Shepherding Mode

Shepherd Visit Mode

Shepherding mode

Shepherding is related to Field Service Groups and all details are presented in an expandable tree.

Field Service Group Functionality is provided to allow you to create and maintain the group data. Pressing Add Group or Edit Group displays this dialogue.

For each group you can specify the name of the group, who is the overseer (or servant), the assistant and the families allocated.

If the brother caring for the group is a servant then you have the ability of selecting each family and allocating them to one of the other overseers so that the families concerned will be included on those overseers schedules.

A number of functions become available when you select a family in the tree:

Family Options Families can be moved to a different group by pressing the Move Family button.

Depending upon the specific needs in your congregation you may in the situation where not every family needs to receive a visit. This can be handled by selecting the family and then pressing the Needs Visit button. This will toggle the tick box next to the family name.

Only families who have a tick next to them are included on the schedules.

Families can be moved to the top of the respective Field Service Group by pressing the Move to Top button. Alternatively, you can use Move Up or Move Down for greater control. It should be noted that the schedules created allocate the families in the order they are displayed in the tree. So if a family needs a visit before others (for whatever reason) then use this facility.

Report Settings

Using the combo box, select the Starting Month to appear on the generated schedule. Each schedule will begin with the same month.
Select the Number of Publishers to receive a visit in any given month by each overseer (or servant if applicable).

Style

Click this button to display a file selection window. You can then select CSS/XSL files and import them directly into the application. The list of files is filtered to display those with the right file names.

Notes Icon It is beyond the scope of this help topic to explain the fundamentals of writing bespoke XSL templates. Disclaimer: You import and use third party XSL/CSS files at your own risk.

Preview

Gives a snapshot of what the generated schedule will look like, one for each elder listed. The information differs from the E&I Mode in that it has Date and Notes columns. These are provided as blank cells to be filled in manually by the overseer for his own reference and / or to be handed back to the brother caring for the coordination of the shepherding visits for the congregation.