Creating, Editing and Deleting Recurring Events

Recurring events are especially useful for regular activities such as church services, team meetings, or other recurring appointments in your congregation. Instead of creating each event manually, you can set up an entire series with just a few clicks – and define various recurrence rules. In this article, we’ll show you how to create, edit, and delete recurring events, and what to keep in mind when using duties.

Creating a Recurring Event

1. Open the calendar and click on “Create event”.
2. A small window will open. Click “More options” in the bottom right corner.
3. In the expanded window, you’ll find the option “Doesn't repeat” below the date and time section.

Click on it to choose a recurrence rule.

4. You can now choose from the following recurrence options:

• Daily
• Weekly (bi-weekly, or multiple times a week)
• Monthly (on the same date or on the same day of the week and in which week of the month (first/last/...))
• Yearly
• Custom: Here you can select specific weekdays, exclude individual dates, and define an end date or a maximum number of occurrences.

Creating custom rules for recurring events

1. Specific dates and/or periods can be included and excluded in an event.
2. The event can be limited to specific calendar periods, like national holidays, school breaks or church specific days and periods.
3. You can restrict event series to certain months (e.g. Apr, May, Jun).

• With the option "Limit to" you can easliy create an event that is only in the school holidays for example.

• Use the Preview to check the dates that you created.

Rota in Recurring Events

When you add rotas to a recurring event, they will be applied to all events in the series. It is currently not possible to assign duties to individual dates within the series. So, if you want to plan a specific Sunday differently, you’ll need to:

1. Delete that one event from the series
2. Then create a new single event and assign the duties as needed

If people are already assigned to duties and you delete a date from the series, you will be asked whether you want to notify them about the cancellation.

Editing a Recurring Event

You can customize individual events within a series – such as changing the location, the notes or the time of the following events.

The dates of the entire series cannot be changed afterward, as this would overwrite all existing data (duties, intentions, etc.).

If you need a series with a new date, you should:

1. Copy the existing series
2. Adjust the time and add the recurring rules again
3. Save the new series and, if necessary, update the rotas.

What Happens When You Copy a Recurring Event?

When you copy a recurring event, a new single event is created, not a new recurring series.

The recurrence rule and the assigned people in rotas will not be copied – only the details of the event (title, location, notes, duties, etc.) will be transferred.

Deleting a Recurring Event

When you open an event from a series, you will find a trash can icon in the top right corner. Clicking on it will allow you to choose what to delete:

• “Only this instance” – Only the individual event will be deleted
• “All following instances” – All events from the selected date onward will be deleted, while previous events remain
• “All instances" – The entire series (both past and future events) will be deleted

If you have questions about rotas in ChurchDesk, we recommend checking out a separate article:

👉 Rotas

Updated on: 20/10/2025