Connection Card Pro Help & Documentation

Crew Settings and Scheduling Rules

This guide explains how the new Crew Settings work in Connection Card Pro, where to find them, and how they affect scheduling—especially when you see warnings, errors, and pending assignments.

Table of contents

• Who this is for
• What these settings do (big picture)
• How the three “levels” of crew settings work
  • 1) Organization-wide defaults (Default Crew Settings)
  • 2) Crew-specific settings (per crew)
  • 3) Person-specific crew settings (per person, across all crews)
  • Override priority (when rules conflict)
• Where you’ll see these rules while scheduling
  • Selecting people for open slots
  • Pending assignments
  • Errors vs warnings (what they mean)
• Accessing Crew Settings (quick directions)
  • From the Crews list
  • From inside a crew
• Default Crew Settings and Crew-Specific Settings
  • Default Scheduling Rules
  • Positions
  • Children / Minors
• Person-Specific Crew Settings (applies across all crews)
  • Scheduling Rules (for this person)
  • Positions (for this person)
  • Parent/Other Notifications (for this person)
  • Safety/Legal Restrictions (for this person)
• Troubleshooting
• Quick setup checklist (recommended)

Who this is for

Church staff, ministry leaders, or schedulers who manage volunteer teams (Crews) and want scheduling rules to be enforced automatically.

What these settings do (big picture)

Crew settings help you prevent common real-world scheduling issues like:

• Making sure minors aren’t scheduled without proper adult coverage
• Automatically notifying parents of schedule alerts when a minor is scheduled
• Keeping people scheduled only for roles they’re trained for
• Handling spouse/household scheduling preferences automatically
• Preventing certain combinations of people from being scheduled together
• Enforcing safety/legal requirements consistently

How the three “levels” of crew settings work

1) Organization-wide defaults (Default Crew Settings)

These are your baseline rules for every crew—used unless a crew or individual overrides them.

• Location: Groups → Crews → “Default Crew Settings” (top of the page)

2) Crew-specific settings (per crew)

These rules apply only to one crew, overriding organization defaults for that crew.

• Location: Groups → Crews → Gear icon → “Crew Settings”
• Important: Changing defaults later does not change any crew-specific settings you already set.

3) Person-specific crew settings (per person, across all crews)

These apply only to that individual across the entire organization (every crew they’re part of). They override both crew-specific settings and the organization defaults when scheduling that person.

• Location: Open a crew roster → click the gear icon on a person’s row

Override priority (when rules conflict)

Person settings override Crew settings, which override Default Crew settings.

Where you’ll see these rules while scheduling

When you fill schedule slots, Connection Card Pro validates your changes and shows what’s happening.

Selecting people for open slots

• On a schedule event, each position shows how many slots are still open.
• You choose a person from the dropdown list to fill a slot.

Pending assignments

When you select someone, you'll see a Pending label (meaning the change hasn’t been committed yet). Once you are done adding individuals to available slots, click on Save at the bottom of that event to save pending changes. 

Each scheduled event must be saved, otherwise any pending changes will be lost!

Errors vs warnings (what they mean)

• Errors = hard stops. Your changes cannot be saved until fixed.
• Warnings = “you can still save, but please review.”

Accessing Crew Settings (quick directions)

From the Crews list

1. Go to Groups → Crews
2. Use one of these:
   • Default Crew Settings (top button) = org-wide defaults
   • Gear → Crew Settings = settings for that specific crew

From inside a crew

1. Open the crew's page (Roster/Files/Care Needs/etc.)
2. Click Settings in the top crew menu
   
   

Default Crew Settings and Crew-Specific Settings

These settings appear in Defaults and also in Crew Settings (for a specific crew). The same controls mean the same thing—only the scope changes.

However, the Person's Crew Settings (and restrictions) contain some settings which are not available at the crew level or organization defaults. 

Default Scheduling Rules

“Don’t allow … when spouse/partner is scheduled”

Prevents a person from being scheduled if their spouse/partner is already scheduled for the same service/event.

Common use cases:

• One-car family: someone needs to stay home with kids.
• A couple alternates serving so they can attend together.
• A spouse needs to be available for caregiving responsibilities while the other serves.

“Automatically schedule … whenever spouse/partner is scheduled”

When you schedule one spouse/partner, the system will automatically schedule the other if a position is available and allowed. If a position is not available, or the individual is not allowed to fill any available position due to position constraints, then a warning will be given. 

Common use cases:

• Couples who prefer serving together on the same weekends.
• One spouse relies on the other for transportation.
• A new volunteer serves best when paired with a trusted spouse.

“Don’t allow … when another household member is scheduled”

Blocks scheduling if any other household member is already scheduled.

Common use cases:

• Parents shouldn’t both be scheduled at the same time (childcare).
• Siblings rotate serving so one can attend service with family.
• Roommates share a vehicle and can’t both be committed.

“Automatically schedule … whenever another household member is scheduled”

When one household member is scheduled, the system will automatically add this person if they are part of the same crew and if a position is available, following the same position rules as above.

Common use cases:

• Families who serve together as a rhythm.
• A teen serving is typically paired with a parent or older sibling.
• Carpool situations where people arrive together.

Positions

How are positions enforced?

This dropdown controls whether people can be scheduled only into positions they’re eligible/enrolled for (based on your crew’s position/role setup).

Options shown:

• Anyone can fill any Position
• Prefer matching positions
• Enforce matching positions (except leaders)
• Enforce matching positions for everyone

Practical guidance:

• Anyone can fill any Position: best for small churches or flexible teams.
• Prefer matching positions: shows a warning if someone isn’t a match, but still allows scheduling.
• Enforce matching…: blocks scheduling into roles the person isn’t eligible for.

Use cases:

• Tech/Worship: prevent scheduling someone to a role they aren’t trained for.
• Security: enforce only vetted roles.
• Kids check-in: avoid accidental role mix-ups during busy weekends.

Children / Minors

These settings enforce “adult coverage” rules whenever minors are part of what’s being scheduled.

“Require at least one adult to be scheduled for any service/event”

If any minor is scheduled (based on the age threshold you set), at least one adult must also be scheduled.

“Require at least two adults … whenever a minor is scheduled”

If any minor is scheduled, and at least one adult is also scheduled, at least two adults must also be scheduled.

Parent notifications and schedule sharing

• Send schedule notifications and reminders to parents of minors scheduled
• Share schedule with parents of minors scheduled

These are intended to keep parents informed and/or give visibility when minors are scheduled. This will only apply to minors and requires at least one family connection to a parental role (parent, guardian, foster parent, etc.).

If no direct parents are linked, then this will treat the primary contact (and household managers) of the minor's household as the "parent". This is useful if the child's guardian is a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or someone else - as long as they are the primary contact (or household manager) of the child's household. 

“Above children/minor rules apply to…”

Choose the age threshold:

• All members under 13 / 16 / 18 / 19 (depending on your ministry’s policies)

Very important note about birthdays

If someone does not have a birthday saved, they will be treated as an adult for these checks. For safety rules to work correctly, make sure minors have birthdays saved in their profiles. 

Person-Specific Crew Settings (applies across all crews)

Open these from a crew roster by clicking the gear icon on a person’s row.

Scheduling Rules (for this person)

These mirror the defaults (spouse/household rules), but apply only to this person across all crews.

“Don’t allow this person to be scheduled whenever the following person is scheduled”

This blocks scheduling this person if a specific other person is already scheduled.

Practical use cases:

• Two people share a car and can’t both be scheduled at once.
• Childcare swap: two adults coordinate so one is always available.
• One volunteer supports a family member and needs flexibility when that person is scheduled elsewhere.
• They serve alternating weeks with a friend so they can worship together at least half the time.
• Preventing heated conflicts from two people being scheduled together (hopefully not the case).

Positions (for this person)

These are person-only overrides:

• This person may be scheduled for any position, regardless of default rules.
  Useful for a “floater” volunteer who’s trained in many roles and can fill gaps.
  
  
• This person may only be scheduled for matching positions, regardless of default rules.
  Useful for trainees or safety-sensitive roles where you never want “fill anywhere” scheduling.

Parent/Other Notifications (for this person)

• Send notifications/reminders to this person’s parent(s) when this person is scheduled…
  Same application as defaults / crew settings.
  
  
• Share schedule with (and send notifications)… (choose a person)
  This is intended to support adults who need assistance or oversight from another individual who manages their schedule on their behalf.

Unlike Defaults / Crew Settings - The parent notifications / sharing options on this person's settings will apply to this person regardless of their age. This is useful if you still need to share notifications / schedules with parent(s) of an individual who is older than the age threshold set in the crew's (or default) settings.

Safety/Legal Restrictions (for this person)

“Don’t Schedule When…”

This prevents this person from being scheduled when minors are scheduled, based on the selected threshold (ex: “Any member under 18 is scheduled”).

This applies across the same crew and related sub-crews/parent crews that a minor is scheduled for.

This can be used whenever there is a safety concern (or legal obligation) in order to still allow this individual to serve when there are no minors scheduled. 

“Not allowed to serve on crews requiring a background check…”

If enabled, the person will not be allowed to be scheduled on crews that require background checks (even if one has been received). This will also prevent the user from being added to any crew requiring a background check (but will not remove them if they are already part of that crew). 

This can be used for thoughtful, safety-forward policies, including situations where someone is able to serve in adult-only contexts but should not serve in contexts involving vulnerable persons.

Troubleshooting

“Why can’t I save my schedule changes?”

Look for red error messages beneath the position. Common causes:

• A minors rule is enabled (ex: “two adults required”) but not enough adults are scheduled.
• A person is not eligible for the role and position enforcement is set to enforce matching.
• A person-specific restriction blocks them when minors are scheduled or when another specific person is scheduled.
• A background-check restriction blocks the assignment.

“It says ‘Pending’”

That means your assignment hasn’t been saved yet. Pending assignments still participate in validation checks, so you may see errors before you save.

“The minors rules aren’t working like we expect”

Double-check:

• Minors have birthdays saved.
• Your “Apply to members under…” threshold matches your policy.
• If using the “two adults” rule, but not the “one adult” rule, then situations with no minors or with no adults will both be allowed. 

Quick setup checklist (recommended)

• Set Default Crew Settings for your organization’s baseline rules
• For any special teams which have different policies, set Crew Settings for that crew, otherwise, leave crew-level settings untouched (so that defaults will always apply). 
• Add person-specific settings only when needed (exceptions, special cases)
• Ensure birthdays are saved for minors so age-based safety rules work correctly
• Choose a position enforcement mode that matches how strict you want scheduling to be
• Double check that positions are properly set up for crews and that individuals are correctly connected to each applicable position.