Free church duty roster generator
Type your roles, your volunteers' names and the dates. The generator builds a rota that spreads turns evenly and respects who can do what, then you print it or download a CSV. It runs in your browser: nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
Everything happens in your browser. Nothing you type is saved, and nothing is sent to Churchory or anyone else. Reload the page and it is gone, so print or download before you leave.
How does the duty roster generator work?
For each date, the generator fills every role with the volunteer who has served least so far and, among those, least recently. Ties are settled at random, so Build again gives you a different but equally fair rota. Nobody is put on two roles on the same date unless you tick the box, and a volunteer limited to certain roles is never placed anywhere else. If no one can take a slot, it is left Open for you to fill by hand.
The CSV has one row per slot (date, position, volunteer, with empty backup, confirmed and notes columns), the same shape as our free volunteer schedule template, so you can paste the two together or keep working in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.
What makes a church duty roster fair?
- Everyone serves about the same number of times. The generator counts turns and always picks from the people with the fewest.
- Nobody serves two weeks running when it can be avoided. Among people with the same count, the one who served longest ago goes first.
- People only do what they signed up for. A sound tech who does not want to do kids is never put in the kids room.
- Blockout dates come first. The generator does not know who is away, so ask for unavailable dates before you build, and fix the few clashes by hand after printing. Our guide to building a serving rotation people don't burn out on explains why collecting availability first matters more than any algorithm.
Tips for using it
- Build one rota per service time, or add the time to the role name ("Greeter 9:30", "Greeter 11:00").
- For a role that needs more people than you have, write "Greeter x2" and let the Open slots show you where to recruit.
- Publish two to four weeks ahead, name a backup for the hardest roles, and mark each slot confirmed as people reply.
- Print it for the noticeboard, and download the CSV to share by email or to keep the master copy.
When a generator is not enough
A one-off rota is fine for a single team. It gets hard when people serve on several teams, when swaps happen by text and never make it back onto the sheet, and when the same few people quietly end up on every week. Churchory Sunday collects availability from the volunteer rather than guessing it, builds serving rotations across weeks and services, sends swap requests to the people who can actually cover, and keeps every team's schedule on volunteers' phones. It is $25 a month or $250 a year, with a 45-day free trial and no card required.
Questions about the duty roster generator
Can the duty roster generator handle unavailable dates and swaps?
No. It builds a one-off rota from the names and dates you give it, so ask for unavailable dates before you build and fix the few clashes by hand afterwards. Swaps, blockout dates volunteers enter themselves, reminders and a schedule people can see on their phone are what Churchory Sunday adds on top.
Is the church duty roster generator free, and do you keep what I type?
It is free, with no sign-up, and nothing you type is kept. The generator runs entirely in your browser: the roles, names and dates never leave your device, nothing is stored, and reloading the page clears it. Print the rota or download the CSV before you close the tab.
How does the duty roster generator decide who serves when?
For each date it fills every role with the volunteer who has served the fewest times so far and, among those, the one who served longest ago, with ties settled at random. Nobody is placed on two roles the same day unless you allow it, and a volunteer limited to certain roles is only ever put in those. Slots nobody can take are left open for you to fill by hand.
What is in the duty roster CSV, and will it open in Google Sheets?
One row per slot: the date, the position, the volunteer, and empty backup, confirmed and notes columns, the same shape as our free volunteer schedule template. It is a plain CSV, so it opens in Google Sheets, Excel and Numbers.