Summary: Groups is ChMS built-in way to organize and connect the people in your church — small groups, Bible studies, ministry teams, youth groups, volunteer teams, or any set of people who meet and interact regularly. Admins set groups up and manage them from Breeze/ChMS; members join, chat, and stay connected through the Tithely Church App. Groups is available to every Breeze/ChMS customer at no extra cost — the Church App is only required if you want members to browse, join, and chat on their own.
Which app is which?
| Breeze app | Tithely Church App | Tithely (giving) app | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it's for | Admins | Members | Givers |
| What it's for | Managing Events, Tags, Groups, and People on the backend | Where members join and chat in Groups, check in, and engage day-to-day | Giving/donations only |
| How you know you're in it | You log in with a username | You access it from the member side, on your phone | Separate, standalone app |
If you're logging in with a username, you're in Breeze/ChMS. If you're logging in with email, you're probably in Tithely (or Tithely People). If you're on your phone as a member joining or chatting in a group, that's the Tithely Church App — and it's a completely separate app from the Tithely giving app.
Q: What IS the church app?
A: The "Church App" is the Tithely Church App — a separate product from both Breeze and the standalone Tithely giving app. It's where members go to engage with Groups (join, chat, browse).
Q: Who is the Breeze app for? Who is the Church App for?
A: Breeze is admin-facing — it's what an admin uses to create and manage Events, Tags, and Groups on the backend. The Tithely Church App is member-facing — it's where members primarily go, and it's where Breeze Groups shows up for them to join and chat.
Q: How do I know if I'm using Breeze or Tithely?
A: If you log in with a username, you're in Breeze — this is usually clear if you're on the backend creating an Event, Tag, or Group. If you log in with email, you're probably in Tithely (or Tithely People). If you're on the Church App, that's the member perspective.
Q: Are the Church App and the Tithely (giving) app two different things?
A: Yes — the Tithely giving app and the Tithely Church App are two separate apps.
Groups vs. Tags: what's the actual difference?
This is the theme that generated the most pushback, so it's worth being direct about it.
Q: What is the main difference between Groups and Tags?
A: Tags are an admin-side organizational tool for segmenting people for communication — most members don't even know they've been tagged. Groups are member-facing: they show up in the Tithely Church App, members can see and join them, and they support engagement features like chat, events, and check-in. As one attendee put it during the webinar: Groups are for people who actually interact with each other, while Tags are a communication device for segments of people.
Q: Are Tags going away now that we have Groups?
A: No. Tags and Groups serve different purposes and will continue to work side by side.
Q: Once I've set up a group, why would I still need the tag? Isn't that double maintenance?
A: Not necessarily. Tags often carry ongoing organizational value beyond a single group's membership — for example, tag-based automations or drip campaigns — so keeping the tag isn't duplicate work just because a group now exists for the same people.
Q: If I create a Group from a Tag, does the Group stay in sync with the Tag afterward?
A: No — Tags are only used to populate a Group's membership at the time you create it. Adding someone to the Tag later won't automatically add them to the Group, and joining the Group won't automatically add them to the Tag.
Group mechanics: leaders & membership
Q: Can a group have more than one leader? A: Yes.
Q: Is there a link I can send people to join a specific group?
A: Yes — from an individual group's page in the app, there's an invite option you can copy and send to someone, inviting them to download the Church App and join.
Q: Can I message all groups at once, or just certain groups — or just the leaders?
A: Yes to all three. From the Groups dashboard, select all of your groups (or just one) and use Contact Selected to message just the leaders or all members, by text or email.
Q: Is it easy to remove a member from a group?
A: Yes — from a group's Members tab, you can remove someone directly.
Cost & purchasing
Q: What does the Church App cost? A: $89/month for the Church App only, or $119/month for the all-access package.
Q: Do I have to purchase Tithely to get Groups in Breeze?
A: No. Groups is available to all Breeze customers at no additional cost — you don't need to purchase any Tithely product to use it. You only need the Tithely Church App if you want additional member-engagement features, like group chat and letting members browse and find groups on their own. The Church App also makes it easy for group leaders to review and approve new group members.
Q: There's a limit of 250 texts a month in Breeze — do Church App chat messages count toward that?
A: No. In Breeze, the first 250 SMS texts each month are free, and unlimited messaging beyond that is 1.9¢ per message (Breeze SMS is one-way and can't be replied to). The Church App's group chat is a separate, unlimited feature and does not count against your 250 free texts.
Permissions & data privacy
Q: Can regular members see everyone's data — phone numbers, addresses?
A: No. Unless a member has been given elevated permissions, members can only see other members' names.
Q: How do congregants access a church directory — is that even possible?
A: By default, permissions for members coming in through the Tithely Church App are limited, to protect the security of your ministry data. A directory can be exported as a PDF and shared manually as a workaround, but we'd recommend against including contact info that way, to avoid over-exposing member data.
Profiles & account linking
Q: We've used the Church App for a while and some people already have a profile. Do they need to delete it to use Groups?
A: No. When someone signs into the Church App, it automatically tries to match them to an existing Breeze profile by email or phone. If a match is found, it links to that profile; if not, a new one is created.
Q: When I invited people, Breeze created brand-new profiles for them even though they were already in my database. Why?
A: The Church App matches to an existing Breeze profile using name and email. If those don't line up closely enough with what's already on file, it will create a new profile instead of linking to the existing one — double-check that the email/name on the invite matches what's in Breeze.
Q: When someone joins a Group, do they automatically get added to the associated Tag?
A: No — Tags and Groups aren't kept in sync after the initial setup. A Tag is only used to populate a Group's membership at creation time.
Migration & unlocking Groups
Q: I don't see a Groups section on my dashboard. What do I need to do first?
A: Groups only appears in your navigation once your billing has been migrated to Tithely. Check the Extensions page for a migration banner or link.
Q: I don't see the migrate option under Extensions.
A: Migration has to be completed by your Breeze Account Owner. If that's not you, reach out to your Account Owner to complete it, or contact support if you're unsure who that is.
Quick checklist to unlock Groups:
- Confirm you're the Breeze Account Owner (or ask them to help).
- Go to the Extensions page and complete the Tithely billing migration.
- Confirm your permissions — Groups should now appear in your navigation.
What's not available yet
A few features came up repeatedly that aren't part of Groups today:
- Chat attachments: Not yet available, but currently in development.
- Recurring events on a custom schedule (e.g., "3rd Sunday of the month"): Not currently available.
- Pausing member chat while keeping leader posts, or pinning a message: Not currently possible. Stopping chat removes chat entirely for everyone, and there's no pin feature yet. As a workaround, you can post a timely message in the group's Description field, though members may not notice it there.
- Keeping a Group automatically in sync with a Tag after creation: Not currently supported — see the Groups vs. Tags section above.
Notifications not coming through?
If push notifications for group chats or posts aren't firing on your device:
- Confirm your device OS and the Church App itself are both up to date.
- Clear the app's cache.
- If it's still not working, please submit a support ticket so our team can investigate — this has come up for a number of churches and we want to track it directly.