Getting started
We have just signed up. Where do we start?
Add your members first, under Members, then the Import Members tab if you have a spreadsheet. Then create your first service under Attendance so people can check in. Everything else builds on those two.
What is a branch or campus?
A separate site of the same church, with its own services, members and staff. Set them up under Settings, then Organisation. Staff can be given access to one branch or to all of them.
Can we call our branches something else, like parishes?
Yes. Settings, then Organisation, lets you change the word Flock uses throughout, so it reads parish, campus or whatever your church says.
Members
How do I import our members from a spreadsheet?
Go to Members, then the Import Members tab. Upload a CSV with one row per person. Match your columns to Flock's fields on the preview step, then confirm. Members already in Flock are matched on phone or email so you do not get duplicates.
How do I follow up a first-timer?
Open Members, then the Follow-ups tab. Anyone who checked in as a first-timer appears there. Assign it to a person and set a due date, and it stays on their list until it is marked done. Overdue follow-ups are the ones the dashboard flags first.
How do I add a single member?
Members, then the All Members tab, then Add Member. Only a name is required, so you can add someone quickly during a service and fill in the rest later.
How do I find one person quickly?
Use the search box at the top of any page, or the search on Members. It looks across names, phone numbers and email addresses.
What do the member statuses mean?
First-timer is someone who has just visited, visitor is an occasional attender, regular attends often, full member has formally joined, and new convert marks a recent decision. Inactive hides someone from counts without deleting them.
How do we record families?
Members, then the Families tab. Group people into a household so you can see them together and avoid contacting the same family repeatedly.
Where do I see everyone who visited recently?
Members, then the Visitors tab. It lists first-timers and visitors so you can work through who still needs contacting.
How do I remove someone who has left?
Set their status to inactive rather than deleting them. That keeps your history and past attendance intact while removing them from active counts. Deleting is permanent and anonymises the record.
Attendance
How do we record attendance for a service?
Create the service under Attendance, then either check people in from the list or share the public check-in link so they check themselves in on their phones. The link works without an account, and a guest who checks in is created as a first-timer.
How do I create a service or meeting?
Attendance, then the Attendance tab, then add the service with its date. Once it exists you can check people in or share its check-in link.
How does the self check-in link work?
Attendance, then the Attendance Links tab. Share the link or QR code and people check themselves in on their phones without an account. Anyone new is created as a first-timer automatically.
We only count heads, we do not check people in individually. Can Flock do that?
Yes. Record a head count on the service instead of checking in names. You lose the per-person history, but the attendance totals and trends still work.
Where do I see whether attendance is growing?
Attendance, then the Overview tab for the recent picture, or Analytics, then the Attendance tab for longer trends.
Why is our attendance rate lower than I expect?
It compares people who checked in against your active member count. If members are on file who no longer attend, mark them inactive and the rate will reflect reality.
Giving & finance
How do I record an offering?
Finance, then the Transactions tab, then record the giving. You can attribute it to a member or leave it anonymous.
Can people give online?
Yes, on the Pro plan and above. Set up your payment details under Settings, then Advanced, then Payment integrations, and share your giving page. Card, bank transfer and USSD are supported through Paystack.
Do givers get a receipt?
Yes, on the plans that include receipts. They are sent automatically once giving is recorded or confirmed.
Where do I see what we have received this month?
Finance, then the Giving Overview tab. Analytics, then the Giving tab, shows the same money over a longer period.
Can we track what we spend, not just what comes in?
Yes. Finance has an Expenses tab for spending and a Budgets tab to set what each area is allowed, so you can see over and under spend.
What are wallets in Finance?
Separate pots of money, so building fund, missions and general offering can be tracked apart rather than as one balance. Finance, then the Wallets tab.
Pastoral care
Where do counselling requests go?
Pastoral Care, then the Counseling Requests tab. Assign each one to a pastor and mark it resolved when it is done, so nothing sits forgotten.
Who can read care notes?
Only staff whose role includes the pastoral notes permission. They are deliberately separate from ordinary member notes because of how sensitive they are.
How do prayer requests reach us?
People can submit them from your public pages, and they arrive under Pastoral Care, then the Prayer Requests tab. Prayer Points is the list your church prays through together.
Can members book time with a pastor?
Yes, through Pastoral Care, then the Appointments tab, where you manage the requests and confirmed times.
Communications
How do I email the whole church?
Communications, then the Messages tab. Choose who it goes to, write it, and send. Every email carries an unsubscribe link automatically.
Can emails come from our own address?
Yes. Settings, then Advanced, then Email sending, lets you connect your church's own email so messages arrive from you rather than from Flock.
What is the difference between an announcement and a message?
An announcement is posted for people to see in the app and on your site. A message is sent out to them. Use an announcement for notices and a message when it must reach someone.
Can Flock follow up automatically?
Yes. Communications, then the Automations tab, sets up rules such as welcoming a first-timer or nudging someone who has not attended for a while.
How do we run a poll or survey?
Communications, then the Polls and Surveys tab. You can keep it to members or share it publicly, and results update as people vote.
Users & roles
Why can a staff member not see giving, or members' notes?
Because of their role. Flock has 108 separate permissions across 23 areas, so you can let someone run attendance without seeing money, or handle pastoral notes without touching settings. Change what a role can do under User Management.
How do I give a staff member access?
User Management, then the Users and Invitations tab, then invite them by email. Choose their role at the same time, which decides what they can see.
Can we make our own roles?
Yes. User Management, then the Roles and Permissions tab. Create a role, tick what it can do, and assign people to it. Owner always keeps full access.
Can I rename a role we already use?
Yes, and the people in it keep their access. The role's permissions and its members move with the new name.
How do I remove someone's access?
Deactivate them under User Management. Their member record and history stay, only their ability to sign in and see church data is removed.
Settings
Can we put Flock on our own web address?
Yes, on the Pro plan and above. In Settings, add your domain and Flock gives you the DNS record to add with your domain provider. Once it verifies, your public pages, giving page and check-in links all use your address instead of ours.
How do we get a public website?
Settings, then Church Site. Turn it on, choose what appears, and your services, sermons, giving page and events are published for visitors.
Where do I change our name, logo or service times?
Settings, then Church Profile.
Where do I see our plan and what we are using?
Settings, then Plan and Billing. It shows your plan, what each limit allows and how much of it you have used.
How do we handle a member asking for their data?
Settings, then Data and Privacy, covers export and deletion requests. Your church's data belongs to your church and can be exported at any time.
Is there an API?
Yes, on the Scale plan. Settings, then Advanced, then Developer API, issues keys and shows what is available.
Can we put Flock content on our existing website?
Yes. Settings, then Advanced, then Public Pages, gives you embed snippets for things like service times or a giving button to paste into your current site.
Dashboard
What is AI Recommendations and where do I find it?
It reads your attendance, giving, first-timers and pastoral care, and tells you in plain English what needs attention this week. Open the Dashboard, go to the Church Health tab, then AI Recommendations. Only totals are used to produce it, never anyone's personal details.
What is the Church Health score?
Dashboard, then the Church Health tab. It scores six areas, growth, engagement, giving, discipleship, pastoral care and community, so you can see which is slipping without reading every report.
What is the Alerts and Tasks tab for?
Dashboard, then Alerts and Tasks. It collects what needs a person: overdue follow-ups, requests waiting and jobs assigned to your team.