One service.
One clear coverage check.

1. Choose the Sunday date

Open Coverage and set the Sunday date in B4. Keep it as a date value, not a descriptive label. A blank date prevents an entered role from showing Ready.

2. Add one required role

In the first blank Coverage row, enter Service / room, Role, Start time and Required. Type your actual start time into the blank working tab. Leave Confirmed, Pending, Gap and Status alone; those columns contain formulas.

3. Enter the matching assignments

On Volunteers, use one row per person and assignment. Match the service/room, role, Sunday date and start time exactly to Coverage. Choose the assignment status from the dropdown.

For the fictional example, enter Morgan as Confirmed and Casey as Pending. Use Confirmed only after the person has actually said yes. Check that each populated row’s Integrity flag is OK.

4. Read the gap, not just the list of names

With two people required, one Confirmed and one Pending, Coverage should show Confirmed 1 · Pending 1 · Gap 1 · Status Gap. A pending reply does not fill the role.

If Casey later confirms, update that assignment’s status. The entered example then has two confirmed people and a zero gap. This is a hypothetical example, not an actual received reply.

If your results differ, use the matching-input checks. Don’t overwrite the count formulas to make the numbers agree.

5. Give the next action an owner

Use Substitutes to record dated options, then choose a suitable message from your purchased templates. Personalize it and send it through your church’s normal channel.

Use Message Log to record what actually happened. Don’t mark a message as sent or invent a response. Update the assignment when a real answer arrives, and review Coverage again.

Substitutes and Message Log are manual follow-up tables. Adding a name there does not automatically change confirmed coverage.