How a church asks permission to text you

A person asks you, and you answer

Permission is spoken, not collected quietly. Someone from your church asks you directly, face to face or on a call, and waits for your answer. There is no pre-checked box, no form that signs you up as a side effect, and no list you land on because your phone number happens to be in the church directory.

This is the script a church is asked to use, word for word:

"Before [church name] sends you any text messages, I need your permission. You'd get occasional texts from [church name], sent through FlockConnect, things like a link to complete a spiritual gifts assessment, or a reminder about a form we've asked you to fill out. Standard messaging rates apply, and you can stop them any time by replying STOP. Do I have your permission to text you?"

If you say no, nothing happens and nothing is recorded against your number. If you say nothing at all, that counts as no. FlockConnect treats a missing permission as a refusal rather than as an open question, so silence never turns into a text message.

• A person from your church asks you out loud, and you answer.
• No pre-checked boxes, and no sign-ups as a side effect of something else.
• No permission on file means no texts. Silence counts as no.
• Permission covers texts from that one church, not from any other church.
• Reply STOP at any time, for any reason, and the messages stop straight away.
• Reply HELP to find out who is texting you and how to reach support.
• Standard messaging and data rates apply.
• The church records who agreed, how, and on what date, and the record cannot be overwritten.

What saying yes actually covers

Your permission belongs to one church. Saying yes to your church says nothing about any other church that happens to use FlockConnect, and there is no shared list between them. Each congregation has to ask you itself.

Within that church, your permission covers the texts it sends you rather than one single message. Today that means things like a link to complete an assessment, or a reminder about a form the church has asked you to fill in. Most of those texts carry a secure link and the church's name. When a message would run too long to fit, it asks you to check your email instead and carries no link at all. Either way, a text never carries care notes, prayer requests, giving details, or anything else sensitive.

Stopping the messages

Reply STOP to any text and the messages stop. You do not have to give a reason, you do not have to contact the church first, and it takes effect straight away. Reply HELP to any text and you will get a short message telling you who is texting you and how to reach support.

Standard messaging and data rates apply, the same as any other text you receive. FlockConnect does not charge you anything to receive these messages or to stop them.

You can also change what your church sends you from your own preferences page. The link to it sits in the footer of church emails you receive.

How your answer is recorded

When you say yes, the church writes it down in FlockConnect. The record holds who gave permission, how it was given (in person, on a paper form, or documented in the church's previous software), and the date it was given. Only a church's account owner or a full administrator can record it.

That record is append-only. Later answers are added rather than overwriting earlier ones, so a permission and a later STOP both stay visible, in order, with the dates they happened. If our messaging provider ever asks us to show that a person agreed to be texted, this is the record we produce.

If you were never asked

If nobody from your church has asked you, there is no permission on file and your church cannot text you through FlockConnect. Nothing needs to be done to keep it that way.

If you want to hear from your church by text, tell someone at the church and they can record it. If you believe you received a text you never agreed to, reply STOP to stop it immediately, then write to support@flockconnect.com so we can look into it.