This guide walks through the most common reasons text messages fail to send or deliver in Text In Church, and what you can do to fix each one. Whether you are seeing a specific error code, a message that shows Delivered but was never received, or messages that only reached some of your group, this article covers the steps to troubleshoot and resolve the issue.
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Before You Troubleshoot: Requirements for Messaging in Text In Church
Before diving into specific errors, confirm your account meets these requirements. Most message failures trace back to one of these areas.
10DLC Registration Approved — If you send SMS to contacts in the United States, your account must be registered with carriers through the Sender Profile in your Settings. Messages will not deliver until registration is approved.
Active Subscription — Go to Settings and choose the Subscription tab. Verify your plan is active. Only active subscriptions can send outgoing text messages. If you need help reactivating, contact support@textinchurch.com.
Phone Number Set Up — Go to Settings and choose the Phone Number tab. Your 10-digit local number appears there. If you have not set one up yet, click Add New to add a number.
Platform Status — Check for known outages at status.textinchurch.com. You can also check from within your account by clicking Message Us under the Resources tab — the platform status appears at the top of the pop-up.
How to Check for Delivery Errors in Text In Church
When a message fails, Text In Church gives you two ways to find out what went wrong.
Option 1: View the individual message. Go to the Messages section and open your Sent folder. Find the message, then click the blue View link on the far right. If a delivery error occurred, the error code and reason appear there. The Delivery Info panel on the right side of the screen shows a step-by-step breakdown of the path your message took and any errors it encountered.
Option 2: Export a CSV of failed messages. Go to Tools and select Export People. Use the date range dropdown to filter by timeframe, then click the blue Export button.
Common Error Codes and Solutions in Text In Church
Failed
Cause: The contact is opted out or does not have a valid phone number on file. Contacts can be opted out for several reasons: they texted STOP to your Text In Church number, a user manually opted them out, or they were imported via CSV with the permissions toggle left off. Messages to landline numbers also fail — Text In Church delivers to mobile phones and VoIP numbers, but not landlines.
Solution: Confirm the contact has a valid mobile number and is opted in. Admins and users with editing permissions can update a contact by going to People, selecting the contact, opening their profile, and toggling SMS permissions ON.
If a contact previously opted out, they can opt back in by texting START to your organization's Text In Church number. This is self-service and does not require admin involvement.
NA
Cause: This error appears on group messages when the group is empty, all contacts in the group are opted out, or no contacts have a mobile number on file.
Solution: Confirm the group contains contacts with valid mobile numbers who are opted in, then resend the message.
3007 Carrier Filtering
Cause: Carriers use automated filters to block messages that appear spammy or violate their guidelines. Common triggers include publicly shortened links (such as Bit.ly or TinyURL), messages that do not identify your organization, messages without opt-out language, and content that looks promotional or repetitive.
Solution: Adjust your message content and resend. Follow these practices to reduce filtering:
Use branded or full URLs. Avoid public shorteners. Use Text In Church's built-in URL Shortener under the Tools tab — it includes your church's name. Or include the full unshortened URL.
Identify your organization. Include your church's name early in the message. For example: "This is Grace Community Church, reminding you about Sunday's service."
Include opt-out language occasionally. A phrase like "Text STOP to opt out" demonstrates compliance and reduces filtering risk.
Avoid spam triggers. Words like "test" or messages with only a link and no context can be flagged. Use clear, community-oriented wording.
If filtering continues after making these adjustments, contact support@textinchurch.com. Include 3 to 4 examples of carrier-compliant messages that were filtered within the last 24 to 48 hours so the team can escalate to the carrier.
"Your Account Is Unverified. Please Contact Support to Get Verified" or "Known Sending Issue"
Solution: Contact support@textinchurch.com with your message example. The support team will troubleshoot and resolve this directly.
"Unknown Sending Issue"
Cause: This rare error occurs when the cause is unknown, typically indicating an internal issue.
Solution: Contact support@textinchurch.com with your message example to troubleshoot further.
"Limits Exceeded"
Cause: Your account is on a limited trial or has reached a sending threshold that requires verification before additional messages can be sent.
Solution: If you believe you received this error by mistake, contact support@textinchurch.com for assistance.
No Error Message (Sent Status)
If there is no error code but recipients did not receive the message, contact support@textinchurch.com and include the following: who was supposed to receive it, what kind of message it was (automated workflow, individual text, or group text), when it was supposed to send, and any screenshots or notes that may help the team investigate.
Why Are Some Text Messages Not Being Delivered?
Several issues can prevent message delivery in Text In Church. Here are the most common causes:
Your account is not registered for 10DLC. US carriers require application-to-person messaging to be registered. Text In Church registers your account using the information in the Sender Profile tab of your Settings. Unregistered or unapproved accounts will have messages blocked by carriers.
The contact has opted out of SMS. If a contact texted STOP, was manually opted out, or was imported without SMS permissions enabled, they will not receive messages. Update their record in People or ask them to text START to your number to re-enable.
Carrier filtering is blocking the message. Messages with publicly shortened links, no organization name, or no opt-out language are more likely to be filtered. See the Common Error Codes section above for solutions.
The phone number is a landline. SMS cannot be delivered to landlines. If a contact's number is a landline, update it in their People record to a valid mobile number.
The account subscription is inactive. A failed payment or canceled subscription will block outgoing messages. Go to Settings and check the Subscription tab to confirm your plan is active.
Your account is on a free trial with sending limits. Free trial accounts have a daily sending limit. Contact support@textinchurch.com to discuss upgrading if you have hit the limit.
Why Was a Message Only Sent to Some People in a Group?
If a group message only reached some contacts, the most common reasons are that certain contacts are opted out of SMS or do not have a phone number saved in their record. Every contact in the group must have a valid mobile number and be opted in to receive texts.
If contacts appear opted out after you uploaded a CSV file, the SMS permissions toggle was not enabled during the import. This causes those contacts to be uploaded with texting turned off. To fix this, contact support@textinchurch.com with a copy of the CSV file. The support team can re-upload the file with permissions enabled so those contacts are opted back in.
What Causes a Contact to Not Receive a Message Marked as Delivered?
When a message shows Delivered status in Text In Church, it means the message left the platform successfully. Whether the recipient actually sees it depends on their carrier and device settings. Here are the most common reasons a delivered message goes unseen:
Unknown Sender folder. Many phones automatically route messages from numbers not saved in the contact's contacts app into an Unknown Senders or Spam folder. The contact may need to check that folder or save your church's number in their phone.
Blocked number. If the contact has blocked your Text In Church number on their device, messages will not appear even though they were delivered by the carrier.
Carrier trouble. The recipient's carrier may be experiencing a temporary issue delivering messages to their specific device. This is outside of Text In Church's control.
If contacts consistently report not receiving messages despite a Delivered status, contact support@textinchurch.com for further investigation.
Why Was My Message Sent Late?
If a message was delivered later than expected, check these two things first:
Timezone setting. Go to Settings and choose the Branding tab. The account timezone is shown below the Name field. If it is set incorrectly, messages scheduled for a specific time will send at the wrong local time. Use the dropdown to update it.
Automated Workflow scheduling. If the message came from a workflow, check the timing of that specific step in the Automated Workflow settings.
If neither explains the delay, contact support@textinchurch.com and ask to speak with a teammate so a team member can review the message history and investigate.
Why Does "Messages and Data Rates May Apply" Appear?
If recipients see the phrase "Messages and data rates may apply" in a text from your church, this is a carrier-required disclaimer that cannot be removed. Phone carriers automatically append this notice when messages are sent to multiple recipients as a regulatory requirement. It applies to all bulk text message senders and is outside of Text In Church's control.
Have questions or need help? Email us at support@textinchurch.com or chat with us from within your account under the Resources tab.
