Getting Started with Children's Ministry
Shows how Children's Ministry keeps kids as their own record type with a dedicated list, classes, and permissions.
Children as their own record type
Children's Ministry lives under People as its own dedicated module, a child is not a Member and not a Visitor, they get their own list and their own record type built specifically around what a church needs to track for kids, separate from the fields and workflows built for adult members.
What the module covers
From the Children's Ministry list you can register new children, attach guardians, place a child in a class, record their attendance, register them for events, and eventually promote or transfer them out of the ministry when they age out or move into full church membership, the child's original record stays in place through all of it.
Best practice
Walk through the module once end to end, registration, guardians, class assignment, before rolling it out to your children's ministry team, having a mental model of how a child's record connects to classes, guardians, and attendance up front makes the day-to-day work much faster once real families start coming through the door.
Related Articles
Registering a New Child
Walks through exactly what information Children's Ministry captures when you register a new child, including which fields are optional.
Linking a Guardian to a Child's Record
Covers how to attach a guardian who already has a Member record to a child, including recording the relationship between them.
Adding a Guardian Who Isn't Already a Member
Shows how to attach a guardian's name and phone number for someone who isn't in Sermfy yet, without creating a Member record.
Creating a Children's Ministry Class
Clarifies that a Children's Ministry class is just a Group with a special tag, created through the same Groups feature as any ministry.