FlockConnect Help and Setup Guides

Bringing your people in

Every church already keeps its records somewhere. FlockConnect adds the relational layer on top of that system rather than replacing it, so the first step is getting your people in.

If your church uses Planning Center, you connect through the official two-way Planning Center integration, the one system FlockConnect syncs with directly. Coming from Notebird, a dedicated importer carries your people and your full notes history. Every other church management system comes in by CSV import: you upload a file, map the columns, and review before anything is created. And week to week, the person form and the add-a-family wizard cover the visitors who arrive one household at a time. The guides walk through each path, start to finish.

• Connect Planning Center, the one two-way integration FlockConnect syncs with directly.
• Import people from any other church management system by CSV, with column mapping and a review step.
• Send member assessments by email first, with a secure link. Members never log in.
• Follow up by limited SMS only when an assessment is uncompleted, with consent and opt-out respected.
• Write a pastoral follow-up to a connected calendar using generic text and a secure link, after a person approves it.

Getting started by role

Four short guides walk each kind of teammate from their first email to feeling at home: the account owner's first week, the admin or elder path from accepting an invitation to knowing their flock, the care partner's rhythm of assigned people and quick logs, and a page written for church members about how FlockConnect reaches them without an account.

If you only read one guide, read the one for your role. Each links onward to a deeper article wherever a step deserves more than a paragraph.

Caring for people week to week

The everyday loop has its own guides. The quick log captures care in the moment, person first. Care visibility explains who can see a note and why every note starts private. Care assignments write down who is caring for whom, and quietly route follow-ups, filters, and suggestions to match.

On Sundays, group leaders tap the faces they saw at the service, and new families arrive whole through the add-a-family wizard. Each guide covers one habit, in the order a church usually picks them up.

How member assessments and reminders work

FlockConnect is pastor-facing. Members never log in or hold an account. When a church sends a member assessment, it goes out by email first, with a secure link, so a member can answer a few simple questions without signing up for anything.

If an assessment goes uncompleted, a limited SMS reminder can follow, with consent and opt-out respected, and it never carries sensitive care content. The member assessments guide and the SMS reminders guide explain exactly what is sent, when, and what is not.

How calendar writeback works

FlockConnect can place a pastoral follow-up on a connected Google or Microsoft calendar so it does not get lost. The event uses generic text and a secure link, so the details of who needs care never travel inside a calendar invite.

Nothing reaches a calendar on its own. A person reviews and approves what gets written. The calendar writeback guide shows how that approval works and what the event looks like.

A note on Collie and approval

Several guides mention Collie, the advisory assistant. It is worth saying plainly in one place: Collie can surface who looks isolated and draft a note or a next step. It never sends a message, writes to a connected system, or acts on its own.

A person reviews and approves every external action. The guides describe what Collie drafts and where a pastor signs off, so there is no confusion about what is suggested and what is sent.

When a guide does not cover it

These guides cover setup and the launch behavior of FlockConnect. They do not cover account-specific settings or anything tied to one church's private workspace, by design, since this help center is public.

If you have a question a guide does not answer, email our support team. If you would rather see the product first, you can walk through pricing or arrange a demo from the links below.