Events

Managing Recurring Services

Set up a service that repeats, then change the whole series or call off a single week without touching the rest.

A recurring service is one event that repeats, not a new event every week. That is what makes it possible to change the time for good, or call off a single Sunday, without editing dozens of entries.

Note

Recurring services never take sign-ups. There is no sign-up question when you create one and no sign-up settings afterwards; people simply come. If you need a headcount, create it as One event instead. See Creating an event.

Create a recurring service

1

Start a new event

From your , open the Create menu and choose Recurring Service.
2

Name it and say what it is

The New event screen opens on the Repeats every week tab. Give the service a name people would recognize on your website, like “Sunday Modern” or “Midweek Prayer”. Under What is it?, keep Worship service or choose Class or Other gathering. The next section explains the difference.
3

Set the day, the times, and how often it repeats

Pick the Day, the Starts and Ends times, and How often: Every week, Every other week, or Monthly.
4

Set where and who can see it, then create it

Check the address, leave Who can see it? on Everyone so visitors can see when you meet, and press Create event. To change any of this later, or to add a description, click Edit service on its overview.

Services, classes and other gatherings

Your website treats a worship service differently from the things around it. A Worship service is what visitors see as the service: it is the “Next service”, it shows as live while it runs, and it appears in your weekly times (“Sundays 10:30 AM”).

A Class (Sunday school, an adult class) or an Other gathering (a pre-service dinner, a prayer time) is listed under that day's service, headed “Before the service” or “After the service”. It is never shown as the service itself. Child check-in and attendance work the same for all three.

Tip

During church setup, use Add a class or gathering on the service times step to add Sunday school alongside your services.

The service page

A recurring service has its own page rather than an ordinary event page. It shows the next date and a rail of the dates around it. When you can administer it, it also shows a toolbar with a sermon link, Go live where streaming is available, and a ⋯ menu that starts with Edit service.

The toolbar separates changing the series from changing one date

Tip

Click a date in the rail before using the ⋯ menu. Occurrence actions apply to whichever date is selected, not always the next one.

Changing the whole series

Edit service (in the ⋯ menu on the service page, or the button on the service's overview) opens a step-by-step form: name, type and visibility on Basic Info; weekday, times and repeat pattern on Date & Time; description and cover image on Details. Save with Save & Close.

Warning

These changes apply to every future date, not just the next one. Moving the start time from 10:00 to 10:30 moves it permanently. To change one week only, use the occurrence actions below.

Calling off a single week

1

Select the date

Click the affected date in the rail so the page is showing it.
2

Choose Cancel occurrence

Open the ⋯ menu and choose Cancel occurrence. The dialog names the service, the date, and the time, and takes an optional reason, such as snow, a building problem, or a combined service elsewhere.
3

Confirm

Only that date is cancelled. The dialog says so explicitly: future occurrences are not affected.

A cancelled date shows as cancelled on the public page, with your reason if you gave one, so anyone checking before they set off finds out. To undo it, select that date again and choose Restore occurrence.

Tip

Cancel the week rather than deleting the service. Deleting removes every future date as well, and your website loses the service times.

Marking one week as special

Mark as special service in the same menu gives a single date its own treatment, such as a Christmas Eve service, a baptism Sunday, or a guest speaker. The date keeps its place in the series but is presented differently. Choose Edit special service to change it afterwards.

Where services show up

  • Your website lists your service times, so a visitor planning a first visit sees when you meet.
  • Your events calendar shows each date as it comes.
  • Streaming attaches to the service, so a broadcast lands on the right date. See Live streaming.

Note

Only services that Everyone can see appear on your website. One set to Only people with the link is hidden from the list, which is rarely what you want for a weekly gathering.

Removing a service for good

When a service ends permanently, open it from your Events page, then choose Delete Event from the ⋯ menu on its overview. That removes the whole series and every future date, and cannot be undone. See Editing and deleting events.

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