Stay Ahead of Scheduling Gaps with Planning Center’s New Alert Feature

Written By Kristin Emerson

If you’re a church leader or volunteer coordinator using Planning Center Services, you know the stress of scrambling to fill last-minute schedule gaps—especially as the weekend approaches. Planning Center just released another impactful update on the Services product that we think is a game-changer!

Introducing: Scheduling Gap Alerts in Planning Center Services

This new feature, Scheduling Gap Alerts, is designed to help teams stay ahead of unfilled positions before the weekend crunch hits. Now, within the Team Settings section of Planning Center Services, you can enable alerts that notify you of scheduling gaps. You can customize how far in advance you want to be alerted—anywhere from 1 to 7 days—giving you time to act before it’s too late.

Watch the video below to see this feature in action:

Here’s How it Works:

  • Navigate to the team for which you wish to enable alerts. If you’re currently viewing a plan, open the Team Actions dropdown and select Manage Team. If you’re still on the service type level, click on the sprocket (⚙️) and select Teams.

  • View the Settings tab.

  • Under the new Scheduling Gap Alerts section, enable alerts for your team.

  • Choose your preferred notification window.

  • Receive email alerts when positions remain unfilled.

Bonus Tip: Rescheduling Declines Made Easy

Additionally, don’t forget about the Rescheduling Declines feature, which helps you respond quickly when someone declines a scheduled position. Choose how you want Planning Center to react when a decline comes in:

  • Send out a signup sheet to your team.

  • Use auto-scheduling to let Services find the best fit using blockouts, preferences, and history.

  • Or manually assign someone yourself.

This tool is another way to make sure your team is fully-stocked for the weekend!

Final Thoughts

Even small updates like this can make a big impact. If you manage volunteers, this feature is a must-use to keep your services running smoothly. Don’t forget to enable Scheduling Gap Alerts and explore the rescheduling tools to stay ahead of the game.

For more tips and updates on Planning Center, be sure to like and subscribe to the Threefold Solutions Youtube Channel. We’re here to help you get the most out of your tools and make ministry management easier—so you can spend more time focusing on what matters most: the people God has placed in your care.

Kristin Emerson

Client Success Specialist, Threefold Solutions

Kristin Emerson
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