Jethro controls what each staff member can do through a set of permissions. Permissions are assigned per user account and can be changed at Admin → User Accounts.
Complete permission reference
People & Families
| Permission | Default | What it allows |
|---|
EDITPERSON | Yes | Add, edit, and delete person records. Edit families. Move members between families. Bulk-update persons and group membership. |
SMS
| Permission | Default | What it allows |
|---|
SENDSMS | Yes | Send SMS messages to individuals or groups. Check SMS balance. Cancel pending sends. |
VIEWSMS | Yes | View the Persons → Messages page. See **all** SMS history across all users. Without this permission, users can still send SMS (with SENDSMS) and see the status of their own sends, but cannot browse the full SMS log. |
Reports
| Permission | Default | What it allows |
|---|
RUNREPORT | Yes | Run person/family reports and view statistics. |
MANAGEREPORTS | Yes | Save **shared** reports (available to all users). Without this, users can still run reports and save personal reports. Includes RUNREPORT. |
Notes
| Permission | Default | What it allows |
|---|
VIEWMYNOTES | Yes | View notes that you created or that are assigned to you. |
VIEWNOTE | Yes | View all notes across all people and families. Includes VIEWMYNOTES. |
EDITNOTE | Yes | Create, edit, and assign notes. Includes VIEWNOTE. |
BULKNOTE | Yes | Create a note on multiple people at once. Includes EDITNOTE. |
Attendance
| Permission | Default | What it allows |
|---|
VIEWATTENDANCE | Yes | View attendance records, check-in logs, and attendance statistics. |
EDITATTENDANCE | Yes | Record and edit attendance. Includes VIEWATTENDANCE. |
Groups
| Permission | Default | What it allows |
|---|
EDITGROUP | Yes | Create, edit, and delete groups. Add and remove members. |
MANAGEGROUPCATS | Yes | Manage group categories (e.g. "Ministry Teams", "Bible Study"). Includes EDITGROUP. |
Rosters
| Permission | Default | What it allows |
|---|
VIEWROSTER | Yes | View roster assignments. |
EDITROSTER | Yes | Edit roster assignments and record planned absences. Includes VIEWROSTER. |
MANAGEROSTERS | Yes | Define roster roles and views. Includes EDITROSTER. |
Services
| Permission | Default | What it allows |
|---|
VIEWSERVICE | Yes | View services and service plans. |
EDITSERVICE | Yes | Edit service details and add/remove service components. Includes VIEWSERVICE. Note: the service-details editing portion also requires the SERVICEDETAILS feature flag. |
BULKSERVICE | No | Bulk-edit service runs (e.g. change all services in a quarter at once). Includes EDITSERVICE. |
SERVICECOMPS | No | Manage the component library (song list, Bible readings, etc.). Includes EDITSERVICE. |
Sermon Recordings
| Permission | Default | What it allows |
|---|
EDITREC | Yes | Upload and manage sermon recordings. |
Documents
| Permission | Default | What it allows |
|---|
VIEWDOC | Yes | View stored documents. |
EDITDOC | Yes | Upload, edit, and delete documents. Includes VIEWDOC. |
SERVICEDOC | No | Generate service documents (handouts, run sheets). Includes EDITDOC. |
System Administration
| Permission | Default | What it allows |
|---|
SYSADMIN | No | Full system access: manage user accounts, congregations, custom fields, note templates, action plans, system configuration, upgrades, imports, and permanently delete people and families. Includes **all** permissions above. |
Permission hierarchy
Higher permissions automatically include lower ones within the same category. For example, granting EDITROSTER also grants VIEWROSTER. The hierarchy is:
| Category | Hierarchy |
|---|
| Reports | RUNREPORT → MANAGEREPORTS
|
| Notes | VIEWMYNOTES → VIEWNOTE → EDITNOTE → BULKNOTE
|
| Attendance | VIEWATTENDANCE → EDITATTENDANCE
|
| Groups | EDITGROUP → MANAGEGROUPCATS
|
| Rosters | VIEWROSTER → EDITROSTER → MANAGEROSTERS
|
| Services | VIEWSERVICE → EDITSERVICE → BULKSERVICE
VIEWSERVICE → EDITSERVICE → SERVICECOMPS
|
| Documents | VIEWDOC → EDITDOC → SERVICEDOC
|
Permissions in different categories are independent — having MANAGEREPORTS does not give you EDITPERSON, and so on. SMS permissions (SENDSMS, VIEWSMS), People (EDITPERSON), and Sermons (EDITREC) are standalone and do not form hierarchies.
Default permissions
New staff accounts receive the following permissions by default:
- Included:
EDITPERSON, SENDSMS, VIEWSMS, RUNREPORT, MANAGEREPORTS, VIEWMYNOTES, VIEWNOTE, EDITNOTE, BULKNOTE, VIEWATTENDANCE, EDITATTENDANCE, EDITGROUP, MANAGEGROUPCATS, VIEWROSTER, EDITROSTER, MANAGEROSTERS, VIEWSERVICE, EDITSERVICE, EDITREC, VIEWDOC, EDITDOC - Excluded:
BULKSERVICE, SERVICECOMPS, SERVICEDOC, SYSADMIN
The default can be changed at Admin → System Configuration → DEFAULT_PERMISSIONS. Changes only affect new accounts — existing users are not modified.
Feature-flag gating
Some permissions require a feature to be enabled in ENABLED_FEATURES. If the feature is turned off, the associated permissions have no effect — even if granted on a user account:
| Feature | Affected permissions |
|---|
| Notes | VIEWMYNOTES, VIEWNOTE, EDITNOTE, BULKNOTE |
| Attendance | VIEWATTENDANCE, EDITATTENDANCE |
| Rosters & Services | VIEWROSTER, EDITROSTER, MANAGEROSTERS, VIEWSERVICE, EDITSERVICE, BULKSERVICE |
Service Details
Also gates the service-details editing portion of EDITSERVICE. | SERVICECOMPS |
| Sermon Recordings | EDITREC |
| Documents | VIEWDOC, EDITDOC |
| Service Documents | SERVICEDOC |
Permissions not listed above (People, SMS, Reports, Groups, System Administration) are always active regardless of feature flags.
Congregation and group restrictions
Separate from permission levels, user accounts can have congregation restrictions and group restrictions. These limit which people, families, and groups a user can see, regardless of their permission level. SysAdmins bypass these restrictions.
Configuration
| Setting | Default | Purpose |
|---|
DEFAULT_PERMISSIONS | (most permissions) | Permission set granted to new user accounts |
ENABLED_FEATURES | (all features) | Which feature modules are active |
2FA_REQUIRED_PERMS | (empty) | Comma-separated permission names that require 2-factor authentication |
RESTRICTED_USERS_CAN_ADD | Off | Allow users with congregation/group restrictions to create new persons and families |