Kept like it matters, because it does
A church’s records hold some of the most personal things about its people: their faith, their giving, their struggles. Here’s how Zera looks after them.
What we promise
Each church kept apart
Every church’s records are locked to that church in the database itself. One church can never see another’s, whatever happens in the app.
Never sold. No ad networks.
We earn from Zera Plus and the church wallet. Your information is never sold, rented or used for advertising, and there’s no tracking, ever.
Your records stay yours
Your church’s records belong to your church, and each person’s account belongs to them. Export your records whenever you want.
Churches promoting their own events, never ads about you
A church on Zera Plus can pay to put one of its own events, teachings or testimonies at the top of Discover. It works without knowing anything about you.
- Always labelled “Promoted”Only a church’s own things, never a business or an outside advertiser.
- No profiling, no targetingEveryone browsing Discover sees the promoted spot in turn, and a church’s own members never see its promotions.
- Totals onlyThe church sees how many times it was shown and tapped, never who.
- No ad networks, no tracking cookiesZera sets no advertising or tracking cookies, and never sells or rents your information.
Each thing seen by the people who need it
- Who gave whatYour finance team (owner, admins, finance) and the member themselves. Pastors and leaders see fund totals.
- Pastoral notesA pastor’s appointment notes: that pastor only. Notes on a member’s record: owners and admins.
- A member’s messages in MailThe member and the church’s pastoral team. “Seen by the church” never says who read it.
- Anonymous messagesNobody at the church. The name is never shown to anyone there.
- Anonymous postsOther members see “a member”. The church’s owners and admins can see who, to keep the feed safe.
- ChatsOnly the people in each chat. Not even the church’s owners can read other people’s chats.
- Staff pay, payroll and HR recordsThe owner, admins and finance. Each staff member sees their own payslips. Account and ID numbers are masked.
- A member’s passportThe member. A church gets only what the member ticks to share, and the member can take it back.
- Who saw a promoted postNobody. Zera counts only totals: how many times it was shown and tapped.
Every cedi accounted for
From a church’s first day on Zera, every change to its money is written to an audit trail: who, when, before and after. It’s linked so that any tampering shows. The database itself refuses a money change that skips the trail.
- Corrections in the openA gift is never quietly deleted. It’s voided with a reason, and the void stays on the record.
- Two sets of eyesExpenses need a second person’s approval. When someone has to approve their own, it’s flagged.
- Stronger controls with PlusZera PlusApprovals by amount, a two-person offering count, month-end close and a read-only seat for your accountant.
Confirmed by Zera. Verified ✓.
Confirmed means Zera has checked the church is real and operating: a GhanaPostGPS address, a photo of the building or signboard, and the pastor’s details. The pastor confirms by tapping a link we text to their own phone. Setting up a church needs only an email. The owner’s phone is checked when they ask Zera to confirm it, with a code we text them.
Once at least ten members have their own accounts, services have been recorded in two different weeks, the church has been on Zera for two weeks and the owner’s email and phone are verified, we text the pastor’s Ghana mobile. Once they tap the link, it’s usually confirmed within the hour, with no waiting for a call. Anything unusual, like a name close to another church’s or a pastor who says no, goes to our team instead.
Verified ✓ means we’ve reviewed the church’s registration certificate or its denomination’s letter.
- Denomination names protectedA church using a protected denomination’s name is only shown once it’s verified with the denomination’s letter.
- Anyone can report a churchReports go to Zera’s team, never to the church being reported.
- Letters you can checkEvery letter of commendation carries a code anyone can check at zera.church/letter.
- Small churches welcomeAn unregistered church can still run everything privately. Checks unlock being seen, never day-to-day use.
Confirmed without a building
A campus fellowship, a prayer ministry or a family of churches doesn’t need a photo of a building. It names its leader, such as a president, a leader or an overseer, has people and meetings on Zera, and sends one of these. Once everything else is in place, the leader confirms by a link texted to their own phone, so it’s confirmed the same way a church is.
Denominational campus groups, in one step. A fellowship using a protected denomination’s name, like a Methodist fellowship or a Presby students’ union, sends one letter from the denomination or its chaplaincy. That single request confirms it and verifies it ✓, so it can be shown under its name.
- A letter from the institution that hosts youA university’s chaplaincy or dean of students, a workplace’s HR, or the parent church.
- Proof you meet regularly onlineA link to your WhatsApp or Telegram group, YouTube channel or Zoom meeting, and a short note. Our team looks for itself.
- A registration certificateFrom the Registrar-General, or as an NGO or charity.
Extra care for under-18s
Never on Discover
Nothing from anyone under 18 is shown publicly: not their testimony, not their name.
Safer chats
Members can’t message each other privately. Under-18s have extra protection, and anything worrying can be reported to the church’s owners and admins.
Their details stay with their church
Under-18s can’t share their passport from the app or start a move. Their church office handles it.
Celebrations for adults
Birthday greetings in the app are for adult members only.
Careful by default
Photos lose their location
Camera and GPS data is stripped from every photo, and location tags blanked from videos and audio, before anything is stored.
Private files stay private
Staff documents, receipts and quote photos are kept apart from anything public.
We don’t keep what we don’t need
Old sign-in sessions go after a week, page-visit records after 13 months, notifications after 12 months.
Accounts that hold up
Everyone signs in with a verified email address, using a one-time code sent to it or a password. Sign-ups are protected from bots, and an account made with only a phone number can’t hold a staff role.
Ghana’s Data Protection Act
Zera handles personal information in line with the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), which treats religious belief as special personal data. Your church decides how its members’ records are used, and Zera is responsible for each person’s own account. You can ask us to show, correct or delete your information at any time.
A home your people can trust.
Free forever. Set up in minutes. Your people will thank you.