Using the iCalendar Links
By using the iCal Link, your church members can download the church calendar directly to their personal electronic calendars, so they will never miss another church event again!
We include 18 months of past data plus all future events in the iCal feed. If you want to see events further in the past, please view your Events Calendar.
In this Article
- Connecting from My Church Events
- Microsoft Outlook Instructions
- Google Calendar instructions
- Apple iPad Calendar App
- Setting the time zone on your iCalendar feed
Connecting from My Church Events
Follow the instructions below to subscribe to the iCal feed (feel free to share these instructions with your church members who would like to connect to the church calendar!)
1. From the Preview Calendar page click on the blue megaphone icon in the upper right corner.
2. From the "Subscribe to this Calendar" page, you can
- Choose to connect to the full calendar (All Events) or to one or more interest group calendars.
- Copy the "Calendar Address" in the field box to paste into your calendar application, such as Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar or Apple Calendar. This is the URL you need to subscribe to the My Church Events calendar.
- NOTE: The URL in the image below is ONLY for our sample calendar. Please copy the URL from your own My Church Events account.
- NOTE: Since this version of the iCalendar feed is publicly available, your private events will not be included in the feed.
- NOTE: iCalendar (*.ics file extension) is a file format used to distribute calendar information to different applications over the internet. The calendar distributes the calendar events in iCal format. The feed URLs and instructions for using them in calendar programs such as Apple iCal, Microsoft Outlook, and Google Calendar are below.
Microsoft Outlook Instructions
To subscribe to an iCalendar feed using Outlook:
1. From File menu click the Account Settings button
2. In the drop-down, click Account Settings again
3. Click on the Internet Calendars tab and then click the New button
4. Type or paste the calendar URL into the text box:
In the Subscription Options dialog box, you can optionally rename the calendar (recommended since it will be set to "public"). Make sure the box is checked in the Update Limit section.
Google Calendar Instructions
To subscribe to an iCalendar feed using Google Calendar:
1. In the left column, under the Other Calendars section, click the plus sign (+).
2. Choose From URL option
3. Enter the feed URL in the dialog box then click Add Calendar.
NOTE: Google has acknowledged that it can take up to 24 hours, and in rare cases even longer for iCAL feeds to update on certain devices
Apple iPad or iPhone Calendar App
To subscribe to an iCalendar feed from your iPad or iPhone Calendar:
1. View your church calendar
2. Click on the Subscribe button in the upper right.
3. Choose All or select the groups you'd like.
4. Copy the Calendar address URL that shows in the box.
5. Open the Safari browser on your iPad or iPhone and paste the URL you copied.
6. Choose "Allow" on the pop-up prompt.
7. Another pop-up will show with events from the calendar shown. Click "Add" in the upper right.
8. You have now added the calendar to your iPad or iPhone existing calendar.
NOTE: It can take up to 15 minutes for the calendar to sync. This includes the first-time connection and when new events are added.
Setting the time zone on your iCalendar feed
1. Before subscribing to iCalendar, make sure the time zone is set correctly in Calendar Options section of your account. Click <<HERE>> [add link to Setting up your calendar doc] for instructions on how to update this setting.
2. If you have already subscribed to iCal before the time zone was updated, the iCal user needs to refresh iCal on their device or unsubscribe and re-subscribe in order for the time zone to be correct.