I use Apple Calendar on my iPhone or Mac. Where's my button?

Open the confirmation email and tap the attached invite (.ics) file — Apple Calendar opens it and offers to add the event. The thanks page has an “Apple / .ics” link that downloads the same file.

I signed up for several dates. Do I get one event or several?

One per date. The thanks page and email show a row of calendar buttons per date, and the attached invite file holds all of them, so opening it once adds every date.

Why is the event all day instead of at a time?

The sheet didn't give that spot a time of day. If the church adds one, new sign-ups get it; yours won't update on its own.

What time zone is the event in?

The church's. Times on a sheet are written the way the church reads them — 9:00 AM means 9:00 AM where the church is — and the invite carries that same clock time, with no conversion. If you're in another time zone, adjust it yourself after adding it.

The church changed the date or time. Does my calendar update?

Not by itself — a calendar invite is a copy made when you signed up. But when the church moves the date, time, or location of something you signed up for, they can send you a “Your sign-up has changed” email with the old and new details and fresh calendar buttons. Add the new event and delete the old one. If you heard about a change some other way, the sheet always shows the current details.

I canceled my sign-up. Does the event disappear from my calendar?

No — delete it yourself. The sign-up and your calendar aren't linked after the invite is added.

for volunteers

Add your sign-up to your calendar

A sign-up you forgot about helps nobody. Every confirmed sign-up with a date comes with a calendar invite, so your Saturday shift lives next to everything else on your Saturday.

The short answer: Right after you confirm, the thanks page shows Add to Google Calendar and Add to Outlook buttons. The same buttons are in your confirmation email, along with an attached invite file for Apple Calendar. Signed up for several dates? You get one event per date.

Where the buttons are

The thanks page, right after you confirm, under “Add to your calendar.” One row of buttons per date you signed up for.
Your confirmation email: the same Google and Outlook buttons, plus the invite file attached for Apple Calendar and anything else that reads .ics files.
Your reminder email, when the sheet sends one a couple of days before — same buttons again, in case you missed them the first time.

What's in the invite

The sheet's title and your church's name, every spot you took that day, the location (if the church gave one), and the start and end time when the spot or the event has one. Anything the church wrote for confirmed volunteers only — the family's address on a meal train, the gate code — is in your email, not in the invite, so it doesn't end up on a shared family calendar.

Sheets without a date (an interest form, a memorial list, a “help whenever you can” list) have nothing to put on a calendar, so those pages and emails skip the buttons.

Common questions

I use Apple Calendar on my iPhone or Mac. Where's my button?: Open the confirmation email and tap the attached invite (.ics) file — Apple Calendar opens it and offers to add the event. The thanks page has an “Apple / .ics” link that downloads the same file.
I signed up for several dates. Do I get one event or several?: One per date. The thanks page and email show a row of calendar buttons per date, and the attached invite file holds all of them, so opening it once adds every date.
Why is the event all day instead of at a time?: The sheet didn't give that spot a time of day. If the church adds one, new sign-ups get it; yours won't update on its own.
What time zone is the event in?: The church's. Times on a sheet are written the way the church reads them — 9:00 AM means 9:00 AM where the church is — and the invite carries that same clock time, with no conversion. If you're in another time zone, adjust it yourself after adding it.
The church changed the date or time. Does my calendar update?: Not by itself — a calendar invite is a copy made when you signed up. But when the church moves the date, time, or location of something you signed up for, they can send you a “Your sign-up has changed” email with the old and new details and fresh calendar buttons. Add the new event and delete the old one. If you heard about a change some other way, the sheet always shows the current details.
I canceled my sign-up. Does the event disappear from my calendar?: No — delete it yourself. The sign-up and your calendar aren't linked after the invite is added.

Need to change the sign-up itself? Change or cancel your sign-up.

Next up: You're on the waitlist — what happens next →