Editing, Duplicating, Cancelling, and Deleting Events

Plans change. You can update any detail of an event, copy an existing event to reuse its setup, cancel an event that isn't happening, or remove an event entirely, all from the event's own page.

Before you begin

You need access to the Events area to open and edit an event.
Deleting and cancelling use a separate permission called Delete events, so someone who can edit may still not be able to delete or cancel.

Editing an event

Go to Events. Click Events in the sidebar.
Open the event you want to change.
Open the editor. A live phone preview appears beside the editor on larger screens.
Make your changes. For a repeating event, choose the date at the top first. The editor fills in with that date's details, and you can change anything on the page.
Click Save. On a repeating event, Save asks whether to change This date, This and following dates, or All dates. Only the fields you changed apply, and All dates includes past dates. Settings that always apply to every date, such as who can see the event or how it repeats, show their current value and an Edit button instead. Each one changes in its own window and saves for every date with Save for all dates, while your other unsaved changes to the date stay as they are. A one-time event keeps its usual Save, Save draft, and Publish controls.

Changes to a published event appear on its public page after saving. Editing does not send an announcement automatically. Moving a recurring date preserves its registrations, check-ins, and volunteer assignments.

Duplicate, cancel, and delete all live in the "..." menu in the event header. That menu sits next to the event title and stays available on every tab, so you don't have to be on any particular one. Click "..." to open it.

Duplicating an event

Duplicating is the fastest way to reuse an event you've already set up, like a monthly dinner or a repeat class.

Open the "..." menu in the event header.
Click Duplicate event.

Churchday creates a fresh copy titled "Copy of" followed by the original name, and opens it in the editor. The copy keeps the same settings and registration questions, but it starts clean: no attendees, registrations, or check-ins come along, and it opens as a draft with registration open. Edit anything you like, then Publish when it's ready.

Deleting an event

Deleting is permanent, so use it for a mistake or a test event you truly want gone. If the event just isn't happening, cancel it instead (below): everyone keeps their registration on record, and Churchday can email them.

Open the "..." menu in the event header.
Click Delete event.
Confirm in the pop-up window by clicking Delete event again.

This removes the entire event along with everyone's registrations, and it cannot be undone. No email goes out to people who registered, so they won't know the event is gone unless you tell them.

If anyone has paid for the event, Delete event isn't offered. Cancel it instead (below), so the record of who paid is kept.

Cancelling an event

Cancel a published event when it isn't happening, for example a class that moved to a new date. It works for every published event, free or paid. A draft was never public, so it only offers Delete event.

Once an event has payment history (someone paid or was refunded, started a card payment, or recorded a Venmo or Zelle payment), cancelling is the only choice: it can't be deleted.

Open the "..." menu in the event header.
Click Cancel event. On a repeating event this reads Cancel entire event.
Choose whether to email registrants. The email option is on by default. You can add a short note, for example the new date, or when refunds will go out. On a repeating event, the email goes to people booked for upcoming dates. It reaches everyone booked, including people who unsubscribed from your church's emails, since they need to know the event isn't happening. Only addresses that bounced or reported your emails as spam are skipped. Replies come back to you.
Click Cancel event to confirm.

What happens next:

The event disappears from your calendar and public pages. Anyone opening an old link sees that it was cancelled.
Every registration stays, along with any payment records. The event moves to a Cancelled events section at the bottom of your events list, and its Attendees tab still shows everyone and can export them. You can't add new attendees to a cancelled event.
If people paid, refunds are not sent automatically. Refund people from the Attendees tab. A banner on the event shows how many bookings are still marked paid.
If someone finishes paying after you cancel, their payment is recorded and marked Paid after cancellation, refund may be owed, so you can refund it. The same happens if someone pays after their own booking was cancelled.
A cancelled event can't be edited or restored. To run it again later, use Duplicate event.

If the email doesn't finish sending, it stays on the event's Notify tab, where anyone with Email access can send it again. Sent from there, it follows the usual Notify rule and skips people who unsubscribed.

Skipping one date on a repeating event

If your event repeats on a schedule and you only need to skip a single date (a holiday week, a cancelled service), do not delete the whole event. Instead:

Choose the date you want to skip using the date picker in the event header.
Open the "..." menu and click Cancel this date.
Choose whether Churchday tells people. The window shows who's coming that date. Email the people coming that it's cancelled is on, and you can add a note, such as why it's off or where to go instead. Turn it off if you'd rather let them know yourself.
Click Cancel this date.

Only that one date is cancelled. Every other date stays exactly as it is, and you can bring the cancelled date back anytime with Restore this date in the same menu. The email goes to everyone coming that date, including people signed up for every date and Maybes, but not people who already said they can't make it. Like the whole-event cancellation email, it reaches people who unsubscribed from church emails, since it's about their own sign-up. Replies come to you.

If the email doesn't finish sending, it stays on the event's Notify tab as "People coming" that date, where anyone with Email access can send it again. Sent from there, it skips people who unsubscribed.

People who signed up for just that date see it marked Cancelled on their Churchday home until the date passes, then it drops off. People signed up for every date see their next date instead.

Ending a repeating event early

When a repeating event should stop sooner than planned (a class that wraps up early, a study that ends for the summer), end the series instead of deleting the event or cancelling each date:

Choose the last date you want to keep using the date picker in the event header.
Open the "..." menu and click End series.
Check what goes away. The window lists every date after the last one, with how many people are signed up and how many volunteers are assigned on each. You can pick a different last date here. The series can't end before today or before its first date.
Choose whether Churchday tells people. Email the people signed up for these dates is on, and you can add a note, such as why it's ending or what comes next. Everyone signed up for any of the dates going away gets one email, including people signed up for every date. Turn it off if you'd rather let them know yourself.
Click End series.

The dates up to and including the last date stay exactly as they are, with their sign-ups, attendance, and volunteer assignments. The dates after it are removed from the event, the calendar, the public page, and everyone's Churchday home, along with their volunteer assignments and any changes you made to those dates. Nothing is deleted from earlier dates.

If anyone paid by card for a date that would go away, the window asks you to refund them from Attendees first. Like the other cancellation emails, this one reaches people who unsubscribed from church emails, since it's about their own sign-up, and replies come to you. If it doesn't finish sending, it stays on the event's Notify tab, where anyone with Email access can send it again.

An end date can only move later from the editor once a series has sign-ups, so End series is the way to make it end sooner.

Good to know

Editing a published event updates it instantly for everyone viewing the page.
A duplicate never copies attendee or check-in data, so it's safe to reuse a well-attended event as a template.
Delete affects registrations too. If you want to keep the record of who signed up, cancel the event instead of deleting it. Events with payment history are always kept: they can only be cancelled.