captions. Do not send other users sexual messages, sexual comments or unwanted sexual advances.

The same point about art applies here. Classical and religious artwork in churches sometimes shows bare figures, in a painting, a statue, a fresco or a mosaic. Photographing that artwork where it stands, as part of your visit, is allowed. Sacred Steps is not a place for sexual content of any other kind.

Sexual content involving children

There is no version of this we tolerate.

Do not post, share, request or link to any sexual content involving a child. Do not post sexualised comments about a child. Do not use Sacred Steps to contact, groom or solicit a child.

If we find this content, we remove it, we permanently ban the account, we preserve the material for as long as the law requires us to, and we report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and to law enforcement. There is no appeal and no second chance for this.

Harassment and bullying

Do not target another person. That includes repeated unwanted contact, following someone from post to post to argue with them, insults about a person rather than their opinion, sexual harassment, and encouraging other people to pile on.

If someone asks you to stop contacting them, stop.

Hate speech and discrimination

Do not attack, demean or dehumanise a person or a group because of their religion or denomination, race, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or serious illness.

Do not post hateful slurs. Do not post symbols or imagery used to promote hate groups. Do not deny or make light of atrocities against a group of people.

Threats and violent speech

Do not threaten to hurt anyone. Do not wish harm on anyone. Do not encourage or plan violence. Do not threaten to damage a church, a shrine, a monument or any other place.

We treat credible threats seriously and we report them to law enforcement.

Other people’s private information

Do not publish private information about another person without their permission. That includes a home address, a phone number, an email address, financial or medical details, identity documents, or exact live location.

Do not post photos of other visitors, worshippers or clergy in a way that identifies them and puts them at risk.

Self-harm

Do not encourage anyone to hurt themselves. Do not share instructions or methods for self-harm, disordered eating or suicide.

If you are struggling, please reach out to someone near you or to a local helpline. Sacred Steps is not a crisis service, and we would rather you got real help than posted about it here.

Spam and commercial solicitation

Do not post repetitive, bulk or automated content. Do not post affiliate links, advertising, promotions, fundraising appeals, referral codes, or offers to buy or sell.

Do not use check-ins, tips, reviews or lists to drive traffic somewhere else. Do not check in at a church you did not visit in order to farm badges or climb a leaderboard.

If you represent a church, a diocese or a pilgrimage organisation and want to work with us, please write to [email protected] rather than posting about it.

Impersonation

Do not pretend to be another person, a member of the clergy, a church, a religious order, a public figure, or Sacred Steps staff. Do not create an account designed to be mistaken for someone else’s.

Parody and commentary are fine when it is obvious to a reader that it is not the real person or institution.

Illegal activity

Do not use Sacred Steps to commit a crime, plan a crime, or help someone else do either. Do not post content that promotes illegal drugs, weapons sales, trafficking, stolen goods, fraud, or the theft or illegal sale of religious artefacts.

Content that is not yours

Only post photos, video and writing that you made or that you have permission to use. Do not post someone else’s photograph as if it were your own visit. Do not post copyrighted material you do not have the right to share.

If you believe your work has been posted here without permission, write to [email protected] and tell us where to find it.

Rules that are particular to Sacred Steps

These four rules exist because of the kind of app this is. A general set of internet rules would not contain them. We enforce them in the same way as everything above.

Photos should be of the church or of your visit

A photo or video attached to a check-in must show the church, its grounds, its art, its interior, an object connected to the visit, or you at the church.

Off topic photos are not allowed. Screenshots, memes, stock images, pictures of your dinner and photos taken somewhere else do not belong on a check-in. If a photo has nothing to do with the church you checked in at, it will be removed.

Respect between traditions

Sacred Steps covers many Christian traditions. Members of all of them are here, in the same feed, reading the same posts.

Do not mock another tradition’s beliefs, practices, liturgy, saints, clergy or sacraments. Do not use the app to argue that another tradition is false, and do not use another person’s check-in as an opportunity to correct their faith.

Do not preach at other users. You are very welcome to write about what your own faith means to you. You are not welcome to press it on someone else, in their comments or in their messages, after they have not asked for it.

Asking a sincere question about a tradition you do not know is not a violation. It is one of the better things that happens here.

Respect the place you are visiting

A church is not a backdrop. Many of the places in this app are active houses of worship, and some are people’s parish.

• Follow the rules of the site you are in. Some churches do not allow photography at all. Some do not allow flash, or tripods, or filming. Some close areas to visitors. Obey the signs and obey the staff.
• Do not encourage or describe trespassing. Do not post about getting into a closed, private or restricted church, and do not tell other people how to do it.
• Do not photograph people at prayer without their consent. This covers worshippers, people at confession, people in a service, funerals, weddings and baptisms. If in doubt, do not take the photo.
• Do not disrupt a service, a Mass or a moment of silence in order to get a picture or a check-in.
• Treat the building itself with care. Do not climb on it, do not touch what you are asked not to touch, and never leave a mark on it.

Keep church information accurate

Tips and reviews are read by people deciding whether to make a journey. Some of them travel a long way. Some of them have limited mobility and need to know before they set out.

Do not post information about a church that you know to be wrong. That includes opening times, Mass and service times, admission prices, accessibility, parking, dress codes, photography rules, and the church’s denomination or tradition.

Do not label a church as belonging to a tradition it does not belong to. Do not write a review of a church you have not visited. If something you posted turns out to be wrong or has changed, please correct it.

We check content before other people see it

Sacred Steps reviews content before it is shown to other users.

Photos, video and text you submit go through automated checks first. Those checks look for the things listed above, in particular sexual content, nudity, graphic violence and abusive language. Content that fails those checks is held back and is not published.

Automated checks are not the whole story. Our team also reviews content by hand, both when a check is uncertain and when someone reports a post. Automated systems decide quickly. People decide the hard cases.

Some of what you write in Sacred Steps is private to you, such as your personal reflection on a check-in. Private notes are not published to other users. They are still covered by these guidelines and by the law.

We may also remove content that breaks these guidelines even if nobody reported it.

How to report something

Every place you can post, you can also report. Reporting is in the app, and it takes a few seconds.

• On a check-in, open the menu on the post and choose Report check-in.
• On a tip or review, choose Report review.
• On someone’s profile, open the menu and choose Report profile.

You will be asked to pick a reason: harassment or bullying, hate or discrimination, sexual or inappropriate content, violence or threat, spam or scam, misleading information, or something else. You can add a sentence of detail. That detail helps us a great deal, so please use it.

Reports are confidential. We do not tell the other person who reported them.

You can also email [email protected] at any time. This is the right route if you cannot reach the report control, if you are reporting something urgent, or if you are reporting on behalf of a church.

If you believe someone is in immediate danger, please contact your local emergency services first. Then tell us.

How to block someone

You do not have to wait for us. You can block any account yourself.

Open that person’s profile, open the menu, and choose Block account.

When you block someone:

• They can no longer see your profile, your check-ins, your reviews, your reflections or your lists.
• You no longer see theirs.
• Any follow between you is removed, in both directions.
• They are not told that you blocked them.

You can see everyone you have blocked, and unblock them, under Settings and then Blocked Accounts.

Blocking someone and reporting them are separate actions. If the behaviour broke these guidelines, please do both, so that we know about it.

What happens after you report something

We act on reports of objectionable content within 24 hours. We remove content that breaks these guidelines and we remove the account of the person who posted it where that is warranted.

When we look at a report, we consider the whole picture: what was posted, where, who it was aimed at, whether it was a first mistake or a pattern, and how much harm it could do. A clumsy sentence and a targeted campaign are not the same thing and we do not treat them the same way.

We aim to restrict as little as possible while keeping people safe. Some content is a judgement call and we will not always get it right. That is what the appeal below is for.

What we may do

Depending on what we find, we may do any of the following.

• Leave the content up, if it does not break these guidelines.
• Remove or hide the content.
• Reduce how widely the content is shown.
• Send a warning to the account that posted it.
• Suspend the account for a period of time.
• Permanently ban the account and any other account belonging to the same person.
• Refuse the person permission to make a new account.
• Report the matter to law enforcement, and preserve the relevant material, where the law requires it or where we believe someone is in danger.

Serious violations do not need a warning first. Sexual content involving a child, credible threats of violence and coordinated harassment can result in a permanent ban on the first occurrence.

How to appeal

If we removed something you posted, or restricted or banned your account, and you think we made a mistake, tell us.

Email [email protected] with:

• the email address or username on your account,
• what was removed or restricted, as far as you can describe it,
• and why you believe the decision was wrong.

A person will look at it again. Where we got it wrong, we will restore the content or the account and say so. Where we did not, we will explain the reason.

The one exception is written above. There is no appeal for sexual content involving a child.

Contact us

Sacred Steps is made by BarkingPacas, LLC, in Texas, United States. If anything on this page is unclear, write to us at [email protected].

We answer support email from the same address, so replying to us keeps everything in one thread.

About these guidelines

These are guidelines, not a complete list of everything that could go wrong. They do not change our Terms of Service. Under those Terms, Sacred Steps may remove any content and may close any account for behaviour that breaks our rules. This page describes how we use that discretion.

We will update these guidelines as the app grows and as we learn. When we make a meaningful change we will update the date at the top of this page. If you keep using Sacred Steps after a change, that means you accept the updated version.

Thank you for reading all of this. Most people who use Sacred Steps will never come near these rules. They are here so that the small number who do can be dealt with quickly, and so that everyone else can get on with the walk.

These guidelines were adapted from the GitHub Community Guidelines, which are dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0.