Planning services with Vessel Worship

Web, iPhone, iPad and Mac

Vessel Worship works on the web at app.vesselworship.org (under Worship in the menu) and in the Vessel Worship app. Planners can use either. Most volunteers only need the app on their phone.

• Web: service types, services and orders, songs and charts, teams, availability requests, scheduling, publishing and emailing. The shared Vessel catalogue of songs is here too.
• iPhone and iPad (App Store): everything a volunteer needs, plus planning. Publishing on the app can email and notify people in one step.
• Mac: the app is available on request — email support@vesselworship.org. It adds the Multiview editor and team welcome emails.

Planning needs the Plans services permission. Owners, admins and staff already have it. See roles and permissions.

Service types

A service type is the pattern a new service starts from, like “Sunday Morning”. It sets the teams that serve and the default times.

1. On the web, open Services and choose Service types.
2. Choose New type. Give it a name and a colour.
3. Under Teams that serve at it, tick the teams. A new service of this type starts with these teams.
4. Save, then open the type again to add Default times. Each time is a Service, a Rehearsal or Other (like a call time). It can be on the service’s day or on a weekday in the week before.

Only owners and admins can delete a service type.

Create services

1. Open Services and choose New service.
2. Pick the Service type. Give it a name if you like.
3. Choose Single service, or Several dates to plan ahead (up to 60 at a time). Untick any date you want to skip.
4. Optionally pick an Order template, or start with an empty order.
5. Check What will be created, then choose Create service.

Each service has tabs for Order, Schedule, Times and Notes. Only people who plan services see the notes. Volunteers never do.

Build the order

An order is made of sections (like “Worship” or “Response”), each with items in it.

1. On the service’s Order tab, choose Add section.
2. In a section, choose Add song or Add item. Items can be a song, message, speaker, video, announcement, prayer, communion, baptism, heading or other.
3. Type each item’s length, like 4:30. Vessel adds up the lengths and shows the clock time each item starts, from the service’s first time.
4. Use the up and down arrows to move items.

Open an item to set its key, length, section, who leads it and notes, and to add YouTube or Spotify links. When you change a song’s key, its chart and that key’s files follow. You can also copy an item to another service.

In the iPhone and iPad app, you can also choose an arrangement when you add a song.

Templates and side by side

A template is an order a new service can start from. Make one under Services › Templates with New template. To work on several services at once, Side by side shows them next to each other and lets you copy items between them.

Songs, charts and files

1. Open Songs and choose New song.
2. Type the title, the artist or writer, and the original key.
3. On the song’s Chart tab, choose Add a chart and type or paste the chords and words.

Keys and files

On Keys and files, choose Add key version for each key your team plays it in. Each key has four slots: Lead sheet, Chord chart, Lyric sheet and Recording. Each slot holds one file: uploading again replaces it.

Anything else goes in a list of extra files and links, with Add a file or Or paste a link. Extra files can belong to one key, to the song in every key, or to one item in one service. Files can be PDF, MP3, M4A, PNG or JPEG, up to 30 MB.

People with Edits songs or Plans services can add song files. Staff already can.

Arrangements and links

An arrangement is another version of the chart, like an acoustic set. A new arrangement starts as a copy of the song’s chart. Put YouTube and Spotify links on the song’s Details tab.

The Vessel catalogue

Vessel keeps a shared catalogue of songs with charts, under Songs › Vessel catalogue. You can’t change them there. Choose Add to our songs to copy one into your library and make it your own.

Changing a recording’s key and marking up charts are done in the Vessel Worship app.

Teams and positions

1. Open Teams and pick a team.
2. Choose Add position for each role, like Vocals or Sound.
3. Add people to the team and choose Positions they can fill…. Choose Make a leader for team leaders.

Each team has switches for Gets set lists (they’re sent the order), Ask people to confirm, and Kids team.

Team welcome emails are sent from the Vessel Worship app on Mac.

Ask who’s available

1. Open Availability and choose New request.
2. Give it a name, pick the teams to ask and the services to ask about. Add a note and a closing date if you like.
3. Creating the request emails nobody. When you’re ready, choose Email everyone asked… and confirm.

People get an email and a phone notification asking “When can you serve?”. They answer from the email, on the web or in the app.

Answers show on the request, by date and by person. They also show when you schedule someone: people are marked Available, Can’t serve or Hasn’t said.

Schedule people

1. On a service’s Schedule tab, choose the position you want to fill.
2. Pick a person. If you asked about these dates, Vessel shows only people who said they’re available. Switch to Override to see everyone.
3. To change someone’s position or times, or leave them a note, choose Position, times, note….

Nobody is emailed until you publish the schedule and send it.

Publish and send

Until you publish, only planners and team leaders see a schedule or order. Volunteers see that it hasn’t been published yet.

On the web

Publishing and emailing are two steps.

1. Choose Publish schedule or Publish order.
2. To tell people, choose Email the schedule… or Email the order…. Vessel tells you how many people will get it and asks you to confirm.

To publish many services at once, choose Publish schedules…, then Publish only or Publish and email…. To unpublish, choose Take back. Volunteers stop seeing who’s serving, and nobody is told.

On iPhone and iPad

Choose Publish schedule or Publish order, then Publish, email and push, or Publish quietly to tell nobody.

On Mac: the Multiview editor

Multiview shows several services side by side. Open it from the Services menu (Multiview Editor, Shift-Command-M).

• Publish every schedule shown: choose Publish all…. Vessel lists everyone, service by service and team by team, before you send. Each person gets one email with all their dates and Confirm and Decline buttons, plus a notification. If you’ve hidden some teams, they’re still told.
• Publish one order: use the menu in that service’s column header and choose Publish order…. You can publish and notify people, or publish without telling anyone.

Confirming and declining

People answer each date with Confirm or Decline, wherever is easiest:

• from the email, without signing in,
• from the notification on their phone,
• in the app, or on the web under My schedule.

If plans change after confirming, they choose Something has changed…. If they said they were available, Vessel asks them for a reason when they decline.

When someone declines, their leaders get an email and a notification, once.

What Vessel sends, and when

There isn’t a setting for reminders in Vessel yet. To change when they go out, or to switch rehearsal reminders on or off, email support@vesselworship.org.

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