Getting Started with 1st Flock

This guide walks you through everything you need to get your church up and running on 1st Flock — from your first login to accepting your first donation.

Step 1: Create Your Account

When you sign up for 1st Flock, you'll create a personal user account through our secure authentication system. Your account is protected with industry-standard encryption, and multi-factor authentication is required for every account — you'll be guided through setup (authenticator app or SMS) the first time you sign in.

After creating your account, you'll be prompted to set up your church organization. You'll need basic information such as your church name, address, and contact details. Once your church is created, you automatically become its first Church Administrator — the highest permission level within a church.

Step 2: Choose Your Subscription

1st Flock offers modular subscriptions so you only pay for what you need. The two primary subscription products are:

Church Management — Includes member management, event planning, group coordination, communications, children's ministry check-in, service planning, file storage, video integration, background checks, and reporting.

Finance — Includes financial ledger management, fund tracking, allocation rules, donation transaction oversight, financial reporting, and tax settings for donor statements.

You can subscribe to either product individually or bundle them together at a discounted rate. Storage, database, and DNS services are available as add-ons.

Website hosting is a separate plan: $9.99/month or $99.99/year for each website you publish, and drafting a website is free. Every website includes unlimited visits, 10 GB of media storage per website, its own address on 1stflock.com, and highly available hosting. Connecting your own domain is free once the site is published — point the domain at your site from wherever you manage its DNS. Having us manage your DNS, or registering a new domain through us, is a separate paid service.

To manage your subscription, navigate to the Billing & Subscriptions app and visit the Subscriptions page. From there you can view available plans, upgrade or downgrade your tier, and switch between monthly and annual billing. Annual billing includes a discount compared to monthly pricing.

Step 3: Set Up Payment Methods

Before your subscription activates, you'll need to add at least one payment method. 1st Flock accepts credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) and bank accounts (ACH transfers).

To add a payment method, open the Billing & Subscriptions app and navigate to Payment Methods in the sidebar. Click "Add Payment Method," enter your card or bank account details in the secure payment form, provide your billing address, and submit the form.

Your payment information is handled securely through our PCI-compliant payment gateway. Card numbers never touch 1st Flock servers — they are tokenized directly by the payment processor.

You can designate one payment method as Primary (used for all recurring charges) and optionally set a Backup method (charged automatically if the primary fails). You can store up to five payment methods at a time.

Step 4: Invite Your Team

Once your church is set up, invite your team members. 1st Flock supports three roles within each church, and a user can hold different roles at different churches if they belong to more than one:

Church Administrator — Full access to all features, settings, billing, and team management. Can invite and manage other users, configure subscriptions, and access the admin panel.

Church Staff — Elevated access for day-to-day operations. Can manage events, groups, communications, children's ministry, files, reports, service planning, and background checks. Cannot access billing, subscriptions, or admin settings.

Member — Basic access for personal features. Can view events, access their own profile, manage their donation history, and view published service plans and videos.

Additionally, the Finance Admin permission can be granted to any user (regardless of role) to provide access to the Finance app's sensitive financial data, including salary information and the full financial ledger. See Roles & Permissions for the complete access matrix.

Step 5: Configure Donations (Optional)

If you'd like to accept donations through 1st Flock, you'll need to set up a merchant account. Open the Billing & Subscriptions app and navigate to Donations Setup in the sidebar. Follow the onboarding wizard to create your merchant account and complete any required verification steps — the wizard tracks your progress through a checklist. Then set your Donation Slug to create a custom URL for your public donation page (e.g., finance.1stflock.com/donate/your-church-name), and configure your donation funds, page branding, and logo.

Once your merchant account is active, your congregation can visit your donation page and contribute using credit cards or bank transfers. You can also accept donations directly through the Church Management app.

Step 6: Explore the Platform

With your account, subscription, payment methods, and team in place, you're ready to explore everything 1st Flock has to offer. Add your members by importing from a CSV, migrating from Planning Center, or adding them manually. Create your first event through the Events or Calendar pages. Organize groups for small groups, committees, and teams. Set up children's ministry with rooms, age groups, and check-in kiosks. Connect your bank account through the Ledger to automatically import transactions. Configure financial funds and create allocation rules to automatically categorize incoming transactions. And access reports for attendance, financial, and donation data from both the Church Management and Finance apps.

What's Next?

Dive into the detailed documentation for each area of the platform: