Shepherding Connections is the messaging application in Shepherding Tools for following up with visitors and people who are not on a church's rolls. It supports SMS announcements, two-way texting, automated welcome sequences, call forwarding, and keyword auto-responses. Public connect pages collect visitor details and can start follow-up, while automations can send SMS or email, create tasks, assign team members, branch on replies, and repeat on a cadence. Contacts can be segmented, and links in hand-sent or automated messages can be shortened and tracked. The product requires recorded consent for announcements and automated messages and handles STOP, START, and HELP keywords. Phone numbers and texting are excluded from the free plan; paid plans with SMS start at $29.00 USD per month. Messaging is limited to United States and Canada numbers. Connections is labeled Beta, and sent status means a carrier accepted the message, not that delivery to a handset was confirmed. It works on Android, iOS, and the web.
Who it is for
Shepherding Tools describes its applications as designed by a pastor for pastors, elders, and deacons. Connections may suit church teams following up with visitors and other contacts outside the rolls.
What is good
- Supports two-way texting and automated welcome sequences.
- Connect pages collect visitor details for follow-up.
- Automations can assign tasks and branch on replies.
- Contacts can be grouped into segments.
- Available on Android, iOS, and the web.
What to know first
- Free plan excludes phone numbers and texting.
- Messages go only to United States and Canada numbers.
- Contact spreadsheet import is unavailable.
- Delivery confirmation is unavailable.
Verdict
Connections combines visitor follow-up with texting and flexible automations, but SMS requires a paid plan and geographic coverage is limited. Its Beta status and lack of handset delivery confirmation are worth considering for time-sensitive messages.
Shepherding Connections plans and pricing
All plansCompared on church text messaging software
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- $29/mo
- Two-way messaging
- Yes
- Scheduled messages
- Yes
- Recurring messages
- Yes
- Audience segmentation
- Yes
- Church software integrations
- Yes
- Mobile app
- Yes
