Shepherding Connections

Overview

Shepherding Connections is a church follow-up tool for turning visitor information into conversations and assigned next steps. It suits pastors, elders, and deacons coordinating outreach as a team. Its mix of visitor forms, texting, and workflow automation is compelling, but the U.S.-and-Canada messaging limit and Beta status make it a narrower choice.

Connections is labeled Beta, and a “sent” message only means the carrier accepted it; the service does not confirm delivery to the recipient’s phone. Churches should not rely on that status as proof that a person received a message.

The maker says data is sent over HTTPS/TLS, encrypted at rest with AES-256, and separated by church at the database layer. Support messages receive a reply within one business day.

Key features

Visitor follow-up and messaging

Public connect pages gather visitor details and can kick off welcome follow-up, while digital welcome cards offer another way to capture information. SMS announcements, two-way texting, call forwarding, and keyword auto-responses cover common outreach needs. This is a useful combination for churches that want visitor intake and subsequent contact in one workflow; it is less suitable for teams that need to reach numbers outside the United States and Canada.

Automations and targeting

Automations can send SMS or email, create follow-up tasks, assign team members, branch according to replies, and repeat on a cadence. Scheduled and recurring messages, contact segments, and shortened, tracked links in manual or automated messages give teams ways to target outreach and monitor link engagement. Those tools support coordinated follow-up, though contact spreadsheet import and self-service duplicate merging are unavailable.

Consent

Connections requires recorded consent for announcements and automated messages, and handles STOP, START, and HELP keywords. These controls matter for churches building a messaging program, but they also mean teams need to capture consent rather than treat every contact as ready to receive automated texts.

Pricing

The freemium plan keeps Connections’ SMS unavailable: phone numbers and texting require a paid Tracker plan or a custom arrangement. The free tier is useful for trying the broader suite with a small team, not for running text-based follow-up.

Small Church is the entry point for congregations that need SMS and have no more than 10 users. The higher tiers raise seat limits and add support or onboarding, making them more relevant as the team grows. The listed plan details do not distinguish their messaging features beyond Small Church’s full SMS access.

Platforms

Connections is available on Android, iOS, and the web, so teams can work across mobile devices and browsers. Messaging remains limited to U.S. and Canadian numbers regardless of platform.

Who it's for

Connections is best for churches that need to coordinate visitor follow-up across staff or volunteers, especially when a reply should trigger a task, assignment, or next message. Its pastor-oriented design and church-level data separation suit church teams. It is a poor fit for organizations outside its texting geography, teams that need confirmed delivery, or anyone who depends on importing contacts from a spreadsheet or merging duplicates themselves.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Visitor intake connects to follow-up: public forms can trigger welcome sequences, helping teams move from a visitor’s details to outreach.
• Workflows include real next steps: automations can assign people and create tasks, not just send messages.
• Clear consent handling: recorded consent and STOP, START, and HELP support provide controls for messaging.
• Entry paid tier includes SMS: Small Church enables full Connections texting for up to 10 users at $29 a month.

Cons

• Geographic reach is limited: messages go only to U.S. and Canadian numbers.
• Delivery is not confirmed: carrier acceptance is not evidence that the recipient’s handset received a message.
• Free tier cannot text: phone numbers and SMS require a paid Tracker plan or custom arrangement.
• Contact cleanup has gaps: spreadsheet import and self-service merging of duplicates are unavailable.
• Beta status adds uncertainty: teams seeking a non-Beta messaging service may prefer another option.

Alternatives

Church Text Messaging Software is a useful place to compare options across the category.

• Gloo Communications is worth considering for teams wanting a free plan with monthly SMS and email credits, three groups, and one workflow; its paid Gloo+ plan is $49 a month.
• Textiful may suit a church seeking a web-based pay-as-needed entry point: On Demand is free, includes one keyword on a 10-digit number, and message credits never expire.
• Flocknote is an option for smaller congregations that want free email for 0–40 members; its Starter price rises with church size above that range.
• Amplify Communications is another paid, web-based alternative.
• Clearstream may fit teams looking for a free trial with 100 credits, 1,000 emails, and one local phone number before a paid plan.
• DialMyCalls offers a free church trial for an automatic call to up to 25 members, with a 30-second message once per week; consider it when that call-based trial is a better starting point than Connections’ SMS-focused free plan.
• Text In Church is a paid option with a free trial; its PLUS plan offers monthly or yearly billing, with 17% savings on yearly billing.
• Vesperbell is a freemium web alternative whose free plan caps contacts, monthly text and email credits, seats, phone numbers, keywords, and workflows.

Verdict

Choose Shepherding Connections if your church needs visitor intake tied to texting, assigned tasks, and reply-aware workflows, and your team has no more than 10 users on the entry paid plan. Its strongest case is the way it connects outreach to concrete team follow-up. Look elsewhere if you need texting beyond the United States and Canada, proof of handset delivery, or a free plan that includes SMS.