Does our church need to register with the Charity Commission?

Not if its income is £100,000 or less. Methodist churches are excepted from registering until 31 March 2031, but they need HMRC recognition to claim Gift Aid.

Can we keep members and the community roll separately?

Yes. You choose your own membership statuses, and you can use tags and groups for anything else you track.

We use the Methodist Gift Aid Bureau. Can we still use it?

Yes. Prepare the claim here without an HMRC reference, then download a list of every gift to copy onto the bureau’s forms.

Who can see pastoral notes?

Only the people you choose. Notes can be limited to named people, so a treasurer or group leader never sees them.

Membership Software for Methodist Churches

Look after your members and community roll, plan rotas and keep Gift Aid in order, in one place your church council’s officers can share.

Start your 30-day free trial See prices

Members and community
Gift Aid on HMRC’s spreadsheet
From £12 a month

Built for church councils and pastoral care

Members and the community roll: Choose your own membership statuses, so members and your community roll stay apart. The roll review page takes you through the yearly review name by name.
Pastoral visitors: Give pastoral visitors a group of people to look after, with private notes only the right people can read.
Your church council’s officers: Treasurers, stewards and the church office each get their own sign-in, seeing only what their role needs.
Data protection: TMCP publishes data protection guidance and a toolkit for Methodist churches. Our tools help you follow it, with requests, retention reviews and a breach log.

Pastoral notes in safe hands

Keep notes of visits and conversations on each person’s record. You decide who can read them, so a treasurer or group leader never sees them.

Caleb Begum’s record. It shows his contact details, address and birthday, his household of four, and a Gift Aid box saying £150.00 is ready to claim. — Open a larger view (opens in a new tab)

Rotas that fill themselves

Plan stewards, welcome and coffee rotas. Volunteers get a reminder before their turn, can say they’re away, and reply from their phone.

The Sunday morning rota with welcome and coffee jobs for each week. A tick shows a volunteer has confirmed, a cross shows one can’t make it, and one name is marked away. — Open a larger view (opens in a new tab)

Gift Aid, whichever way you claim

Record envelopes, standing orders and plate cash, then build your claim on HMRC’s own spreadsheet. The Small Donations Scheme top-up is worked out for you.

Claim through the Methodist Gift Aid Bureau instead? Prepare the claim here, then download a list of every gift to copy onto the bureau’s forms.

The Gift Aid page. It shows £1,406.25 ready to claim, £3,240.00 that could be claimed with more declarations and £4,508.40 received from HMRC so far, above a list of past claims marked as paid. — Open a larger view (opens in a new tab)

What it doesn’t do

It doesn’t file your Statistics for Mission or annual returns in the Methodist Online Suite. It helps you gather the figures.

Each church has its own account, and one login can move between them all. There isn’t a single view across a whole circuit, so circuit-wide records stay with the circuit office.

Questions churches ask

Does our church need to register with the Charity Commission?: Not if its income is £100,000 or less. Methodist churches are excepted from registering until 31 March 2031, but they need HMRC recognition to claim Gift Aid.
Can we keep members and the community roll separately?: Yes. You choose your own membership statuses, and you can use tags and groups for anything else you track.
We use the Methodist Gift Aid Bureau. Can we still use it?: Yes. Prepare the claim here without an HMRC reference, then download a list of every gift to copy onto the bureau’s forms.
Who can see pastoral notes?: Only the people you choose. Notes can be limited to named people, so a treasurer or group leader never sees them.

Sources

Try it with your church for 30 days

Start a free trial with no card needed. Invite your treasurer and pastoral team, and see how it fits your church.

Start your free trial See prices