Write up a meeting

After a meeting, a leader can write a few lines about the night instead of tapping the roll. Silas reads the paragraph and fills in a sheet: who came, who didn't, any guests, notes and prayer requests. You check the sheet, and nothing is saved to the roll until you press Done. Without Silas, the paragraph is kept as the meeting's note.

The group's leaders and office staff can write up a meeting. It works best on a computer: the paragraph sits on the left and the sheet on the right.

Open the write-up

• At the top of the group, Write up the night when the last meeting's roll is still open.
• On This week, Write up the night under the meeting, or Edit the write-up if there is one, before the group's first meeting has passed or once its schedule has run out.
• On the roll call, Write it up instead at the bottom, or Edit the write-up if there is one.

Once a group has written up a meeting, the top of the group asks for the next one too, for example Write up Oct 14.

Write the paragraph

The page asks "How was the night?". Under The night, write it the way you'd tell a friend: who came, who didn't and why, anyone new, what people shared, and what to pray for. Names on the roster complete as you type.

For example: "Everyone came except Jordan, whose kid was sick. Pat brought a friend, Marcus. Sam opened up about his dad. Pray for Lee’s interview on Thursday."

Read it

With Silas on, what you write goes to him to read. Leave out anything said in counseling and any report of abuse, and handle those the way your church requires.

Press Read it. Silas fills in the sheet beside the paragraph:

• Came: people he'll mark present.
• Didn’t come: people he'll mark Absent or Excused, with the reason when you gave one.
• Guests: each one "Already known to the group", or "New; a record will be made".
• Notes: things worth remembering, each under a person.
• Pray for: requests, each under a person, with "check back" where you asked to follow up.

A dashed tag means Silas is unsure. Check those first. People on the roster you didn't mention stay unmarked, and the sheet says how many. Anything he couldn't place is kept in the paragraph, not filed. A prayer request goes on the person who shared it, even when it's about someone else ("Rhachyl: her mom is working long hours" or "Rhachyl asked us to pray for her mom" goes on Rhachyl, and "pray for my sister-in-law" goes on you, when you're on the group's roster); one that doesn't say who shared it goes on the person it's about ("pray for Lee's interview" goes on Lee); one with nobody from the group in it stays in the paragraph.

The sheet can't be edited by hand. To change it, fix the paragraph and press Read it again. You can also correct any mark afterwards on the roll call.

Press Done

When the sheet is right, press Done. Trellis then:

• marks the roll, for the people on the sheet,
• adds the guests, making a record for anyone new,
• adds the notes and prayer requests to each person's page, marked as from the write-up,
• keeps your paragraph as the meeting's write-up,
• and counts the meeting as having roll.

You land back on Attendance, where the meeting shows a quill.

Keep it as a note only

Press Keep as a note only to save the paragraph without reading it. Nothing goes on the roll, so take roll separately with Tap the roll call instead (or Open the roll call if roll is already taken).

When Silas isn't on

Silas comes with any paid part of Trellis, and an admin turns him on or off. When he's off, the page says your paragraph is kept as the meeting's note, and there's no Read it button. Use Keep as a note only, then take roll on the roll call. See Silas settings and What Silas does.

If reading fails for any reason, Trellis keeps the paragraph as the meeting's note, so nothing you wrote is lost.

Who can see a write-up

The write-up belongs to the meeting. The group's leaders and the office can read it on the roll call under How it went. Notes and prayer requests filed from it appear on each person's page in the group, where the group's leaders and office staff can see them.

Still stuck? Ask Silas