Why are certain ministers not getting scheduled at all?

If you observe that certain ministers are not being scheduled at all, run an Unscheduled Ministers report. This report provides names of ministers who were not scheduled and offers reasons why.

To do this:

1. Click Reports.
2. Under Select Report, select Unscheduled Ministers.
3. Under Select Filtering Options, select the ministry group, ministry, and event that you are creating a schedule for. Then, select the schedule’s date range.
4. If desired, select sorting options to determine the format of the report.
5. Click Click Here to View Report. The report lists all available ministers that match your filter options.
6. Find the minister in question. Then, look in the Reason column to find out why the individual was not scheduled. The messages in this report are explained in more detail on this topic: Common reasons why a minister cannot be scheduled.

Following are some of the more common reasons why a minister was not scheduled.

Reason 1: Expired Assignment Date

Make sure that the assignment end date has not expired for your ministers. For each minister, check the assignment expiration date by doing the following:

1. Click Minister Directory.

2. Locate the minister's name in the list.

3. Check the information in the Edit/Delete/Info column.

4. If the minister’s assignment end date has passed, this icon is displayed: . Position your mouse on the icon to see the exact date of expiration.

Reason 2: Not Trained

For a minister to be scheduled, he or she must be trained. To check training status, do the following:

1. Click Minister Directory.

2. Use the rolodex filters to locate the minister's name in the list.

3. Scroll to view the information in the Trained column.

If the Trained checkbox is not checked, the minister cannot be scheduled.

Reason 3: Substitute only

A minister who is a substitute cannot be automatically scheduled. To check whether or not a minister is a substitute only for a given ministry:

1. Click Minister Directory.

2. Click to open the Advanced Filter window.

3. Do the following:

   • Select All from the Ministry Group, Ministry, Ministry Role, Ministry Event, and Trained lists.

   • Select Substitute from the Sub Only list.

4. Click Apply Filter to view a list of ministers who serve as substitutes only.

   • This list shows the names of ministers who cannot be automatically scheduled. Check this list to see if it includes the ministers who are not being scheduled.

   • You can manually schedule Sub Only ministers.

Reason 4: Temporarily inactive status

To check a minister's active status:

1. Click Minister Directory. 

2. If this filter icon is showing, click it to clear the Advanced filter: .

3. Scroll to view the information in the Temp Inactive column. You may need to drag the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the page to bring this information into the viewing area.

4. Click the Temp Inactive column header. Then, click the header again to see which ministers have the Temp Inactive checkbox selected.

   • Any minister who has the Temp Inactive checkbox selected cannot be scheduled.

   • To make a minister available for scheduling, click to open the minister's details and deselect the Temporarily Inactivate checkbox.

Reason 5: Conflicting preference settings

A minister's preference settings can make him or her unavailable to serve. To check a minister's preference settings:

1. Click Preferences.

2. Use the rolodex filters to locate the minister who is not being scheduled.

3. Click to display the minister's preferences.

4. Select the Minister Profile tab, if it is not selected.

5. Under Ministries, check the following:

   • For Willingness to serve, verify the member's availability. For example, is the minister always available or only available at certain times?

   • For Temporarily Inactive, check whether the member's status is Yes, which indicates that he or she is temporarily inactive for the given ministry.

6. Select the Schedule Exceptions tab and check the minister's exception dates. These are dates when the minister is not available for scheduling.

7. Select the Exceptions By Event tab. If the Count column shows a 0, this means the minister has no event exceptions.

Updated September 18, 2024 15:29