Roles & Permissions
Complete reference for user roles, permissions, and feature access across all 1st Flock applications.
Roles & Permissions
1st Flock uses a role-based access control system that determines what each user can see and do across the platform. Roles are assigned per church, meaning a user who belongs to multiple churches can have a different role at each one.
User Roles
Church Administrator
The Church Administrator role provides full, unrestricted access to all features within a church. This is the highest permission level and is required for account management, billing, and administrative tasks.
Church Administrators can access every feature available to Staff and Members, plus exclusive administrative capabilities including subscription management, payment method configuration, donation merchant setup, tax settings, and the admin panel.
When a church is first created, the founding user automatically receives the Church Administrator role.
Church Staff
The Church Staff role provides elevated access for daily operational tasks. Staff members can manage most church operations but cannot access billing, subscription, or system administration features.
Staff members can create and manage events, coordinate groups, send communications, manage children's ministry rooms and check-ins, access files and reports, run background checks, manage service planning, and operate check-in kiosks.
Member
The Member role provides basic access for congregants who interact with the church through the platform. Members can view their own profile, see published events and service plans, watch videos, manage their personal donations, and access the "My Children" view in children's ministry.
Finance Admin (Permission)
Finance Admin is a special permission rather than a role. It can be granted to any user regardless of their primary role, providing access to the Finance application and sensitive financial data such as salary information.
Church Administrators automatically have Finance Admin permission. Other users must be explicitly granted this permission by an administrator.
Application Access by Role
Church Management App
| Feature | Church Admin | Church Staff | Member |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Full access | Full access | Full access |
| Calendar — View events | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar — Create and edit events | Yes | Yes | No |
| Events — View | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Events — Create, edit, and delete | Yes | Yes | No |
| Events — Staff check-in panel | Yes | Yes | No |
| Service Planning — View published | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Service Planning — Create and edit | Yes | Yes | No |
| Members — View and search | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Members — Import and manage | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Members — PIN setup for check-in | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Groups — View, create, and manage | Yes | Yes | No |
| Staff — View and manage roster | Yes | Yes | No |
| Staff — View salary information | Finance Admin only | Finance Admin only | No |
| Children's Ministry — My Children | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Children's Ministry — Room management | Yes | Yes | No |
| Children's Ministry — Incident tracking | Yes | Yes | No |
| Children's Ministry — Settings | Yes | Yes | No |
| Communications — Send messages | Yes | Yes | No |
| Background Checks — Initiate and track | Yes | Yes | No |
| Video — Watch | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Video — Connect YouTube account | Yes | Yes | No |
| Files — Browse, upload, and manage | Yes | Yes | No |
| Reports — View and export | Yes | Yes | No |
| My Donations — View and manage | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Payments — Manage payment methods | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Admin Panel | Yes | No | No |
| Tax Settings | Yes | No | No |
| Check-in Kiosk Mode | Yes | Yes | No |
Billing & Subscriptions App
| Feature | Church Admin | Church Staff | Member |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application access | Yes | No | No |
| Dashboard | Yes | — | — |
| Subscriptions — View and manage | Yes | — | — |
| Payment Methods — Add, edit, and remove | Yes | — | — |
| Invoices — View and download | Yes | — | — |
| Donations Setup — Merchant onboarding | Yes | — | — |
| Donations Setup — Slug and branding | Yes | — | — |
| Members | Yes | — | — |
| Data Migration | Yes | — | — |
| Tax Settings | Yes | — | — |
| Settings | Yes | — | — |
Finance App
| Feature | Finance Admin | Non-Finance Users |
|---|---|---|
| Application access | Yes | No |
| Dashboard — KPI overview | Yes | — |
| Ledger — View and manage transactions | Yes | — |
| Ledger — Bank account linking (Plaid) | Yes | — |
| Funds — Create, edit, and delete | Yes | — |
| Rules — Manage allocation rules | Yes | — |
| Transactions — View donation history | Yes | — |
| Transactions — Issue refunds | Yes | — |
| Reports — Generate and export | Yes | — |
| Tax Settings | Yes | — |
| Settings | Yes | — |
Public Donation Page
The public donation page is accessible to anyone with the donation URL. No authentication is required. Donors can make one-time or recurring contributions, select specific funds, and provide their contact information for tax receipts.
Platform Administration
The Platform Administration app is restricted to 1st Flock internal super administrators. This application is not accessible to church administrators, staff, or members.
Multi-Church Support
Users can belong to multiple churches with different roles at each. The active church context is selected via the church switcher dropdown in the header of each application. Switching churches immediately updates all data, permissions, and available features to reflect the selected church's configuration.
When a user logs in, the platform retrieves their church memberships and associated roles. If a user has the required role at any of their churches, they can access the corresponding application and switch between churches within it.
Subscription-Based Feature Access
Some features are only available when the church has an active subscription to the relevant product:
Church Management subscription required for: All features in the Church Management app (members, events, groups, communications, children's ministry, files, reports, background checks, service planning, video, check-in kiosks).
Finance subscription required for: All features in the Finance app (ledger, funds, rules, transactions, financial reports). Additionally, the My Donations section in the Church Management app requires a Finance subscription.
If a user's church does not have the required subscription, they will see a message indicating the feature is unavailable and be directed to contact their church administrator about upgrading.