There are three ways an account comes into existence, and which one applies to you decides what you do next.
You are setting up your church
If your church is not on SynaiConnect yet, start from the sign-up page. While public sign-up is open you can do it yourself — no invitation needed. While it is paused, the page says so and we set your church up for you (see the note below).
- Open the sign-up page, enter your full name and email address, and click Set Password.
- Choose a password (at least 8 characters, with an uppercase letter and a number), type it again to confirm, and click Create Account.
- Open the verification email and click Confirm email address.
Confirming signs you in and opens a short setup wizard that creates your church and makes you its Owner — see The onboarding wizard.
You were invited by your church
Somebody at your church added you as staff and sent an invitation to your email address. The email contains a link that opens the sign-up form with your invitation already attached.
- Open the invitation email and click its link. The link attaches your invitation, so the form shows the church you are joining — signing up without it starts a new, separate church instead.
- Enter your full name. Your email is filled in from the invitation and locked — the invitation only works for the address it was sent to.
- Choose a password (at least 8 characters, with an uppercase letter and a number), type it again, and click Create Account. There is no verification email — the invitation link already proved the address is yours.
You are signed in straight away and taken into your church’s workspace. If your church added you from a spreadsheet instead, your email says “Create your password”: open it, choose a password and click Create password & sign in. See Accept a staff invitation if the invitation itself is giving you trouble.
You are a member of the church
Members do not create accounts this way and do not use the portal. Your church sends you a sign-in link for the phone app instead — see Members: set your password from an invite.
The verification email
Only someone setting up a new church gets a verification email. It proves the address belongs to you, which matters because your email address is how you sign in and how you recover the account. Until you click it, signing in says “Please verify your email before signing in.”
- Check your spam or junk folder first — this is by far the most common cause.
- The link is single-use. If you have already clicked it once, go straight to signing in.
- Right after you submit, the Check your email screen has a Request a new link button. It unlocks after a minute, and only a few emails are sent per address per day. If you have already left that screen, do not sign up again — use Forgot password? on the sign-in page instead.