crosslineFor churches and ministries
Every member, one conversation.
Your youth group and volunteers chat on Discord. Half the congregation would rather get a text. Crossline lets them follow the channel by text and reply from their phone, so a service time change, a prayer request, or a volunteer ask reaches everyone once.
Free to start. Texting plans are priced by how many members follow by text, with a monthly pool of texts included. Pay as you go is $2 a month plus 3 cents a text. Registered nonprofits get 20% off Starter and above.
One announcement, the whole congregation
Most churches end up with a Discord or a group chat for the people who like apps, a text list for the people who don't, an email newsletter, and the bulletin. Crossline makes the channel the one place to post, and it works the same for a synagogue, a mosque, or any congregation.
Post once
The office posts in the channel. Members on Discord read it there. Members who text get it in one digest text a day, under the poster's name, or as it's posted if you set the channel to live. Nobody copies it into a second list.
Prayer requests and replies
A request texted by a member posts in the channel under their name, marked (text), and reaches the other phones. The chain is one conversation, not a phone tree, and the volunteer who can take Friday says so once.
Bulletin, screen, QR code
/crossline share gives you the number, a tap-to-text link, and a QR code. Print it in the bulletin, show it on the screen before the service, and put it at the welcome desk. A member scans it and texts JOIN.
Reminders for the things people forget
Potlucks, choir practice, the volunteer sign-up, the Wednesday study. Post the event once and members get a text before it starts, whether or not they ever open Discord.
Announced, then reminded
The office creates the event with /crossline event create. Members who text see it in their next digest. Anyone who replies REMIND gets a text an hour before, or the morning of, and in a live channel everyone does. Replying YES or NO tells you who is coming.
Weekly services and groups
Set an event to repeat every week, every other week, or monthly, and one setup covers the season. Skip a week for a holiday and the phones are told.
Changes reach everyone
If the potluck moves to the fellowship hall or a service is canceled for snow, members who were told hear it by text. It also works for an online study, with a tap-to-call number in the reminder.
Built for consent
Carriers are strict about who may be texted, and so is Crossline. Nobody is enrolled by the office, and every member holds the off switch.
The full text messaging terms, the keywords, and the opt-in flow word for word are at crossline.stream/sms and crossline.stream/keywords.
How it works
Someone in the office connects one Discord channel. Members who want texts send JOIN themselves. There is no app to download and nothing to install on anyone's phone.
If you run the church's server
- Add the Crossline bot to the church's Discord server. A server is free to create if you don't have one.
- Run
/crossline connectin the announcements channel. Crossline pins a note with the number and how many people follow by text. - Run
/crossline shareand put the number, the link, or the QR code in the bulletin, on the screen, and at the welcome desk. - Optional:
/crossline settings relay: roleso only staff posts are texted, and/crossline settings joins: approvalto approve each JOIN.
If you're a member
- Text
JOINto the number in the bulletin, or scan the QR code. - Reply with the name you want people to see. Your number is never shown.
- Announcements arrive as texts. Reply to any of them to post in the channel.
- Text
STOPany time, orPAUSEwhile you're away.
If a ministry chats elsewhere
- Someone with Manage Server makes a bridge code with
/crossline bridge create. - A Telegram group adds
@crosslinesms_botand runs/crossline joinwith the code. A channel on another Discord server runs/crossline bridge join, and so does a Slack channel once an admin has installed Crossline from api.crossline.stream/slack/install. - Posts in the group reach the channel and the phones, and theirs reach the group.
/crossline bridge leaveon Discord or Slack, or/crossline leavein a Telegram group, ends it. Starting from Telegram or Slack without Discord is coming.
Questions from church offices
Can our church send text messages to members?
Yes, to the members who ask for them. With Crossline, a member texts JOIN to the church's number from their own phone, and from then on every message posted in the connected channel reaches them as a text. The office cannot add a number, upload a directory, or send the first text. That is what carriers require, and it is why the texts get delivered.
Can we upload our member directory?
No, and that is on purpose. Carriers block texts to people who did not ask for them, and a church's number is only as good as its reputation. Put the number and the QR code in the bulletin, on the screen before the service, and at the welcome desk. Each member texts JOIN once, and they are in.
Do members need Discord?
No. A member who follows by text never opens Discord. They read announcements as ordinary texts and reply to any of them to post in the channel. Only the church needs a Discord server, and a server is free.
Can members reply, or is it announcements only?
Members can reply. A reply from a phone posts in the channel under the name the member chose, marked (text), and reaches the other members following by text, which is what makes a prayer chain one conversation instead of a phone tree. If you want only staff posts texted, set a relay role: everyone else's Discord messages stay in the channel, and replies from members still post there. To keep replies private, make it an announcements channel with /crossline settings kind: announcements: replies from phones then go only to staff, by DM or in a room you pick.
Will members see each other's phone numbers?
No. Every message shows under the name the person chose. Staff with Manage Server see a short code beside each name, enough to tell two Ruths apart, and no digit of anyone's number. Numbers are never shared or sold.
Is there a discount for churches and nonprofits?
Yes. Registered 501(c) nonprofits and churches get 20% off Starter and above, and their add-ons. Email support@crossline.stream with your EIN if you have one. We look it up before the rate goes on your plan; a church that is not in the IRS list can send a determination letter or point us to its denomination's directory.
What does it cost a church?
Connecting a channel is free to start. Texting is a paid plan for the church, priced by how many members follow by text, with a monthly pool of texts included, or pay as you go at $2 a month plus 3 cents a text. Members never pay Crossline, though their carrier's message and data rates may apply. Texting starts with a free 7-day trial. It needs a card on file, and nothing is charged unless you pick a plan.
Does it work with Telegram, Slack, or a second Discord server?
Yes. A Telegram group, say a ministry that already chats there, joins the same conversation with a bridge code from /crossline bridge create, and so does a Slack channel or a channel on another Discord server. Posts in any of them reach the channel and the phones, and replies land back where they started. Starting from a Telegram group or Slack channel without Discord is coming.
Get your church connected
Add Crossline to your Discord server, then run /crossline connect in the channel you want on phones. Texting starts with a free 7-day trial. It needs a card on file, and nothing is charged unless you pick a plan.