Keeping your church community connected beyond Sunday is one of the hardest parts of ministry leadership. Group texts get noisy, social media is distracting, and generic platforms weren't built with discipleship in mind. Called exists to solve exactly this — a communication and community platform designed specifically for churches, campus ministries, high schools, and faith-based organizations.^1
At its core, Called gives ministry leaders one secure place to manage everything: group and direct messaging, event creation with RSVPs and check-in, prayer requests, announcements, member engagement insights, and a home screen feed with video posts — so nothing gets lost in the noise. Leaders can see who's engaged and who's drifting, so no one slips through the cracks.^1 Built by the team behind Newman Ministry, Called is trusted by over 500 churches and has connected more than 50,000 members across campus ministries, parishes, and small groups.^1
Called was built to replace the jumble of GroupMe chats, email chains, and scattered spreadsheets that most ministries rely on. "Called is the hub of our Campus Ministry communications," shared Jeff H., Director of Campus Ministry at the University of Texas at Arlington. "Everything from chats, to events, to DMs, to meme sharing all happens in Called."^2 Jeffrey R., a campus minister at Missouri State University, described it as "really easy to set up and start — it really is designed to help continue building up your community with the goal of intentionality in mind."^2
Safety is woven into the platform, not bolted on. Called includes leader visibility and oversight, controlled communication settings for youth, no unsafe direct messaging structures for minors, profanity filters, and a privacy-first design with no ads or data selling.^1 The team has also published guidance specifically to help youth ministry leaders evaluate communication platforms for safety — a rare and welcome contribution to an area many church tools overlook.^3
In 2025, Called saw major platform growth: a unified subscription model merging all features into one plan, a home screen feed with Happening Now updates, chat channels, group insights for tracking engagement, video posts in the feed, expanded event check-in and attendance tracking, GIFs and emojis for richer conversations, and a full web and desktop experience alongside mobile.^4 In April 2026, the website and brand were refreshed with the new tagline "Know Your People. Grow Disciples." — reflecting the platform's deepening focus on shepherding and engagement visibility.^1 Called also introduced a Multi-Church plan for diocesan and multi-campus organizations, plus comparison pages against Planning Center, CCB, Subsplash, Pushpay, Flocknote, and GroupMe.^1
Founded by Matt Zerrusen as part of the Newman Ministry family (Newman Ministry, Newman Connection, Newman Student Housing), Called serves churches across denominations with an explicit focus on helping leaders build communities where people don't just attend — they belong.^5 Campus ministry partners through Newman Connection receive free access, supporting the platform's mission of reaching disconnected young adults.^6
Platforms: iOS, Android, Web, Desktop Pricing: Free 30-day trial, then tiered annual pricing by community size; campus ministry partners receive free access
