Make PewPlan Look Like Your Church

Every church has its own feel. Some love the look of a printed order of service on Sabbath morning. Others have a team that plans every week and wants something dense and quick. Some have members who simply need bigger, clearer text.

From today, PewPlan can match yours.

Choose a theme for your church

Open Settings → Appearance and you'll see four themes, each with a live preview:

• Ink & Gold (free). The PewPlan look you know: deep ink and gold, calm white rows, in your device's own font.
• Order of Service (Pro). Paper and serif, like a printed bulletin, with small caps and old-style numbers.
• Warm (Pro). Large, rounded and labelled in plain words. The easiest to read, and a good fit for teams with less confident tech users.
• Focus (Pro). Dark and dense for people who build programmes every week, with mono numbers so times and hymn numbers line up.

The church owner picks the theme once and it applies to everyone in your church: the Service Builder, Settings, and the shared programme your members open on Sabbath. Present mode and PDF bulletins keep their own clean, neutral look, so slides and printouts stay readable whatever you choose.

If your Pro plan ends, PewPlan switches back to Ink & Gold but remembers your choice, so it comes straight back if you upgrade again.

A redesigned Service Builder underneath

The themes sit on top of a rebuilt Service Builder, which everyone gets whatever your plan:

• Numbered items. Each item leads with its number, and a time only shows if you set one. Many churches don't time every item, and now the list doesn't look empty when you don't.
• One Add item button. Sections and Import live inside it, so the bottom of the list stays tidy.
• A clear toolbar. Undo, Activity, Export, Present and Share sit together at the top, and a small Saved pill tells you when your changes are safe.
• The approval stepper. Draft → Approved → Pencil Down is now one control at the top. Pencil Down asks before it locks, and once locked, only the owner and the approver can make changes.
• A ⋯ menu on every row to edit an item or move it up or down without dragging.
• Private notes. The Notes field on an item is now for your team only: it never appears on the shared page or in Present mode. It's a safe place for cues like "mic 2 for the duet".

Built for desktop too

On a laptop or desktop, the Service Builder uses the whole screen. Your list sits on the left and the item you're editing stays open beside it, so you can click from item to item without closing anything. Drag the divider between them to give the list or the editor more room, and PewPlan remembers your width.

Songs, Roster, Media and Settings have a desktop layout as well, with a side menu so you can move between them in one click. You can also move through the programme with the keyboard: the arrow keys move between items, Enter opens one and Esc closes it.

A new shared programme

The page your members open from WhatsApp has been redesigned to match. Items are numbered, songs and readings expand with a tap, and there's a text size control for anyone who needs bigger print in the pew. On a tablet or desktop it uses two columns. And it picks up your church's theme.

Also new

Import a programme (Pro). Already have this week's programme in a Word document, a PDF or a spreadsheet? Tap New programme → Import and paste the text, or upload a PDF, Excel or CSV file. PewPlan turns each line into an item, recognising hymns, scripture readings and who is taking part. Imported items are marked so you can check them before you save. To add several items to a programme you already have, use Add item → Import items.

Better scripture slides in FreeShow. Scripture readings now start with a title slide showing the reference, and the verses are split across slides by how much fits, not cut off mid-sentence. A new lines per slide slider (4 by default) lets you choose how much text goes on each slide. Baptismal Candidate items now export to FreeShow the same way they appear in Present mode.

Try it this Sabbath

If you're the church owner, open Settings → Appearance and try each theme with the preview. Ink & Gold is free for everyone. Order of Service, Warm and Focus come with Pro, which you can try free for 30 days.

As always, if something doesn't look right or you'd like to see a feature, send us a note at support@pewplan.app.