Setup guide

Getting your ward started

Most coordinators are set up in about 15 minutes. Do the first part once, then pick the kind of meals you're organizing. You can do both.

Part 1 · Sign up (2 minutes)

1. Go to app.wardtable.com and choose "Set up your ward"

   Enter your stake name, your ward name and your email address. No password: we email you a six-digit code each time you sign in.

2. Enter the code from your email

   It arrives from [email protected] within a minute. If it isn't there, check spam or promotions, then mark it "not spam" so reminders reach you too.

3. You land on your coordinator dashboard

   A Getting started checklist at the top walks you through the rest of this guide and ticks steps off as you finish them.

Part 2 · Missionary dinners

1. Add your companionships

   Open the Missionaries tab and add one entry for each set of missionaries who eat with your ward, for example "Elders · North" or "Sisters · Spanish". Include their names, how many to feed, and any allergies or dietary needs. Members see this when they sign up.

2. Add the missionaries' email addresses

   Use their missionary email. They'll get each dinner as a calendar invitation, a note the morning of the dinner with the host's phone number, and a summary every Monday. They can reply to any of these emails to confirm a time, cancel with a note, or block days, and nobody needs to sign in. When transfers happen, just update the names and emails.

3. Choose meal days and the usual time

   In Meal settings, pick the nights members can sign up for, the usual dinner time, when reminders go out, and whether the ward's pages are in English or Spanish. Under Unavailable dates, block transfers, zone conferences and holidays so nobody signs up for those nights.

4. Share the calendar with your ward

   Copy your ward's link from the dashboard and post it in the ward group chat, email newsletter or Facebook group. Print the QR code for the bulletin or a sign in the foyer. Members pick a companionship and an open night, enter their name and email, and they're done. No account and no app.

5. Add a backup coordinator (recommended)

   Under Coordinator access, invite a second person, such as the ward mission leader or a counselor, so meals keep running when you're traveling.

“We need you to watch over, protect, and inspire the missionaries, who are servants of the Lord.”

Someone signed up on paper or stopped you in the hall? On the Overview tab, use Add a sign-up for someone. If you include their email, they still get the confirmation, reminder and calendar invitation.

Part 3 · Meals for a family in need

Use this for a new baby, surgery, illness, a death in the family, or any time a household needs meals for a while. Family campaigns never appear on the public ward calendar.

1. Start a campaign

   Open Family support and choose New family meal campaign. Give it a title only coordinators see (like "Meals for the Smiths"), then add the start and end dates, household size, dietary needs and allergies, and a delivery window.

2. Add meal dates

   Pick the days of the week meals are needed, for example Monday, Wednesday and Friday for two weeks. You can add or remove dates later.

3. Get the family's OK

   Before volunteers can sign up, record who in the family agreed and what volunteers may see: the address, phone number or special instructions. Volunteers see these details only after they sign up, and only what the family allowed.

4. Open it and invite volunteers

   Choose Open for sign-ups, then create a volunteer invitation link and share it privately, for example with Relief Society or the elders quorum. Volunteers pick a date and get a reminder the day before.

5. Give the family their own link (optional)

   A family link lets the family see who's coming, update dietary needs or instructions, and pause meals if plans change. Volunteers are notified automatically.

“God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.”

Relief Society running family meals? Invite them as a family meals coordinator. They can manage family support without seeing missionary schedules or hosts' contact details.

Part 4 · Week to week

• Confirmations and reminders go out on their own. Hosts get a confirmation and a day-before reminder, and missionaries get a morning-of note.
• Check the Overview tab for open nights and dinners that still need a time. Nudge the ward when the calendar looks thin.
• Missionaries confirm times by replying to their email, and you can also confirm a time yourself on the Overview tab.
• If a dinner falls through, cancel it from the dashboard. The host and missionaries are told, and the night opens back up.
• At transfers, update each companionship's names and emails. Their dinners and private page carry over.

Tips from coordinators

• Announce the link in sacrament meeting or ward council the first week. Seeing the QR code in the bulletin for a few weeks does the rest.
• Pin the calendar link in your ward group chat so it's always easy to find.
• Keep family campaign titles and notes simple. Never include medical details or the reason meals are needed.
• Running a whole stake? Set up one ward first, then add the others from Ward setup. Each ward gets its own calendar and coordinator.