Pastoral care software for churches under 250
When someone's hurting,
someone shows up
— by design, not by luck.
CarePilot texts the right volunteer the moment a need comes in, escalates until a real person says yes, and carries the care through to done. Every Monday it tells you the only number that matters: how many needs were dropped. At the church that built it, that number has been zero every week since launch.
Set up in an afternoon. Running by Sunday. 14 days free.
Margaret E.
SurgeryTomorrow 7:00 AM · St. Mary's Hospital
Finding someone to be there…
The Reyes family
Recovering homeDay 3 · daily check-in with James R.
Covered — meal train running
Text message · now
Grace Care:Margaret has surgery tomorrow 7am at St. Mary's. Can you be there?
Dana accepted
4 minutes after entry
Also happening
- 🙏 Prayer team praying
- 🍲 Meal train starts Thursday
- 💐 Flowers ordered
Every pastor knows the drop
It's never a lack of love. It's that care runs on memory, hallway conversations, and whoever happened to be in the room.
A member had surgery Tuesday. You found out Sunday — from her daughter, in the lobby.
The need was mentioned in a meeting. Everyone nodded. Everyone assumed someone else had it.
A grieving family got three casseroles the first week — and silence by week four.
None of that is a character problem. It's a systems problem — and systems can be fixed this week.
“I built CarePilot as a lead pastor, for my own church — because I was tired of finding out on Sunday about the surgery that happened on Tuesday.”
Steve Stewart · lead pastor, Cornerstone Church · built CarePilot for his own team first
How CarePilot works
A need is entered
Anyone on your care team adds it in seconds — surgery, hospital, loss, a family you haven't seen. That's the last thing that depends on memory.
＋ New case
The right person is alerted
CarePilot texts the right volunteer with one tap to accept. No response? It escalates to the next person — and keeps going until someone says yes.
Dana, Margaret has surgery tomorrow 7am. Can you be there?
No answer? It climbs the ladder — automatically.
Care is carried through
Follow-ups, meals, prayer, flowers, the day-of reminder, the check-in three weeks later. The system remembers so your people can just show up.
- ✓Visit made — day of surgery
- ✓Meal train ran 2 weeks
- ✓Check-in call, week 3
- ●Card on the anniversary
The difference
Other tools track care.
CarePilot carries it through.
A record of who's in the hospital doesn't visit anyone. Watch what happens when a volunteer misses a text — the need climbs the ladder until someone says yes.
Watch a missed text climb the ladder — 15 seconds
The escalation ladder
Dana W.
Tier 1 volunteer
Marcus T.
Tier 1 volunteer
Pastor Steve
Staff backstop
⏱ Time compressed — real response windows are 15 minutes (7½ for emergencies).
Grace Care
New need entered
Margaret E. — surgery tomorrow, 7:00 AM
Not just software — a care ministry in a box
Most churches don't need another database. They need a working ministry. CarePilot ships with the structure, the roles, and the rhythm — you bring the people.
The app your team will actually use
One tap to accept a need from a text. No logins for the reluctant, full app for the faithful.
Role playbook included
Ready-to-use job descriptions for every care role — volunteers, coordinators, prayer captains, meal trains. Hand them out and go.
A proven care structure
Escalation ladders, follow-up rhythms, and quiet-hours guardrails designed in a real church — not a boardroom.
Connects to Planning Center
One click links your PCO directory, so every name, number, and household is already there.
This is the real app
Not mockups. These are screenshots from Cornerstone Church, Gainesville, Georgia — running CarePilot every Sunday since July 2026.
My care — a volunteer's daily view
Overview — every open case at a glance
A case — the whole story in one place
Simple, honest pricing
One flat price by weekly attendance. Everything included — your whole team, unlimited care alerts, every feature. 14-day free trial, no card required.
For most churches that's less than one tank of gas for hospital visits — and it never goes up because you added volunteers.
More than 1,000 weekly? Let's talk— we'll take good care of you. And no church is ever turned away over cost.
Our promise if you ever lapse
No family is ever dropped over a billing date
If your plan lapses, nothing is deleted and every open care need can still be finished. What pauses is new work. Subscribe again and the engine picks up exactly where it left off. We built it this way on purpose.
For your board
Your elders see care happening — no login required
Every Monday, a one-page report: needs received, who responded, how fast, and the number that matters — dropped: 0. Name anyone who should get it. They never have to open the app.
Will our volunteers actually use it?
They don't have to learn anything. Each volunteer gets one text with their own app. A need arrives as a text with one button: Accept. That's the whole training.
Do volunteers cost extra?
Never. Flat means flat — add your whole team, every role, unlimited care alerts. The price only depends on your church's size.
We don't have a church database. Does that matter?
No. Most churches under 250 don't. Add a name the first time a need comes up — the people list builds itself while you do ministry.
Do we need Planning Center?
It's a lovely one-click connection if you have it, but it's optional — you can run CarePilot on its own.
What happens after the trial?
Pick a plan to keep going. If you don't, your data stays safe, open needs can still be finished, and your account simply pauses — no surprise charges, ever.
How long does setup take?
An afternoon. Connect Planning Center (or don't), add your team, enter your first need. Most churches are running by the next Sunday.
CarePilot is part of Pilot — a family of follow-through tools for churches. Same login, same people list, one bill. Running GuestPilot too? Ask about bundle pricing.
See the family →Rather see it before you start?
Fifteen minutes with Steve — the pastor who built it — watching real care flow through a real church. Bring your questions; he's heard them all from his own team.
Care by design starts this week
Your next care need is coming this week whether you're ready or not. Set up in an afternoon — free for 14 days, no card, no pressure.
Field notes from the church that built it