Group Leader Tools
Group leaders have access to a set of management tools from the group page. This article describes what leaders can do and how to make the most of these capabilities.
Who Is a Leader?
A group leader is any member with the role of Leader or Co-Leader. Leaders are assigned when the group is created or with Add Leader on the Group details tab.
Church admins with access to Groups also have full access to all leader tools, even if they are not a member of the group.
Team Leaders in the Admin Panel
Leaders who sign in to the admin panel with a team-leader role see the Groups pages a little differently from an administrator:
- Once team reach is in effect for your church, a role set to Their teams sees only the groups that person leads on the Groups list. Opening another group shows "You're not a leader of this team, so it can't be opened here."
- The group's Kind is read-only for them: "Only a church administrator can change a group's kind."
- If their role allows deleting groups, they can delete only groups they lead.
- Recently Deleted (restoring deleted groups) is for church administrators only.
See Roles & Permissions.
Leaders who don't use the admin panel can do most of their day-to-day work from the member portal -- see Member Portal -- My Groups.
Leader Tools Overview
Member Management
Leaders can:
- Add members from the church directory, or invite someone by email -- they accept the invitation and then appear under Requests for you to approve.
- Approve or deny join requests on the Requests tab.
- Promote a member to Co-Leader with Add Leader, or step a leader down with Make member.
- Remove members from the group (their history is kept).
- Send or resend a portal invitation so a member can sign in to the member portal.
Assigning the full Leader (primary) role requires a church administrator; a group leader can assign Co-Leader. You also cannot change your own group role. See Managing Group Members for the step-by-step.
Positions, Templates and Scheduling (Teams and Classes)
For teams and classes, leaders can:
- Add positions (a name and description) and delete ones that are no longer needed.
- Turn on Assign fixed positions and tie each member to their positions.
- Build schedule templates on the Templates tab -- which positions an event needs, how many people for each, and prep tasks that are created automatically for each event.
- Adjust Scheduling Settings -- rotation, how often someone may serve, auto-scheduling, serving reminders, and when people are told they are scheduled.
See Team Positions, Templates and Scheduling.
Serving Preferences
Leaders can set and view each member's serving preferences:
- How often can they serve? -- As often as needed, up to once, twice, or three times a month.
- Available days -- Which days of the week each member is available.
Skill Level Management
Leaders can:
- Set skill levels for members (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert).
- Review skill upgrade suggestions generated from each member's acceptance history.
- Approve Upgrade or Dismiss Suggestion.
Tasks
Leaders can create tasks for the group, assign them to members, set due dates and priorities, and decide whether other members may create tasks too. See Group Tasks.
Files
Leaders can upload files for the group, move any file to trash, and choose whether all members may upload. See Group Resources.
Group Chat Control (Private and Public Groups)
Leaders and admins can click Disable Chat in the chat panel header, which hides the chat from the group page while keeping the message history. See Group Chat.
Prayer Request Management (Private and Public Groups)
Leaders can:
- View all prayer requests submitted in the group.
- Mark requests as answered.
- Remove any request, not just their own.
Meeting Records (Private and Public Groups)
Leaders log meetings on the Meetings tab:
- Under Record a Meeting, set the Date.
- Optionally add a Topic (optional) and Notes (optional).
- Tick who came in the Attendance list (All / None to select quickly).
- Click Record Meeting.
Meeting records feed the group's health score and attendance trends. See Group Meetings, Attendance & RSVPs.
Waitlist Management (Private and Public Groups)
When people are waiting to join a full group, the Waitlist tab appears. Leaders can:
- Add to Group -- move a waitlisted person into the group when there's room. Spots are not filled automatically -- when one opens, leaders get an "A seat opened in [group]" notice and choose whom to add.
- Notify -- offer the person the open spot; they get a Join Now link.
- Remove someone from the waitlist.
- Review Previous Waitlist Entries -- people who joined, let their offer expire, or were removed.
See Group Waitlist.
Email Communication
Leaders can send emails to group members directly from the group page:
- Email all members -- Click Email in the left-hand panel, or Email All on the Members tab.
- Email leaders only -- Use Email All on the Group leaders card of the Group details tab.
- Email one person -- Use Send Email on their row.
Group Sharing
Leaders can turn on a public link for the group with Enable sharing, then share it with Share:
- Short link and Full link -- to copy and paste.
- QR code -- a downloadable image for print.
- Social media -- one-click sharing to Facebook, X (Twitter), WhatsApp, and email.
- Embed -- a snippet for putting the signup page on a website.
Turn off stops the link and QR code working. See QR Code and Link-Based Group Join.
Group Settings
Leaders can edit the group from the Group details tab (Edit, then Save):
- Group name and description
- Meeting schedule (day, time, frequency) and Max Members
- Location, address, and address visibility
- Enrollment (Open / Closed)
- Guest registration, approval, the online signup form, hiding the member count, and RSVPs
Member Availability / Time Off
Members mark dates they can't serve from the Availability tab of My Schedule in the member portal. A blocked date applies to every group the member belongs to, and the scheduler won't auto-assign them on those dates. Leaders see an On Leave badge on the Members tab when a member has blocked dates coming up. See Member Availability.
Deleting a Group
Leaders whose role allows deleting groups can delete a group they lead. The Delete button is at the bottom of the left-hand panel on the group page. A deleted group goes to Recently Deleted, where a church administrator can restore it with its members and positions (see Creating Groups).
Tip: Assign at least two leaders to each group so that management responsibilities can be shared and the group remains active even when one leader is unavailable.
Tip: Use the Health tab regularly to monitor meeting frequency and identify members who may need follow-up. The Export Report button on the Health tab downloads a PDF of the group's health summary that you can save or print.