Heading into summer, many churches are already planning for fall. Keeping people and groups organized effectively is one of the most important jobs in church administration. Connecting people to each other in community provides them opportunities for spiritual growth, improves their relational well-being, and helps them live out their faith in meaningful ways.

Organizing Ministry Teams

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.” (1 Corinthians 12:4–6)

How beautiful it is that people use the gifts God has given them in order to benefit the whole church! 

Worship teams reflect God’s beauty and creativity through music, dance, and the visual and technical arts. Teachers of children, youth, and adults help others grow in their faith. Hospitality teams make newcomers feel welcome. Missions and Outreach groups spread the good news of God’s love to those most desperate to feel it. Prayer teams keep everyone covered and connected to heaven, and Church Administration and Operations teams keep the whole thing running down here on earth–often with the help of good church management software. 

Sunergo Connect + Groups supports every type of team, helping them function at their best with features like group-specific contact lists for email; efficient scheduling tools; secure resource storage and sharing; attendance and points tracking; and more. For those who participate in more than one group, Sunergo Connect allows them to find all the information for their groups organized in one place and even alerts them to potential scheduling conflicts. 

Organizing Small Groups

Small groups help people form deeper and more intimate relationships, strengthening the community as a whole. They also provide fertile ground for individuals to experience moments of spiritual growth. That’s why we developed an interface that allows everyone in the church to connect more easily with one another. Any congregation member with a profile in Sunergo Connect can log in to participate in the groups they belong to. It is a great tool for small groups to organize themselves and communicate with each other outside of regular meeting times. 

Organizing Learning Groups

In some cases, Sunergo Connect + Groups can be used to organize the teachers–scheduling Sunday school teachers and helpers, for example. In other cases, the tools can be used to organize the students. Consider the many different ways churches bring Christians together to learn:

• Discipleship classes equip people to live their faith and become more committed followers of God. These structured programs cover topics such as biblical studies, theology, prayer, spiritual disciplines and evangelism, and are led by clergy, trained leaders, or experienced members of the community who guide participants through discussions, teachings, readings, and practical exercises aimed at spiritual growth and maturity.
  
  
• Study groups focus on specific areas of interest, such as apologetics, marriage and family, parenting, finances, or missions. These groups provide opportunities for in-depth exploration of particular topics relevant to participants' lives.
  
  
• Training courses or workshops are often provided by the church to equip volunteers for ministry roles within the church or in the broader community.
  
  
• Membership classes are offered as an invitation to newcomers to learn everything they need to know about the church, or what they church may require of them, if they are considering becoming members.  

Sunergo Connect will keep these groups of learners organized with schedules and materials, and provides an easy way for teachers to email the group. 

Setting Up Ministry Groups for the Fall

Creating New Groups

When you set up a new group in Sunergo Connect, you are able to customize settings such as viewing permissions for schedules, resources, and other group members; set up attendance and points tracking; and decide whether or not to allow self-registration, -check in, and -cancellation. You can also assign group leaders and create subgroups. (For example, a Children’s Ministry group with different subgroups for each Grade.)

If your church already uses Sunergo Connect + Groups, here are some step-by-step instructions for moving people between groups:

Adding People to a Group

1. From the Ministry Groups screen, select the Group and then the Subgroup that you want to add people to.
2. Select Add.
3. Add any applicable filters such as age group, grade, marital status and more. You can also search for individuals by name.
4. Select Search.
5. From the list, select everyone that you would like to add to the Group.
6. Select Save.

Moving people from One Group to Another

1. From the Ministry Groups screen, select the Group and then the Subgroup that you want to move people out of.
2. Select Manage.
3. Select the people that you would like to move.
4. When you are ready, you will have the option to Remove, Move, or Copy the selected group members. To move them to a new group, select Move, and then choose the Ministry Group that you would to add them to from the drop down menu.
   (Note: This is the easiest way to move all the children from one Sunday School grade to the next.)
   
   

Sunergo Connect + Groups is an add-on feature for Sunergo Church Tools. If you don’t already use Sunergo Connect but are curious about its many functions, please reach our support team. They can answer all your questions and help you get started.