Empty Vessels
Version: 1.0
Effective date: Ready as of 2026-05-25 (becomes active upon publication at the URL below).
Hosted at: https://emptyvessels.app/terms
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of Empty Vessels ("the app," "the service"), a mobile app and related website operated by Jared Cochran ("we," "us," "our") for managing personal prayer requests and coordinating shared prayer among small, private groups of trusted users.
By creating an account or using the app, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the app.
These Terms work alongside our Privacy Policy (https://emptyvessels.app/privacy), which describes what data we collect and how we use it. Reading both is a good idea.
You may use Empty Vessels if:
If you are using Empty Vessels on behalf of an organization (a church, a small group, a ministry), you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms, and "you" in these Terms refers to both you and that organization.
You can create an account using email, phone (SMS one-time code), Sign in with Apple, or Sign in with Google.
You agree to provide accurate information when creating your account, to keep it accurate over time, and to use credentials only that you own (your own phone number, your own email, your own Apple or Google account).
You are responsible for the security of your account, which means:
We are not responsible for losses you incur because someone else used your account, unless we caused that access through our own negligence.
Each person may maintain only one Empty Vessels account at a time. Creating multiple accounts to evade a ban, manipulate moderation, or impersonate someone is grounds for termination.
Empty Vessels is a tool to help you manage your prayer life — both for yourself (personal prayer requests) and with small, trusted groups (shared prayer requests in circles). It is provided as a convenience to its users. It is not:
Personal prayer requests are visible only to you. The app is organized around circles — small groups of users who share prayer requests with each other. Shared prayer requests are visible to the members of the circles you post them in. We expect circle members to treat each other's prayer requests as private to the circle, but we cannot technically prevent someone from copying, screenshotting, or otherwise sharing content outside the app. Invite only people you trust to honor that expectation.
We are not a party to disagreements that arise among members of a circle. If a circle becomes uncomfortable, leaving it (or removing the offending member, if you are an admin) is your remedy.
The following are not allowed in any content you create or share through Empty Vessels — whether in personal prayer requests, shared prayer requests, comments, or anywhere else in the app:
We may, at our discretion, remove content that we believe violates these rules, suspend or terminate the account that posted it, and (in serious cases) report the incident to relevant authorities.
If you encounter content or behavior that violates Section 6 — or that simply makes you uncomfortable in a way that an admin or we should know about — you can:
Empty Vessels is a small, indie-operated app with limited moderation capacity. We are not a substitute for the police, a court, or a regulatory body, and we will not adjudicate every interpersonal dispute. Our scope is the rules in Section 6 and applicable law.
You retain all rights you already had in the content you post, share, or otherwise provide to the app ("Your Content"). We don't claim ownership of your prayer requests, updates, comments, reactions, or any other content you create.
In order to operate the app, we need a limited license to store and display Your Content. By posting content to Empty Vessels, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to:
This license exists only for the purpose of running the app for you. It ends when you delete the content or your account, except for copies retained in backups (which expire on their own schedule per the Privacy Policy), copies retained by Sentry crash reports if your content ever appeared in a crash, and copies that other users may have already made (screenshots, downloads, etc., which are outside our control).
We will not use Your Content to train AI models, sell it to data brokers, use it in advertising, or use it for any purpose unrelated to operating the app for you.
You represent that you have the right to post Your Content, that it does not violate Section 6, and that it does not infringe on anyone else's rights.
We can remove content that violates these Terms or that we reasonably believe creates legal or safety risk. We will try to tell you why, but we are not required to.
The app itself — including its design, code, text, graphics, and brand — belongs to us and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. You may use the app for its intended purpose. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or reverse engineer the app or its content, except as the law explicitly permits.
The name "Empty Vessels," the logo, and any other brand assets are our trademarks. You may not use them in ways that suggest endorsement, partnership, or affiliation with us without our written permission.
The app uses third-party services (described in the Privacy Policy) to operate. These services have their own terms and policies, which apply when the app uses them. Our use of these services is at our discretion; we may add, remove, or change providers from time to time.
The app may link to external websites or include URLs that users share. We are not responsible for the content of external sites.
You can stop using Empty Vessels at any time. To fully terminate your relationship with us, delete your account from Settings → Account → Delete Account. Deletion is described in the Privacy Policy.
We can suspend or terminate your account if:
We will give notice and a reason where reasonable to do so. For serious cases (credible threats of violence, CSAM, ongoing harassment), we may terminate without prior notice.
Some sections of these Terms continue to apply after your account ends — specifically the sections on intellectual property (Sections 8 and 9), disclaimers and limitations of liability (Sections 12 and 13), indemnification (Section 14), dispute resolution (Section 16), and any provision that by its nature should survive.
THE APP IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING (BUT NOT LIMITED TO):
You use the app at your own risk. We do not guarantee that the app will be available at any specific time, that data will never be lost (please don't rely on the app as your only record of important information), or that other users will behave well.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties. In those jurisdictions, the warranties we cannot exclude apply, but only to the minimum extent required.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW:
Some jurisdictions do not allow these limitations. In those jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the maximum extent the law permits.
You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claim, demand, loss, liability, damage, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of:
We will tell you promptly if a claim is made that triggers this section, and we will cooperate reasonably with your defense if you choose to defend it. We reserve the right to assume the defense of any matter at our own expense, in which case you agree to cooperate with us.
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make a material change, we will:
For minor changes (typos, formatting), we will update the date but may not notify users.
If you continue to use the app after a material change takes effect, you accept the new Terms. If you do not agree, please delete your account before the change takes effect.
If you have a dispute with us, please email support@emptyvessels.app first. We will try to resolve it informally. Many disputes can be resolved this way without further escalation, and we'd rather work it out than fight about it.
If we cannot resolve the dispute informally within 60 days, both you and we agree that any claim or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the app will be resolved by binding individual arbitration, not in court (except as noted in Section 16.5).
You and we agree that disputes will be resolved on an individual basis only. Neither you nor we may bring a claim as a plaintiff or class member in a class action, consolidated action, or representative action. The arbitrator may not consolidate the claims of multiple people, and may not preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.
If this class action waiver is found to be unenforceable for any particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) will proceed in court rather than in arbitration.
You can opt out of the arbitration and class action waiver in Sections 16.2 and 16.3 by emailing support@emptyvessels.app with the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out" within 30 days of first creating your account (or, for existing users at the time these Terms first take effect, within 30 days of the effective date). The email must include your name, the email associated with your account, and a clear statement that you opt out. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms.
The following disputes are not subject to arbitration and may be brought in court:
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.
For any dispute that ends up in court rather than arbitration (per Section 16.5 or otherwise), you and we agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Indiana.
If you live outside the United States, this is the law that governs your relationship with us — though local consumer-protection laws in your jurisdiction may grant you rights that these Terms cannot waive, and those rights still apply.
If you obtained the app from Apple's App Store or Google Play, the following also applies in addition to these Terms:
emptyvessels.app. You can give us notice at support@emptyvessels.app.For questions about these Terms:
Email: support@emptyvessels.app Postal mail: Available on request; email us first.
| Version | Date | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 2026-05-25 | Initial version, drafted as part of EMP-10. Not yet published. |