This procedure shows you how to set a start date for the scheduler and specify the number of ministers needed for each ministry event in your organization.

The Schedule Options page has two options, which allow you to configure two general setup options that determine how scheduler operates:

General

The Times Served Start Date value is the date you specify as the start date. The scheduler uses that date to start counting how many times each minister has served.

One of the fundamental principles of the automated scheduler is to create fair and balanced schedules. This means that scheduling is done as evenly and accurately as possible. To enable the scheduler to accomplish this goal, you need to specify the date it should begin tracking how many times the ministers in your organization have served.

You should check the value of the Times Served Start Date each time you generate a schedule to ensure the scheduler uses the correct date as the starting reference.

Ministers Needed

This tab lists all of your ministry events. You must specify how many people should be scheduled for each event. The scheduler uses this information to make ministry assignments.

Schedule an Event

For an event to auto-schedule, each of the following must be managed:

1. Set the scheduling options: Times Served (Type and Time Frame) and the Number of Ministers Needed
2. Run the Auto-Schedule utility.
3. Review and validate your schedules.

This assumes you have already created your ministry events and assigned your ministers to these events.

Scheduling Options: Go to the Scheduling Options Tab.

Times Served Start Date

Since the software schedules based on how much time each has served, you can set options to specify which metric to use for this calculation.

1. Click the Edit link to open the General Schedule Options pop-up.

2. Choose to have the system calculate the "number of times served" based on a Time Frame or a Specific Date.
   • Time Frame: How many times has the minister served in the last 3 months
   • Specific Date: How many times has the minister served since mm/dd/yyyy
3. Click Save.

Ministers Needed

1. Click on the Ministers Needed Tab.
2. Select the number of Ministers Needed for each event you want to auto-schedule.
   • If a ministry event has 0 for Ministers Needed, no ministers will be scheduled.
3. When finished updating the Ministers Needed fields for each event, you must save the changes or your changes will be lost.

Run the Auto-Schedule Utility

1. Go to Ministry Scheduler → Scheduling.
2. Select the filter options including the date range you are scheduling for and the Ministry Group. We recommend you leave the other options, Ministry and Ministry Event, set to All so the Scheduler can take all preferences into account when creating the schedule. Click Submit.

3. This will populate the list of events that fall into your selected filters for the date range and Ministry Group. Click the Auto Schedule button.

4. Review and validate your schedules.
   • The full circle icon indicates that no ministers were needed
   • The check mark icon indicates that all slots were filled
   • The exclamation point icon indicates that no positions were filled
   • The pause icon indicates that only some positions were filled
5. Click the person icon to see a list of the ministers who were scheduled. The Schedule Event Ministers will populate on the right. You may remove any of the ministers by clicking the box next to their names, then clicking the trash can icon.
   
   • Click the Pencil icon to add additional ministers or to see why none were scheduled
     • If there are no available ministers, you must fix this in Scheduling Options, then return to Auto-Scheduling.

Updated February 13, 2026 19:35