My Shepherd

Terms of Service

Plain-English summary: My Shepherd is a Scripture-based AI conversation tool, not a crisis service or a substitute for pastoral, clinical, emergency, financial, or other professional guidance. Verify every response and Bible citation independently. Teens may use the Service with parental permission. Paid plans renew automatically unless cancelled; you can cancel anytime. If you are in immediate danger or considering self-harm, call or text 988 in the United States or call 911 now—do not wait for an app response.

1. Agreement to These Terms

Effective date: August 15, 2026

Last updated: August 15, 2026

These Terms of Service (the "Terms") govern your access to and use of My Shepherd, including the web application at app.myshepherdapp.church, related websites, and our iOS and Android applications when available (collectively, the "Service"). The Service is offered by Bar Above LLC ("Bar Above," "we," "us," or "our"), 523 California Ave, Oakdale, CA 95361-3005.

By creating an account, purchasing a subscription, accessing, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility and Accounts

You must be at least 13 years old to create an account. If you are 13 through 17 years old, you may use the Service only with the permission and involvement of a parent or legal guardian. A child under 13 may use the Service only through a parent-supervised account after Bar Above has obtained verified parental consent through an approved process.

You must provide accurate account information and keep it current. Full Service features require an account. You may have only one account for yourself unless we expressly approve otherwise.

You are responsible for safeguarding your email account, login links, devices, and account credentials. Do not share access to your account. Promptly notify us at support@myshepherdapp.church if you believe your account has been accessed without your permission.

3. The Service and Its Limits

My Shepherd generates AI-assisted, Scripture-based reflections and responses. It is offered for informational and devotional purposes only. It is not medical, financial, legal, psychological, therapeutic, pastoral, theological, or other professional guidance, and it is not a substitute for a qualified professional, pastor, counselor, physician, emergency responder, or trusted local support.

The Service does not diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any condition. We do not provide clinical counseling, pastoral counseling, or individual spiritual direction through the AI. Your use of the Service does not create a therapist-client, clergy-penitent, physician-patient, fiduciary, or other professional relationship with Bar Above or any provider.

Crisis and emergency notice — read this carefully

My Shepherd is not a crisis-intervention service and is not monitored for emergencies. If you are experiencing a mental-health emergency, are in immediate danger, or have thoughts of self-harm or suicide, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 in the United States, or call 911 immediately. If you are outside the United States, contact your local emergency number or crisis service. Do not wait for, rely on, or treat a My Shepherd response as emergency assistance.

The Service may detect certain self-harm or suicide-related language and show a message directing you to 988 or emergency services. Detection may fail, be delayed, or be incorrect. This feature does not create a duty to monitor, intervene, contact emergency services, or ensure your safety.

4. Your Responsibilities and Acceptable Use

You may use the Service only for lawful, personal, and permitted purposes, and only in compliance with these Terms. You are responsible for the questions, prompts, content, and other materials you submit ("User Content") and for your use of any output.

You must not:

You represent that you have all rights, permissions, and consents needed to submit User Content. You will not submit material that you are prohibited from sharing or that violates these Terms. We may, but are not obligated to, review, remove, block, or report User Content or suspend access when we reasonably believe it violates these Terms or creates risk.

5. AI Output, Scripture, and Doctrine

The Service uses a large language model, including Anthropic Claude through an API, to generate outputs. AI output may be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, misleading, offensive, or inappropriate for your circumstances. It may misquote, omit context for, or incorrectly cite Scripture. You must independently verify every factual statement, recommendation, and biblical citation before relying on it, sharing it, making a decision, or acting on it.

Outputs are generated information, not doctrinal authority. My Shepherd offers general Christian Scripture interpretation and reflection, but its responses may not align with the teachings, beliefs, practices, or pastoral direction of a particular church, tradition, denomination, or individual. For doctrinal questions, seek guidance from pastors, church leadership, and your faith community. You assume all risk from relying on or acting upon output.

We may change the models, prompts, safety systems, features, or output format at any time. We do not guarantee that a response will be available, accurate, safe, suitable, or uninterrupted.

6. Plans, Rate Limits, and Subscriptions

The Service may offer the following plans, each subject to its stated usage limits:

We may change plan features, usage limits, eligibility, or availability. We will give at least 30 days’ notice before increasing the recurring price of a paid subscription. You may cancel before the change takes effect.

Paid subscriptions automatically renew at the interval you select—monthly or annually—unless you cancel before the next renewal date. By purchasing a subscription, you authorize Bar Above and our payment processor, Stripe, to charge your chosen payment method the recurring subscription amount, applicable taxes, and any other authorized charges at each renewal. Stripe, not Bar Above, handles card-payment processing.

You can cancel at any time through your account page or by contacting support@myshepherdapp.church. Cancellation stops future renewals but does not normally end the current paid period. Monthly subscriptions are non-refundable. For annual subscriptions, we may consider a refund request within 30 days of the initial purchase and may issue a pro-rated refund at Bar Above’s discretion, except where law requires otherwise. We may suspend or end paid access if a charge is declined, reversed, disputed, or unpaid.

7. Ownership and Permission to Use the Service

The Service, including its software, interface, brand, logos, designs, prompts, documentation, compilations, non-user content, and all related intellectual-property rights, belongs to Bar Above or its licensors. These Terms grant you a limited, personal, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable permission to access and use the Service for its intended purpose while you comply with these Terms. No other rights are granted.

As between you and Bar Above, you retain any rights you may have in your User Content. You grant Bar Above a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, transmit, process, display to you, and otherwise use User Content only as needed to operate, secure, support, and improve the Service; enforce these Terms; and comply with applicable obligations. This license ends when the content is deleted from our active systems, subject to reasonable backup, retention, security, and recordkeeping needs described in our Privacy Policy.

We do not claim ownership of your questions. However, you may not use the Service or outputs in a way that violates these Terms or another person’s rights.

8. Third-Party Services

The Service relies on third-party providers, including Anthropic for AI generation, Stripe for payments, SendGrid for email delivery, PostHog for analytics, Cloudflare for security, and Railway for infrastructure. Your use of third-party features may also be subject to their terms and privacy practices.

Google Sign-In is optional. If you choose it, Google’s terms and privacy practices apply to your use of that sign-in method.

9. Suspension and Termination

You may stop using the Service at any time. You may request account deletion by emailing support@myshepherdapp.church. Ending your account does not eliminate obligations that arose before termination, including payment obligations for a current subscription period.

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access if we reasonably believe you violated these Terms, created a security or safety risk, used the Service unlawfully, failed to pay amounts due, or exposed Bar Above, users, or providers to harm or liability. We may also discontinue all or part of the Service.

Upon termination, your right to use the Service ends. Sections that by their nature should survive—including ownership, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnification, dispute resolution, and general terms—will survive.

10. Disclaimers

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SERVICE AND ALL OUTPUTS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." BAR ABOVE AND ITS LICENSORS, PROVIDERS, OFFICERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, AND AVAILABILITY.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE SECURE, ERROR-FREE, UNINTERRUPTED, OR THAT OUTPUTS WILL BE CORRECT, COMPLETE, SAFE, OR SUITABLE FOR YOUR NEEDS. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN DISCLAIMERS, SO SOME MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

11. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, BAR ABOVE AND ITS LICENSORS, PROVIDERS, OFFICERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR PERSONAL OR EMOTIONAL HARM, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE, OUTPUTS, OR THESE TERMS, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF BAR ABOVE AND ITS LICENSORS, PROVIDERS, OFFICERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) $100 OR (B) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO BAR ABOVE FOR THE SERVICE IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.

12. Indemnification

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Bar Above, its licensors, providers, officers, members, employees, and agents from and against claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable fees and costs) arising from or related to your User Content, your use or misuse of the Service or outputs, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of another person’s rights or applicable law. We may assume control of the defense of a matter subject to indemnification, and you will reasonably cooperate with us.

13. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the Service are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles.

Before filing a claim, you and Bar Above agree to try in good faith to resolve the dispute informally. Send a written notice describing the dispute and the relief you seek to support@myshepherdapp.church and allow 60 days for resolution.

Except for claims eligible for small-claims court, either party may elect binding individual arbitration administered by JAMS under its applicable rules for disputes where the amount in controversy exceeds $10,000. The arbitration will take place in Dallas County, Texas, unless the parties agree to a remote proceeding or applicable rules require otherwise. The arbitrator may award the same individual relief available in court, but may not award relief for or against anyone who is not a party to the arbitration.

You and Bar Above waive the right to a jury trial and to participate in a class action, class arbitration, collective action, or representative proceeding to the fullest extent permitted by law. Claims must be brought only in an individual capacity. If the class-action waiver is unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim must proceed in a court of competent jurisdiction, while the rest of this arbitration provision remains in effect.

For disputes that are not subject to arbitration or small-claims court, you and Bar Above consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in Dallas County, Texas, and waive objections to personal jurisdiction or venue there, except where applicable law provides otherwise.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms to reflect changes to the Service, our business, or applicable requirements. For material changes, we will provide notice by email and an in-app notice at least 14 days before the updated Terms take effect. The "Last updated" date will identify the most recent revision.

If you continue to use the Service after updated Terms take effect, you accept them. If you do not agree to the changes, you must stop using the Service and cancel any subscription before the changes take effect.

15. General Terms

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any additional terms presented for a specific feature or plan, are the entire agreement between you and Bar Above regarding the Service. If a provision is unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the remaining provisions will remain in effect.

You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your account without our written consent. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets, or by operation of law. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, employment, agency, joint venture, or fiduciary relationship.

16. Contact Us

For questions about these Terms or the Service, contact us at:

Bar Above LLC

523 California Ave

Oakdale, CA 95361-3005

support@myshepherdapp.church