Once your church website is set up and you have a few leaders in place, the next step is bringing in your members. The member app is where regular attendees engage day-to-day: join groups, give online, request prayer, RSVP to events, read sermons.
Three ways to invite
You have three options. Most churches use a mix.
1. Bulk import from a spreadsheet
Best when you have an existing member list (CSV from your old system, Excel sheet from the church office).
- Open People admin → Import tab.
- Download the CSV template.
- Fill in: First name, last name, email, phone (optional), birthday (optional).
- Upload the filled CSV.
- Click Send invites.
Each row gets an invite email with a one-click join link. You can preview the list before sending.
2. Email a sign-up link
If you don't have a clean member list, just share the public sign-up link. Members type their own info.
The link is https://{yourslug}.easychurchapp.com/signup (or your custom domain).
Send it to your full email list, post it on Facebook, print a QR code in the bulletin. New signups appear in your People admin with status "Pending review" — you approve or reject from there.
3. Manual one-at-a-time
For the church secretary or pastor inviting people individually after a Sunday service:
- People admin → + Invite.
- Enter their name + email.
- Click Send invite.
What members can do once they sign in
- View groups — see the list of groups, request to join.
- Read sermons — same archive as the public site, plus a "continue listening" feature.
- Give online — same as the public Give page, but with their card on file for quick repeat gifts.
- Request prayer — submit a prayer request that the prayer team sees.
- RSVP to events — and get reminder notifications.
- Update their profile — phone, photo, family info, communication preferences.
Auto-approve vs. manual approval
By default, new signups are manually approved — they appear in your People admin marked "Pending," and you (or any admin) click Approve. This prevents spam signups from appearing as legit members.
If your church wants to skip manual approval (most healthy churches eventually do), toggle Auto-approve new members in Settings → Member settings. New members go straight to Active.
What's the difference between a "member" and a "follower"?
- Member — joined the church, considers it their home church.
- Follower — interested but not committed yet. Can see public announcements + sermons but not internal group chats.
Both can give, RSVP, and request prayer. The Members vs. Followers distinction lets pastors send "members only" updates that don't go to casual followers.