Step-by-step help for church staff using the system, plus how your church's setup works. Use the links below to jump to a topic. If you're still stuck, use the form at the bottom of the page.
How do I reply to a text from someone?
Video coming soon
In the left menu, click Conversations.
Click the person's conversation in the list. Unread messages show at the top when you use the Unread tab.
Read the thread in the middle of the screen.
In the message box at the bottom, make sure the channel says SMS.
Type your reply and click Send.
Tips
Keep replies short and personal. They go out from the church's texting number.
At the top, use the pipeline dropdown to pick the pipeline (for example Prayer Requests or Crisis/Care Pipeline).
Find the card (use Search if needed).
Drag the card into the stage column you want, then let go.
Other way
Click the card to open it, change the Stage dropdown, and click Save (or Update).
Good to know
Moving a card to the last stage (Closed or 04- Resolved) runs a cleanup step that removes the prayer or crisis tags. Only do it when the person has really been cared for.
Don't change Won, Lost or Abandoned unless your church told you to.
Pick the Prayer Requests pipeline from the dropdown.
Stages: New Request, In Progress, Followed Up, Closed.
Click a card to see who it is. Click the contact name to open their conversation and read what they shared.
Pray, then reply in Conversations if your church does personal follow-up.
Move the card as you go: In Progress once someone is on it, Followed Up after you've checked back in, and Closed when it's done.
Notes
New cards are created automatically when a text is tagged prayer_request. The person gets one thank-you text, unless the message was also flagged as a crisis.
Tags are labels on a person. Most are added automatically. Please don't delete them unless your church asks you to.
Care and follow-up
prayer_request: they asked for prayer or care. It creates a Prayer Requests card.
crisis_flagged: the message may involve danger, self-harm, abuse or an emergency. It creates a Crisis/Care card.
staff_assigned: a staff member has been assigned to a crisis card.
care_in_progress: the person replied after staff were assigned, so the card is in 03- In Conversation.
care_resolved: the crisis card was moved to 04- Resolved.
needs_staff_reply: they asked a question or want to get involved and need a reply from a person.
New people (onboarding)
source_direct_sms, source_qr_code, source_optin_form: how they first connected.
onboarding_complete / onboarding_incomplete: whether they finished the welcome questions.
first_time_visitor, returning_visitor; age_...; male, female; single, married, single_parent, married_parent: answers to the welcome questions.
reask_age, reask_q1, reask_q2, reask_q3: the system is re-asking a question that wasn't answered clearly.
Growth path
careos_following, careos_participating, careos_next_step, engaged, next_step, connected, inactive: where they are on the growth path.
devo_requested, devo_deeper, notes_requested: they texted for the devotional or sermon notes.
Other tags (follow-up, high priority, human handover, warm lead, imported_contact) exist, but their exact use isn't documented yet. Ask Bamboo before relying on them. [UNVERIFIED]
New Person Pipeline: 01- Onboarding in Process, 02- First Time Visitor, 03-Engaged, 04- Next Step Taken, 05- Connected, 06-Inactive
CareOS: Opted In, Onboarded, Following, Participating, Next Step Taken, Won
Marketing Pipeline: New Lead, Contacted, Qualified, Proposal Sent, Negotiation, Closed (not used for church care)
Prayer path
A text comes in. "Care | Every incoming text > AI tags, note, staff task, no texts" reads it, adds tags, a note and a staff task, and never texts the person.
If it's a prayer request, the tag prayer_request is added. "Prayer | Tag prayer_request > Card, then thank-you text" creates a card in Prayer Requests, New Request, and sends one thank-you text.
Staff move the card by hand: In Progress, then Followed Up, then Closed. There's no automatic move when staff reply in this account.
"Prayer | Card closed > Clear prayer tag" removes prayer_request when the card hits Closed.
Crisis path
A message that sounds like danger gets crisis_flagged.
"Crisis | Crisis flagged > Crisis card, assign staff" creates a card in 01- Flagged, assigns staff, adds staff_assigned, sends an in-app alert and moves the card to 02- Staff Assigned. [UNVERIFIED: who is assigned and alerted in this account]
"Crisis | Staff assigned and person replies > In Conversation" moves the card to 03- In Conversation when the person replies.
When it's handled, drag the card to 04- Resolved. "Crisis | Card moved to Resolved > Clear crisis tags" cleans up the tags.
Other live (published) workflows
Onboarding: CONNECT or first text > Tag source, start onboarding; Started from first text > Ask name and Q1-Q3; Answers in > Tag profile, mark complete; No reply 24h/72h > Nudge text, then staff alert; Opt-in form or import > Start onboarding; Paused, then next text > Close after exchange
Growth: Opt-in (QR, text, form) > CareOS Opted In, then Following after 3 days; Tag onboarding_complete > CareOS Onboarded; First reply after onboarding > CareOS Participating; DEVO or NOTES request > CareOS Next Step Taken; Engagement > Add points
Not live (drafts): Starter Devo Bank, Friday invite for first-time visitors, the points-based Growth stage moves (41+, 76+, 60 days quiet), and a test workflow.
Texting keywords people can send: CONNECT, DEVO, NOTES. [UNVERIFIED: exact keyword spelling and case taken from workflow names]
New Person Pipeline: 01- Onboarding in Process, 02- First Time Visitor, 03-Engaged, 04- Next Step Taken, 05- Connected, 06-Inactive
CareOS: Opted In, Onboarded, Following, Participating, Next Step Taken, Won
Marketing Pipeline: New Lead, Contacted, Qualified, Proposal Sent, Negotiation, Closed (not used for church care)
Every incoming text
"Care | Every incoming text > AI tags, note, staff task, no texts" skips simple answers (1-4, yes/no, CONNECT, male/female). For everything else it sorts the message:
Crisis: tag crisis_flagged plus the task "URGENT: Care follow-up - (name)", due today
Prayer or pastoral care: tag prayer_request plus the task "Prayer/care follow-up - (name)", due within 1 day
A question or wanting to get involved: tag needs_staff_reply plus the task "Reply to (name)", due within 1 day
It never texts the person. Tasks are currently assigned to the Bamboo admin user, so ask Bamboo to change that once staff are added.
Prayer path
"Prayer | Tag prayer_request > Card, then thank-you text": creates a card in New Request, waits, then sends one thank-you text (skipped if the person is also crisis_flagged).
"Prayer | Owner + follow-up task": sets the card owner and adds a follow-up task.
"Prayer | Staff replied -> In Progress": when staff reply in Conversations, the card moves to In Progress automatically.
Staff move it to Followed Up, then Closed. "Prayer | Card closed > Clear prayer tag" removes prayer_request.
Crisis path
"Crisis | Crisis flagged > Crisis card, assign staff": card in 01- Flagged, a 15-minute wait, assign a user, tag staff_assigned, an in-app alert to all users ("Crisis/Care Contact Assigned"), then the card moves to 02- Staff Assigned.
"Crisis | Card owner": sets the card owner.
"Crisis | Staff replied - In Conversation": when staff reply, the card moves to 03- In Conversation.
"Crisis | Staff assigned and person replies > In Conversation": also moves the card to 03 when the person replies, and adds care_in_progress.
Drag the card to 04- Resolved when it's handled. "Crisis | Card moved to Resolved > Clear crisis tags" removes crisis_flagged and care_in_progress and adds care_resolved.
Other live workflows: the same Onboarding and Growth set as other Signal churches (CONNECT or first text, Started from first text, Answers in, No reply 24h/72h, Opt-in form or import; Growth opt-in, onboarded, participating, next step, add points).
Not live (drafts): DEVO keyword > Send BibleNote link, NOTES keyword > Send SermonNote link, Starter Devo Bank, Friday invite, and the points-based Growth stage moves. So texting DEVO or NOTES does not send a link yet.
Note: four of these workflows still have "(DRAFT - Bob Nov 2)" in their names, but they're published and live.
[UNVERIFIED — Resurrection details not yet checked against the live account]
[UNVERIFIED: Bamboo has no read access to this account's data yet. Everything below must be checked in the account before it's published.]
What we know
The account exists in the pilot (location jPfBuMyyFAncMISUmo1O).
Website chat widgets: none in use. Only the default "Chat widget 2" remains, by choice.
"Signal Help" appears in the left menu (seen Oct 30).
No church staff users exist in the account yet (seen Oct 30).
Pipelines and stages: [UNVERIFIED]. If this account uses the standard Signal setup, it will have Prayer Requests (New Request, In Progress, Followed Up, Closed) and Crisis/Care Pipeline (01- Flagged, 02- Staff Assigned, 03- In Conversation, 04- Resolved).
This desk is for GHL how-to help for church staff. Use the "Still stuck? Email us" form at the bottom of this page when:
You're still stuck after following the steps, or you'd rather talk to a person.
Something looks broken or like a bug: a workflow didn't fire, a card or tag looks wrong, texts aren't sending or arriving, or there's an error or blank screen.
It's a billing or account access question: invoices, charges, plan, wallet or AI usage costs, logins, adding users, permissions or missing menu items.
It's a request to change a workflow, pipeline, tag or automation.
What happens when you send the form: it opens a card in Bamboo's Support pipeline and alerts the Bamboo team by email. Nothing is texted or emailed to anyone at your church automatically; a Bamboo person replies to you directly.
Reply hours: Bamboo support replies weekdays 9 AM to 5 PM Pacific, within one business day.
This desk is for GHL how-to help. For an emergency, call 911.