Our church is moving to a new kind of church record keeping solution called Realm®. Not only will this improve work life for our ministry staff, it will make it easier for parishioners to connect with each other, keep up with what’s going on, and grow as a connected faith community.
What is Realm? Realm is a real ministry tool.
Realm is an online ministry tool designed for real time connection. It helps our church connect with you and you connect with us. If you want a way to stay connected with fellow parishioners throughout the week, you’ll love it.
Why use Realm? Realm strengthens church connections
Being the church doesn’t just happen at the church. Realm helps us serve you better and leads this church well between Sundays. Everyone can be connected from anywhere at any time, right from our computers or mobile devices. It engages everyone in the life of our church by supporting the healthy relationships essential to our church’s mission. We’ll stay organized, and you’ll stay informed about all of the opportunities for fellowship, formation, and service. When we share life together, we will grow together.
What about my privacy? Realm is safe, private, and secure.
Your privacy is one of our greatest concerns. Realm is only made up of the people in our church, it’s not like a social network that’s open to everyone. Realm keeps your data safe and gives you control over what information you share and who can see it.
Notes about Privacy
Your information is your information. You have complete control over who can see your contact and personal information.
- Contact information is never public or searchable on the Internet. Any information you elect to make visible to your church family is always protected behind a login.
- Authorized staff will always have access to your profile information.
- You and certain authorized staff may update your profile information. In some cases, your group leader may update your contact information if you have made it visible to group leaders.
- For safety reasons, sharing contact and personal information for children under 18 is limited. Parents determine whether or not to display their child’s name in the church directory.
- Children under 13 may not participate and will not be able to sign in.
WHAT INFORMATION IS VISIBLE FOR MYSELF AND MY KIDS?
For adults, contact information and birthday (don’t worry, just the day!) are visible to other parishioners with logins. For children under 18, the ONLY visible piece of information is the child’s name.
ALL privacy settings are customizable.
An Adult family member can change privacy settings for other members of the family. Birthdays are required for children (as a means to prohibit access), but it’s up to you if you want to share the birth date with your church family.
What People May See
By default, your contact and personal information is visible to fellow parishioners. But if you prefer to be more private, you can customize how people see specific information*.
- Contact Information: Name, Address, Phones, and Email.
- Personal Information: Marital Status, Family Position, Member Status, but you also have the option of sharing your birthday, gender, allergy information, and skills with people in your church. *If you are a group leader or host an event, certain contact information may be visible regardless of the settings you choose.
**While you can hide the majority of your information from most of your church, you should know that, regardless of your settings, contact data will still be visible to certain members of our church staff.
Privacy Settings Explained
- Everyone—Like a church directory listing, everyone in our church will be able to see whatever profile information is marked as visible to everyone.
- My Groups + Group Leaders + Church Staff—This setting means information will only be shared with the people you are involved with at church. This is the default setting.
- Group Leaders + Church Staff—You would use this setting if you wanted to keep some profile information hidden from anyone who is not a group leader or on staff.
- Church Staff Only—This setting effectively removes you from the church directory. Your information will only be available to authorized church staff.**
- Custom Privacy—Choose different privacy levels for specific contact fields and personal information. You can do this in two places: when you edit your profile information or when you manage your privacy settings.***
What about giving? Realm gives you control over your giving.
Giving should be easy, and Realm places giving right in the palm of your hands. You may set up recurring gifts, view your giving history, and make changes at any time. By default, your Statement Delivery settings are set to Email, but you can change this setting to Mail if you prefer.
How do I start? Follow a few simple steps.
Every adult parishioner with an email on file was sent an Invitation to Realm to create a login. This email link is specific to the email address it was sent to. Follow the instructions in the email to create a login and see your profile.
If you did not receive an email inviting you to Realm (and after you have checked your junk or spam folder!), it may be that the church office does not have your email address on file. Please email Director of Communications, Jacquelyn VanWeelden at with the full name, preferred email address, AND phone number for each family member requesting a login.
A Realm Profile allows you to manage your personal information and who is allowed to see it, view the parish directory, control your giving, and keep in touch with the groups that matter to you. While creating a login allows you to have access to all these great features, it is not mandatory. Your contact information will appear just as it would in a parish directory.
Now Let’s Connect!
Stay connected to our church wherever you go by downloading the free Connect - Our Church Community app for iPhone and Android devices. Use it to communicate with your groups, RSVP to events, manage your giving, update profile information, and more. It makes it easier for us to connect throughout the week and know what’s happening.
- News—Keeps everyone up-to-date with the latest posts, photos, and events for your group and for your church as a whole
- Posts—Post messages to your group and comment on posts by others in your group
- Photos—Capture your moments together and share them with your group
- Events—See event details (date, time, location, etc), submit your RSVP, and sign up to bring something
- Files —Access your group’s shared files
- Messages—Send your entire group, or select individuals, a message that starts a conversation
- Participants—See names and basic profile details for the people in your church or group, based on their privacy preferences
- Notification Settings—Manage your preferences for group notifications and emails
Get the Connect App!
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/connect-our-church-community/id1052274581?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acstechnologies.android.realm.engagement
Not an app person? Don’t worry. While the Connect App is a useful tool for those on the go, all the same information can be found by logging in online from your home computer.
We hope this exciting new tool will allow everyone at St. Peter's to better connect with each other, keep up with what’s going on, and live out our faith between Sundays.
If you have questions while creating your profile and getting familiar with all Realm has to offer, please contact the office at