Frequently asked questions

It is two things in one. A network where churches share pulpits, events, advice and resources with churches they trust, and a set of admin tools that handle the unglamorous side of church life: members, pastoral visits, compliance, building checks, prayer, notes and the rest.

You can use the network side and ignore the tools, or use the tools and build your connections slowly.

Pastors, elders, church administrators and lay preachers in small and medium sized churches, particularly independent ones with no denominational back office to lean on. It was built by a pastor of a small town centre church who was doing all of this on his own.

No. Plenty of churches join on their own and connect to others as they go. You can also register and use the tools for your own church without connecting to anybody at all, which is a perfectly normal way to start.

No. Any church is welcome, whatever the label on the door. Every church profile shows its tradition, convictions and service style up front, so when you are considering a connection or a preacher you can see what you are getting before the conversation starts. We don't do the discerning for you, we just make sure you have all the information you need.

It overlaps, but the starting point is different. Most church software is built for large churches and priced by headcount. This is built for the church where a few people are doing everything. We also offer something few other platforms have, which is a live connection to other churches for pulpit cover, advice and shared resources.

No. There is no giving platform, no gift aid claims and no accounts package here. Keep using whatever you use for that.

A small team led by Gordon Hall, pastor of Bethel Church in Bolton, who built it because he needed it. There is more of that story on the About page.

Right now, nothing. We are pre-launch, and everything is free during this period. The prices on the Pricing page are what we plan to charge when we officially launch later, so you can see where this is going, but nobody is being charged at the moment.

We have not set an end date. It will run until the platform is mature, and when that changes you will get at least 30 days notice by email, not a surprise invoice. Nothing will be switched off or locked while you are still deciding.

No. There is no card form anywhere in the sign up and no payment details are held. When paid plans do start you will be asked properly, in advance, and you will be able to say no.

Churches that join before launch lock in the prices shown today. If prices go up later, yours doesn't, for as long as you stay subscribed.

Yes. Pulpit cover and swaps, the calendar, Ask for Help, the directory and notes stay free permanently. The primary purpose of Pastors Network is for churches to strengthen churches, and that works best when those elements are provided for free. Lay preachers are always free too.

Solo gives one person the full set of tools. Team gives the same tools to your whole leadership team, regardless of the number, so your administrator, your treasurer and your elders can log in, pick up tasks and share the load rather than everything routing through you. If you are the only person who will ever touch it, Solo is enough.

Yes, whenever you like. No minimum term, no notice period and no phone call where somebody tries to talk you out of it. You can also drop down to the free tier at any time you choose.

Your data stays yours, and closing an account does not leave it sitting on our servers. When a church’s account is closed, every member record attached to it is deleted within 30 days. While the account is open you can delete individual members, visit records and notes yourself at any time. If you want everything removed sooner, email dp@pastorsnetwork.co.uk and we will action it within one calendar month. The full detail, tool by tool, is in our Data Retention Policy.

Fill in the form on the Register page. Every application is checked by a real person before the account is opened. Access is usually granted within one working day.

Because the whole thing runs on trust. Churches are sharing pulpits, requests and needs. A quick check that you are who you say you are is a small price for a network of genuine churches.

Usually within one working day.

You can have your church profile up and be posting a pulpit cover request within minutes. Building your members database takes longer, but you don't have to do it before anything else works. Add people as you go.

Yes, from a CSV file, which is what a spreadsheet saves as. If your list is in an unusual state, send it over and we will help you get it in.

No. It runs in your web browser on a computer, tablet or phone. On a phone you can add it to your home screen and it behaves much like an app, including working when the signal drops, which is useful in a lot of church buildings.

Not at present. The site is built to work properly on a phone instead, so you get the same thing without another download and another password. We have the development of a native app on our roadmap, which you can find here.

Then this was built with you particularly in mind. Churches in vacancy can use the network to find preachers, keep their compliance and building obligations in order, and lean on neighbouring churches while they wait.

Connections are between churches, and both sides have to agree. Once you are connected you can see each other’s pulpit requests, events, listings and requests for help. Until then you see nothing. Being listed in the same directory or the same network does not connect you automatically, somebody has to ask and somebody has to say yes.

Yes. Your church profile is what other churches see, and you decide what goes on it.

Your members data, pastoral visit notes, prayer log and internal records are never visible to another church, connected or not.

Yes. We use the term network to mean your personal connection to other churches, not as a fence around a denomination. You can request a connection with any church in the directory.

Lay preachers can make themselves available across the network, which is how newer preachers get a start and how you find cover on a Saturday night. Lay preachers hold a limited role, so they can do the preaching side without access to your members data or church records.

Yes. You can keep a list of the guest speakers your church uses and invite them to join, free. Once they’ve joined, they see your open preaching dates and hear about new ones by email.

You post the date and the details, and it goes out to your connected churches immediately. Preachers respond, you confirm, and the slot closes so nobody else claims it. There is a visiting preacher information sheet that tells whoever is coming when to arrive, where to park and what the service looks like, which saves the usual round of texts.

Two pastors agreeing to preach in each other’s churches, arranged in a couple of clicks rather than a fortnight of emails. Good for your congregation, good for you, and it builds the sort of relationship that makes the rest of the network work.

No. That is left to the discretion of the individual church.

Your church does. You are the data controller for your congregation’s information and we are the processor of that data. There is a Data Processing Agreement that sets that out properly.

No. Members, pastoral visits, notes, prayer requests, compliance records and documents belong to your church alone. The networking side shares what you choose to post, and nothing else. The platform checks which church you belong to before it shows or sends anything, so this is enforced on the server, not just hidden on screen.

We built it to meet UK data protection law. We hold only what the tools need, you can download or delete your records at any time, there is a data processing agreement and a retention policy, and every download of personal data is recorded.

Your data is held in a UK data centre. The emails the platform sends go through Postmark, an email service based in the US.

Other churches never see your records. Every page and every download checks which church you belong to before it shows anything, and we test this on every update. Sign in supports passkeys as well as passwords, and every download of personal data is recorded. Nothing is sold and nothing is shared with advertisers. A small Pastors Network support team can reach your records, as with any hosted service, and only looks at them if your church asks in writing.

Yes. You can remove individual records at any time, and you can ask for the whole account and its data to be deleted by emailing dp@pastorsnetwork.co.uk.

Yes, on the Team plan. Each person gets their own login rather than sharing yours.

Three. Pastor/elder, administrator/deacon, and lay preacher, each having access to different modules by default. A lay preacher can pick up preaching opportunities without seeing your member database, and an administrator can run the admin without seeing private pastoral notes.

No. The Team plan has an unlimited number of users. Whoever needs access can be granted access.

There is a help section inside the platform covering every tool, and you can email hello@pastorsnetwork.co.uk. We respond within 24 hours.

Short walkthrough videos for each tool are available inside the platform. If you join during pre-launch, you also get a set-up call with the team to get your church going.

Yes, and it is worth doing. This is being built by a working pastor for working pastors, and a fair amount of what is in it came from somebody saying “it would be better if”. Email it in.

A fair question to ask of anything you are about to trust with your church records. You can export your data at any point, so you are never locked in, and the free network tools are funded by the paid plans.

Email hello@pastorsnetwork.co.uk or use the contact form.