I can't log in

Scout signs you in with your email. For church members, a 6-digit emailed code is the whole sign-in: enter it and you're in, no password needed — though you can set one from your profile, and once you have one Scout asks for it. Staff sign in with a password; if your church invited you by email, you set that password from the invitation link. Resetting a forgotten password also starts with a code, which confirms the address is yours.

Here's what to do, case by case.

I'm a church member and scout.church doesn't recognise me

Start at your church's own link rather than at scout.church. That link is either your church's custom domain or yourchurch.scout.church, and your staff can tell you which one it is.

The difference is real. On scout.church Scout looks only for an existing login, so someone who is in their church's people list but has never set a password gets no match. The screen reads Check your email, and no email is sent. On your church's own link Scout checks that church's people list first, finds your record, and emails the code.

Scout shows that same Check your email screen whether or not it knows the address, so nobody can use the sign-in page to work out who has an account. If nothing arrives on your church's own link either, the address probably isn't the one on your record. Check for a typo, try another address you use at church, or ask your staff which one they have.

Getting your church into the app covers what that link is and how staff hand it out.

The churchHQ app opens the wrong church

The app asks Find your church once, on first launch, and remembers whichever result you tapped Open on. It goes straight there on every launch after that.

There is no switch-church control anywhere in the app, and signing out doesn't clear the choice. The one thing that moves it is opening a link to a different church on Scout from your phone, and if the app is already running it asks Switch from your current church? before it goes. Otherwise, open the church you want in a phone browser at its own link.

The code didn't arrive

Wait a minute first, since email gateways sometimes slow it down. Then check spam. The message comes from noreply@scout.church under your church's name, and the subject is your church's name followed by "sign-in code", so search for your church rather than for Scout.

If it isn't in spam either, your church's email provider may be blocking us. Have an admin allowlist scout.church, then request a new code.

The code expired

Codes last 10 minutes. You don't have to go back to the start: the code screen has its own resend. For the first 30 seconds it reads Didn't get it? You can resend in 30s, then it becomes a Didn't get it? Resend link.

Use the newest code you were sent. Requesting a new one retires the one before it, so an older code will be refused even if it's still inside its 10 minutes.

Scout won't take the code

Three messages, three different situations.

• That code isn't right. Check your email and try again. The digits don't match. Check you're reading the newest email.
• That code has expired. Request a new one. More than 10 minutes have passed. Use Didn't get it? Resend.
• Too many attempts. Request a new code. After 5 wrong guesses Scout retires the code so nobody can grind through the other 999,999. Resend and use the new one.

There's a fourth you can hit on the screen after the code: Your verification expired. Request a new code. That means more than 10 minutes passed on the step after the code — entering your name, or choosing a password. Scout drops you back to the code screen to start that step again.

I don't have a password

Members don't need one. Enter your email and click Continue — when the account has no password, Scout emails a code, and entering it signs you in. If Scout has no record of you at all, it asks for First name and Last name first, then Finish. Want a password anyway? Set one any time from the Set a password card in your profile.

Staff accounts do need a password, so after the code Scout takes you to Create your password instead: choose one of at least 8 characters and click Create account.

I forgot my password

Enter your email and click Continue. On the next screen, under the password box, click Forgot your password? That link only appears at this second step, because Scout has to know your address has a password before it can offer to reset it.

Scout emails a 6-digit code, and entering it takes you to Set a new password. Choose one of at least 8 characters and click Save & sign in.

If you know your current password and want to change it, you don't need a code. Go to Your account in the avatar menu and use the Change password card.

I signed in as someone else

This happens when you're already signed in to another Scout account in the same browser. Sign out first, then sign in with the address you meant to use.

• On a computer, click your name in the top right and choose Sign out.
• On a phone, tap your initials in the top bar and choose Sign out.
• In the member app, open Profile and scroll to the bottom.

Switch account sits beside Sign out in all three places. It signs you out and returns you to your church's sign-in screen with your email already in the box. Clear the box and type the other address.

I help at two churches

One email address belongs to one church in Scout. There's no account picker, and Switch account can only ever bring you back to the church your session already belonged to.

If you're on staff at two churches on Scout, each one needs a separate address. Scout tells you when you've hit the limit: finishing sign-in on an address that's already attached somewhere else fails with That email is already used on another church account.

I land on a form asking me to set up a church

If signing in drops you on a page that greets you by name and then asks for a Church name, a URL, and your service times, your account isn't attached to a church yet.

It usually means an invitation went to a different address than the one you signed in with.

My invitation link doesn't work

An invitation lasts 7 days. After that the link shows Invitation expired and reads "This invitation is no longer valid. Ask your church admin to send a new one." If a newer invitation was sent to the same address, only the newest link works.

A working link opens Set up your account, where you set a password and click Set password & accept. There's no code on this path, because opening the invitation link is already the proof that the address is yours.

Whoever sent it can send another from Settings. See Inviting your team.

Scout keeps signing me out

A member session lasts a year and renews itself as you use it, so in the churchHQ app you should stay signed in until you sign out or remove the app. A staff session lasts 30 days. Being asked to sign in again means the session ran its course, or a sign-out happened on that device or browser. Private or incognito windows drop the session when you close them.

Signing in on your church's branded link while you're signed in to a different church signs you out on purpose and sends you to your own church's sign-in page. That's the guard against seeing one church's branding around another church's data.