ShepherdLog Support

A private, on-device pastoral care tracker for solo pastors and church planters.

Need help? Email wbagnew21@gmail.com and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Including your iOS version and what you were doing when the problem happened helps a lot.

Frequently asked questions

Where is my data stored? Can you see my notes?

Everything lives in a local database on your iPhone. ShepherdLog has no servers and no accounts, so nobody — including the developer — can see your notes. See the privacy policy for the full picture.

How do I back up my data?

Your data is included in your normal iPhone backup (iCloud Backup or a computer backup), and restoring your phone from a backup restores ShepherdLog's data with it. For a readable copy of one person's history, use Person → ⋯ → Export Care History (PDF) (unlock feature). Note that deleting the app deletes its data, so make sure a device backup exists before removing it.

What does the one-time unlock include?

A single non-subscription purchase removes the 15-person limit and adds full-text search across all care notes, PDF export, custom relationship tags, and Planning Center sync. Buy it once and it's yours forever.

I already paid but the app says I'm locked. How do I restore my purchase?

Go to Settings → Restore Purchases (also available on the unlock screen). Make sure you're signed in to the same Apple Account you used for the original purchase. If it still doesn't unlock, email me.

How do I turn on Face ID / passcode lock?

Go to Settings → Privacy → Require Face ID / Passcode. The app will confirm your identity once, then lock itself whenever it goes to the background. If your device has no passcode set up, enable one in the iOS Settings app first.

How do I connect Planning Center?
  1. In a web browser, sign in to your Planning Center account.
  2. Go to api.planningcenteronline.com and open Settings → Developer → Personal Access Tokens.
  3. Create a new token — Planning Center shows you an Application ID and a Secret.
  4. In ShepherdLog, go to Settings → Planning Center Sync, paste both values, and tap Sync People.

Your credentials are stored only in your device's Keychain and are sent only to Planning Center. Re-syncing updates existing people instead of creating duplicates.

Planning Center sync says my credentials were rejected.

Double-check that you copied the full Application ID and Secret with no extra spaces, and that the token still exists in your Planning Center developer settings (tokens can be deleted there). If you regenerated the token, paste the new values and sync again.

I'm not getting follow-up or milestone reminders.

Check that notifications are allowed in the iOS Settings app → Notifications → ShepherdLog. Follow-up reminders fire at 9 AM on the due date, and milestone reminders fire at 9 AM the day before. If a due date is already past when you set it, no notification is scheduled — the item still appears on your dashboard.

How do I delete someone and all their history?

Swipe left on the person in the People list and tap Delete. This removes their profile, all care entries, milestones, and any scheduled reminders. This can't be undone.

Does ShepherdLog sync between devices or with my team?

No — by design. ShepherdLog is a personal tool for one pastor on one device, which keeps confidential notes as private as possible.

Feature requests

ShepherdLog is intentionally simple, but I'd love to hear what would serve your ministry better. Send ideas to wbagnew21@gmail.com.