WhatsApp Bot

Overview

Shepherd has a powerful WhatsApp Bot that lets your members interact with your church directly from WhatsApp — no app download, no login, no dashboard needed. Members can check in to services, give, pray, book appointments, rate services, and more — all by sending simple messages.

The bot is powered by your church's Twilio WhatsApp number and runs 24/7 automatically.

Screenshot

📸 [Screenshot: Example WhatsApp conversation showing HELP menu response with available commands]

Getting Started (for Members)

Members save your church's WhatsApp number and send any message to start. The bot introduces itself and walks them through registration.

First-Time Registration

When an unregistered number messages your church:

Bot asks for their preferred language (English, French, Twi, or Pidgin)
Bot asks for their full name
Member is registered as a Visitor in your database
Bot confirms: "Welcome to [Church Name], [First Name]! 🎉"

If the member is already in your database (added manually by staff), they're recognised by phone number and greeted by name immediately.

All Available Commands

📋 HELP

HELP       — Main menu of all available commands
HELP MORE  — Extended/hidden commands

✅ CHECKIN

CHECKIN [4-digit code]

Check in to a service using the code displayed at church.

Example: CHECKIN 4829

Bot replies: "✅ Checked in to Sunday Morning Service! You're #47 today. God bless!"

The 4-digit code is shown on a screen at your church entrance and rotates automatically every few minutes.

🙏 PRAY

PRAY [your prayer request]

Submit a prayer request to the pastoral team.

The request appears in Pastoral Care → Prayer in the dashboard. When staff mark it as "Praying" or "Answered", the member receives a WhatsApp notification.

Privacy options: Is this private or shareable? If shared: anonymous or named?

💰 GIVE / TITHE

GIVE [amount]    — Give an offering
TITHE [amount]   — Same as GIVE

Flow:

Bot lists the church's funds plus General Offering; the member taps one (or replies with its number, 0 for General)
Bot asks for confirmation, showing the exact amount and the number the prompt will go to, e.g. "💰 ₵ 50.00 to Grace Chapel — Building Fund. MoMo prompt will go to 024XXXX567", with YES, 💳 Pay another way (typed: LINK) and NO
YES sends a Mobile Money prompt; Pay another way sends a Paystack link that takes Mobile Money, card or bank transfer
When Paystack confirms the payment, the gift is recorded automatically and shows in HISTORY. The bot sends no further message.

Amounts can include separators and decimals (GIVE 1,000, GIVE 50.50). The bot sends the link instead of a prompt when it can't tell the member's network from their number, when Paystack asks for a one-time code, and for churches in Nigeria. GIVE works for churches in Ghana and Nigeria with payout setup completed. See Giving & Finance.

📊 HISTORY / BALANCE / STATEMENT

HISTORY    — Your five most recent completed gifts, newest first
BALANCE    — Same as HISTORY
STATEMENT  — This year's giving, totalled by fund

📖 BOOK

BOOK

Book a pastoral appointment. Bot shows available appointment types, then available time slots (from Pastoral Care → Availability). When the pastor confirms, member receives a WhatsApp notification.

⭐ FEEDBACK

FEEDBACK

Rate today's service (1–5 stars), choose a category (Sermon/Worship/Welcome/General), add an optional comment. Feedback appears in Pastoral Care → Feedback.

👤 PROFILE / UPDATE

PROFILE                          — View your current profile
UPDATE name John Doe             — Update your name
UPDATE email john@example.com    — Update your email
UPDATE address 12 Main Street    — Update your address
UPDATE occupation Teacher        — Update your occupation

🏠 VISIT

VISIT

Request a pastoral visit. Bot asks for visit type (Home / Hospital / Other) and a brief reason. The pastoral team is notified and a visit request appears in the Pastoral Care → Visits dashboard.

🤝 PLEDGE

PLEDGE [amount] [frequency] [title]

Create a giving pledge. Example: PLEDGE 200 MONTHLY Building Fund

Frequencies: DAILY / WEEKLY / MONTHLY / QUARTERLY / YEARLY

PLEDGE LIST       — Your active pledges, numbered, with progress
PLEDGE CANCEL n   — Cancel pledge n (asks to confirm)
PLEDGE PAUSE n    — Pause its reminders
PLEDGE RESUME n   — Resume a paused pledge

See Pledges.

💬 Replying to Broadcasts

Members can reply directly to any broadcast message in WhatsApp — no special command needed. The reply is captured and appears in the Messages → Replies dashboard for your team to review and follow up on.

🌍 LANG

LANG

Change your preferred language: English / Français / Twi / Pidgin. All future messages from the bot arrive in your chosen language.

🔑 MYQR

MYQR

Get your personal QR code for fast check-in at events or services that use QR scanning.

⛪ CHURCHES / SWITCH

CHURCHES       — List all your registered churches (if member of more than one)
SWITCH [code]  — Switch to a different church

Interactive Menus

On supported WhatsApp accounts (Ghana 🇬🇭, Nigeria 🇳🇬, Cameroon 🇨🇲 confirmed), the bot uses interactive list menus and reply buttons — tappable options instead of typing numbers. Other countries fall back to numbered text menus.

Languages Supported

Language	Activation
🇬🇧 English	Default
🇫🇷 French	Send `LANG` → select Français
🇬🇭 Twi	Send `LANG` → select Twi
🌍 Pidgin	Send `LANG` → select Pidgin

Feature Access by Plan

Command	Minimum Plan
CHECKIN (basic)	All plans
GIVE / TITHE	Rooted and above
HISTORY / BALANCE	Rooted and above
BOOK (appointments)	Growing and above
FEEDBACK	Rooted and above
PLEDGE	Growing and above
STATEMENT	Growing and above

Custom Commands

Go to Settings → Church Profile → Custom Commands to add your own keywords:

Keyword: ADDRESS
Response: Our address is 12 Redemption Road, Bamenda. Sunday service starts at 9:00 AM. 🙏

Custom commands appear in the HELP MORE menu automatically.

Quick Reference Card

Command	What It Does
`HELP`	Main menu
`HELP MORE`	Extended commands
`CHECKIN 1234`	Check in to service
`GIVE 50`	Give GHS 50
`TITHE 200`	Tithe GHS 200
`HISTORY`	Recent giving
`BALANCE`	Same as HISTORY
`STATEMENT`	This year's giving by fund
`PRAY [request]`	Submit prayer request
`BOOK`	Book pastoral appointment
`FEEDBACK`	Rate today's service
`PROFILE`	View your profile
`UPDATE name [name]`	Update your name
`PLEDGE 100 MONTHLY Tithe`	Create a pledge
`PLEDGE LIST`	View your pledges
`LANG`	Change language
`MYQR`	Get your QR code
`CHURCHES`	List your churches
`VOTE`	Cast ballot in active election
`VOTE STATUS`	Check if you've voted + ballot token
`NOMINATE [Name] for [Post]`	Nominate a member during nominations phase
`NOMINEES`	List approved nominees for current election
(reply to broadcast)	Reply captured in Messages → Replies inbox

Overview​

Getting Started (for Members)​

First-Time Registration​

All Available Commands​

📋 HELP​

✅ CHECKIN​

🙏 PRAY​

💰 GIVE / TITHE​

📊 HISTORY / BALANCE / STATEMENT​

📖 BOOK​

⭐ FEEDBACK​

👤 PROFILE / UPDATE​

🏠 VISIT​

🤝 PLEDGE​

💬 Replying to Broadcasts​

🌍 LANG​

🔑 MYQR​

⛪ CHURCHES / SWITCH​

Interactive Menus​

Languages Supported​

Feature Access by Plan​

Custom Commands​

Quick Reference Card​