Groups
Groups are the ongoing circles people belong to — small groups, home fellowships, men's and women's ministries, anything that meets on a rhythm and does not finish.
A group is people who meet. A class is something you finish. If it has a last session, it is a class.
What you need
- A Passport account with the Admin or Super Admin role
- Your people imported, so there is somebody to put in a group — see Importing & Exporting Data
Signing up seeds five generic groups so the member portal is not empty on day one. Renaming them, deleting what you do not run, and adding what you do is one of the Setup Center milestones.
Add a group
- Go to Admin → Settings → Groups.
- Click + Add group.
- Fill in the details:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Name | Required. What members will see — for example, Young Adults Fellowship |
| Type | Fellowship, Small group, Special interest, or Other |
| Description | A short description shown to members in the portal |
| Leaders | Optional. One or more staff members responsible for this group |
| Requires approval to join | Turn on if members should request to join rather than joining instantly |
- Click Add group.
:::tip Write the description for a member, not for staff "Tuesdays 7pm at the Carters', childcare provided" answers the question somebody actually has. "Small group" does not. :::
Edit, delete and reorder
- Edit — click the pencil icon on any group row, make your changes, then click Update group.
- Delete — click the trash icon and confirm. The group disappears from the portal immediately.
- Reorder — drag a row by the handle (⋮⋮) on the left. The order updates automatically and is what members see in the portal.
How members join
Members browse and join groups from the Connect tab of the Member Portal or the Passport app. If the group requires approval, their request goes to the group's leaders rather than joining them straight away.
Once someone is in a group they can take part in group chat, and their membership shows on their profile under People.
Common questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can somebody be in more than one group? | Yes, as many as they like. |
| Do I have to assign a leader? | No, but a group with no leader has nobody to approve requests or start a conversation. |
| What happens to members when I delete a group? | Nothing — the group membership is removed, the people are not. |
| Where do I see who is in a group? | Open the group from People → Groups in the main navigation. |
Next steps
- Something with an end date — set up a class instead.
- A job rather than a circle — Ministries & Volunteers covers serving teams.
- Keep everyone talking — Group Message Notifications.
- Record who came — Attendance Tracking covers group sessions too.