We are so pleased to share one of our biggest updates yet. Hubb now has Messaging and Safe Messaging, built right into your church app. It is a brand new way for your whole church to stay connected through the week — with safety and care at its heart.
Church life does not stop on a Sunday. People plan, chat and encourage one another every day. And our young people, especially, need to know that their church family is thinking of them all week long — not just for an hour on a Sunday.
Until now, many churches have used apps like WhatsApp for this. But those apps were never made for churches. They need a personal mobile number. They are run by big companies. And they leave your church with no real control.
We wanted to do something better. So we built it.
Messaging lets your teams, groups and leaders talk to one another easily, all week long.
It works much like the chat apps people already know, so it feels familiar from the very first message. The difference is simple: it belongs to your church, not to anyone else. All those scattered church chats can finally come back into one safe place.
This is the part we are most excited about.
Safe Messaging helps your children's and youth leaders stay in touch with young people through the week — always with a parent's approval.
Picture this. A child mentions at church that they have a big test coming up. Later that week, their leader sends a short message: "I'll be praying for you. It was great to see you on Sunday." It is a small thing. But it tells that young person they are known, they are cared for, and they belong to the church family.
Parents stay in control, your safeguarding lead has oversight, and leaders get to encourage — so young people feel cared for, safely.
A few ways your church might use it:
Notice the pattern. These are warm, caring moments — the kind any parent is glad to approve. Safe Messaging is not about constant messaging. It is about letting young people know, again and again, that their church family cares.
Some of us have seen the pattern. A child grows up in church; then the teenage years arrive, life gets busy, and the connection can quietly fade. Not every child grows up with a strong faith, and not all of them lose touch — but some do. What matters is that, whatever happens, they know people at church took a real interest in them and were glad to see them.
We want to help with that.
Safe Messaging gives leaders a careful way to keep that connection alive through the week, and right through the growing-up years. A birthday remembered. A "good luck" before a big exam. A friendly invite to the next youth event. Small messages, over time, that quietly say: you matter, you belong, and you are not forgotten.
This is pastoral care that reaches beyond Sundays. It is about helping our young people stay rooted in their church family for the long run — with parents walking alongside every step of the way.
We built Safe Messaging to solve a real problem, and we have tried to do it carefully. From the very start, parents and safeguarding have been at the centre of the design, not added on afterwards. Every message is approved by a parent; messages to children are one-way; and an appointed safeguarding lead at your church has oversight of the messages leaders send.
It is built to sit alongside your church's own safeguarding policy and the guidance of your denomination — not to replace the trained people and good practice that keep children safe. No tool can do that on its own, and we would never claim otherwise.
"I serve in the children's ministry at my own church, and I am a parent of four. I would value a safe, controlled way to encourage our young people during the week — to wish them well before an exam, celebrate a birthday, or simply let them know their church family is glad to see them. That is what Safe Messaging makes possible: a meaningful connection, with safeguarding and parental oversight at its core."
Adam, CEO of Hubb — a parent of four and a children's worker
To make messaging work, we first had to build Push Notifications — and they are now switched on. They let your messages arrive on people's phones straight away, just like any other app. They also let your church send important news and updates from the Hubb web office, a little like sending a text, but delivered right to your app.
Push Notifications are the foundation that makes Messaging and Safe Messaging possible. We are glad to have them ready for you.
Everything you have read about lives inside your own church app — your name, your logo, your colours, your branding. People install it straight from your website, with no app store to search through. To them, it is simply your church, in their pocket. That is exactly how it should be.
If your church already uses Hubb, this is wonderful news. Messaging and Safe Messaging are coming to the app you already have. Same app, same login — just more ways to stay connected and care for your people.
If you are not with Hubb yet, this is a lovely time to join us. With Hubb, you get your own church app, your own website and a friendly support team who understand church life — with all of this built in. You can start with a free trial whenever you are ready.
Each answer is tagged to show whether it applies to Messaging, Safe Messaging, or both.
Yes. Messaging lets you send a one-to-one message, or message a whole team, ministry or leadership group at once — all inside your church app. Group members can message the whole group, or individuals within the group, and both functions can be individually enabled by church administrators.
Yes. All messages are stored securely within your church's Hubb account, and can be viewed and audited by your church administrators.
No. Messages are sent through your church app using people's own accounts, so no one needs to share a personal mobile number.
Yes. Messages are stored securely within your church's Hubb account. For Safe Messaging, the record also shows who sent each message, what it said, when it was sent, and which parent approved it. Your church's safeguarding lead and authorised administrators can review this at any time.
No. Messaging and Safe Messaging are built into your church's own Hubb app — the one you already use. There is nothing extra to install.
No. Safe Messaging is one-way. A leader can send a short, parent-approved message of encouragement, but children do not reply through it. There is no private back-and-forth, which is part of what keeps it safe.
Yes. As well as the parent approving every message, an appointed safeguarding lead at your church can see the messages leaders send. So no message reaches a child without both a parent and your church's safeguarding oversight.
No. We are not asking children to have their own phones. Each child has their own account, and we expect a parent or guardian to help them log in on the family computer — one kept in a family room, not on a device tucked away where it cannot be seen. Safe Messaging is designed to work happily that way.
No. Your child can only be contacted once you have switched it on for them. There is no way around this.
Yes. Every message a leader sends comes to you first. You read it in full and approve it before it ever reaches your child.
Your church does. Church administrators can choose exactly which leaders are allowed to use Safe Messaging, and which children they may contact. No one else can use the Safe Messaging feature.
No. Messaging and Safe Messaging are not social media platforms; they are tools for quick and safe communication between everyone connected with a church.
Messaging and Safe Messaging are now in late testing. A number of churches are already trying them out and helping us make them even better. Now we would love to invite more churches to join the next round.
If you would like early access, please fill in the form below and we will be in touch.
We cannot wait to share this with you. Thank you for being part of the Hubb family.
Adam