A church member
directory
Ministers, preachers, stewards and members in one secure list, kept up to date once and shared with exactly the people who need it.
One list instead of five
Ask most circuits where the contact details live and the honest answer is: in several places. A church member directory starts as a typed list from a few years ago, gains a spreadsheet for the local preachers, a notebook for the stewards and a phone full of numbers belonging to whoever does the plan. Each one is a little out of date, and nobody is quite sure which is right.
The Chrestos Database puts those lists into one online church directory inside the Chrestos Cloud. Ministers, local preachers, stewards, officers, members and churches sit in one place, and when somebody moves house or changes their number it is changed once. Everybody who needs the new detail then has it.
It’s not complicated software, and it isn’t meant to be. The people who keep Methodist circuit records are usually volunteers or a part-time administrator, and they have better things to do than learn a database. So the directory works the same way as every other tool in the Cloud: find the person, change the detail, save it. If you can update a contact on your phone, you can keep the circuit directory in order.
Public where it helps, private where it matters
A circuit directory holds two kinds of information: things people are happy to share and things they are not. The Database lets you decide detail by detail. A minister’s phone number can appear on your website while their home address stays private; a steward’s email can be visible to the circuit and nobody else. Roles and permissions are given person by person, so administrators, stewards and ministers each see what they need and nothing more.
The same records can also feed a protected circuit directory page on your Chrestos website, so officers can look somebody up after signing in, without a printed copy going out of date in a drawer.
A church contact list on every phone
This is where the directory earns its keep. Because the Database doubles as a CardDAV and CalDAV server, shared contacts and calendars reach phones, tablets and computers automatically. Your church contact list simply appears in the address book people already use, and a change made once in the Cloud reaches everyone. For many circuits that is the nearest thing to a church directory app they need, with nothing new to learn. Calendars travel the same way, so the circuit diary sits beside the contacts on everyone’s phone.
Where it fits
The directory is one part of the Database, our church membership software for Methodist circuits, districts and churches. The other part is forms: our page on church membership forms explains how questionnaires and sign-ups land in the same records. The Database comes with Chrestos Premium, alongside Planmaker, Loudhailer and your website, and like everything we do it comes with friendly support from our team in Chester.
What the directory does
Three things circuits ask about first when the lists start to multiply.
One list
Ministers, local preachers, stewards, officers and members in one directory, so a new phone number is changed once rather than five times.
Your choice
Choose what appears on the website and what stays private. A minister’s number can be public while their home address never leaves the Cloud.
On every phone
Shared contacts reach phones, tablets and computers through built-in CardDAV, so the address book people already use stays up to date.
Each person sees
what they need
Roles are given person by person, which makes this church directory software rather different from a shared spreadsheet. An administrator can keep the whole directory in order, while stewards and ministers see the parts their role needs and can look a number up on the way to a visit. Nobody sees more than their role allows, and nobody has to ring the one person with the spreadsheet.
A directory page
behind a sign-in
The same records can feed a protected circuit directory page on your Chrestos website. Officers sign in and look somebody up, and what they see is whatever was changed in the Cloud this morning, not the printed copy from two summers ago that is still in the vestry drawer. Nobody has to post a fresh list round the circuit every September.
See the directory
in action
Tell us how your circuit keeps its contacts today and we’ll show you a live directory, with no obligation.
"...We highly recommend ThenMedia Chrestos who have designed, hosted and supported our church website since 2015. They listened to our needs, exceeded expectations in design and ensured smooth content transfer from our previous site. Andrew, Toby and John have given us patient and effective telephone support..."
Is your directory in several places?
Tell us where your lists live now, and we’ll show you how they could live in one.
Technology for a brighter church