Frequently Asked Questions

Help Us Follow Christ is a platform designed to help Christians form and manage small groups for faith sharing, Bible study, and spiritual growth. We make it easy to find or create groups, schedule meetings, and build meaningful community.

Click "Sign up" in the top navigation. You'll need to provide your name, email address, and create a password. After signing up, you can immediately join or create groups.

Yes! Help Us Follow Christ is completely free for individuals and groups. We believe building Christian community should be accessible to everyone.

While our platform was designed with Catholic small groups in mind, Christians of all denominations are welcome. Many features like Bible study groups and faith sharing work well for any Christian community.

Browse the Groups page to see listed groups in your area. You can filter by group type (men's, women's, OCIA, Bible study) and location. Click on any group to see details and request to join.

Click "Start a Group" from the home page or navigate to Groups and click "Create Group." Our wizard will guide you through naming your group, setting a description, choosing meeting preferences, and configuring privacy settings.

Listed groups appear in the public directory and anyone can find and request to join them. Unlisted groups are private—only people with an invitation link can join. Choose unlisted for more intimate groups or when you want to control membership carefully.

You set your own capacity when creating a group. We recommend 8-12 members for optimal discussion and connection. Smaller groups (4-6) feel more intimate, while larger groups may benefit from splitting into two.

Yes! As a group leader, you can promote any member to co-leader status. Go to your group's Members page and click the promote option next to their name. Co-leaders have the same permissions as the original leader.

Go to your group's Members page, find the member, and click "Remove." They'll be notified that they've been removed. Use this sparingly and consider having a conversation first when possible.

From your group page, click "Schedule Meeting." Enter the date, time, and location (physical address, virtual link, or both for hybrid meetings). You can also set up recurring meetings to save time.

Recurring meetings automatically create future meetings on a schedule you set—weekly, biweekly, or monthly. You can cancel individual occurrences without affecting the series. This is great for groups that meet regularly.

Members receive notifications about upcoming meetings and can RSVP directly from the meeting page or their dashboard. They can indicate Yes, No, or Maybe, and optionally add a note.

Yes! When scheduling a meeting, you can add a Zoom, Google Meet, or any other video conferencing link. Members will see a "Join Meeting" button that takes them directly to your virtual room.

Go to the meeting page and click "Cancel Meeting." Members who RSVPed will be notified of the cancellation. You can optionally add a message explaining why.

Each group has a calendar feed URL you can subscribe to. Go to your group page and look for "Add to Calendar." This works with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, and most other calendar apps.

From your group page, click "Invite Members." You can invite via email, SMS text, shareable link, or QR code. Personal invitations (email/SMS) typically have higher acceptance rates.

Email: Best for formal invitations with full details.
SMS: Quick and personal, great for people you know.
Link: Share anywhere—social media, messaging apps, etc.
QR Code: Perfect for in-person events and printed materials.

Invitations expire after 7 days. If someone hasn't accepted by then, you can send a new invitation. This helps keep your pending invitations list manageable.

You'll receive a notification about the membership request. Go to your group's Members page to review pending requests. You can approve or decline each request, and optionally send a message with your decision.

For privacy reasons, we don't track who views group pages. You'll only see people who have requested to join or been invited.

Visit the Leader Resources section (available in the navigation when you're a group leader). You'll find facilitation guides, meeting templates, tips for handling difficult situations, and more.

The AI Meeting Advisor suggests discussion topics and meeting agendas based on your group type, the liturgical calendar, and recent readings. It's a helpful starting point—you can use suggestions as-is or customize them.

After a meeting, go to the meeting page and click "Mark Attendance." Check off who attended. This helps you identify members who might need follow-up and track group engagement over time.

The Leader Checklist helps new leaders set up their group for success. It includes tasks like completing your group profile, scheduling your first meeting, and inviting members. Find it on your group dashboard.

From your group page, click "Send Announcement." Write your message and choose how to notify members (in-app notification, email, or SMS). Use announcements for important updates that all members should see.

Church Admin access lets parish staff or ministry leaders oversee all groups affiliated with their church. You can view group health, support leaders, and send organization-wide announcements.

Search for your church on the Organizations page. If it exists, click "Claim This Organization" and follow the verification process. If it doesn't exist, you can create it and request admin access.

Yes! The Church Admin dashboard shows all groups affiliated with your organization, including membership counts, meeting frequency, and leader information.

The dashboard highlights groups that may need attention—those with low attendance, no recent meetings, or incomplete setup. Reach out to leaders to offer support and resources.

First, check your spam/junk folder. Add noreply@helpusfollowchrist.com to your contacts. You can also check your notification preferences in your Profile settings to ensure email notifications are enabled.

Make sure you've verified your phone number in your Profile settings. Also check that you've opted in to SMS notifications. Standard messaging rates may apply from your carrier.

Try these steps: 1) Refresh the page, 2) Clear your browser cache, 3) Try a different browser, 4) Check your internet connection. If problems persist, contact support.

Click "Sign in" then "Forgot your password?" Enter your email address and we'll send you a link to create a new password. The link expires after 6 hours.

Yes. Go to Profile settings and scroll to the bottom to find "Delete Account." This will permanently remove your account and all associated data. If you're a group leader, you'll need to transfer leadership first.

Yes. We use industry-standard encryption for all data transmission and storage. We never sell your personal information. See our Privacy Policy for full details on how we protect and use your data.

Yes! Press ? at any time to see all available keyboard shortcuts.

Navigation shortcuts:
• g then d - Go to Dashboard (My Groups)
• g then g - Go to Groups
• g then h - Go to Help
• g then p - Go to Profile

Action shortcuts:
• n - New (creates new item based on current page)
• ? - Show keyboard shortcuts help
• Esc - Close modal or dialog

Yes! We've designed Help Us Follow Christ to be accessible to users of assistive technology. Features include:

• Skip to main content link
• Proper heading hierarchy
• ARIA labels on interactive elements
• Keyboard navigation support
• Visible focus indicators
• Respect for reduced motion preferences

If you encounter any accessibility issues, please contact us.