Church Center App

I have friends and relationships at two churches that I regularly attend. When you go to your profile it usually won’t show you my organizations in the app 1sr time. You have to kind of go in and out for it to finally decide to present both organizations at which point you can select the one that you didn’t login with to go over to it and re-log into that one. For the web version dates do not show up for your messages, only the original date and time, so if you use a thread to message new information you’re not sure when it was sent, fortunately the app version does not have this issue.

I use this app to set up recurring donations to my church. Updating credit card information is awkward. To update the expiration date and cvv you need to delete the entire card and re-enter everything all over. But worse than that, when you delete the card, it also deletes some, but not all, of your donation schedule information and furthermore does not tell you about the partial donation schedule deletion, preventing the donations from restarting. After a few weeks of wondering why no donations and a donation failure email, I had to relogin and figure out what went wrong. Two suggestions would be a way to update just credit card expiration data and cvv. Also provide, after a credit card change, a pop-up telling you the donation schedule information has been partially deleted and also needs to be re-entered.

This app IS very useful for churches big or small. However, I have two BIG gripes about the Church Center App that bring frustration into my life on more than one occasion. #1) There is only ONE place in the iPhone version of ChurchCenter to log out. But it is not easily found unless you are privy to the "secret "location, or as I did, click through literally every option under every menu, every arrow, etc. hoping to locate it. Many other iPhone apps these days have a "logout" button that is easily found. Please understand. It is critically important that the Church Center App make this easier to access since users may use the app to give (via bank account or credit card) to their church. For this reason, I will not use the Church Center App to give. #2) Just as frustrating is the fact that there is ABSOLUTELY NO help section provided within the app! Zero! Nada! Zip! Furthermore, the website accessible via PC similarly has no entry when searching for "log out". I would be glad to change my review to 5 stars if these two problems were adequately addressed. Thanks!

I love this app! However I just discovered that it is not possible to edit my monthly automatic giving. I can’t delete it either. I’m sure this is a glitch! I have 3 different apple devices. Same problem on all 3 devices. Maybe it is only on my account because it is a serious unacceptable glitch! I’m sure you would have tons of complaints if this was happening to all your users. I need a method of contacting tech support. If you reply to this post I will find it and contact your tech support. I’m giving you 5 stars for a great app and believing that you will respond quickly to this complaint!

I like this app. It allows us to have phone numbers and pics next to members when you need to call them or don’t remember their name. I’m also glad I can pay here. I would ask the developer to update the giving section. I give to multiple categories every month (tithe, missions, mortgage capital, etc). As it now I have to send three separate giving and each one costs 25 cents.

Great for churches. I volunteered at a mega church who used church center and I totally understand how great it is for behind the action. We were able to schedule volunteers and room functions very easily. I have moved and am now trying to find a church and primarily a women’s Bible study. When browsing church websites who use church app, you must sign into THAT church to see any details such as what they will be studying, days, and times. It’s unbelievably annoying as someone new to the area. Again, loved church app when I used it as a member. But as a new person, I really wish church websites would give small group details on their websites instead of linking to the app.

I love to watch and check up on churches I have attended in the past. On that note I would love to give money to those churches through the app. But since I have to Log Out and then search for the church and have another text or email confirmation and set up my bank information again.... then I can give and then repeat the process for another church. Please make this more convenient by having the option to switch churches while still Logged In and having your profile keep your saved Bank information. Other than that it’s great because the app have a great history of tithes or giving.

***EDIT: you can disable Events by disabling the Registrations app in the Accounts panel**** If one of the 3 or 4 buttons of your app says “Events” and it says you have “No Events”, that looks really bad. It’s literally the reason we’re not using the app. Maybe if it said, “there are no events to register for, see individual groups for upcoming events” OR if the link was “Register”/“Registrations” OR you can optionally disable the button on the app. Right now, one of the main links in the app effectively says “your church has no life.”

I’ve deleted and re downloaded the app a few times but to no avail. I can enter my credit card, select the fund to give towards, opt to cover or not cover the fees, but when I click on next nothing happens. Donating to my church is the only reason I use the app so if it doesn’t work it sort of defeats the purpose for me. *The developer responded and has resolved the issue I am having. If you have Safari restricted you will not be able to donate with the app.

I am so grateful for this app! It brings community allows me to get connected to my church, which i love! I would really really like if this app had some way to connect to my google or iCal calendars so all the events I have RSVPd for for into my calendar. Its a first world problem, I know, but it would lessen my chances of missing meetings or events because I forgot to put transfer them over to my Calendar.

Initially the app was great but lately it won’t open 1/4 to 1/3 of the time. It never fails that its when I really need it. I always make sure I have latest update, I’m connected, I close and reopen, etc. It’s also a bit clunky in the attendance section. I shouldn’t have to constantly click an extra step when I click that I am at the 8:15 service. That should automatically mean worship. I shouldn’t have an extra step where I have to click worship too so that it will register my attendance. Same with class.

Combining all the various groups into a single chat interface is a bad move. You’ve just enabled everyone to put the message out to the wrong group. The group icons are nearly identical and those messages will end up going to the wrong group, with possible catastrophic consequences. Having each group separated in their own ‘bubble’ was perfect for this setting. Now imagine a woman sending a message asking for prayer about her abusive husband accidentally going into a group that he’s a member of. Bad move on your part!

The UI is pretty clean and the UX is pretty good, but there’s a critical flaw in my opinion. The bottom navigation is nice, but I’d move the 5th option for “more” to a top menu bar. Like a top right settings or ellipses icon, or broaden the account section when you click your profile and put the “more” there In replacement, I’d replace it with either the groups or messaging feature… ideally I’d find a way to have both in the same place. The groups/messaging feature seem like the weakest part of this app- which is a bummer because it’s directly how small groups and people can communicate to each other. Right now you have to click more, then groups, then your group, then a message, then you can see messages. That’s 5 levels deep. Ideally it should be 2-3. That would make the navigation so much better!

I’m a part of several groups at our church that use the Group function of the app. In Groups there is a way to send messages to all group members, but I do not receive any notifications and have missed many important details as a result. I have confirmed that notifications are on in my iOS settings and in the church center app Groups settings as well. Notifications should be coming through but they’re not. Could be a bug? Please fix!

I have had issues with this church center for months, the church’s associate pastor has been on with tech support on my behalf but can’t get it fixed. It started with trying to link my checking account, they deposited two small amounts I checked the deposit amounts told them the amounts they deposited and they said no that’s not correct. It’s literally the amounts they placed in my account but they say it’s not so it costs more to give by debit card. Now I can’t give by debit they continue to flag my account and will not allow me to give to my church at all. So I would truly discourage anyone from using this app for their congregation.

This is an excellent app but it needs one important improvement. When people have the accessibility feature for large print turned on, the app menu and text is cut off and not visible in some cases. As a feature request can Home >>> Tasks from the web version be shown on the Church Center App too?

This app is ok but half the time it doesn’t open. Very frustrating when I’m trying to access key information and I see the eternal circling around but never landing! I usually can’t access it in the afternoon, have to wait until later in evening. In talking with others, they have same issue. I’m wondering if it is a volume issue. Too many people trying to access it at same time. I almost rated it 2 for this reason but decided to be generous.

This app is great and a great way for our church to communicate. I wish there was a way to turn off notifications to replies for every thread, and only get notifications when a new thread is open to have the ability to turn notifications on and off for certain threads would be great and save my phone battery insanity as well.

The app is great and it makes taking attendance, tithing, and communication easy all in one place. But...the giving tab has stopped working for me. Last week, it didn't even let me hit the button to confirm/give. This week, it let me hit the button but wouldn't go through with the payment. It just stopped in the loading screen. I checked to make sure my applepay/card were put in correctly but it still didn't work.

This app is really good in most areas. Except for the sermons section. If I have to pause the sermon more than twice it glitches and will not restart. Then when I reboot the app it has lost my place in the video. We definitely have plenty of ability to save someone’s place in a video, why can’t this app do that too?

Every time I try to add my card info, it appears to be successful (the "set up" button turns green), but then a popup appears saying "Oops! There was an error adding the payment method to your account. Please check the payment details and try again." I have done this no less than ten times over the past week, with the same result every time. I refuse to provide my banking info, so I will only ever be using a card. If this feature isn't usable, I wish they'd remove it as a payment option. Incredibly inconvenient.

So this app was working, and I have a recurring donation set, but after updating I was logged out and couldn’t log back in. I was able to make a “new” account using the exact same phone number and email, but there’s no giving history and the app won’t email me no matter what. I can’t find ANY contact info for this company so that I can get back to my old account or update giving or see a history of giving or anything. I tried to reconnect my bank and it said see email for instructions but there’s no email whatsoever.

I generally like this app but a recent change to the “give” part throws a real curveball which could cost churches significant money. The latest change defaults to Apple Pay and the charges are significantly higher than the ACH option. If people aren’t watching and don’t select “cover the processing fee,” it could hurt churches. It was not good customer service to make this change without any notice to the churches.

The July update broke the chat feature. My church loves to use the chat feature, across multiple groups, and that’s great in theory. In practice it means we all get several dozen messages a day about topics that are not relevant to us. The old version of the app allowed us to mute with a single swipe. Now it takes three distinct button clicks to mute a conversation. TL;DR: major functions for the chat/message feature were removed, making the app annoying to use.

I love the app and being able to connect with my church and things that are going on. HOWEVER, I strongly dislike not being able to see info for the three churches that I - and my family - am a part of. I miss so many events and studies because I don’t get notifications for “this” church if I am logged in under “that” church. It really needs to be more user friendly in being able to access multiple churches under one login name.

Love the app, we have created groups for all our small groups and is very helpful in organizing events. The only way I’ve found to give group leaders privileges to add and edit members is to give all group leaders admin rights which allows them to see all groups. It would be a better design if individual groups only have access to edit their groups.

I’m a group leader on the app and with the latest update (1/6/24) I can’t see which individuals have RSVP’d to my events! This is very frustrating because I can’t plan properly for my event. Would also be nice to be able to add/edit locations in the app and also be able to change group picture in the app without having to login to the site.

It’s so awesome to be a new user looking through reviews from a year or so ago and see all the requests for features that exist now. Some of them are even key reasons our church is going to start using Planning Center/Church Center. Wonderful stuff! Going to submit some of our own and keep our fingers crossed.

So far we’ve have been using the app for about one month now and we really like it. Our main suggestion is with an update with a push notifications option for the admin that could be utilized if needed to inform people of new changes to things going on with our church within the app.

This app is the only way to access Groups other than on the website. However as a leader I can only message the group here, I can’t send a group email. That can only be done on the website. I can let people into my group but the managing of the group is less than friendly. It’s easier to just login online. Maybe create a standalone app for Groups the same as you have for People and Services?

This is the one piece PCO was missing: an interface that connects individuals with their home church. Users can edit their profile, giving info, and register for event all in one place. The giving function almost makes text to give obsolete. Of course, there is a lot to develop. This would be a great place to integrate a form of church communication as well. How about integrating some notifications? Some more things to consider: -Ways to contact the leadership -A place to upload featured resources -support for multiple campuses under one account -Groups integration -maybe check in integration

I like being able to connect with my church through this app. However, almost every day Church Center won’t load. I have to restart my phone to open the app and get to notifications. Restart only helps for a few hours before the problem happens again—forcing yet another restart to access the app.

At first I could not help my friend to install it as I could not go forward after finding the church. After all the struggles, we found the solution. We have to turn the iPad into vertical orientation in order to see the “choose this church” button. How could we notice that when we had a keyboard attached with the iPad?!

I’m just going to come on here and say, the new update is complete booty cheeks. i loved the old church center system because it was so easy to use and easy to learn. the new global chat things confusing. are all the messages for 1 group going to all the groups? the new system is so hard to understand and im 23 years old i can’t imagine how the older parishioners feel trying to navigate the new system. simplicity is key and the new update is nowhere simple at ALL..

The latest update moved all conversations to a consolidated location, which is ok, but sometimes I like to view conversations from just one of the groups that I’m in. It would be nice if there was an option to filter which conversations are presented

Love the app. Can be a little flaky but nothing serious. For example, when adding a new church there is no way to back out and cancel it. You have to force quit to get back home. I’m thankful this app exists however. A good resource for any church. The directory is the most important part.

In the future, I want to get into software and user experience design, it’s what I love doing and I have a natural talent for it. Just within 2 minutes of downloading and using the app, I can already see so many ways the app can he improved, and ideas for features to be added. I’d love to help contribute to designing the app’s UI!

One of the biggest challenges is navigating notifications. If you provide a search bar at the top it be wonderful. It’s a challenge to scroll through many posts to find the one about a topic I need so I end up not searching and then not being up to date on info.

Love this app, so convenient. But there’s no way to change your church after you’ve added your church home. Also no way to add multiple churches. Now I can’t see events from other churches. Is there a way to do this?

As a church we want a place to designate if users are Church members and if they are for us to know when their next membership checkin / renewal is due and also see when they became members. Also, we would like to designate certain church center users with Elder access. This allows those users who are Elders at our church the ability to do members checkins with an easy to fill out form that is only visible and seen to Elders. Then there would be an elder dashboard that shows active members, lapsed checkins, next or upcoming checkins, results of previous checkins. Thanks!

Won't open after new update. Also, please fix the group member list so they can be sorted by last name. We also should be able to see more names at a time and it takes so long to load more names. Search should have auto fill. And search is not smart enough to search for variations in a name.

It worked for a while but after an ‘update’ it continually crashes and closes when I try to open it. I have an 8+ phone but that shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve removed it and tried to reload but it does the same thing over and over. Can’t use it at all.

Since my last phone update I’m not able to see my profile. I have tried deleting and reinstalling the app. But I’m still having the same issue. Any tips on how I can fix this?

This app is really awesome, and the many uses are fantastic; however, for the past couple of months, it will not let me donate or tithe. I have it up to date, but it still doesn’t help. I wanted to let someone know if the issue. Otherwise it is fantastic!

While I do like the app, the donations section needs improvement. For example, donations are hard set to “General”, thus not giving one an option to Tithe or provide an Offering. The latter two are important to the Church and for accounting purposes. The General portion should be utilized for the one-off donations where one can give for any reason.

The newest version made the Home Screen less user friendly. The bottom buttons where you could use to navigate are now gone. It already was hard to navigate and has rendered using the app instead of desktop version useless.

We can hardly use it since the last “update/overhaul”. We can’t easily find unread messages. Extra “clicks” to get to everything. We have glitches when we never did before. We are using group texts on our phones again. We might need to find another option if we can go back to the basics of what we had. 😩 Does anyone know of a service that is like the old version?

This app has a lot of potential, but presently is a bit buggy. The interface itself is not the most user-friendly. Hopes are high that this one receives a lot of attention soon. Opening messages within groups causes the app to crash, whereas in a browser it functions as expected.

I literally scoured through my phone and the app to make sure something was the problem but no, it’s the app And a friend of mine confirmed it

The worse most intrusive hard to use and find information about our church!!!! … I have repeatedly removed the app in frustration only to be pistol whipped because of my church’s commitment to the app. This last week TWICE tried to register for church events WHICH WERE LISTED on the church website and not been able to register using the horrid church app. Enrolled and not getting SCOLDING messages form the horrid church app. I HATE the app. … worst seemly church required app in the universe!!!!!!!!