A pastoral note is a short, factual record of a pastoral contact, such as a home visit or a call. Write what the next office-bearer needs to give good care, leave out what nobody needs, and let only a small group read it. The law on such notes differs by country: this post compares South Africa, the EU and the UK, Brazil and the United States.
In this post, a visit record is a pastoral note about a visit. The post uses the word "note" for both.
Contents11 sections
What should an elder write down after a pastoral contact?
Write the note on the same day, or within 24 hours. Keep it short. A good note answers six questions:
- When and how? The date, and the kind of contact: a visit, a call or another contact.
- Who? The members that you spoke to, and the office-bearer who came with you.
- What did they ask for? A prayer request, practical help, or a talk with the minister.
- What are the main pastoral matters? Write them in plain words. Write facts, not judgements.
- What did you agree? A second visit, a call, or a word to the deacons.
- Who acts next? The follow-up, and the person who will do it.
Write every note as if the member will read it one day. Use words that the next elder can understand without you. A note that holds only "good visit" helps nobody. A note that holds every word of the visit puts the household at risk.
What should you not write down?
Some knowledge must not even reach the council. The Church Order of Dort (1619), art. 73, keeps private sins that the sinner repented after admonition away from the consistory. The GKSA order has the same rule under the same number. The URCNA order says that repented secret sins "shall not be made known to the consistory" (art. 53).
Presbyterian orders set the same limit: elders bring to the session only the faults that private admonition cannot correct (OPC FG X.3). So a repented private sin does not belong in a note that other office-bearers read.
Discipline is a separate matter. The Handleiding by die Kerkorde (1965), a commentary on the GKSA order, advises a separate book for discipline cases (p. 453). Until the council finds a charge proven, the minutes refer to the charge without the name of the accused (p. 441). Keep pastoral notes apart from the discipline record and from the minutes. Other people read the minutes: in the PCA, the presbytery inspects the session's records every year (BCO 12-7).
Use this table when you write a note:
| Write this | Not this |
|---|---|
| The date, who was there, and the follow-up | What other members say about the household |
| "Visit with the district deacon. They ask for prayer for the father's work." | Your guess about the cause of a problem |
| "In hospital. The family asks for a visit. Consent to record: yes." | A diagnosis, a medicine or a test result |
| "Wants to talk to the minister about the marriage." | The details of the marriage problem |
| "Ask the deacons about help with school fees. The family agreed." | Amounts of debt, a salary or bank details |
| "Follow-up: a second visit before the next Lord's Supper." | A private sin that the person confessed and repented |
| A fact that the next visitor needs | A discipline matter before the council decides it |
| A child's first name, in a note about the household | Details about a child that the parents did not agree to |
Who may read a pastoral note?
The rule is simple: the smallest group that needs to know. The GKSA Handleiding calls the home visit official, but private and confidential (p. 147).
Apply that rule in three circles:
- The elder of the district and the minister. They give the pastoral care, so they read the note.
- The deacons. They read a note when the matter concerns their office, such as material help, and preferably with the member's consent. In many orders the deacons are not members of the consistory or the session (Canadian Reformed art. 38; OPC FG XIII.4; PCA BCO 12-1). The NG Kerk in South Africa differs: its council includes the deacons (Kerkorde 2023, art. 26.2).
- Nobody else. Not the spouses of office-bearers, not church office staff who hold no office, and not other members.
The deacons keep their own confidential case file, and they report to the council without names (Handleiding p. 158). The post on church finances explains their reports.
What does the law say about pastoral notes?
Caution: this section is not legal advice. Some points below are an interpretation of the law. Ask an adviser in your own country before your church acts on them.
Church membership itself shows a religious belief, and pastoral notes often hold health details. Many data laws give both of these extra protection, but the rules for a church differ.
South Africa: POPIA
POPIA is the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013. The council is, in practice, the responsible party for the member records (s1).
- Religious belief. A religious organisation may process the religious beliefs of its own members (s26, s28(1)(a)).
- Health. The list of bodies that may process health information does not include religious bodies (s32). The evident route is consent (s27(1)(a)). This is an interpretation: confirm it with a lawyer.
- Children. A person under 18 is a child (s1). The Act lets the church process a child's information with the prior consent of a competent person, such as a parent (s35(1)(a)).
- Outside the church. Religious information may not go to third parties without consent (s28(3)). It is not clear whether a sister church is a third party, so ask the member's consent for an attestation.
- Duties. Take reasonable security measures (s19). After a breach, notify the Information Regulator and the member (s22). Register an Information Officer (s55). A transfer abroad needs adequate protection there, or consent, among other grounds (s72).
The EU and the UK: the GDPR
The EU applies the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679. The UK keeps its own version, the UK GDPR, with the same Article 9 condition for religious bodies.
- Religious belief and health. Both are special categories, which the church may not process unless a condition applies (Art. 9(1)). One condition fits a church: a not-for-profit body with a religious aim may process them in its legitimate activities, with appropriate safeguards (Art. 9(2)(d)).
- The limits of that condition. It covers only members, former members and persons in regular contact with the church. The data may not leave the church without consent. Explicit consent is the other route (Art. 9(2)(a)).
- A breach. Notify the supervisory authority without undue delay, and where feasible within 72 hours, unless the breach is unlikely to cause a risk (Art. 33).
- Data abroad. A transfer outside the EU must meet the conditions of Chapter V (Art. 44).
Brazil: the LGPD
Brazil applies the Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (Lei 13.709/2018).
- Religious belief and health. Both are sensitive data, and so is membership of a religious organisation (Art. 5, II).
- Consent. Art. 11 has no exception for religious bodies. Unless one of its listed cases applies, the church needs consent that is specific and highlighted, for specific purposes (Art. 11, I).
- Children. Process a child's data in the child's best interest, with the specific consent of at least one parent or legal guardian (Art. 14).
- Duties. Take security measures (Art. 46). Tell the national authority and the person about a security incident that can cause relevant risk or harm (Art. 48). Name a data protection officer (encarregado), unless an exemption applies (Art. 41).
The United States
- No single federal law. The federal privacy laws "are not comprehensive in nature" and cover certain industries and kinds of data (Congressional Research Service, 2022).
- HIPAA. The HIPAA rules apply to health plans, health care clearinghouses and certain health care providers (45 CFR 160.102). A church that is none of these is outside HIPAA.
- State law. Some state privacy laws also reach nonprofits above a size threshold. Oregon's law, for example, applies to nonprofits since 1 July 2025 (Oregon Department of Justice).
- Child abuse. About 29 states and Guam name clergy as mandatory reporters (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2023).
Use this checklist for the council, in any country:
- Find out which data law applies to your church. Ask an adviser.
- Name the person who answers for data protection, where your law asks for one.
- Tell the members what the church records, why, and who reads it.
- Get consent for health details in notes where your law asks for it.
- Get a parent's consent for a child's information, or get legal advice.
- Give no member information to anyone outside the church without consent.
- Limit who reads each note. Use strong passwords and keep backups.
- Write down what the church will do after a breach, and set a rule for how long it keeps notes.
How long should a church keep pastoral notes?
None of these laws gives a fixed number of years. POPIA (s14) and the GDPR (Art. 5(1)(e)) say: keep data no longer than necessary, with room for history, research and statistics. The LGPD asks for deletion at the end of the use, with listed exceptions (Art. 16).
The church orders ask for a register, not for pastoral notes. The Canadian Reformed (art. 64), URCNA (art. 50) and PCA (BCO 12-8) orders name records of baptisms and deaths, among others. The GKSA Handleiding adds that the documents of church bodies are church property and may never be destroyed (p. 280).
So keep the register and the minutes for the long term, and restrict access to them. Keep pastoral notes only as long as the pastoral purpose needs them. Let the council write a rule, for example a review of old notes each year. The post on the member register covers the long-term records.
How Reformeer keeps pastoral notes
In Kantoor, the office app of Reformeer, the author chooses the readers of each note under "Who can see it?". There are four tiers:
| Tier | Who reads the note |
|---|---|
| Elders only | The elders of the member's ward, and the pastors |
| Elders and deacons | The elders and deacons of the member's ward, and the pastors |
| A ministry group | The servants of that group, the pastors, the admins, and the officers of the member's ward |
| Administrative | The officers of the member's ward, the pastors and the admins |
- The author always reads their own note.
- An admin who holds no office never reads the pastoral tiers (Elders only, Elders and deacons). That is also true through the AI.
- Only the author or a pastor can delete a note.
- An AI chat is private. Only its owner can open it, and no admin screen reads chats.
- Every office user accepts a data agreement before the first use. Most records keep a change history, and Reformeer makes a backup each day.
The database and the files are in Belgium (Google Cloud, europe-west1) and the applications in Germany (Vercel, Frankfurt). The AI runs at Anthropic in the United States, so the ward report and the AI chat send note text there. For a church in South Africa or Brazil, all of this data is abroad (POPIA s72; LGPD Art. 33). For a church in the EU, the AI is a transfer outside the EU (GDPR Art. 44). Talk to your adviser first.
Reformeer is built with POPIA controls, and its screens are in English and Afrikaans. It claims no certificate under any of these laws.
The limits: there is no private tier that only the author reads. An "Elders only" note about a member is also open to the pastors and the elders of that ward. A follow-up has no due date and no reminder. See the office features, or book a demo.
Dorrepaal family
Wonderful visit. We read together from Psalm 121. The family is at home and will partake in communion on the 21st.
Frequently asked questions
May a church keep pastoral notes under data protection law?
Yes, but the conditions differ by country. POPIA (s28) and the GDPR (Art. 9(2)(d)) let a church process its own members' religious beliefs. The LGPD asks for consent unless a listed exception applies.
May a church give pastoral information to another church?
Ask the member's consent first. POPIA (s28(3)) and the GDPR (Art. 9(2)(d)) do not let religious information leave the church without consent. Ask, for example, when the member asks for an attestation.
Does HIPAA apply to a church's pastoral notes?
Only if the church is a health plan, a health care clearinghouse or a health care provider of the kind that 45 CFR 160.102 names. Check your state's law.
Should an elder write down a confession of sin?
No. Dort and the GKSA (art. 73) and the URCNA (art. 53) keep repented private sins away from the consistory. Do not put them in a note that other office-bearers read.
Published on 23 October 2026. Topic: Pastoral care.