User Manual.

Welcome to ChurchOps — a unified platform designed to help churches manage people, programs, finances, and operations efficiently and securely.

Step 1: Sign In to ChurchOps

1. Open your web browser and go to https://getchurchops.com
2. Click Sign In
3. Enter the username and password (which you have reset after Onboarding by your church administrator)

Tip: If your account was created by an administrator, you may receive an email to set or reset your password.

Step 2: Understand the Dashboard

After signing in, you will land on the Dashboard. The dashboard gives you a quick overview of member activity, attendance trends, financial summaries, and pending tasks or approvals (based on your role).

Use the Top navigation menu to access different modules such as Members, Attendance, Collections, and Expenses.

Step 3: Confirm Your Church Information

Before adding data, confirm your church information is correct (church name, address, and primary contact details).

If you need to update church information, please contact your church administrator or support.

Accurate information helps ensure reliable reporting and smooth communication.

Step 4: Create Users and Assign Roles

ChurchOps uses roles to control access. Start with least access, then expand permissions as needed.

1. Go to Users
2. Click Add User
3. Enter the user's name and email address
4. Assign an appropriate role

Common roles include:

• Admin – full access to church operations
• Church Leaders – department-level access (if enabled)
• Volunteers – limited access to assigned tasks

Security note: Always give users the minimum access they need.

Step 5: Start with Core Modules

To get value quickly, begin with these core modules:

• Members / Directory – add and organize your congregation
• Attendance – track service and event attendance
• Collections – record tithes, offerings, and donations
• Expenses – manage spending and approvals

You can expand into Programs, Transport, Resources, and Reports as your church grows.

Best Practices for New Churches

• Start small: add recent members first
• Assign one or two admins initially
• Review data weekly to stay consistent
• Use notes and descriptions for clarity

Next: Continue to the Members / Directory section to begin adding your congregation.

ChurchOps uses roles to control what a user can see and do. Roles help keep the system secure and ensure each person only accesses what they need for their responsibilities.

How Roles Work

• Visibility: roles control which modules and pages are visible to a user
• Actions: roles control what the user can do (view, create, edit, approve, delete)
• Separation of duties: for example, the person requesting an expense should not be the same person approving it

Common Roles in ChurchOps

• Super Admin: platform-level administration (multi-church setup, global oversight, advanced maintenance)
• Admin: church-wide administration (full access to church operations and modules)
• Church Leaders: access based on responsibilities (for example, department or unit-level access if enabled)
• Volunteers: limited operational access (only what is needed for their assigned tasks)

Recommended Setup (Best Practice)

1. Start with 1–2 Admins for the church
2. Assign Church Leaders only to the modules they need (e.g., Attendance, Programs, Transport)
3. Keep Volunteer access minimal and task-focused
4. Review roles quarterly (or when responsibilities change)

Security Tips

• Use strong passwords and do not share accounts
• Remove access immediately when someone changes roles or leaves
• Give "approve" permissions only to trusted leaders

The Members/Directory module helps you maintain a clean, searchable record of your congregation. It supports everyday ministry operations like communication, attendance tracking, follow-ups, and reporting.

Common Things You'll Do

• Add a new member or visitor
• Edit member details (phone, address, email)
• Search and filter by name, group, or status
• View a member profile and history (where available)

Add a New Member

1. Open Members from the top navigation menu
2. Click Add Member
3. Enter the person's basic details (name, phone, email)
4. Save

Tip: If you're onboarding a lot of people, start with the most active members first.

Recommended Data to Capture

• Full name
• Phone number and email
• Home address (optional)
• Member status (Member, Visitor, New Convert, etc.)
• Notes (e.g., "prefers WhatsApp")

Best Practices

• Use one consistent naming format (e.g., "First Last")
• Avoid duplicates — search before adding
• Keep sensitive notes respectful and minimal
• Update records immediately after major events (new address, new phone, etc.)

The Attendance module helps you track participation across services and events. This supports planning, growth measurement, and follow-up.

Common Things You'll Do

• Record attendance for a service (Sunday service, Bible study, etc.)
• Track new visitors
• Review attendance trends over time

Record Attendance

1. Open Attendance from the top navigation menu
2. Select the service/event (or create one if needed)
3. Enter the count or mark attendees (depending on how your church records attendance)
4. Save

Best Practices

• Record attendance the same day (or immediately after service)
• Use consistent event names (e.g., "Sunday Service – Morning")
• Track visitors separately when possible
• Use attendance trends to guide capacity planning and volunteer scheduling

Quick Troubleshooting

• I can't record attendance: you may not have permission — contact an Admin
• I don't see my event/service: confirm it exists or ask Admin to create it

The Collections module is used to record church income such as tithes, offerings, donations, and special funds. It supports accountability and helps your finance team produce clear summaries.

Common Things You'll Do

• Record a collection for a specific service date
• Split amounts by fund/category (e.g., Tithes, Offering, Building Fund)
• Review daily/weekly/monthly summaries

Record a Collection

1. Open Collections from the top navigation menu
2. Select the date/service the collection relates to
3. Add the amount(s) and choose the correct fund/category
4. Save

Best Practices

• Record collections immediately after counting
• Always select the correct fund/category
• Use notes for special situations (e.g., "combined service")
• Limit who can edit historical records

Quick Troubleshooting

• Totals don't match: check if amounts were split into multiple funds
• Can't edit a record: you may not have permission — contact an Admin

The Expenses module helps your church track spending, approvals, and accountability. It supports better budgeting and clearer oversight.

Common Things You'll Do

• Create an expense request
• Attach a receipt or description (where available)
• Approve or reject expenses (for authorized leaders)
• Review expense summaries

Create an Expense

1. Open Expenses from the top navigation menu
2. Click Add Expense
3. Enter amount, category, and description
4. Submit

Approvals (if enabled)

Some churches use an approval workflow. If approvals are enabled, expenses may move through statuses such as: Pending → Approved → Paid.

Best Practices

• Use clear descriptions (what, why, and for which ministry)
• Attach receipts whenever possible
• Separate "request" vs "paid" for better accountability
• Keep approval permissions limited

Quick Troubleshooting

• I can't approve: you likely don't have approval permissions
• I don't see my expense: check filters (date/status) or ask Admin

This module helps your church plan events and execute them smoothly using a simple workflow: Program → Action Items → Tasks.

How It Works (Simple)

• Program: the big activity (e.g., "Easter Service", "Youth Conference")
• Action Item: a key deliverable (e.g., "Book venue", "Print flyers")
• Task: smaller work items assigned to individuals (e.g., "Call printer", "Design flyer")

Create a Program

1. Open Programs from the top navigation menu
2. Click Create Program
3. Add a title, date/time, and notes
4. Save

Add Action Items and Tasks

1. Open a program
2. Create action items for major deliverables
3. Create tasks under each action item and assign owners
4. Move items through statuses as work progresses

Best Practices

• Keep action items outcome-based (deliverables, not activities)
• Assign tasks with clear owners and due dates
• Use weekly reviews to move items forward
• Don't overload one person with every task

The Transport module helps organize pickups and drop-offs for church services and events. It is useful for guests, new members, elderly members, and special programs.

Common Things You'll Do

• Create a transport request
• Assign a driver
• Track pickup details (address, time, contact)

Create a Transport Request

1. Open Transport from the top navigation menu
2. Click New Request
3. Enter pickup address, time, and contact information
4. Save

Best Practices

• Confirm pickup details the day before
• Only share pickup information with assigned transport volunteers
• Keep notes clear (gate codes, landmarks, etc.)

The Resources/Inventory module helps your church track items like chairs, tents, projectors, sound equipment, and other assets used for services and events.

Common Things You'll Do

• Add resources (items/assets)
• Track quantities and availability
• Record usage for events (where available)

Add a Resource

1. Open Resources from the top navigation menu
2. Click Add Resource
3. Enter the name, quantity, and notes (e.g., storage location)
4. Save

Best Practices

• Use clear item names (e.g., "White folding chairs")
• Record where items are stored
• Update quantities after major events
• Assign one person to manage inventory changes

If your church already uses another tool for part of your workflow — like Zapier, Google Sheets, or a system your team built yourselves — you don't have to give it up to use ChurchOps. The API & Webhooks module lets ChurchOps connect to those tools directly: sending them information automatically, or letting them pull data from ChurchOps when they need it.

You don't need to be a developer to set this up for common tools like Zapier. If your church has someone comfortable with code, the full technical reference is available separately at getchurchops.com/developers.

Common Things You'll Do

• Generate an API key so another tool can read data from ChurchOps
• Set up a webhook so ChurchOps notifies another tool the moment something happens
• Check whether a connection is working, and revoke a key that's no longer needed

What Can Be Connected

When you generate a key, you choose exactly which of these it's allowed to touch:

• Directory – read member details, or add/update people from another system
• Action Items – read your board, or create and update items from outside ChurchOps
• Attendance – read service/house-fellowship counts, or log new records
• Follow-ups – read the care pipeline, or create/update entries and their status
• Volunteers – read the roster, or add/update volunteers and their departments
• Tasks – read execution tasks, or create/update them
• Programs – read program details (read-only)
• Collections & Giving – read amounts and dates; donor identity is a separate, optional permission
• House Fellowships – read active fellowships and their leaders (read-only)

A key given only "Action Items" cannot see Directory, Collections, or anything else — each permission is opt-in, one at a time, when the key is created.

Connect Another Tool to ChurchOps (API Key)

1. Open Settings from the top navigation menu, then API & Webhooks
2. Under "Create a new key," give it a name describing what it's for (e.g. "Zapier — weekly report")
3. Tick only the boxes for the information that key actually needs (e.g. just "Action Items" if that's all it will read)
4. Click Generate key
5. Copy the key immediately — for security, ChurchOps only shows it once and cannot show it again

Tip: If you lose a key, you don't need to worry — just revoke it and generate a new one.

Get Notified Automatically (Webhooks)

1. Under "Add a webhook," paste the web address the other tool gave you (Zapier calls this a "Catch Hook" URL)
2. Tick which events should trigger it — for example, "New follow-up created"
3. Click Add webhook
4. Click Deliveries next to it afterward to confirm ChurchOps successfully reached that address

Example: Get a Text When a New Visitor Needs a Call

Here's what the whole thing looks like end to end, without touching any code:

1. Your Follow-up team enters a new visitor into ChurchOps as usual — nothing changes on their end
2. Because a webhook is set up for "New follow-up created," ChurchOps immediately sends that visitor's details to the address you configured
3. If that address is a Zapier automation, Zapier can then send a text message, post to a Slack channel, or add a row to a spreadsheet — whatever you set it up to do
4. Your care team finds out the moment someone needs a call, instead of someone having to remember to check ChurchOps

The same pattern works for anything on the "What Can Be Connected" list above — a completed action item, a new volunteer, a logged attendance count — pick the event, point it somewhere, and ChurchOps handles the rest automatically.

How This Stays Secure

• Keys are shown once. When a key is generated, ChurchOps displays it a single time. If it's lost, there's no way to view it again — you revoke it and make a new one, which takes a few seconds.
• Keys only do what they're told. A key with only "Attendance" access is physically unable to read Directory or Collections, even if someone tried — the permission has to be granted at creation time.
• Every webhook is signed. Each message ChurchOps sends out includes a code that proves it really came from ChurchOps, so the receiving tool can reject anything pretending to be ChurchOps but isn't.
• Revoking is immediate. The moment you click Revoke, that key stops working — there's no delay or grace period.

Best Practices

• Only select the information a key actually needs — the same "least access" rule as user roles
• Name keys clearly so you remember what they're for months from now
• Revoke a key immediately if the tool using it is retired, or if the key was shared by mistake
• Review your keys and webhooks occasionally, the same way you'd review who has a user account

Quick Troubleshooting

• I don't see "API & Webhooks" in Settings: this requires Admin or Pastor access — ask your church administrator
• A webhook shows failed deliveries: check that the web address is still correct and active on the other tool's side
• The other tool isn't seeing new data: confirm the key still shows "Active" and hasn't been revoked

How do I get support?

Use the Contact page or email support. Include screenshots and what you tried.

I can't see a module that someone else can see. Why?

This is usually a role/permission issue. Contact an Admin to confirm your access level.

What should we do first when onboarding ChurchOps?

Start with Members, Attendance, Collections, and Expenses. Add Programs/Tasks and Transport next.

How often should we review our data?

Weekly is best (attendance + collections + expense approvals). Monthly reviews help with reporting and budgeting.