Rotation Engine

The Rotation Engine is the scheduling heart of your Safety Ministry. It takes your Service Definitions and automatically generates calendar events on a rolling basis, rotating squads through a configured cycle. This page covers how to configure it.

What Does the Rotation Engine Do?

The Rotation Engine connects three things:

1. Service Definitions — Your recurring weekly services (configured in Service Definitions)
2. Squad Rotation — Which squad serves which week in the cycle
3. Event Generation — Automatically creating calendar events with open post slots

You configure the engine once, and it continuously generates future events so your schedule is always populated ahead of time.

Accessing the Rotation Engine

1. Navigate to Admin in the sidebar.
2. Click on Schedule Config or Rotation Engine.
3. The configuration screen displays your current rotation settings.

Configuration Fields

Field	Range	Description
Anchor Date	Any date	The starting reference point for rotation cycles. This is “Day 1, Week 1” of your rotation.
Cycle Length	1–52 weeks	How many weeks before the rotation repeats. A 4-squad rotation typically uses a 4-week cycle.
Cycle Map	Squad per week	Defines which squad serves which week in the cycle. For example: Week 1 = Alpha Squad, Week 2 = Bravo Squad, Week 3 = Charlie Squad, Week 4 = Delta Squad.
Auto-Generate Horizon	1–24 months	How far into the future the engine generates events. A 3-month horizon means you always have 3 months of events on the calendar.
Auto-Staffing Lead Weeks	1–52 weeks	How many weeks before an event the engine assigns squad members to post slots. For example, 2 weeks means assignments appear on the schedule 2 weeks before the event.

How It Works

1. The engine looks at your Service Definitions to know what events to create.
2. It uses the Anchor Date and Cycle Length to calculate which week of the cycle any given date falls on.
3. The Cycle Map determines which squad is on duty for that week.
4. Events are generated out to the Auto-Generate Horizon.
5. At the Auto-Staffing Lead Weeks threshold, squad members are assigned to the event’s open post slots.

Example Configuration

For a church with four squads and two Sunday services:

Setting	Value
Anchor Date	January 5, 2025 (a Sunday)
Cycle Length	4 weeks
Cycle Map	Week 1: Alpha, Week 2: Bravo, Week 3: Charlie, Week 4: Delta
Auto-Generate Horizon	3 months
Auto-Staffing Lead Weeks	2 weeks

With this configuration:

• The engine always has 3 months of Sunday events on the calendar
• Squads rotate through a 4-week cycle starting from January 5
• Squad members see their assignments appear 2 weeks before each service

Changing the Configuration

When you modify and save the Rotation Engine settings:

• Future events are regenerated based on the new configuration
• Past events are not affected
• Squad assignments follow the new cycle map going forward

If you change the Anchor Date, the entire rotation shifts. Make sure your squad leaders are aware of any changes to the rotation schedule.

Best Practices

• Set a Meaningful Anchor Date — Choose a date that aligns with the start of your current rotation cycle.
• Match Cycle Length to Squad Count — If you have 4 squads, a 4-week cycle gives each squad equal rotation.
• Use a Reasonable Horizon — 3 months is a good default. Longer horizons mean more events on the calendar, but also more to manage if plans change.
• Communicate Changes — Any modification to the rotation should be communicated to all squad leaders before saving.
• Review Before Saving — Double-check your cycle map to make sure squads are assigned to the correct weeks.

Next Steps

• Service Definitions — Configure the services that feed into the Rotation Engine.
• Admin Panel Overview — Return to the full list of admin areas.