Teacher Certifications

TimelyChurch tracks safety and ministry certifications for everyone who teaches, leads, or works with children and youth. Teachers record their certifications with issue and expiration dates, and expiring or expired certifications show up in the admin's Need Attention page so nothing slips through the cracks.

Certification Types

The system supports seven certification types out of the box:

The Other type lets a teacher record any additional certification not in the standard list (e.g., "Lifeguard," "AED Use," "Special Education Endorsement"). When you choose Other, fill in the Name field with the descriptive title.

Adding a Certification

Teachers add their own certifications from the member portal:

1. Sign in to the portal and open My Profile from the account menu.
2. Open the Certifications section.
3. Click + Add (or Add Certification if you have none yet).
4. Fill in the form:
   • Type -- Select from the list above.
   • Name -- Needed when Type is "Other".
   • Issued Date -- The date the certification was earned.
   • Expiration Date -- The date the certification expires (leave it empty for certifications that don't expire, like one-time training).
   • Document (optional) -- Upload the certificate as a PDF, Word, or image file.
5. Click Add Certification.

Each certification in the list shows its expiration date (Exp:) and is marked (Expired) once that date has passed. To take one off, click Remove and confirm Remove this certification?.

Expiration Tracking

TimelyChurch works out two states from the expiration date:

Expired

A certification is expired when its expiration date is in the past.

Expiring Soon

A certification is expiring soon when its expiration date is within the next 30 days.

Certifications without an expiration date (e.g., one-time trainings that never expire) are never flagged as expired or expiring.

Expiration Alerts

Expired and expiring-soon certifications surface in these places:

1. The Teacher's Profile

The teacher's own portal profile shows the expiration date next to each certification, and marks expired ones.

2. The Admin Need Attention Page

The Need Attention page lists Expiring Certifications, with each person, the certification, and when it Expires (or that it has Expired). From there, an admin can:

• Contact the teacher to renew it.
• Click Dismiss to acknowledge the alert and take it off the list -- use this when you've already contacted the teacher.

You can hide this section entirely by unticking Expiring Certifications in the Need Attention page's settings.

3. Daily Reminders

Expiration reminders are part of the same daily notifications as lesson and sub-request reminders. They go out each morning at 8:00 AM in your church's local time. See Substitute Teacher Requests for the daily reminder schedule.

Best Practices

• Ask teachers to add every certification with its expiration date. Without a date, TimelyChurch can't warn you before it runs out.
• Encourage teachers to upload the document. A scanned certificate gives you a paper trail for audits.
• Review Need Attention weekly. Set a recurring calendar reminder so expiring certifications get handled before the date.
• Don't rely solely on memory for renewal dates. The system does the math -- trust the alerts.

Related

• Teacher Portal -- where teachers manage their own certifications.
• Substitute Teacher Requests -- another use of the daily reminder notifications.