General Information About Church Center

We are now using Church Center to connect. You’ll can access to helpful tools via a website and phone app called Church Center which you can download from the apple store or google play. You can log in to Church Center using your mobile phone number or email. It will send you a code to enter to confirm it’s your number or email.

Once you’ve joined UUCV on Church Center, you’ll have access to links for online worship, our website, our Vanco Giving page, and the Joys and Sorrows form. Under the “Me” page, you can view your profile to update us about new phone, address, or emails for you and your household. Members and Friends will also have access to the directory.

Giving History:

• Under the “Me” page, you’ll find a link to “My Giving” which now has your giving history available on demand. 
• You’ll see a box at the top with Donation History with year to date information.  You can click the link to “View All History” to search for years prior.  With this new access to your giving history, you may find errors.  Please reach out to treasurer@uucvan.org if you need something corrected or contact office@uucvan.org if you have questions.   
• We are still using Vanco for online donations so you will not be able to donate directly in the app for now.  Vanco and Planning Center will sync daily so you’ll see your donor history with just a week or so lag.  Once you donate via Vanco, it takes 3-4 days for that to process and post and then a volunteer will confirm the transaction before it will show up in the Church Center app.  It isn’t instant giving history but it’s much more up to date than anything you’ve had access to in the past.  We hope this will help you feel in control of your giving and have confidence that it’s being accounted for accurately.    
• At the very bottom of the “My Giving” page, there’s a link for “Statements” which right now is empty but will be  a place you can go in the future to see your most recent statements.  Our 2025 tax statements went out via our old database, PowerChurch, and those will be the final statements from that system.  Moving forward, they will come from Planning Center and will be emailed to you as well as available on the Church Center website or app anytime after they’ve been created.
• Please note, we will have to join your giving households for giving data to show under both individuals in a household.  If you want your giving history joined, email treasurer@uucvan.org.

Secure Online Directory:

• Only Members and Friends will have access to an online directory. Even though anyone can download the app and use other features, the directory section will remain locked for anyone who is not a Member or Friend.  Your Congregational Administrator will be the only person granting permission for users to join the Directory section.  
• It is opt-in process and you get to decide how much information you want to share.   You can have just your name, address, and allow contact via email.  You may also choose to upload a photo of yourself or your whole household.  It’s entirely up to you and you can update your selections at any time.  Until you Opt-In, you will not be listed in the directory in any way.  Your information is always private by default.  You choose when you’re ready to share. 
• Once folks Opt-In to the directory, you’ll be able to message them right here in the phone app or on the web.
• Also, here’s the company’s help article about setting up and using the directory.

Committee/Group Chats:

• Select committees and groups have begun pilot testing the groups feature on Church Center.  For members of these groups, there is an in-app communication tool as well as a calendar of events and space for resources to be shared.  The chat can be thread based and functions very much like texting but is contained within the app.   
• This will not replace our group emails or shared google drives but will be available in addition to them. 
• We will be adding groups to this as we go along.  If your group is excited and wants to start experimenting with it sooner, please contact the Congregational Administrator, Natalie, at office@uucvan.org to be added to the waitlist. 

For information about Church/Planning Center’s Data Security Practices, please see: https://www.planningcenter.com/congregant-privacy  and https://www.planningcenter.com/security  We’ve selected this company because they do have robust protections in place and they have made a commitment not to sell the company.  Instead their CEO and Founder has pledged to transition the company into a nonprofit in the future. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why isn’t my phone number or email listed in the Directory?

• For now, we’re starting out with the strongest privacy settings offered. That means that phone and email are not listed. The “contact me” button is the primary way to communicate with others. It sends an email and it doesn’t show your email to the sender until you choose to reply.
• We can print lists of phones and emails or grant access to Planning Center for committees that need that information for church business.
• We will try it out this way and see how it goes. Send questions or feedback to office@uucvan.org.

Why am I not listed in the directory?

Members and Friends are invited to join the directory and visitors do not have access to the directory. If you are a Member or Friend, you still must take action to confirm what you’d like to have listed. By default, your name and contact info is not included until you confirm. When you receive the invitation to join email, you do have to click on the blue box in that email to confirm your wish to be in the directory. If you can’t find that email, contact office@uucvan.org.

Why doesn’t my profile have a “Contact” button?

You do have to update your directory profile to allow others to contact you.
On the “Me” page in either the app or the website, there is a section for “Directory Profile”. You do have to check the checkbox “allow others to contact me” for folks to be able to contact you.

Why isn’t there a “Contact” button for anyone in the directory?

In order to communicate with others, you have to have your birthdate included in your profile.
That information is added on the “Me” page and it’s under “My Profile and Household” rather than “Directory Profile”

Why does it only allow binary genders?

That’s a software limitation unfortunately. We can’t remove that field or edit it. The hope is that Planning Center will eventually hear the call to make the change to their programming. For now, the gender field can be left blank. We will not be using the data in any way at UUCV.

There is, however, a pronoun field that can be edited. On the “Me” page, under “My Profile and Settings,” go to “My Profile and household” then scroll down to the “Additional Information” you can edit the pronouns field there. We will be using this field.