Set your blockout dates and serving preferences (for volunteers)

When you serve on a team, you can tell your church which dates you can't serve and how often you'd like to be scheduled. Both live on your Volunteer page, and only you can set them for yourself.

Before you begin

You need to be on at least one serving team. If your church hasn't added you to a team yet, your Volunteer page shows You're not on a volunteer team yet, and the buttons below won't appear.
These are your personal settings. An admin can't set your unavailable dates or preferences on your behalf.

Open your Volunteer page

Go to your church's member area and open the Volunteer tab. You'll see your upcoming serving requests, and at the top right, two buttons: Preferences and Blockout dates.

Mark the dates you can't serve

Click Blockout dates. A pop-up window titled Blockout dates opens with a monthly calendar and the note "Click dates you're unavailable. These will show as conflicts when scheduling."
Move between months using the left and right arrows above the calendar.
Tap each date you can't serve. The date turns red to show it's marked. Tap it again to clear it. Past dates are greyed out and can't be selected.
Click Save changes. You'll see a confirmation that your dates were saved.

If you were already scheduled on a date you just marked, that assignment is removed automatically, and the confirmation tells you how many assignments were cleared. This keeps you off the roster for days you told the church you're away.

Churches on the redesigned Schedule use a newer Blockout dates window instead: pick a date (or tap one of your upcoming serving dates), and the list shows what you've blocked. If a date you're blocking already has a serving request, the window lists it and asks you to confirm Decline these requests and let my coordinator know before saving. Those requests are marked declined with the reason "Unavailable on this date" rather than removed, so your coordinator sees why. Removing a blockout date later does not bring a declined request back. Each upcoming request also has View schedule, which opens that date's Team schedule: the day's plan as your coordinator set it, and My schedule with your own roles and their instructions. The link asks for a sign-in first; names on the plan show to members and staff.

Set how often you'd like to serve

Click Preferences. On a phone this button shows just the sliders icon. A pop-up window titled Volunteer preferences opens, asking "How often would you like to serve on each team?" Each team you're on has its own card.
Choose a frequency under How often. Your options are As needed, About once a week, Every 2 weeks, Once a month, and Taking a break. Pick Taking a break when you need a break without leaving the team. Churches on the redesigned Schedule also show an Across all teams choice at the top of the dialog: one rhythm for all your teams combined, counted per calendar month.
Pick your roles under Roles if you're assigned to more than one role on that team. It starts with all of them selected; narrow it if you only want to be scheduled for certain roles. If you have just one role, it's shown for reference with nothing to choose.
Click Save changes. You'll see a confirmation that your preferences were saved.

Good to know

Marking a date isn't a hard lock. When a scheduler builds the roster, your name still appears with a red Blocked badge as a heads-up, so in a pinch they can still reach out.
The Save changes button stays inactive until you actually change something, so an accidental open won't overwrite anything.
Your frequency and roles guide how the church schedules you. They're a preference, not a promise, so keep an eye on your serving requests either way.