> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bethelchms.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set up your church

> Create your Bethel ChMS account, set up your organisation, and add your first branch.

This guide walks you through the setup flow for a new church in Bethel ChMS. By the end, you'll have an organisation, a branch, a primary location, and a full year of Sunday services ready to go.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign up for an account">
    Go to [app.bethelware.com](https://app.bethelware.com) and select **Sign Up**.

    Enter your **email address** and choose a **password**. Your password must be at least 8 characters long.

    <Frame>
      <img src="https://mintcdn.com/bethelware/_cz3DU3Me7LAFBmi/images/getting-started/sign-up-form.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=_cz3DU3Me7LAFBmi&q=85&s=0b7953cd734b4ac19b92c011bdc7fec6" alt="Sign-up form" width="1440" height="900" data-path="images/getting-started/sign-up-form.png" />
    </Frame>

    After signing up, you'll be taken straight into the setup flow, no email verification needed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create your organisation">
    An **organisation** is your church network: it contains all your branches, members, and settings. If you lead a single church, your organisation is that church. If you oversee multiple campuses, your organisation is the umbrella that holds them all together.

    Fill in the following details:

    | Field                 | Required | Description                                      |
    | --------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
    | **Organisation Name** | Yes      | The name of your church or network.              |
    | **Email**             | Yes      | A contact email for the organisation.            |
    | **Address**           | No       | The main address of your church or headquarters. |
    | **Post Code**         | No       | The postal code for the address above.           |

    <Frame>
      <img src="https://mintcdn.com/bethelware/_cz3DU3Me7LAFBmi/images/getting-started/create-organisation-form.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=_cz3DU3Me7LAFBmi&q=85&s=331446732fe70c8648695d7d40ae7341" alt="Create organisation form" width="1440" height="900" data-path="images/getting-started/create-organisation-form.png" />
    </Frame>

    <Info>
      You automatically become the organisation owner, the highest permission level in Bethel ChMS. You can manage everything across all branches, invite other users, and assign roles. See [Roles and permissions](/guides/roles-and-permissions) for details.
    </Info>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create your first branch">
    A **branch** is an individual church or campus within your organisation. Even if you only have one location, Bethel ChMS uses branches to organise your members, events, and attendance data.

    Fill in the following details:

    | Field             | Required | Description                                                                     |
    | ----------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Branch Name**   | Yes      | The name of this church or campus, such as "Grace Chapel" or "Eastside Campus". |
    | **Branch Email**  | No       | A contact email for this branch.                                                |
    | **Location Name** | Yes      | The name of the venue or building where this branch meets, such as "Main Hall". |
    | **Address**       | No       | The address for the primary location.                                           |
    | **Capacity**      | No       | The venue capacity.                                                             |
    | **Start Time**    | Yes      | When your Sunday service begins.                                                |
    | **End Time**      | Yes      | When your Sunday service ends.                                                  |
    | **Description**   | No       | Notes for the Sunday Service event.                                             |

    <Frame>
      <img src="https://mintcdn.com/bethelware/_cz3DU3Me7LAFBmi/images/getting-started/create-branch-form.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=_cz3DU3Me7LAFBmi&q=85&s=35d70690383ec873c2d6a1ab033ca29d" alt="Create branch form" width="1440" height="900" data-path="images/getting-started/create-branch-form.png" />
    </Frame>

    <Tip>
      Bethel ChMS automatically creates a primary location for your branch, a Sunday Service event, and 52 weekly occurrences.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="You're in">
    That's it, you land on your dashboard. From here you can see your selected branch at a glance, including member demographics, upcoming events, recent check-ins, and member lists.

    <Frame>
      <img src="https://mintcdn.com/bethelware/_cz3DU3Me7LAFBmi/images/getting-started/dashboard-after-setup.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=_cz3DU3Me7LAFBmi&q=85&s=116a309f739e03961801f561b04d73c1" alt="Dashboard after completing setup" width="1440" height="900" data-path="images/getting-started/dashboard-after-setup.png" />
    </Frame>

    Here are a couple of things to do next:

    * [Invite users](/getting-started/invite-users): Add pastors, admins, finance users, or volunteers to your team and assign them roles.
    * [Add members](/guides/managing-members): Start building your church directory by adding members to your branch.
    * [Review dashboards](/guides/dashboards): Understand the difference between branch and organisation dashboards.
  </Step>
</Steps>