Communication Tools Overview
TimelyChurch provides a comprehensive set of communication tools to help you stay connected with your congregation, staff, and volunteers. From church-wide announcements to direct messaging between members, these features ensure important information reaches the right people at the right time.
Available Communication Tools
Announcements
Create and publish announcements to inform your congregation about upcoming events, ministry updates, urgent notices, and general news. Announcements support rich text formatting, cover images, scheduling, expiration dates, and group targeting.
- Schedule announcements in advance or publish immediately
- Target specific groups or broadcast to everyone
- Pin important announcements to the top of the list
- Allow or disable member comments
- Set automatic expiration dates for time-sensitive content
Email Templates
TimelyChurch uses a template-based email system that sends beautifully formatted notification emails automatically. Templates cover authentication, scheduling, substitute requests, certifications, invitations, family management, group communications, and more.
- View and preview all system email templates
- Send test emails to verify formatting
- Enable or disable individual templates
- Templates use dynamic tokens that are replaced with real data when sent
Email Automations
Email Automations let you send the right email automatically when something happens in your church. Each automation pairs a trigger with an email template, so the message goes out the moment the trigger fires — no manual sending required.
- Choose from triggers such as New Member Added, Person Joins a Group, Event Registration, Form Submitted, First Donation, First Check-in, Tag Added to Person, and Manual Trigger
- Pair each trigger with the email template you want sent
- Turn individual automations on or off without deleting them
- Manage all of your automations from one list
Email Automations are a separate, plan-gated feature from Email Campaigns. If you don't see Automations in the sidebar, it isn't included in your current plan.
Email Delivery Stats
The Email Templates page shows at-a-glance delivery health for your church's automated emails. At the top of the page you'll find counters for total templates, active templates, Sent Today, and Failed Today.
- Watch the Sent Today and Failed Today stats to monitor delivery health
- A high "Failed Today" count is a sign to check your email configuration
System Notifications
TimelyChurch automatically sends notifications based on events that occur within the platform. These include in-app notifications, email notifications, and push notifications to subscribed devices.
- Automatic schedule reminders for teachers
- Substitute request notifications
- Certification expiration warnings
- Lesson needed alerts
- Supply request updates
- Family and group membership notifications
Direct Messaging (Member Portal)
Members can send private messages to one another through the Member Portal. Messaging supports one-on-one conversations, group conversations, file attachments, message reactions, read receipts, and reply threading.
- Compose messages to individuals or multiple recipients
- Attach files and images
- React to messages with emoji
- Edit messages within a 15-minute window
- View read receipts to know when messages have been seen
Where to Find Communication Tools
In the admin sidebar, most communication tools live together under the collapsible Communications category. Click Communications to expand it and reveal the tools below.
| Tool | Location |
|---|---|
| Announcements | Admin sidebar > Communications > Announcements |
| Messages | Admin sidebar > Communications > Messages |
| Email Campaigns | Admin sidebar > Communications > Email Campaigns |
| Email Automations | Admin sidebar > Communications > Automations |
| Email Templates | Admin Settings > Email Templates (Email Delivery Stats live here too) |
| Platform Announcements | Banner at top of Admin dashboard (read-only for church admins; managed by TimelyChurch staff) |
| Direct Messaging | Member Portal > Messages (the same conversations are reachable from Communications > Messages in the admin sidebar) |
| Magic Link Login | Member Portal login page (passwordless email login for members) |
Note: Email Campaigns and Email Automations are plan-gated. If a tool isn't included in your plan, it won't appear in the Communications category — or it will show with an upgrade prompt instead of a link.
How Communication Flows Work
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Admin-initiated: Administrators create announcements that appear on the church website and member portal. These can optionally trigger email notifications.
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System-triggered: Actions like creating a schedule assignment, submitting a substitute request, or an expiring certification automatically generate notifications and emails using the template system.
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Member-initiated: Members can message each other directly through the Member Portal messaging system. Notifications are sent to recipients when new messages arrive.
Tip: You can turn individual system email templates on or off from the Email Templates page, and set up your own trigger-based emails with Email Automations. This lets you tailor which messages go out and when, so communication frequency fits your congregation's needs.