Setting up Services and Service Types correctly will save you time every week. Here’s a few things to consider when setting up Elvanto for your church.
Service Types
In your church, you probably have regular gatherings that run almost the same way each time. Service Types function as templates for each service, so you don’t waste time manually setting up each occurrence.
This includes:
Other Service Times – consider who needs to arrive early or stay late (such as musicians for a rehearsal, or cleaners for a pack down), and how long you’ll need them.
Volunteer Positions – decide which departments, sub departments and positions are needed for your Service Type. You’ll also want to know how many volunteers you want serving in each position. For example, a regular Prayer Service might not need a full compliment of musicians, just a guitar. If there was no children’s team for that service type, you could hide the whole department.
Service Plan/Run Sheet – You’ll also have the opportunity to set up a plan template for that service. To learn more about service plans, have a look at this page.
Custom Reporting Statistics – For each Service Type, you can generate different statistics based on the values and goals of each type. For example, you might want Commitment and Recommitment statistics, so you can use these numbers as a gauge of how effective the service was.
Read more about Custom Reporting Statistics by visiting this page.
Service Departments
To save time rostering, set up departments for ministries used in any service type. Once they’re set up, Elvanto will suggest available volunteers who can be placed into unfilled positions.
To refresh yourself on setting up departments, look at this page.
Adding Services
Some services only occur on special dates, like Christmas. Others, however, occur regularly. For these more regular services, it’s easier to add lots if you’ve already set them up as a Service Type.
In this scenario, simply select which Service Type you’re planning to add and then add their projected dates. If your service is weekly, for example, just set the first date and keep adding them. By default, the next date is a week away.
It’s important to get the balance right when adding services. If you only add a few each time, you’ll spend a lot of extra time setting up services. However, if you add too many, you’ll make more work for yourself when things in your church change. That said, if it’s just a minor change (like the plan template, or the start time), you can adjust the Service Type and affect all of those services.
Differing Service Formats
Sometimes, certain services run a different way. For example, a Baptism, Outreach, or Communion Service might look a little different to your regular Sunday service. While these services may not happen every Sunday, they still happen fairly regularly (and when they do happen, they happen in the same way). For example, an Outreach Service (think Easter, Christmas, or Mothers Day) might start earlier, have a shorter sermon, and be followed by a special morning tea afterwards.
To allow for these changes, save these outreach services as a Service Type, and add them to the calendar when they are needed. Remember also to delete the service they are replacing, if they are replacing a service you’ve already scheduled.