Parish Guide

Connect — How It Works

Praying together, lighting candles, and serving — in plain language.
A simple, step-by-step guide for parishioners and parish staff · Powered by Nave

At a glance

Connect is your parish's community hub — one page on the website where people pray for one another, light a candle for an intention, sign up to volunteer, and (for Confirmation candidates) log service hours. It has four tabs, side by side, so anyone can move between them in a tap.

🙏 Prayer Board· 🕯️ Candles· 🤝 Volunteer· 🕐 Service Hours
Open by default, tended by staff. Posting a prayer or lighting a candle takes no account and appears right away — there's no waiting for approval. Volunteering needs only a name. The one place a sign-in is required is Service Hours, since each candidate keeps a personal log. Parish staff don't approve every post; they simply tend the board — hiding or removing anything inappropriate, and verifying logged hours.

The four tabs

Each tab is its own small tool. They share one page so a parishioner finds everything community-related in a single place.

🙏 Prayer Board

Short prayer intentions anyone can post. Others tap "I'm Praying" to add their prayer. e.g. "Please pray for my mother's surgery."

🕯️ Candles

A digital prayer wall — light a votive candle that burns for 7 or 30 days, tagged by intention (healing, peace, the deceased…). Others can pray with it.

🤝 Volunteer

Open opportunities the parish posts — schedule, location, spots open. Sign up with just your name. e.g. "Food pantry, Saturdays."

🕐 Service Hours

Confirmation candidates log their own hours toward the 40-hour goal; staff verify each entry. Sign-in required.

Everything is multilingual. The Connect page is shown in each visitor's own language (English / Spanish / more), so a parishioner is always guided in the language they read.

Part A · For parishioners

How to pray for one another, light a candle, raise your hand to serve, and track your service hours. Most of this needs no account at all.

Use case 1 · Post a prayer request

Who: Anyone.   Goal: Ask the parish to pray for an intention.

  1. Open Connect → Prayer Board on the parish website.
  2. Tap + Share a prayer request, write your intention, and (optionally) add your name — leave it blank to post anonymously.
  3. Tap Post. Your request appears on the board right away, newest first.

Result: Your intention is visible to the parish, and people can start praying with you in moments.

Use case 2 · Pray for others

Who: Anyone.   Goal: Join in praying for an intention on the board.

  1. On the Prayer Board, read through the intentions other parishioners have shared.
  2. Tap the 🙏 I'm Praying button on any request to add your prayer.
  3. The count beside it goes up, so the person who posted can see they're not praying alone.

Result: A living wall of prayer — and visible encouragement that the parish is lifting each intention up.

Use case 3 · Light a candle

Who: Anyone.   Goal: Light a votive candle for an intention.

  1. Open the Candles tab and tap 🕯️ Light a candle.
  2. Write your intention, optionally add your name, choose a category (for the deceased, the living, healing, thanksgiving, discernment, or peace) and how long it burns — 7 or 30 days.
  3. Tap Light a candle. It joins the wall with a glowing flame and keeps burning until its days are up.
  4. Others can tap 🙏 Pray on your candle to pray along; filter the wall by category with the chips at the top.

Result: The traditional gesture of lighting a candle, available any time from a phone — no trip to the church needed.

Use case 4 · Sign up to volunteer

Who: Anyone willing to help.   Goal: Raise your hand for a parish opportunity.

  1. Open the Volunteer tab to see open opportunities — each shows the schedule, location, and how many spots are open.
  2. On the one you want, tap 🤝 Sign up.
  3. Enter your name (required) and, if you like, your email and phone so the parish can reach you. Tap Sign up.

Result: Your name goes straight to the parish's volunteer list for that opportunity — no account, no back-and-forth.

Use case 5 · Log your service hours Advanced

Who: A Confirmation candidate (signed in).   Goal: Record hours served toward the requirement.

  1. Sign in, then open the Service Hours tab. You'll see your running total and a progress bar toward the 40-hour goal.
  2. Tap + Add entry and fill in the activity, the date served, the number of hours, and (optionally) a supervisor. If it was a parish event, you can attach it from the list.
  3. Tap Add entry. It appears in your log; you can remove any entry that hasn't been verified yet.
  4. Once your sponsor verifies an entry it shows a green ✓ Verified badge (and you get an email) — verified entries can't be edited or removed.

Result: A trusted, running tally of your service hours — no paper sheet to lose, and your sponsor confirms each one.

Part B · For parish staff

Connect runs itself for the most part — parishioners post directly. Staff tend three admin screens: Admin → Prayer (board & candles), Admin → Volunteer, and Admin → Service Hours. Each links straight to its public tab.

Use case 6 · Moderate the prayer board & candles

Who: Parish staff (welcome/hospitality access).   Goal: Keep the board appropriate.

  1. Open Admin → Prayer Board & Candles. Submissions post on their own — this screen lists every prayer request and candle, including any you've hidden.
  2. To take something down from public view, tap Hide — it stays here only and disappears from the public board. Restore puts it back.
  3. To remove a submission permanently, tap Delete (you'll be asked to confirm).

Result: The board stays open and immediate for parishioners, while staff quietly keep anything inappropriate off it.

Use case 7 · Post a volunteer opportunity

Who: Parish staff (content access).   Goal: Open a role for parishioners to sign up.

  1. Open Admin → Volunteer and fill in New opportunity: title, an optional emoji, the schedule, location, spots open, and a short description.
  2. Tap Add opportunity. It appears immediately on the public Volunteer tab.
  3. Edit any opportunity later, reorder them with the sort field, or Delete one that's filled.
  4. Open an opportunity's Sign-ups list to see everyone who has raised their hand, with the contact details they provided.

Result: A clear, current list of ways to serve — and one place to see who has signed up for each.

Use case 8 · Verify logged service hours Advanced

Who: Parish staff / sponsor (welcome access).   Goal: Confirm a candidate's hours toward the 40-hour requirement.

  1. Open Admin → Service Hours. Entries are grouped by candidate, each showing verified vs. total hours and how many remain to the 40-hour goal.
  2. Review an entry (activity, date, hours, supervisor, and any attached event) and tap Verify.
  3. The entry flips to a green ✓ Verified badge and the candidate is emailed automatically. If you tap it again to un-verify, you're warned that they were already notified.

Result: A trustworthy hours total per candidate — verified by their sponsor, ready for Confirmation records.

Quick reference

Where is Connect?On the parish website → Connect, with four tabs: Prayer Board, Candles, Volunteer, and Service Hours.
Do I need an account to post a prayer or light a candle?No. Both are open to anyone and appear right away. You can add your name or stay anonymous.
What does "I'm Praying" do?Adds your prayer to someone's intention and bumps the count, so they can see the parish is praying with them.
How long does a candle burn?You choose 7 or 30 days. It stays on the wall, glowing, until its time is up, then drops off on its own.
Do I need an account to volunteer?No — just your name. Email and phone are optional so the parish can reach you.
Who can log service hours?Signed-in Confirmation candidates, on the Service Hours tab. The goal is 40 hours; a progress bar tracks it.
Who verifies hours?Parish staff / the candidate's sponsor, in Admin → Service Hours. Verifying emails the candidate; verified entries lock.
How do staff keep the board clean?In Admin → Prayer Board & Candles they can Hide (reversible) or Delete any submission. Nothing waits for approval to post.
What languages?The whole Connect page is multilingual (English / Spanish / more) and shown in each visitor's own language.
The big idea: Connect is where a parish prays and serves together. Lighting a candle or asking for prayer is instant and open to all; signing up to help takes only a name; and the one log that needs care — Confirmation service hours — is verified by a real sponsor. Simple for parishioners, light to tend for staff.

Connect — How It Works · A guide for parishioners and parish staff · Powered by Nave