Church admin guide

Set up your church

You do not need to be in a small group to run your church on Emberside. These steps take about ten minutes.

Step 1

Register your church

If your church bought Emberside on the web, the app asks you to name your church the first time you sign in. Type the name and ZIP code and you are done.

  1. Sign in. On the first screen, tap I run a church.
  2. Type your church’s name and its ZIP code.
  3. Tap Register the church. You are now its first admin.
  4. Already signed in? Go to Settings → Your groups → Register your church.

Step 2

Get your church verified

A church that is not verified can hold at most two groups.

  1. If your email address is on your church’s own web domain, the app offers Verify with @yourchurch.org. Tap it and it is done.
  2. If your church uses Gmail or another free address, write to support@wayfarersdigital.com and we will verify it by hand.

Step 3

Add a second admin

Two admins means nobody is stuck if one of you steps away. Until there is a second, you cannot step down.

  1. Open your church: Settings → your church’s name.
  2. In Admins, tap Offer an admin seat.
  3. Tap Share and send the code to the person.
  4. They type it on the first screen under I run a church, or in Settings → Your groups → Given an admin code?

Step 4

Give your people one code

One code for the whole church. Put it in the bulletin. Anyone who types it belongs to your church, gets Emberside and Thread, and can find your groups.

  1. On the church screen, tap Codes.
  2. Under Codes for your people, tap Make a member code.
  3. Tap Copy or Share and hand it out.
  4. Want a link for a text or an email instead? Use Make an invite link.

Step 5

Bring your groups under the church

A group that belongs to your church shows up in its directory, and its people count toward your seats.

  1. On Codes, under Codes for group leaders, tap Make a new code.
  2. Give it to a group’s leader.
  3. They type it in their group’s settings under Have a code from a church? and tap Join.

Step 6

See who your church seats

  1. Tap Member directory to see everyone on your license, once each, and which groups they are in.
  2. Someone marked not active in 90 days has not opened Emberside in that time. That is the only thing about how people use the app you ever see.
  3. Tap Remove to free a seat. If they are in one of your groups, they leave that group too, and the app tells you which before you confirm.

Step 7

Speak to your groups

An announcement goes to every group, or just one, and sits on their Home screen for two weeks. It never goes into anyone’s chat.

  1. Tap Announcements.
  2. Choose Every group or one group.
  3. Write it and tap Send.
  4. Changed your mind? Tap Withdraw.

Step 8

Talk to your leaders

The Leaders’ room is a chat for your church’s admins and the leaders of its groups. Nobody else can read it.

  1. Open it from your church screen, or from the card on Home.
  2. Tap a message to reply to it. Replies stay together in a thread.
  3. As an admin you can remove a message, or take a leader out of the room.

What your church can and cannot see

You can see how many people are in each group and how many have gone quiet. You cannot read anyone’s prayer requests or chat, and you cannot see who asked for what. That is not a setting you can change. It is built into Emberside.

Still stuck?

Write to support@wayfarersdigital.com and a person will answer. To tell us something is broken or missing, use Settings → Send feedback in the app.

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