# Roles

> Name the places you need people, such as small group leader, elder or guest host. Say what each one asks, see who holds it from Planning Center, who is ready, and who is growing toward it.

For: Leader, Pastor, Admin, Owner
Canonical: https://giftwell.app/docs/roles

A **role** is a place your church recognises and needs filled: small group leader, serving team lead, guest host, deacon, elder. It is not a Planning Center team. One role can be a position on several teams, or leading a group, or something Planning Center never tracks at all.

## Adding a role

Open **Pipelines** in the sidebar, then the **Roles** tab, and use **Add a role**. Start from a starter role (small group leader, serving team lead, guest host, kids volunteer, mentor, elder or deacon) or **Start from nothing**. A starter is a draft: open **Change this role** to change every word, the target and who can see it.

A role has:

- **A name and a track**, usually Lead or Belong, so it shows in the right column of [Pipelines](/docs/pipelines).
- **How many you need.** Optional. With a target, the Roles page shows the gap as seats, and adds up the places to fill across every role.
- **What it asks.** Plain expectations, one per line, such as "Meets with a coach once a month".
- **Requirements** GiftWell can check, and **qualities** only people can see. See [What a role asks](/docs/role-requirements).
- **Who sees it.** *Leaders and pastors*, or *Pastors only*. A pastors-only role, such as elder, is never shown to a ministry leader, never named to the person, and never sent to Planning Center.
- **A review.** Holders can carry a review date, such as every year for group leaders or every three years for elders.

## Reading the Roles page

Each role is a row of seats:

- A **filled seat** for each person holding it.
- An **empty seat** for each place still to fill.
- Then, set apart, the people close to it: **ready** in gold, **growing toward it** in dashed gold.

So "six of ten, and five people close" shows before you read a number. Each group of seats, and each count under it, opens that list on the role's page. Beside each role, a small chart shows the last twelve weeks: how many held it against the target, and how many were ready or growing. On the role's own page the chart is larger, with ready and growing drawn separately. Point at a chart to read any week.

## Who holds it

GiftWell reads Planning Center for you. A role can say who holds it there: everyone who leads a group, everyone on a Services team, or a position such as Team Lead. When Planning Center changes, the holders change. You can also add a holder by hand, and end a holder when they step down.

## Ready and growing

Each role page has three lists, under **Who could hold it** and **Holding it now**:

- **Holding it now**: who has it now, and when each is due a review.
- **Ready**: everything the role asks is met.
- **Growing toward it**: one or two things still to go, and at least one already there.

Every person comes with reasons, not a score: "At Serve or beyond", "Has served 9 months", "Among their strongest: Shepherding", "Character: Pastor Dana". Something nobody knows yet says so, rather than counting against them.

## Reaching out

Next to anyone in Ready or Growing, **Who knows them?** finds the people closest to them. See [Who knows them](/docs/who-knows-them).

## Plans

Seed and Small keep one role, so you can try the idea. Growing keeps five. Large has no limit and adds [Planning Center lists and workflows](/docs/planning-center-lists-and-workflows).

## What GiftWell never does

- Tell someone they are being considered. You tell them when you are ready.
- Show a role, a list or a reason to the person in it.
- Name someone who asked to be held back, who has not agreed to be contacted, or who is under 18.
- Rank people against each other.