Manage blockout dates

See also:

Blockout dates let your team leader know when you're unavailable to serve. If they try to schedule you for those dates, a warning message will notify them that you're unavailable for that time frame.

Tip

Schedulers can learn more about how to use blockout dates while scheduling by checking out the Send blockout requests for predictable scheduling article!

You can add blockouts in Church Center or follow the steps below to manage your blockouts in Services!

Select the My Schedule page in the top navigation.
Select Block Out Dates at the top of the page.
(Optional) If you're part of a household, select a household member's profile icon in the top left to include them in your blockout(s).
If you have linked profiles in multiple churches, you can choose whether to add this blockout date to This Account only or all of your Linked Accounts.
Select a date from the calendar to block out a single date, or select and drag multiple dates to block out a date range.
Important
If you block out a date for which you've already been requested, a conflict warning will appear. You can Decline or Ignore the scheduling request when entering your blockout details.
Enter your blockout's details.
- Use the All day toggle to block out an entire day or specific times only.
- Adjust your start and end dates. A different end date is only necessary if the blockout spans consecutive dates.
- Select a pattern from the Repeat dropdown if this is a repeating blockout. If you set a monthly recurrence, you can also specify a day pattern (e.g., the last Tuesday, the first Wednesday) or select an exact day (the 27th).
- Enter a reason for your blockout so your team leader can see it.
- Select the 🗑️ Delete icon to remove this blockout if you made a mistake.
To add additional blockouts, select another single date from the calendar or drag multiple dates to set a new date range.
Select Save x Blockout(s) to add these blockout dates to your schedule.

Dates in dark red are dates you're currently editing; dates in medium red are dates you've just added but haven't saved yet. Dates in light red were added previously and are already saved.

Select the Schedule page from the bottom navigation.
Tap Add Blockout at the top of the page.
Enter your blockout details.
- (Optional) If you're part of a household, tap on a household member's profile icon to include them in your blockout. Blockout information will apply to all household members whose profile icons are highlighted.
- Use the All day toggle to block out an entire day or specific times only.
- Adjust your start and end dates. A different end date is only necessary if the blockout spans consecutive dates.
- If the blockout repeats, tap on the Frequency setting in the Repeat section to add a recurrence pattern. After adding a recurrence, you can edit the Frequency, Period, Interval, and Duration.
- Enter a reason for your blockout so your team leader can see it.
Tap the check mark in the top right to save your blockout.

Tip

Blockouts will block out that time frame for every team in Services. If you want to be available for one team but not another, you can set that time frame as a scheduling preference in your profile instead.

Edit or delete non-repeating blockouts

Select a blockout date below the calendar on your My Schedule page to edit it. You can also edit blockouts from your profile page.

Select the My Schedule page in the top navigation.
Select a blockout date below the calendar on the left side of the page.
To edit a blockout, adjust your blockout details in the popup, then select Save.
To delete a blockout, select Delete Blockout, then select Yes, delete! in the confirmation popup.

Important

You can't add repeat options to an existing simple blockout. Instead, delete it and create a new repeating blockout.

Edit or delete repeating blockouts

When editing a repeating blockout on the web, you can choose to apply your changes to One, Future, or All blockouts from the repeating pattern.

Important

You can only edit or delete repeating blockouts when using Services on a web browser.

Edit a repeating blockout

Select the My Schedule page in the top navigation.
Select a repeating blockout date from your schedule.
Adjust the dates, times, or the reason for the selected blockout. You can't edit the previously entered recurrence pattern.
Select one of the recurrence options, depending on which dates from the pattern you want to edit:
- One: Only edit the date you selected on the calendar. All other recurrences will remain unchanged.
- Future: Edit the selected date and any future dates in the recurring pattern. Dates before the selected date remain unchanged. This splits your blockouts into two parts: one recurring pattern for the past dates, and a different pattern for this and future dates.
- All: Edit all dates, even previous ones related to this pattern. If you change the date, all other dates will be shifted by the same amount.
(Optional) If you originally scheduled this blockout for your household, you can select Myself from the Group Options to only apply these changes to your schedule.
Select Save to finish making your changes.

Delete a repeating blockout

Select the My Schedule page in the top navigation.
Select a repeating blockout date from your schedule.
Select one of the recurrence options, depending on which dates from the pattern you want to delete:
- One: Only edit the date you selected on the calendar. All other recurrences will remain unchanged.
- Future: Edit the selected date and any future dates in the recurring pattern. Dates before the selected date remain unchanged. This splits your blockouts into two parts: one recurring pattern for the past dates, and a different pattern for this and future dates.
- All: Edit all dates, even previous ones related to this pattern. If you change the date, all other dates will be shifted by the same amount.
If you originally scheduled this blockout for your household, you can choose to apply your changes to yourself only by selecting Myself instead of Household.
Select Delete in the bottom right.
Select Yes, delete! in the confirmation popup.

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