About Realm

What is Realm?

REALM is Trinity’s new web portal for members. It is connected to church management software that is used for information storage– such as our members’ contact information, life events and giving information. The behind-the-scenes organization of the church depends on software that is comprehensive, easy-to-use and secure.

REALM will help you be more connected to the church and other Trinity members.

Here’s what you need to know:

Why is Trinity making this change?

Trinity began using our former member portal (Trinity Connect) in 2005. REALM is the latest software from the same company, and it has many new features that will help our members connect, communicate and create community.

What are these features?

  • Online member directory
  • Online giving and giving history
  • View & register for church events
  • View your groups and communicate with group members
  • Online news feed, with messages/events from your groups & from the church
  • REALM can be used on a smartphone, tablet or computer

How can I join Realm?

  • We will send an email invitation to our active members to join REALM. We encourage you to accept the invitation soon after you receive it (it will expire after a few weeks, for security reasons– a new invitation can be sent if this happens). Then create a login in order to opt-in to the member directory.
  • You may see a request to use MinistryLogin.com to sign-in; this is OK– press Continue.
  • You will need to join REALM if you want to be part of the directory and communicate with your groups.

Is Realm secure?

  • We are using the most secure settings that we can, to protect our members’ data. We trust that our members will choose difficult passwords and will protect their passwords.
  • Individuals have the ability to set their own privacy settings for their contact and personal information.

What do I do after joining Realm?

  • Look for your Profile (different phone/device types and computers display this differently). Please check your contact information for accuracy– make corrections as needed. You should see an Edit feature (look for the pencil icon) that you can use to fix or delete contact information that may be out of date. If you have more than one phone number, please indicate which number is preferred/primary.
  • You should see a Privacy icon, for adjusting the privacy of your information. Only congregation members and staff are allowed to see our Directory— please leave your contact information (e-mail, address, primary phone) viewable by “everyone in the church,” so that your fellow church members can reach you.
  • If you want to update the photo in your profile, you can do that (remove the old one and upload a new one from your computer or phone).
  • Be sure to accept notifications so you will see current news and events.
  • You can change your settings (privacy, notifications) later if you wish.
  • Look at your News Feed and Events tabs. Your personalized news feed will come from your groups and from Trinity’s staff. When you see events that you want to join, you can register for them in REALM.
  • Look at your Giving tab– you can make donations in REALM, schedule future contributions, and look at your giving history. If you have any questions about making gifts or your giving history, please contact our Controller, Dan Hout-Reilly.

What can I do later in Realm?

  • Take a look at your Groups— you may find that you are missing a group or two– or maybe you see your name connected to a group/ministry that you are no longer with. Let Ginger know if any updates are needed.
  • Do you have adult children attached to your family that have graduated and/or moved away? If so, we can update their record(s) to reflect those changes. Please let Ginger know of any contact info changes, and if your family members want to stay connected with Trinity.
  • You’ll see Serving and Check-In as options– what are these? Serving is about volunteer scheduling, however this will not replace the Ministry Scheduler program for worship volunteers. It will be used for event volunteers (picnic volunteers, Mardi Gras volunteers, etc.). We won’t roll this out immediately but will launch it in the future. Check-In is an option appropriate for registration events and maybe for children’s ministry; this may be introduced in the future, too.
  • If you are a small group leader who used Trinity Connect in the past to make room reservations, please talk with Ginger about scheduling future events. If you used the old Church Life app to view the church calendar, you may still be able to use it that way, but it’s not connected to REALM.

Will there be Realm training?

  • Your training begins here. We’ll have a forum on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 10:10 a.m., to talk more about “Building the Realm Community.” We will schedule some optional training meetings in the next couple of months (Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, before or after worship), for people who would like to have some help learning how to log in and use REALM. We will offer separate training for small group leaders. If you have questions along the way, please reach out to Ginger Bitikofer or Eric Travis.
  • The staff is still learning to use REALM, too– we are excited about what we think Realm can do for us, but sometimes we get things wrong– please be patient with us as we learn to use Realm together.

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