NearFaith Care — Church Verifier Agreement

Verification is provided by a representative of the church the applicant named — a pastor, staff member, or designated leader in a position to know the congregation. Where the church is claimed on NearFaith, its verified claim holder (or someone they designate) acts as the representative; otherwise NearFaith contacts the church through its published phone number or email and records who confirmed.

A verifier is asked to confirm, in good faith, exactly two things:

• that the church knows the applicant and their connection to the congregation; and
• that the stated need appears legitimate on its face.

The verifier may also decline to confirm, or flag a request as concerning, and may add a private note. That is the entire role.

• It is not a guarantee that assistance will be awarded — every decision rests with the NearFaith Care Review Board — and it creates no obligation on NearFaith to award it.
• It is not a financial commitment by the church — no co-signature, no promise of repayment, no liability for how assistance is used.
• It does not make the church NearFaith’s agent, partner, or representative, and creates no ongoing duty to monitor the applicant.
• Declining, flagging, or abstaining carries no penalty for the church or the applicant and is never made public.

NearFaith never publishes what a church says in verification, and never discloses an applicant’s membership or attendance status outside the review process. In turn, the verifier agrees to treat the fact and contents of an application as confidential pastoral information — shared within church leadership only as genuinely needed to confirm the request.

Verifying a request never involves the church handling money. Separately — and only under an explicit, separate agreement — a church may choose to act as the administering entity for awards to its own congregation, in which case that agreement (not this one) governs funds.