Ministry Leaders are responsible for defining the number of
ministers required at each mass and for recruiting, training and supporting a sufficient
number of ministers to fill the requirements without undue burden to the ministers who
volunteer. The ministry leader's console provided by this service equips ministry leaders with
the tools required to accomplish these tasks.
Once the ministry leader has set the number of ministers
required for the ministry at each scheduled mass, the console provides features to
manage the ministry roster so that trained ministers are available to fill the positions.
Ministry leaders can accept applicants to the ministry and track completion of
required training for each minister. When the schedule is prepared, only ministers who
have been certified as having completed the required training are scheduled for serving
at mass.
The console also provides the leader with information that can signal the need to recruit
additional ministers for a particular mass. By comparing the number of trained ministers
selecting a mass as their first preference and the requirement for ministers at that mass,
the console estimates the frequency that a minister will be scheduled. When the scheduling
frequency is above 2, there is a need to recruit and train more ministers for that mass.
Ministry leaders also have the tools to support ministers who cannot access the service
to enter and maintain their scheduling information and preferences. For example, through
the console ministry leaders can access the information of their ministers and make the
updates that are requested by ministers who do not have Internet access.
The sections below describe some key features available through the ministry
leader's console.
Each liturgical ministry leader receives access to an administrative
account for his/her ministry or ministries. If the leader handles more than one ministry, a drop-down
list allows selection of the ministry to be accessed. The leader can administer multiple ministries in a
single session. The account delivers features that enable the leader to
manage ministry requirements, staffing, training and scheduling.
The ministry leader defines the number of
ministers required at each of the parish's masses to be scheduled.
To set the requirements the ministry leader simply enters
the number of required ministers in the field provided. These settings are used
by the scheduler when the schedule is prepared.
As ministers apply to join the ministry they are added as applicants
for the ministry. The ministry leader can accept an applicant into the ministry by selecting
the minister and clicking the "Accept Selected" button. If for some reason the
applicant is not to be added to the ministry, he/she can be removed as an applicant using the
"Remove Selected" button.
This feature allows a ministry leader to define one or more required
training for the ministry. Only ministers who have met all of the training requirements
will appear on the roster for the ministry and be scheduled to serve at mass.
Ministers who have not yet completed the required training are retained in an
"Untrained Ministers" category and will automatically be added to the
trained minister population once the training has been completed.
Planned training sessions are detailed using this feature of the ministry leader's console.
Ministry leaders can define the date, time and location for each session.
Applicants and untrained ministers can register for a training session.
Once a minister has successfully completed a training session, the ministry leader can confirm
the minister using the "Registered Attendees" section. Confirming an untrained minister
automatically moves the minister to the trained minister status if there are no other required
trainings which the minister is lacking. Confirmed applicants are moved to the trained minister status
once they have been accepted in the ministry
(see the "Applicants" section above)
The ministry leader can remove registered attendees who fail to
complete the training.
When a new schedule has been prepared, before it is published
to ministers, ministry leaders can review it and make changes that they deem appropriate for their
ministry or ministries. The "Proposed Schedule" lists the ministers scheduled for
each mass on the scheduled days and provides buttons that enable ministry leaders to change each assignment.
To facilitate making changes while maintaining the preferences that have been defined by the ministers,
a list of ministers who could fill the assignment in question is presented when the "Change"
button is clicked. The ministry leader can select the new minister to assign from the list.
Once the ministry leaders have completed reviewing the proposed schedule
it can be published to all ministers so that their assignments are visible on their personal calendars.
Ministry leaders can review the overall schedule for their ministry and track the results using the
"Published Schedule" feature. For each assignment, the ministry leader can record whether the
assigned minister served, had a substitute or failed to serve. This information can be helpful in
spotting areas that need attention, such as a minister who has moved but failed to schedule substitutes
or cancel his/her ministry involvement.
The "Recorded Results" section summarizes all published
schedule results that have been entered by ministry leaders. For each of the ministers in this
ministry, the results show how many times a result was recorded and the number of times the result
was that the minister served a scheduled assignment, had a substitute for the assignment,
or failed to serve.
All trained ministers in the ministry are listed in the
"Trained Ministers" section. The ministry leader can select a minister and edit the
minister's profile from this listing. Trained ministers can be removed from the ministry by
selecting them and then clicking the "Remove Selected" button.
The ministry leader can export the trained minister information
by clicking the "Download All" button. The exported information can be used with the
ministry leader's favorite database, spread sheet or word processing programs for any custom need
that the ministry leader may have. This capability is particularly useful in facilitating communication
with the ministry members by email, telephone, or paper mail.
Below the trained minister listing is a table summarizing the
estimated number of times per month a trained minister will serve at a particular mass which
is chosen as that minister's first preference. The estimate is calculated using the preferences
of all trained ministers and the number of ministers required for that particular mass.
The ministry leader's console also provides a table
listing the untrained ministers in the ministry. The ministry
leader can select and remove untrained ministers or export the untrained minister information
for use with other software. For example, the exported untrained minister information can be
used to provide a mailing list for communication informing the minister that he/she has not
met the minimum training requirements to remain in the ministry.
When a parish uses MinisterScheduling.com to prepare its liturgical
minister schedule, ministry leaders have simple tools to manage their ministries. They can manage the
ministry's roster, adjust the new schedule before it is published, track minister training to assure
that only fully trained ministers are scheduled to serve, and track scheduling results. Also,
since the service is extensible and allows you to integrate your ministry's data with other
software of your choice, special requirements can be easily handled.