Group Leader Tools

If you are a leader or co-leader of a group in TimelyChurch, the portal provides tools to help you manage your group members, record meetings, track attendance, and view event registrations.

Accessing Your Groups

1. In the sidebar, look for the Leadership section.
2. Click My Groups.
3. You will see the groups you lead, along with any other groups you belong to.

The Leadership section (and the My Groups link) only appears in the sidebar if you currently hold a leader or co-leader role in at least one group. If you do not see it, you may not be assigned as a leader of any group. Contact your church administrator if you believe this is an error.

My Groups Overview

The My Groups page is split into two sections:

• Groups I Lead -- groups where you are a leader or co-leader. These are the groups you can manage.
• Groups I'm In -- groups where you are a regular member. These appear for convenience; you have member-level access, not leader tools.

Stats

Three summary cards at the top of the page:

Group Cards

Each group is shown as a card with:

• Group name
• Active member count
• Meeting day and time (if set)
• A link to open the full group detail page

Upcoming Events

Below the group cards, any upcoming events hosted by your groups are listed with the event title, date, and registration count.

Viewing Group Details

Click on a group card to open its detail page. At the top you'll find the group name, member count, an Open/Closed badge, and a Record Meeting button. The page is organized into tabs:

Overview

• Group Details -- description, meeting day and time, and location (location shows based on privacy settings). Leaders can Edit group info or Open/Close the group from here.
• Group Image -- upload or replace the group's photo.
• Recent Meetings -- the most recent recorded meetings, each showing the date, topic, and number who attended.
• Health Score -- an at-a-glance score based on meetings, attendance, and engagement.

Members

A list of all active members, showing each member's name and role. Leaders can add or remove members here. If join approval is turned on for the group, a Join Requests tab appears so you can approve or deny pending requests; if a waitlist is enabled and has entries, a Waitlist tab appears.

Prayers

The group's prayer wall, where you can post prayer requests and mark them as answered.

Resources

Files shared with the group, where leaders can upload and share resources.

Events

Recent and upcoming events hosted by this group, each with a registration count and a link to view registrations.

Email

Send an email to the whole group, or just to the group's leaders.

Recording a Meeting

One of the most useful features for group leaders is the ability to record meetings with attendance.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Navigate to the detail page of the group you want to record a meeting for.

2. Click the Record Meeting button in the top-right corner.

3. A modal window will open with the following fields:

   Date

   • Defaults to today. Select the date the meeting took place.

   Topic (optional)

   • Enter the topic or title of the meeting (for example, "Chapter 5 Discussion" or "Quarterly Planning").

   Attendance

   • A list of all active group members is displayed with checkboxes.
   • Click individual members to mark them as present.
   • Use All to check everyone at once.
   • Use None to uncheck everyone.

4. Click Record Meeting to save.

5. A confirmation message appears with the number of attendees recorded.

The meeting will appear in the group's meeting history, and attendance records are stored for each member who was checked off.

Tip: Record meetings right after they happen while attendance is fresh in your mind. You can also record meetings retroactively by selecting a past date.

Viewing Event Registrations

If your group hosts events, you can view who has registered:

1. Go to your group's detail page.
2. Open the Events tab and find the event in the list.
3. Click the event's registration link.
4. The registrations page shows:
   • Each registrant's name
   • When they registered
   • Their registration details

This is helpful for planning logistics and knowing who to expect at your group's events.

Serving Team Leader Dashboard

If you are a leader of a serving team (such as a sound team, greeting team, or worship team), you have access to an additional Team Leader Dashboard that provides tools for managing volunteer assignments.

Accessing the Team Leader Dashboard

The Team Leader Dashboard is part of the serving area rather than a separate sidebar item. If you lead one or more serving teams, you reach it from your serving schedule. The dashboard has a My Schedule button in the top-right corner to jump back to your own serving view. (If you no longer lead any serving teams, the app sends you to your serving schedule instead.)

What You See

Stats Overview

• Team Members -- Total volunteers across your teams
• Upcoming Events -- Events in the next 8 weeks that need your teams
• Pending -- Assignments waiting for a volunteer's response
• Confirmed -- Assignments that have been accepted

Your Teams A row of the serving teams you lead, each showing the team's member count. A Manage Templates link next to each team opens that team's schedule templates in the admin tools.

Upcoming Team Schedule For each upcoming event (next 8 weeks), you can see:

• All serving positions that need to be filled, grouped by event
• A "filled" count showing how many of the needed spots are covered
• Who is currently assigned to each position
• The status of each assignment (pending, confirmed, declined)
• Open positions that still need volunteers

Managing Assignments

As a team leader, you can:

Each assigned volunteer has a small set of action buttons next to their name on the dashboard.

Confirm assignments on behalf of team members

1. Find a volunteer whose assignment is still pending.
2. Click the green check (Confirm) button next to their name.
3. The assignment will be marked as confirmed. (The Confirm button only shows while an assignment is pending.)

Remove assignments

1. Find the assignment on the Team Leader Dashboard.
2. Click the Remove (X) button and confirm.
3. The volunteer will be removed from that position, opening it up for someone else.

Request a substitute If a team member cannot serve and needs a replacement:

1. Click the Request Sub button next to their assignment.
2. Optionally provide a reason in the modal that opens.
3. A sub request is created and team members will be notified.
4. If the event is within 3 days, the request is automatically marked as urgent.

Reviewing Swap Requests for Your Own Assignments

Like all volunteers, team leaders also serve at events. When you are assigned to a position personally, you can use the Propose Swap flow on your serving schedule -- reached from the My Schedule sidebar item, then the Serving tab -- to trade assignments with another teammate. Incoming swap requests directed at you appear at the top of that same page in a purple Swap Requests banner with Accept Swap and Decline buttons.

The Team Leader Dashboard itself is for coordinating other volunteers' assignments; the swap workflow lives on the volunteer-facing serving schedule because it represents a personal trade between two scheduled volunteers. See Volunteer Swap and Trade for the end-to-end workflow.

Tip: Regularly check the Team Leader Dashboard in the weeks leading up to events. Follow up with any volunteers who have pending assignments to ensure positions are covered.

Advanced Group-Leader Tools

The portal also exposes a deeper set of leader-only group management features, including:

• Approving or denying join requests from members who request to join your group.
• Managing the group waitlist -- promote a waitlisted member into an open spot or remove them.
• Updating group info, image, and open/closed status without going through an admin.
• Adding and removing members directly from the roster.
• Posting prayer requests to your group's prayer wall and marking them as answered.
• Uploading and sharing resources (files) with the group.
• Sending email to the entire group from the leader portal.
• Creating and managing group events that show up on the public events page and in the group's events list.

These capabilities are documented in detail in the Groups section of the knowledge base. This article focuses on the day-to-day leadership workflows (meetings, attendance, event registrations, and serving-team coordination).

Best Practices for Group Leaders

• Record meetings consistently to build a useful history and track attendance trends.
• Check your groups page weekly to stay aware of upcoming events and member activity.
• Follow up on pending assignments if you are a serving team leader. A quick message to volunteers can help confirm availability early.
• Use the attendance feature to identify members who may have dropped off and could benefit from a personal check-in.