Create a Group

Create as many groups as your church needs and put them in the right Group Type to allow people to find them more easily. 

Create a New Group

Create a new group from the Groups page by selecting the New group button.

Enter the name of the group, and update the Group Type, if necessary.

Tip

Some groups don't belong in a group type because they're not directly linked to the church, they're leadership groups, or they just don't fit in with the other groups. These groups can be stored under Unique groups.

Note

When creating new groups, some settings will be inherited based on the selections made within the group defaults for that Group Type.

Add any other information necessary to make your group complete.

Unique Groups

Some groups don't belong in a group type because they're not directly linked to the church, they're leadership groups, or they just don't fit in with the other groups. These groups can be stored under Unique groups.

From the Groups page, use the group type dropdown filter to choose Unique groups (no type), and then click the New group button.

Confirm that you want to create a one-of-a-kind group.

Once you've added your unique group, it will be listed at the bottom of your public groups list on Church Center under the Other Groups category, unless you've set the group to private.

Set Up the Group

Add members, events, resources, and group settings.

1. Add or remove members, make a member a group leader, or email all the members in your group.

2. Add events to the Calendar and invite members to come.

3. Add resources to your group.

4. Change the logo, description, location, contact information and much more in the settings

5. Add automations to the group.

6. Review reports based on events you add.

Note

If you've created a unique group, you will need to add all of the settings for the group since the group has no way of inheriting group type settings.

Import Groups

If you are bringing groups over from another system, or have them in a spreadsheet, you can import them into Planning Center rather than populating them manually. You can do this by using Planning Center People and Groups together.

1. In Groups, create all the groups you need, so people can be imported into them.

2. In the CSV you'd like to import, add a column with the corresponding group names.

3. In People, create custom fields that match the group names.

4. Import your CSV, making sure to match the group column to that custom field.

5. Make a list based on that custom field to find everyone in a group.

6. Use a bulk action to add everyone to your Group in Planning Center.