PLANNING A VISIT

Terms for Parish Pilgrim

Updated October 6, 2026

ParishPilgrim is a Smitz Group LLC project operated by Abraham Smitz. These terms describe use of the project preview. You can browse church information and keep a guest plan without signing in.

Check plans with the parish

The directory and timeline draw on linked parish, jurisdiction, and calendar sources. Coverage and verification are still being developed, and sources or parish arrangements can change. ParishPilgrim is an independent planning project and is not an official representative of the listed parishes or Orthodox jurisdictions.

An annual patronal or calendar-derived date is a planning reference. A patron can have several commemorations, and a parish may observe only some of them or arrange its celebration on another day. A feast-day dedication is also distinct from a confirmed service. Confirm service times, vigils, celebrations, and visitor arrangements directly with the parish before traveling.

Saving a visit, liking an event, or adding a calendar reminder does not book a service, reserve admission, or confirm that a parish will hold an event. The calendar button opens a Google Calendar draft by default; choose .ics downloads in your settings to use another calendar. Published structured service times are included, while dates without listed times remain all-day reminders. If a service end time is not listed, a timed reminder uses a clearly labeled one-hour duration. These reminders do not grant ParishPilgrim access to your calendar or update automatically.

Following churches and favoriting recurring celebrations express private interest and remain separate from saved visits or shared attendance intentions. An individual event's heart records a visit intention using your like privacy setting, which starts public. The number beside it opens the visit intentions visible to the viewer. Guest and account favorites are separate. Church, profile, and pilgrimage page links do not bypass the audience or account checks for private content.

Nearby searches and maps

Nearby discovery defaults to 25 miles around your saved profile city, or a nearby city inferred locally from optional browser location access. You can decline location permission or choose a city, ZIP area, and radius yourself. Radius distances are approximate straight-line distances, not road distances, travel times, or navigation instructions. Church points come from reviewed street-address matches and may differ from the building entrance or current worship location.

The current map covers 101 of 120 active directory listings; 19 have no verified map point and cannot be located within a radius. A missing pin does not mean the church is closed or absent from the directory. Numbered pins correspond to the filtered list. Confirm the parish address and use current directions before traveling.

The embedded Google map contacts Google and is subject to Google's terms and privacy practices, as explained in the privacy notice. A local locations preview is available when the external map cannot load.

Use the preview respectfully

Use the site in accordance with applicable law and respect other people's accounts and information. Do not attempt to access another person's account, bypass security controls, or disrupt the site. On shared devices, remember that browser-local plans may belong to someone else.

Enter and confirm your own first and last names when completing a profile; its other fields, including a biography of up to 500 characters, are optional. Your saved feast plan stays private. Shared community contributions display your confirmed name and picture, and new likes, discussion posts, and attached photos start public. Privacy settings control future likes and posts separately; existing contributions keep their saved audiences. The privacy notice explains audiences, photo handling, and account-data deletion requests. ParishPilgrim sign-out is separate from signing out of Google.

Your account uses a Google profile picture by default when available. You can replace it with an HTTPS picture URL or remove it in your profile. Displaying or previewing a profile picture sends a request to its image host, as explained in the privacy notice. Pilgrimage photos can be uploaded separately within event threads.

A profile's church calendar preference concerns the liturgical calendar used for feasts and fasts. It is currently a saved preference only, with no automatic date conversion or fasting tool. The directory continues to use each parish's sourced calendar practice. This preference is separate from .ics reminders and Google Calendar drafts.

Community contributions

Member-created pilgrimages and comments are members' own plans and statements. They are not parish announcements, reservations, or confirmation of services. Attendance intentions are expressions of interest, and celebration history and badges are self-reported. Confirm arrangements with the church and with fellow pilgrims before relying on a plan.

Post only content you have the right to share, and respect the privacy and wishes of people shown in photos. Do not impersonate others, harass members, disclose someone else's private information, or post unlawful, abusive, or spam content. Check your privacy settings before sharing; new likes, discussion posts, and attached photos are public by default. Social profile links identify destinations supplied by the member; ParishPilgrim does not verify ownership of those accounts.

You can edit or remove supported contributions, withdraw an intention or completion, remove friends, and block or report content. Reports hide content for the reporter and enter an operator review queue. The operator may remove inappropriate content or restrict abusive use. Shared information already seen or copied by another person cannot be recalled. Use the project contact for urgent issues or removal assistance.

Direct messages are private conversations between their participants. Respect the recipient's messaging preferences and do not send abusive or unsolicited repeated messages. You can restrict incoming messages in settings or block a member. The paper plane sends an event to selected friends in a private message without creating a visit intention. A shared event like can notify accepted friends who can view the intention and event. Visit intentions do not confirm attendance or establish that a parish has confirmed a service. Access remains subject to the original event's audience, friendship, blocks, and reports.

Sources and other services

Church sources, directions, Google sign-in, calendar drafts, and support links can open other services. Their own terms and privacy practices apply when you use them. Please report incorrect church information or broken links so the project can review them.

Supporting the project

Voluntary support for Parish Pilgrim, operated by Smitz Group LLC. Contributions are not tax-deductible charitable donations.

Support payments are processed by Stripe. One-time support lets you choose the amount. Monthly support renews in USD until canceled, with $5, $10, $25, and custom whole-dollar options. You can manage or cancel monthly support using the email entered at checkout. Select your Parish Pilgrim support subscription; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. Parish Pilgrim does not store your payment details.

Contact

For project questions, corrections, or privacy requests, contact Abraham Smitz at abrahamesmitz@gmail.com. Please do not send passwords, secret tokens, or detailed pilgrimage plans by email.