Enabling small group signup through My ChurchSuite

Overview of the My ChurchSuite group sign-up functionality

In addition to people being able to sign up for small groups through Connect and Embed, you can also run group sign-up through the member-facing My ChurchSuite.

Unlike Connect and Embed, the My Groups section of My ChurchSuite only shows the groups a person already belongs to and groups that have sign-up enabled (that people can join). Group sign-up through My ChurchSuite can be enabled or disabled on a group-by-group basis, meaning you can allow sign-up for some groups - listed on the Sign Up tab - but not others - which are not shown on the Sign Up tab.

Overview of the sign-up user experience

From the Sign Up tab in the My Groups section of My ChurchSuite, people can browse the groups you offer to find a group of interest. Clicking into a group opens the Group Page showing further details about the group with the option to Sign Up.

Since the member has logged in to My ChurchSuite their identity is known, so there is no 'sign up form' to complete. Instead, when the member clicks to Sign Up they are immediately signed up and a success message is displayed on the screen.

Sign-ups are added to a group's member list with either a pending or active member status depending on the group's sign-up settings. In this way, you can enforce a new member approval workflow for some groups but not for others if you wish. A 'Joined group' Key Date is added to the sign-up contact profile.

A sign-up notification is sent to those group members whose role permissions have to Notify of sign-up enabled - ideal for ensuring those with 'group leader' roles are kept in the loop so they can extend a welcome to new members. A sign-up confirmation is also sent to the new group member.

Configuring My ChurchSuite

Head into the Small Groups module settings via the 'cogwheels' icon in the top-right corner of the module and click on the My ChurchSuite Options tab. Let's work through each section in turn.

In the Settings section ensure that My ChurchSuite access is enabled - click Edit to make changes. When disabled the My Groups section will not be available in My ChurchSuite. Optionally Enable attendance submission and Enable cluster oversight as appropriate - see the related support article for further information about this functionality. For multi-site customers, select whether to Allow members to be added from just the member's site or All Sites, and whether to Allow sign-up from just the member's site or All Sites. The Show Groups setting controls whether Active or Active & Future groups are shown in My ChurchSuite, although My ChurchSuite will still respect each group's visibility settings. In this way, you can choose to show some future groups where sign-up hasn't yet begun but hide others until sign-up begins or the group starts.

Continuing down the My ChurchSuite Options choose the Fields that are editable by group members whose role permissions include Edit Group Details. This role permission enables role holders (typically the "Leader" role) to manage their group's Member list and Group details from within My ChurchSuite without requiring Small Groups module user access. The Details Visible settings determine which elements of group details are shown or hidden in My ChurchSuite. Note that these settings apply to all small groups visible in My ChurchSuite and cannot be set on a group-by-group basis.

Optionally add a sign-up message that is displayed at the top of the Sign Up tab in the My Groups section of My ChurchSuite. For example, you might provide some brief instructions about choosing a group, or you could encourage small group engagement by referencing your small group ministry vision. You can also optionally add a message to be displayed when members choose to edit their group-specific Privacy settings.

Enabling group sign-up through My ChurchSuite

As explained earlier in this article, sign-up through My ChurchSuite is enabled on a group-by-group basis. Unless a person already belongs to a group, only groups with 'Sign Up' enabled are shown in My ChurchSuite. From a group "View" page in the Small Groups module click Edit.

On the Edit group pop-up, scroll down to the Visibility section and tick Show in My ChurchSuite and also tick Sign up through My ChurchSuite in the Sign-Up section if you wish to allow people to sign up for the group through My ChurchSuite. Note that the My ChurchSuite sign-up option is only shown if the Sign up through Group Page option is ticked.

Where Sign-up through Group Page is enabled, specify the Dates within which the sign-up period is to be active (this can be open-ended, but a Start Date is required). Optionally set a sign-up Capacity for the group - no further sign-ups will be possible when the group is full. The Member List setting determines when group members can view a list of their fellow group members, either immediately after they've signed up, or when sign-up ends (if a sign-up end date has been set). Finally, set the default Member Status assigned to new sign-ups - new members can be added as Active members, or with a Pending status requiring a group leader with Edit Group Details role permissions to approve the new member and set them as active. Click to Save any changes made.