Leading your ministry · 3 min read
Plan meeting nights for a season
Build a meeting program, review the dates and volunteer roles, and check the saved result.
For leaders
These steps use the Beacon website unless the iPhone app is mentioned.
In this guide
Begin with the right season and meeting series
Open Calendar → Seasons and choose the season you're planning. Where meeting planning is available, open the meeting plan and select the recurring meeting series you want to work on.
Check the date range first, especially if you have several seasons or meeting nights. Planning a Friday series shouldn't accidentally change a Sunday series with a similar name.
The program describes what happens at each meeting. Volunteer roles and their coverage need attention alongside that content.
Give each date a clear plan
Choose the main event for each meeting: for example, a lesson, testimony, video, or special event. Extra segments, such as a chip celebration, can sit alongside the main event.
You can start from a lesson sequence, then look through individual dates and adjust them for your ministry. Check holidays and special nights before deciding where the sequence should continue.
Changes remain a draft until you review and save them. During season setup, keeping a program in the season draft is also separate from creating the season. Read the save message so you know which step you've completed.
Review the people affected by a change
Before saving, review the changed dates and volunteer roles. Replacing a lesson with a testimony may change which roles are needed. Removing a role or cancelling a meeting can also affect people who have already committed.
When Beacon asks what should happen to an existing role, read the listed assignments and requests before choosing. Keeping a role and removing it have different consequences for the schedule.
If the planner says saved content has changed, refresh it and review again. Another leader may have updated the same meetings while your draft was open.
Check the result and the remaining coverage
After saving, reopen a changed meeting and check its content, date, and roles. Then review team coverage. A completed program doesn't mean every volunteer position is filled, and a pending request isn't a confirmed volunteer.
If a save result is uncertain, use the planner's save-status check before submitting the plan again. Follow any notice about remaining lessons or an unsaved draft.
Planning access and public schedule visibility have separate controls. Review the season's public-page settings when you're ready to show meeting details outside your team.
Need a little more help?
Contact the team and tell us where you got stuck.