Core Team Setup

The GCT app helps us stay connected, communicate clearly, and care for people well throughout the week. This talk gives staff and the Core Team a practical overview of the app's messaging, access, and safety tools.

Suggested length: 20 to 25 minutes, including a live demonstration

Main Idea

The app gives us several ways to communicate because not every conversation has the same purpose. Use the smallest and clearest space that fits the need, grant only the access a person needs, and use moderation tools to protect people.

For a deeper look at one area, open one of these talks:

• Staff Access and Permissions
• Group Chats and City Groups
• Channels and Announcements
• Messaging Safety and Moderation

Choose the Right Kind of Conversation

Open the Messages tab and explain the four main options.

Direct Messages

A direct message is a private conversation between two people. Everyone can start direct messages without receiving a special church permission.

Use a direct message for personal follow-up, encouragement, or a conversation that does not need a group audience.

Regular Group Chats

A regular group chat is for a defined team or short list of people. It works well for ministry teams, project groups, and conversations where every member should be able to participate.

Regular group chats are limited to 32 total members, including the person who creates the chat. If a conversation needs more room, create a channel instead.

Only people with the Create group chats church permission can start a regular group chat.

1. Open Messages.
2. Tap New Conversation.
3. Choose New Group Chat.
4. Add a name and optional photo.
5. Select at least one person.
6. Tap Create.

The chat owner or an admin can add and remove members later, up to the 32-member limit.

City Group Chats

City Group chats are the important exception to the regular group-chat limit and membership process. A City Group leader creates the chat from the group's Manage tab by choosing Create Group Chat.

Membership is then managed by the City Group itself:

• When someone with a GCT account joins the City Group, they automatically join its chat.
• When someone leaves the City Group, they automatically leave its chat.
• Leaders do not manually add or remove people from the chat.
• The regular 32-member group-chat limit does not apply.

If the wrong person appears in the chat, correct the City Group membership rather than trying to edit the chat membership.

City Group leaders can also turn on Announcement Mode when only leaders should post.

Channels

Channels are for broader communication and are not limited to 32 members. Only people with the Manage channels church permission can create them.

When creating a channel, leaders can choose whether it is public:

• Public Channel on: Anyone in the church can discover and join it.
• Public Channel off: Only invited members can access it.

A channel can also be changed into an Announcement Channel from its conversation settings. In an announcement channel, only the owner and admins can post. Other members can still read the conversation.

Public and announcement are separate settings. A channel can be public, an announcement channel, both, or neither.

How Staff Give Access

Church permissions are granted from a person's profile. Only authorized staff with church permission-management access will see these controls.

1. Open People.
2. Search for and open the person's profile.
3. Scroll to Church permissions.
4. Tap Add Church Permission.
5. Select the narrowest permission that matches the person's responsibility.
6. Confirm the grant.

The main messaging permissions are:

Permissions apply only inside Grace City Tampa. Do not give someone full church authority when one focused permission will do.

To remove access, return to the person's Church permissions, swipe left on the permission, tap Revoke, and confirm.

Manage Announcement Settings

The owner or an admin of a channel can control who is allowed to post:

1. Open the channel.
2. Tap the channel name or header to open its settings.
3. On the Info tab, turn Announcement Channel on or off.

For a City Group chat, the same setting is called Announcement Mode.

Use announcement mode when the purpose is clarity and distribution. Leave it off when the purpose is participation and discussion.

Control Reaction Alerts

Every member can adjust reaction notifications for each conversation. Open the conversation settings and choose a Reaction Alerts option:

• On: Receive reaction alerts for the conversation.
• My Messages: Receive alerts only when someone reacts to a message you sent.
• Off: Do not receive reaction alerts from that conversation.

Turning reaction alerts off does not stop people from reacting. It only mutes the reaction notifications for you.

Members can also choose Mute Alerts to mute the entire conversation for a selected amount of time.

Reporting, Blocking, and Moderation

These tools solve different problems. Reporting flags content for review, blocking protects a member's personal space, and moderation is a staff action that changes another person's access.

Report a Message

Anyone can report a message they did not send:

1. Press and hold the message.
2. Tap Report.
3. Choose Inappropriate Content, Spam, or Harassment or Bullying.
4. Confirm the report.

The app submits the report and immediately hides the reported message behind a placeholder for the person who reported it.

Block a User

Anyone can block another user from that person's profile:

1. Open the person's profile.
2. Tap Block User.
3. Confirm the action.

A blocked user cannot message the person who blocked them. Blocking is personal and does not ban the blocked user from the church app. A member can review and undo blocks from Settings > Blocked Users.

Staff Moderation

Authorized staff with the Member moderation permission will see a Moderation section on another member's profile.

• Restrict Messaging: The member can still read the app, but cannot send messages anywhere in it.
• Ban from App: The member loses access to the GCT app and is signed out when the app next checks their access. The ban also blocks public GCT data from being viewed on their phone and prevents them from signing back in.

Both actions allow an optional internal reason and stay in effect until an authorized leader lifts them. Use the reason field to leave a brief, factual record for other leaders.

Quick Decision Guide

Closing Reminder

The GCT app is a ministry space. Clear permissions, the right kind of conversation, thoughtful notification settings, and wise moderation help us build a community where people can connect with confidence and be cared for well.