What is Church Center?

Church Center is a mobile app and web experience through Planning Center where you can explore, engage, and get involved with Trinity Freistadt Lutheran Church.

What is Planning Center?

Planning Center Online (PCO) is a web-based program for churches to streamline communication, organize information, coordinate events, and connect with others.

How can I find the Church Center App?

Church Center is available to download through Google Play or your Apple App Store. It is also available in a web browser version.

Search for Trinity Freistadt.

https://trinityfreistadt.churchcenter.com/home

What is the Church Center Directory? 

The Church Center Directory is a private place for the people in your church to share their contact information. Participating in the directory is completely optional. People invited to the directory can see the others or share their information. You can also update your contact information on Church Center. Each invited person can choose the information they want to show about themselves or their household, and you can also always go back and change your privacy preferences for your contact and household information. 


After you have been invited to the directory, log in to Church Center using the email address to which the invite was sent and choose which information to share.

Mobile App:

  1. Tap Directory in the bottom navigation. If you don’t see Directory listed, tap More for more options.
  2. Tap Share now in the bottom right.
  3. Check the box next to your name and choose which information you’d like to share, including whether or not you’d like to allow other people to contact you.
  4. If you were in a household when you were invited to the directory, tap Edit in the Household section to add a household photo.
  5. Check the box next to each person in your household that you’d like to include in the directory and choose which information to share about them.
  6. Tap Share to save your selections and make your information visible to others.

Web Browser:

  1. Select Directory in the top navigation. If you don’t see Directory listed, tap More for more options.
  2. Select Share it now in the banner at the top of the page.
  3. Check the box next to your name and choose which information you’d like to share, including whether or not you’d like to allow people to contact you.
  4. If you were in a household when you were invited to the directory, select Add household photo in the Household section to add a household photo.
  5. Check the box next to each person in your household that you’d like to include in the directory and choose which information to share about them.
  6. Select Update profile at the bottom of the page to save your selections and make your information visible to others.

Choose Remove all to remove yourself and your household from the directory.

Update shared information

Mobile App:

  1. Tap your profile picture or initials in the top right corner.
  2. Tap Hello, [your name]! to open your profile and settings.
  3. On the Profile and settings page, tap Directory profile.
  4. Make any desired changes, such as sharing or removing share information for you or your household members.
  5. Tap Update in the top right.

Web Browser:

  1. Select your profile photo or initials in the top right corner.
  2. Select My profile & settings.
  3. Select Directory profile.
  4. Make any desired changes, such as sharing or removing shared information for you or your household members.
  5. Select Update profile at the bottom of the page.

Contact Other Members

You can reach out to other members in the directory using their profiles. The message is sent to their primary email address; replies will go to your primary email address.

If you don’t see a way to contact an individual, they haven’t shared their contact information.

Mobile App:

  1. Tap Directory in the bottom navigation. If you don’t see Directory listed, tap More for more options.
  2. Search by a person’s name or household name, based on the filter you have set.
  3. Tap the profile of the person you’d like to contact.
  4. Tap Contact [name] and then type a message to the person.
  5. If the person’s email is listed, tap their email to contact them.
  6. Tap Send to send your message.

Web Browser:

  1. Select Directory in the top navigation. If you don’t see Directory listed, select More for more options.
  2. Search by a person’s name or household name, based on the filter you have set.
  3. Select the profile of the person you’d like to contact.
  4. Select Contact [name] and then type a message to the person.
  5. If the person’s email is listed, select their email to contact them.
  6. Select Send message to send your message.

 

Our church offers different types of groups to connect with our community. With Church Center, you can search for a new group to join and connect with!

Filter your search to find a group
If you’re looking for a group to join, use the search or filters to find one that best suits you!

Mobile App:

  1. Select Groups in the bottom navigation or by selecting More first.
  2. Scroll down and select the group type you’re looking to join.
  3. Tap the filter icon in the search bar.
  4. Toggle the Include closed and full groups option to view all groups, including ones you can’t join. If all the groups in a type are closed, this is selected automatically.
  5. Tap Done to apply the tags to your group search results.

Web Browser:

  1. Select Groups in the top navigation or by selecting More first.
  2. Scroll down and select the group type you’re looking to join.
  3. Under the search box, select your desired tags or campus from the filter dropdowns. Check the Include closed and full groups box to view all groups, including ones you can’t join. If all the groups in a type are closed, this box is checked automatically.

Request to join a group

If you find a group you’d like to join, select it from the list. On the group’s page, you can:

  • Select Contact to reach out to the group’s contact person with any questions.
  • Select Request to join to apply for membership, and include a personal message if you wish.

Alternatively, if you’re attending the group as a visitor and decide to become a member, your leader can show you a QR code or send you a link so you can quickly request to join!

You can RSVP to events at any time to let your leader know you’ll be there! You may also receive an email or Church Center notification that will take you directly to the event. You’ll need to log in to Church Center to change your RSVP response.

RSVP for an event
To RSVP for an event:

  1. Go to the event page.
  2. Select Respond.
  3. Select your RSVP response.

Edit RSVP
To change your RSVP response:

 

  1. Go to the event page from your email or your group’s Events tab.
  2. Select Update.
  3. Select your new RSVP response.

Add to Your Calendar

Add these to your calendar by tapping Actions, then Subscribe to group calendar.

Your Church Center group page is the hub for chat, resources, member info, and events. Here, you can quickly view the next meeting, share a prayer request, or download the most recent discussion notes. Your group leader has organized this hub to make it easier for you to connect with your group!

If a group page states that Members are confidential, features listed below like chat and contacting other members are unavailable for privacy reasons.

Mobile App:

Using the Church Center mobile app, you are automatically directed to the dashboard when you select your group.

  1. Tap the 💬 chat icon from any page in Church Center to access your group’s chats. A red dot appears on that icon or your profile picture when there are unread chats or notifications.
  2. Use the tabs in the header to view your group’s events, resources, and members , or tap the dashboard icon to return to the dashboard.
  3. View the upcoming events for your group. Tap View all to go to the Events tab where you can view all events and subscribe to the group calendar.
  4. Start new chats by tapping New (if enabled), view recent conversations at a glance, or tap View all to go to the group chat view, where you can see all your conversations for just that single group.

At the bottom of your dashboard, you can share your group, view the public (non-member) page, update notifications for this group, or leave the group.

Web Browser:

Using Church Center on a web browser, your group’s page defaults to the Chat tab if chat is enabled. From this landing page, use the Actions dropdown to view the public (non-member) page for your group or leave the group.

Contact other members

  1. Group members are listed on the Members tab, unless a groups administrator or group type manager has set the group to confidential. If a member has made their contact information visible, you can view it by tapping Member info.
  2. Select a contact type to reach out to another member or your group leader

Share Your Information

You can manage the information you share with other group members.

Your name is shared with other group members by default, unless you’re in a confidential group. You cannot hide your name if chat is enabled for your group. Group leaders can see all your contact information, regardless of your shared information settings.

  1. On the Members tab of your group, tap Edit visible info under your name.
  2. Select the information you would like to be available to other group members. If you want to share this information selection with all your groups, check Apply to existing groups.
  3. Select Save to apply changes.

Download Group Resources

  1. On the Resources tab, sort the shared files and links by Name or Last updated.
  2. Select a resource to view the description and the file/link.