Create a Group
Instructions to add a group in MinistryPlatform, including fields you'll encounter and their definitions. These fields include general, small group, promotion, notification, and file fields.
You can create a group that represents a new team, class, small group, or other collection of individuals.
- Go to Groups.
- Click New Group.
- Enter the group's information.
- Click Save.
Group Fields
Fields you'll encounter when you create a group in MinistryPlatform, including general fields, small group fields, promotion fields, notification fields, and file fields.
General Information
- Group Name
- A short, friendly name describing the group. The Attendance Routine uses this field.
- Group Type
- Defines the purpose of the group.
- Ministry
- The department of the church responsible for this group.
- Congregation
- The primary congregation (site, campus, venue) out of which this group is based. If the group is general to the church and the church is a multi-site church, select a congregation like Church-wide Activities. The Attendance Routine uses this field.
- Primary Contact
- The person who coordinates this group and who the church communicates with about the group. This may be a leader in the group or someone the church assigns to oversee and support this group.
- Description
- A friendly description of the group that displays in public forums like the Group Finder. Note: You can't use HTML in this field.
- Start Date
- The date the group formed.
- End Date
- The date the group dissolved.
- Target Size
- A reporting field that indicates the maximum or appropriate number of people for this group. Evaluated by the Group Finder widget to determine if the Sign Up button should be available. To consider a combination of inquiries and group participants in this field, set the PORTAL, COUNTGROUPINQUIRIES configuration setting to True.
- Parent Group
- A reporting field that indicates the group that oversees this group or other groups associated with it.
For example, a group called "Senior High" may have people listed in it that serve students of those ages. This group may also be the parent group of a group called "10th Grade". Also, if you use Group Finder, the parent group controls what displays in the Neighborhood filter.
Parent groups do not have any implications for Check-In. For example, if you associate a parent group to an event, the sub-groups can't check-in unless they are also associated with the event. Sub-groups are groups with a parent group specified on the Group record.
Small Group Information
- Offsite Meeting Address
- Where this group meets. This displays on the Group Finder, and you can edit it in My Groups.
- Group Is Full
- Set this field to Yes to remove this group from the Group Finder. You can set this field manually, or the Group Is Full routine (which runs every 15 minutes) may set this to Yes.
- Available Online
- If set to Yes, a group's group members can see the group in the My Groups widget and Group Life. This setting also allows the group to display in the Group Finder.
- Meets Online
- If set to Yes, a group displays as Meets Online in the Group Finder and Group Details widgets.
- Life Stage
- A searchable field available to anyone searching for a group in the Group Finder.
- Group Focus
- A searchable field available to anyone searching for a group in the Group Finder.
- Meeting Time
- The time when this group generally meets. This displays in widgets, and group leaders can edit it in My Groups. The Attendance Routine uses this field.
- Meeting Day
- The day of the week when this group generally meets. This displays in widgets, and group leaders can edit it in My Groups.
- Meeting Duration
- The Attendance Routine uses this field.
- Meeting Frequency
- The Attendance Routine uses this field.
- Descended From
- An internal reporting field that indicates the group that split or multiplied to form this group.
- Reason Ended
- An internal reporting field that indicates why this group dissolved.
- Last Attendance Posted
- The last date when attendance was posted for the group. This field is updated during the nightly routine.
- Last Group Member Change
- The date when you change, add, or end-date a group member. This field is updated during the nightly routine.
Promotion Information
- Promote to Group
- The group to which people in this group are promoted.
- Age in Months to Promote
- When a group participant reaches this age in months (based on date of birth), they are eligible to move to the group defined in the Promote to Group field.
- Promote Weekly
- If set to Yes, a routine runs on a schedule to promote the group participant's age, or the group's promotion date makes group participants eligible to be promoted.
- Promotion Date
- The date where all current group participants should be promoted to the group defined in the Promote to Group field (in contrast to the Age in Months to Promote).
- Promote Participants Only
- Set this field to Yes to not promote group participants with servants and leaders group role types in the group.
Notifications
- Send Attendance Notification
- Sends an email to group leaders who have not recorded attendance through the Group Attendance Routine.
- Send Service Notification
- Sends an email to those who are scheduled to volunteer. See the Group Service Routine.
- SMS Number
- The SMS number that this group can use to send outgoing text messages from Group Life.
- Default Meeting Room
- The room used for regular group meetings. Use this field to create the next scheduled meeting.
- Create Next Meeting
- If set to Yes, a nightly routine will schedule the next meeting and advance the next scheduled meeting date automatically. Set to No to stop or pause the routine.
- Next Scheduled Meeting
- The date of the group's next scheduled event.
Files
You can attach files that are related to a group to the Group record. Expand the Files panel on the right, and click Attach File. The default image is used to represent the group in several places inside MinistryPlatform and PocketPlatform.