Who can do what, decided by you and enforced by the database

Small teams share more than they should because the software only offers "admin" and "member". Church By Faith lets you give a person exactly the one thing they need.

How access works

  • Granular permissions, not two tiers

    Managing members, publishing sermons, reading prayer requests and confirming gifts are separate permissions, given separately.

  • A relationship is not a role

    Whether somebody is a member or a visitor says how they are connected. What they may do is a separate record.

  • Enforced in Postgres, not in the page

    Row-level security means a screen with a missing check returns nothing rather than something it should not.

  • Guards repeated rather than trusted

    The bulk invitation path re-checks that a head pastor still cannot create owners by uploading a file — and a test proves it.

  • Withdraw access without erasing a person

    Somebody can stop having access while remaining on your rolls, which is what pastoral situations usually need.

Why this matters more in a small church, not less

A large church has staff, and separation of duties happens by accident. A small church has one person who can do everything because the software offered no smaller unit than "administrator" — and the day that person steps back, or the relationship becomes difficult, is the day it turns out to matter. Granular permissions are what let you give a willing volunteer real responsibility without handing over the whole church.

Frequently asked questions

Can the church owner read private messages?
No. Direct messages are private to the two people in them and the journal is private to its author — for the owner as much as for anybody else. Group conversations are different by design, and we say so.
Can we have more than one administrator?
Yes, and how many is part of your plan. Each of them can be given a different set of permissions.

Keep reading

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