The ChurchApps Podcast

On the Ground in Kentucky — FreeShow, ChurchApps, and the Global Church Tech Community with Garry B Jr.

Micheal sits down with Garry B Jr. at the Kentucky Worship and Technology Conference, hosted by the Southern Baptist Association. Recorded live at Kingdom Glory House, they talk about what happened at the conference, the growing FreeShow and ChurchApps community, and how free tools are changing the game for churches everywhere. Topics covered: - The Kentucky Worship and Technology Conference — how it came together, what churches learned, and how FreeShow was already known before anyone opened their mouth - Garry's FreeShow workshop — attendees leaving ready to download and use it immediately, from young tech volunteers to seasoned worship leaders - The Amazing Life / A-Play Pro partnership — supporting churches coming from ProPresenter with curriculum-integrated presentation tools, and helping fund FreeShow development - Larry from Kingdom Glory House — discovered the conference through FreeShow Friday and connected with the team to set up his church's live stream, PTZ cameras, and OBS - FreeShow Friday — the global community call where tech booth volunteers from Australia, New Jersey, Indonesia, Africa, and beyond share tips and solve problems together in real time - The tech booth ministry — why the people running sound, slides, and cameras are essential to the message being heard, and why good tools make that job easier - FreeShow vs ProPresenter vs OpenLP — how all three serve different needs, why churches can use more than one, and how FreeShow brings flexibility without the price tag - Garry's story — from a prayer for direction in Kansas City to becoming the "FreeShow Evangelist," training churches and making videos that unlock what people didn't know the software could do - Open source and the kingdom — developers jumping in on GitHub, partnerships that work because there's no money in the way, and the vision of sharing tools freely with the global church Guest: - Garry B Jr. — FreeShow evangelist, trainer, and content creator - Website: https://www.garrybjr.com/ - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theGarryBjr Conference: - Kentucky Worship and Technology Conference: https://www.worshiptechnology.net/ Resources: - FreeShow: https://freeshow.app - Amazing Life: https://amazinglife.com/ - ChurchApps: https://churchapps.org - github.com/ChurchApps

Give Online for Free — How B1 Giving Actually Works

How B1 Giving Works: - Every B1 church creates their own free Stripe account (Stripe is the current supported processor — if better options develop the integration, we'll add them) - ChurchApps wraps around your Stripe account — providing the giving page, fund management, donor records, giving statements, and all the tools - ChurchApps retains zero percent of donations — all money goes directly from donor to your Stripe account to your bank - No monthly fee from ChurchApps, no transaction fee from ChurchApps What other platforms charge (for comparison): - Tithe.ly: 2.9% + $0.30 per card transaction, no monthly fee for giving-only plan — uses own processor, not Stripe directly - Planning Center Giving: 2.15% + $0.30 per card, plus $15–$239/month subscription based on donation volume — uses Stripe on back end - Rebel Give: 1.9% fee added to donor's gift (church receives 100%), plus $29–$199/month platform fee to the church - Stripe standard: 2.9% + $0.30 per card transaction - Sources: Tithe.ly: https://get.tithe.ly/pricing | Planning Center: https://www.planningcenter.com/pricing | Rebel Give: https://www.rebelgive.com/pricing | Stripe: https://stripe.com/pricing Stripe Nonprofit Rate: - Because you own your own Stripe account, you can call Stripe and ask about a nonprofit rate - Stripe doesn't advertise a fixed nonprofit rate — every church is different — but churches have gotten rates down to around 1.9% as a 501(c)(3) - This conversation is only possible because B1 gives you a direct Stripe account — platforms that use their own processors don't give you this option Donor fee coverage: - Donors can optionally choose to cover the processing fee so the church receives the full gift amount - Completely optional — donor's choice at time of giving Why integration matters: - Donations through B1 giving automatically log to the donor's member record - Year-end giving statements generated automatically - Recurring giving tracked automatically - No manual data entry needed — unlike PayPal or disconnected third-party tools New: Donation element in the website editor: - Drag a donation form onto any page in the B1 website editor - Choose which funds appear, set a default fund, toggle one-time and/or recurring giving - Embed giving directly on a campaign page, missions page, or your home page — no redirects, no custom code Try It This Week: 1. Create a free Stripe account at stripe.com — select "nonprofit" as your business type 2. Connect Stripe to B1 Admin: Donations section — setup guide at support.churchapps.org 3. If you're a 501(c)(3): call Stripe and ask about a nonprofit rate — have your IRS determination letter and Stripe account ID ready 4. In your B1 website editor: add the donation element to a page, set your fund, save, and see it live Resources: - support.churchapps.org - stripe.com (create account) - Stripe nonprofit discount: https://support.stripe.com/questions/fee-discount-for-nonprofit-organizations - github.com/ChurchApps

Build It, Reach Them, Welcome Them — Three Updates That Matter

Three practical updates across ChurchApps — one for building your website, one for reaching your people, and one for welcoming new members. Build It — The B1 website editor got a significant overhaul. Settings now open as side panels instead of popups so you can see your page while you edit. Drag and drop is easier with larger drop zones. Undo and redo are fully supported with Ctrl+Z and Cmd+Z, and a History button in the toolbar lets you jump back to any saved snapshot of your page. There's also a built-in help dialog right in the editor so anyone on your team can get started without hunting for documentation. Reach Them — When you add someone to a group, serving team, or role, you now get the option to send them an invite email automatically. Your choice every time — send it or skip it. No more volunteers being added to a team and never finding out. Welcome Them — New members now receive a six-digit verification code instead of a set-password link when creating their account. The whole process stays inside the app — no clicking a link that opens a browser, setting a password there, then going back to log in. You see the code, you type it in, you're done. Try It This Week: 1. Open your B1 website editor, make a change, and press Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z — then check the History button in the toolbar 2. Add someone to a group or team and watch for the invite email prompt 3. Walk through new member registration with a test account to see the verification code flow Resources: support.churchapps.org support.churchapps.org/docs/b1-admin/website/page-editor github.com/ChurchApps

Your Church Website — Built Free, No Code Required

Every B1 church account includes a free, full-featured website builder — no developer, no monthly platform fee, no third-party tools required. In this episode, Micheal and Kari walk through everything you need to get your church website up and running. Topics covered: setting up your domain, building pages with sections and content elements, getting your logos right and why you need four different versions, navigation, reusable blocks, and managing your files. A 2025 audit of 2,725 churches found only about 1 in 3 have a website that makes a good first impression. Pew Research confirms online search is one of the primary ways people find a new church. Your website is the first impression — before anyone ever walks through the door. B1 AI Prompt Guide — download the free guide, drag it into Claude Desktop, type "I want to build my church website in B1," and Claude walks you through the whole thing. No tech skills required. Most people have a professionally styled section on their site within 10 minutes. Download the guide: https://churchapps-podcast-rss.micheal-ab4.workers.dev/b1-guide Want a human to help? Emily at S Five Design works specifically with churches on their B1 websites. Start with a free website evaluation, then set up a one-on-one call to get your site built right. Free evaluation: https://go.churchapps.org/current-website-satisfaction-value-assessment Emily's website: https://sfivedesign.com/ Resources: support.churchapps.org admin.b1.church github.com/ChurchApps Sources: One Eighty Digital, "State of Church Websites: Insights from 2,725 Churches" (Feb 2025) — https://oneeighty.digital/2025/02/03/state-of-church-websites-insights/ Pew Research Center, "How Americans Search for a New Religious Congregation" (2016) — https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2016/08/23/1-the-search-for-a-new-congregation/

Spring Updates: Everything New Across ChurchApps

Over the past decade, private equity has quietly purchased most of the major church software platforms. This episode explains what that means for churches — and what the alternatives are. Micheal and Kari cover what open source actually means, the private equity consolidation happening across church software, and the real risk of vendor lock-in. Companies covered include Ministry Brands (30+ brands, over 90,000 organizations), Pushpay and Church Community Builder, Tithely and Breeze, ACS Technologies, and Subsplash (sold to Roper Technologies in 2025). They also cover Gloo, which targets 245 million Americans with church-related data and cut its free tier by 95% after going public. Honest comparison: paid software is not bad, and some platforms like Planning Center have legal protections against being sold. The concern is PE ownership and what happens when the business model shifts. Alternatives covered: Planning Center (Ministry Centered Foundation — legally cannot be sold), Rock RMS (open source for larger churches with technical capacity), and ChurchApps (free, open source, built for churches without IT staff). Try It This Week: Google your current church software provider plus the words "private equity" or "acquired by" and see what comes up. Resources: Church Software Transparency research: https://churchapps.org/church-software-transparency Planning Center commitment: https://www.planningcenter.com/blog/2024/06/a-commitment-for-our-customers-never-being-acquired Rock RMS: https://rockrms.com github.com/ChurchApps