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Pastoral Response

Let Pax watch for the moments that matter — and carry out the follow-up on your behalf.

A pastoral response is a piece of ministry follow-up you set up once and let Pax run from then on. It starts with a trigger — something the system watches for — followed by the actions that should happen afterwards, each a chosen number of days later.

Common examples include new-member onboarding, baptism preparation, and funeral follow-up.

There are three triggers, and every response begins with exactly one of them:

  • On Contact Added — someone new is added to the directory.
  • On Date — a specific calendar date arrives.
  • On Event Date — an event of the type you choose reaches its start date.

Each action after the trigger is one of five things:

  • Add Prayer Request — for the referenced contact.
  • Add Visitation Card — onto the visitation board.
  • Add Event — onto the calendar.
  • Add Reminder — so staff remember to follow up.
  • Notify Staff Member — a bell notification and an email to the person you choose.

Every action records how many days it waits after the step before it — not after the trigger. So a response that prays for a new member after three days and schedules a visit seven days after that puts the visit on the tenth day. Set the wait to zero and the action happens straight away.

Usually the contact the response was triggered for — the person who was just added, or the person an event is about. If a particular step should always name someone specific instead, choose that contact on the step and it takes precedence.

A pastoral response stays inactive until you activate it, so you can build it out in peace. Once it has a trigger and at least one action, use the status button on the list page to switch it on — or off again at any time. Responses belong to your organization, so the whole team works from the same set.

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