Notifications and profile

Two jobs live on the same screen in the member app: whether a member's phone can receive notifications at all, and what they are allowed to change about their own record. Both are on Profile, reached by tapping the avatar in the top right corner. There is no Profile tab in the bottom bar.

Notifications only work in the churchHQ app

Push runs through Apple's and Google's notification services, so only the native churchHQ app from the App Store or Google Play can receive one. A member reading the app in a browser tab, or using a home-screen shortcut they added from the church's link, receives nothing. The Notifications card does not even appear on their Profile.

This is the most common cause of "I never get notified." Before checking anything else, ask which one they are using. Getting your church into the app covers both doors.

Turning notifications on or off

On first open in the app, a member sees a card headed Stay in the know at {your church} with Turn on notifications and Not now. Tapping Turn on notifications is the only thing that triggers the iOS system prompt, and iOS offers that prompt once. Not now is recoverable: the switch on Profile is always available.

That switch sits in the Notifications card and reads one of three ways:

• On. "You'll get a notification when a leader posts an update, when you're scheduled to serve, and when something needs your response."
• Off. "Turn on to hear about updates, serving, and anything that needs your response."
• Blocked at the phone. "Notifications are turned off in your device settings. To turn them back on, open Settings → churchHQ → Notifications." Scout cannot reverse an OS denial from inside the app, and the switch is disabled until the member changes it in iOS or Android settings.

When the switch says on but nothing arrives

Permission granted and notifications actually deliverable are two different things. The card checks both: it asks the server whether this phone has a registered device, and when it does not, a tinted strip appears reading Not receiving notifications yet with a Try again button.

1. 1

   Confirm they are in the churchHQ app

   Not a browser tab, not a home-screen shortcut. If the Notifications card is missing from Profile entirely, they are not in the native app.

2. 2

   Open Profile and check the switch

   Tap the avatar, top right. If the Notifications switch is off, turn it on.

3. 3

   Tap Try again if the strip is showing

   The button reads Checking… for a couple of seconds while the phone re-registers.

4. 4

   Close the app fully and reopen it

   Registration also runs at launch whenever permission is granted and the member has not switched notifications off.

Muting one team or group

The Update notifications card lists every team and group that can notify this member, each with its own switch. Switch one off and its posts still appear in the Updates feed, without a push. The card is hidden when the member is in no teams or groups.

What notifications do not do

• No digest and no summary email. Every notification is sent as it happens.
• No quiet hours. Scout has no do-not-disturb schedule. The phone's own Do Not Disturb or Focus setting is the only lever.
• No notification inbox, bell, or history. A push that is swiped away is gone. The content behind it still lives in the Updates feed, on the serving card, and on the group banner.
• On Android, notifications land in five named channels the member can tune in their phone's settings: Serving reminders, Church updates, Groups, Events, Giving. Android will not lower an existing channel's importance after install, so re-tuning has limits.

Editing your own details

The form on Profile holds First name, Last name, Phone, Address, City, State and ZIP. Change what you need and tap Save Changes. A green banner reads Profile saved.

Email is read-only, with the reason printed underneath: Contact your church to update your email address. The email is the sign-in identity, so a staff member has to change it on the person's record.

To change the photo, tap the avatar with the camera badge and pick a PNG, JPEG or WebP under 2MB. Once a photo is set, Remove photo appears under the name.

About you

The About you card links to a separate page for skills and availability. Everything on it is optional, and each tap saves immediately, so there is no save button.

• Skills & experience. Type anything and tap Add. Tap a chip to remove it. Staff can search these when a need comes up.
• How you're open to serve. One choice: Open to ongoing commitment, Open to short-term asks, or Not currently available.
• When you're available. Any of Sunday AM, Sunday PM, Weekday evenings, Saturdays.
• Other ways you're open. Any of Open to host, Open to mentor, Good with new people.

Two switches that affect serving

Be considered for new opportunities is on for everyone by default. While it is on, coordinators may invite the member to teams that match their declared skills and availability. Switched off, a coordinator's attempt to invite that person fails.

Under Need to step back?, tapping Pause puts the member on a serving pause and tells staff they are not available. The card then reads You're on a serving pause with a Resume button. If a pastor or staff member set the pause instead, the card says so and no Resume button is shown, because only the person who set a pause can lift it. See Serving requests and the schedule for what a pause changes on the schedule.

Household is a staff job

My Household lists the other people in the member's household with an adult or child badge, and it is read-only. The footnote says it plainly: Household structure is managed by church staff. The section is hidden entirely for someone who shares a household with nobody.

Members cannot edit their household, add a spouse or a child, or manage the authorized pickup list. All three are staff work: household changes happen on the person's record in the dashboard (Reading a person's profile), and authorized pickups are set on the child's record and enforced at the kiosk (Picking up kids).

Password, account deletion, and signing out

Set a password appears for an account that has none, Change password once one exists. A password is optional for members — the emailed code signs them in without one — but once a password is set, the sign-in screen asks for it. Changing it asks for Current password, New password and Confirm new password, with a minimum of 8 characters.

Delete account expands to explain what it does, offers an optional Reason (optional) box, then Request account deletion and a second confirm, Yes, delete my account. This sends a request rather than deleting anything on the spot: the card becomes Request received, the deletion is processed within 30 days, and the member is emailed when it is done. The church may still be required to keep certain giving records for tax purposes.

At the bottom, Switch account signs out and returns to the church's sign-in page with the email prefilled. Sign out returns to the same page with it blank. Both drop the phone from push notifications first, so the next person to use it does not inherit the previous member's notifications.