Church Management Platform

Overview

The Groups & Small Groups module provides two distinct but complementary systems for organizing people within your church:

• Church Groups — A formal, hierarchical structure organized into Departments, Areas, and Groups. Managed exclusively by administrators. Ideal for ministry teams, committees, and organizational units.
• Small Groups — Community-oriented groups that members can browse, request to join, and interact with leaders. Supports rich metadata like meeting schedules, demographics, and geographic areas.

My Groups All Users

The My Groups page displays every group you currently belong to. Each group card shows:

• Group photo — a thumbnail image (or default placeholder if none has been uploaded)
• Group name and type (e.g., Bible Study, Fellowship, Service)
• Leaders — names and leader type (Leader, Coach, or Other)
• Your join status — Active member, Pending request, etc.

Small Groups All Users

The Small Groups page lets you browse all available small groups. Use the search and filter tools to find a group that fits your interests and schedule.

The Small Groups browsing page — group cards with photos, meeting details, and search/filter tools.

Search & Filters

• Search bar — type a keyword to filter groups by name or description in real time
• Area dropdown — filter by geographic area (e.g., North, South, Central) to find groups near you
• Type dropdown — filter by group type (e.g., Bible Study, Fellowship, Prayer, Service) to match your interests

Filters can be combined. For example, you can search for "prayer" groups in the "Westside" area.

Group Cards

Each small group is displayed as a card showing:

• Group photo (or placeholder)
• Group name and description
• Meeting day, time, and frequency
• Whether childcare is available
• Leader names
• Join rule indicator — shows whether the group is open to new members, requires approval, or is closed

Join a Group All Users

When you find a small group you would like to join, click the Request to Join button on the group card or detail page.

How It Works

1. Browse or search for a small group on the Small Groups page.
2. Click Request to Join. Your request is submitted immediately.
3. The group leader receives an email notification with your name and contact information.
4. The leader reviews your request and approves or denies it.
5. Once approved, the group appears on your My Groups page.

Tracking Your Requests

You can check the status of all pending requests under the My Requests section on the Small Groups page. Each request shows:

• Group name
• Date requested
• Current status — Pending, Approved, or Denied

Message a Leader All Users

You can contact any small group leader directly without needing their personal email address.

1. Navigate to the small group detail page and click the envelope icon next to the leader's name.
2. Fill in the Subject and Message fields in the popup form.
3. Click Send. The system sends an email to the leader on your behalf.

Who Can Access What

Access to groups features is controlled by two permissions:

All authenticated users can browse small groups, join groups, and message leaders — no special permission required. The admin features below require the groups.manage permission.

Church Group Tree Admin

The Church Groups page displays all organizational groups in a hierarchical tree view with three levels:

The Church Group Tree — departments, areas, and groups in a collapsible hierarchy with member counts.

The tree is fully collapsible. Click a department or area name to expand or collapse its children. Each node shows the number of direct child groups for quick reference.

Group Management Admin

Administrators can add, edit, and delete groups at every level of the hierarchy.

Adding a Group

1. Navigate to the Church Groups page.
2. Click the + Add button at the appropriate level (Department, Area, or Group).
3. Fill in the group details:
   • Name — the display name of the group
   • Description — optional text describing the group's purpose
   • Type — the group type classification
   • Parent Group — automatically set based on where you clicked Add (can be changed)
4. Click Save. The new group appears in the tree immediately.

Editing a Group

1. Click the group name in the tree to open the detail panel.
2. Click Edit to modify the name, description, type, or parent group.
3. Click Save to apply your changes.

Deleting a Group

1. Select the group in the tree and click Delete.
2. Confirm the deletion in the dialog. Groups with child nodes must have their children removed or reassigned first.

Managing Members

The group detail panel shows the full member list. From here you can:

• Add members by searching for people and clicking Add to Group
• Remove members by clicking the remove icon next to their name
• View each member's role, contact info, and profile link

Small Group Administration Admin

Administrators have full control over small group creation, configuration, and lifecycle. The admin view adds management controls on top of the standard small groups browsing page.

Creating a Small Group

1. Navigate to the Small Groups page and click + New Small Group.
2. Fill in the group details on the creation form.
3. Click Save to create the group. It becomes immediately visible to all users.

Small Group Fields

Each small group supports the following configuration fields:

Editing a Small Group

Click any small group card to open its detail view, then click Edit to modify any of the fields listed above. Changes are saved immediately and reflected on the public browsing page.

Leader Management Admin

Each small group can have one or more leaders. Leaders receive email notifications for join requests and can be contacted by members through the "Message a Leader" feature.

Adding a Leader

1. Open the small group detail page and scroll to the Leaders section.
2. Click Add Leader.
3. Search for and select the person to add as a leader.
4. Choose the Leader Type:
   • Leader — primary group leader, receives join request notifications
   • Coach — mentoring or oversight role
   • Other — supporting leadership role
5. Click Save. The leader appears in the group's leader list and on public group cards.

Removing a Leader

Click the remove icon next to the leader's name in the Leaders section. The person remains a group member but loses the leader designation. This does not remove them from the group.

Group Photos Admin

Administrators can upload a representative photo for each small group. This photo appears on group cards in the browsing view and on the group detail page.

1. Open the small group detail page and click the photo area or Upload Photo button.
2. Select an image file from your computer. Accepted formats: JPG, JPEG, PNG, WEBP. Maximum size: 5 MB.
3. The photo uploads immediately and a preview is shown. The new photo replaces any existing group photo.

Manage Join Requests Admin

When a member submits a join request for a group with the "Request to Join" rule, the request appears in the group's pending requests queue. Both administrators and designated group leaders can manage these requests.

Reviewing Requests

1. Open the small group detail page and navigate to the Join Requests section.
2. Each pending request shows the requester's name, email, phone number, and the date the request was submitted.
3. Click Approve to add the person as a group member, or Deny to reject the request.

Request Lifecycle

Quick Reference

Church Groups vs. Small Groups