iCal Calendar Export

The Team Portal can publish your personal serving schedule as an iCal feed (.ics format) so it stays in sync with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, or any other calendar app that supports calendar subscriptions. Once you set it up, every new assignment, swap, or schedule change shows up automatically -- you do not have to manually re-import.

What's in the Feed

Each upcoming assignment with a status of pending or confirmed is included as a calendar event. Each event in the feed contains:

• Title -- The position name and event title (for example, "Sound Technician - Sunday Service")
• Start and end times -- Pulled from the event itself; if the event has no end time, a two-hour default is used
• Description -- Position name and current status (Pending or Confirmed)
• Location -- The event's location, when one is set on the event

Past assignments and assignments you have declined are not included in the feed.

Getting Your Subscription URL

1. Open My Serving Schedule in the portal.
2. In the top-right of the page, click the Add to Calendar button.
3. Your browser will either download an .ics file or load the feed URL.
4. To subscribe (so the calendar stays in sync), you need the URL of that link rather than the downloaded file. Right-click the Add to Calendar button and choose Copy link -- the resulting URL is your personal subscription feed.

Important: Treat the subscription URL like a password. Anyone with the link can see your serving schedule. Do not paste it into shared documents or public channels.

Subscribing in Google Calendar

1. Open Google Calendar in a web browser at calendar.google.com.
2. In the left sidebar, find Other calendars and click the + icon.
3. Choose From URL.
4. Paste your subscription URL into the URL of calendar field.
5. Click Add calendar.

The serving schedule will appear under "Other calendars" within a few minutes. Google Calendar refreshes external feeds on its own schedule, typically every several hours up to a day -- you cannot force a manual refresh.

Subscribing in Apple Calendar (macOS / iOS)

macOS

1. Open the Calendar app.
2. In the menu bar, choose File > New Calendar Subscription.
3. Paste your subscription URL and click Subscribe.
4. In the settings dialog, choose how often to refresh (Every 5 minutes, Hourly, Daily, etc.) and click OK.

iOS / iPadOS

1. Open Settings, then Calendar, then Accounts.
2. Tap Add Account, then Other, then Add Subscribed Calendar.
3. Paste the subscription URL into the Server field and tap Next.
4. Confirm the details and tap Save.

Apple Calendar refreshes on the interval you choose, so your serving schedule updates close to real-time.

Subscribing in Microsoft Outlook

Outlook on the Web

1. Open Outlook in a web browser.
2. Go to the Calendar view and choose Add calendar.
3. Choose Subscribe from web.
4. Paste your subscription URL, give the calendar a name (such as "Church Serving"), and click Import.

Outlook Desktop (Windows)

1. In Calendar view, go to the Home tab.
2. Click Open Calendar, then From Internet.
3. Paste your subscription URL and click OK.

Outlook refreshes subscribed calendars roughly daily; you can right-click the calendar and choose Update Folder to pull the latest changes manually.

How Often the Feed Refreshes

The feed itself is generated on demand -- every time your calendar app pulls the URL, it gets the latest data straight from your church's account. How quickly your calendar reflects changes is controlled by the calendar app, not the portal:

If you need to see a brand-new assignment before your calendar app has refreshed, log in to the portal and check My Serving Schedule directly.

Troubleshooting

The calendar is empty. You may not have any pending or confirmed upcoming assignments. Past and declined assignments are not included.

My calendar app says the URL is invalid. Make sure you copied the link to the Add to Calendar button (not a saved .ics file path on your computer). The URL should start with your church's portal address and end in serving.ics.

Changes are not showing up. Calendar apps cache the feed. Wait for the next refresh cycle or, in apps that support it, trigger a manual refresh.

I want to stop syncing. Delete the subscribed calendar from your calendar app. The feed itself stays available; you can re-subscribe anytime.