Groups are multi-purpose in Churchteams. They act as classes, events, assimilation & discipleship groups, and much more.
To create a group, logged in at the Staff level or higher, click the Group button in the Create card on your Churchteams dashboard. (You can also go to Groups & Events > Create if you do not have a Dashboard/Me Card.)
Part 1: (Groups & Events > Create)
Group Name: Enter the name of your group.
Meeting Day: If unknown, choose “to be determined”. Otherwise, choose the day of the week this group meets. This is also the day of the week that the attendance report will be emailed to the leader for completion.
Time of Day: Choose from the options in the drop-down list. These options can be edited, and more choices can be added to this list by going to Groups > Settings > Meeting Times.
Meeting Frequency: Choose from the options in the drop-down list. These options can be edited, and more choices can be added to this list by going to Groups > Settings > Meeting Frequency.
Start Date: Choose a start date for your group. You can choose a start date that is prior to today’s date. You cannot add members to the group prior to a group’s start date.
Group Description: Enter a brief description of the group. This can be shown (optional) on the Browse Groups Page to give church members a better idea of what the group is about.
Topic: Use this field to enter a topic of study, such as a Book of the Bible or a Study Series.
Maximum Size/Registration Limit: Once this number is reached, no more participants will be allowed to register into the group.
Group is browsable by: Use the drop-down menu to select the level at which you want the group to be visible. Most Bible Study and Children’s Ministry Groups should be browsable (visible) at the Guest level. A First Time Guest or Discovery 101 Group would be browsable (visible) at the Staff level or possibly higher.
Group Coach: Choose who will be the leader of this group. This person will also receive emails for this group if you choose for emails to be sent to the leader.
Location/Classroom, Meeting Address, Meeting City, State, Zip: Use these fields to enter the location and address details for the group you are creating.
Default Group View: Use this dropdown menu to choose the layout for this group. There are default options in the list that will likely fit your needs, but these layouts can be customized by going to Groups > Settings > Group Views. To learn more about customizing Group Views see: How do I customize a Group View?
When initially getting started, we advise, as a best practice, to leave these boxes checked:
- Send report reminder emails - Only for classes that meet regularly, and you want attendance data. An email will be sent to the group leader to complete attendance.
- Include in Monthly Group Report - only for classes that meet regularly
- Active Group
- Hide /BCC member emails
- Allow Leader to add to the group
- Allow Leader to evite friends to join
Leave all other boxes unchecked until you are more comfortable using Churchteams and feel it necessary to check a specific box for a particular group use.
Part 2:
Select a Leader option: Choose either a couple or an individual as a leader for this group.
Use the Search box to search the name of the person or couple selected as leader(s) for this group. (Once the name comes up in the list, you may click on it to select.) Click the blue Continue button to proceed to Step 3.
Part 3:
This may be the single most important page for managing ministry organization. The Browse page (under Groups & Event tab) will allow you to filter based on these responses. You will also often use these responses as filters when running reports.
Use the drop-down menus to select the appropriate answers based on the setup that you built in the Group Settings menu. To learn more about the GroupFinder Profiles and editing these settings, see: GroupFinder Profiles
Ministry: What type of group are you creating? (Is this an Adult Bible Study, an Assimilation Group, an Event, etc? We recommend that you have 7 - 12 Ministry types when setting this up. Too few and you will not be able to filter well; too many and you will get easily confused about where a group really fits.
Lifestage, Gender Mix, Childcare, Campus: Choose the appropriate selection. If you do not use/need any of these, you can delete them. Some churches only have one campus, for example. If that is the case for you - remove the Campus Profile by clicking the red "x" on the right.
Click Save and your Group has been created!