The parish ministry rota that fills itself
Tell PewRota your services, how many of each ministry each one needs, and who can do what. It fills a month, a quarter or a year fairly, keeps your rules, and prints it.
Names stay on this computer. No account, no upload.
The sample parish, first weekend: Sat 5 and Sun 6 Dec 2026
Saturday 5:00 pm Vigil
- Lector
- Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion
- Altar serverthe first is the senior place
- Usher
Sunday 8:00 am
- Lector
- Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion
- Altar serverthe first is the senior place
- Usher
Sunday 10:30 am
- Lector
- Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion
- Altar serverthe first is the senior place
- Usher
Tap one name, then another, to swap them. Nothing here is saved.
The sample parish has 56 people, three Masses a weekend and four ministries. From December to February that is 39 Masses over 13 weekends and 442 places to fill, 34 a weekend. PewRota fills 442 of them with no rule broken. Everyone serves between 6 and 9 times and nobody serves twice on one weekend, and every Mass has at least one of the parish's 6 senior servers (out of 13 servers).
How it works
- Services. The weekly pattern and any one-off feasts, with how many of each ministry each one needs.
- People. Paste the list: who can do what, preferred services, dates away, a monthly limit, families and pairs.
- Rules. Not twice in one weekend, families together, a senior server at every service, a minimum gap. Your parish's own.
- Build and review. Every place is filled where the rules allow; any place that cannot be is listed with the reason. Swap and lock by hand.
- Print. By service, by person, a bulletin grid, reminders to paste into your own email, and a fairness report.
Names never leave this computer
Half the altar servers on most rotas are children, so PewRota has no server to send their names to. The rota is built on this page and kept in this browser, with no account. Keeping minors' names off the cloud explains why that matters.
Guides for parish schedulers
- The guide hub
- How to make an altar server schedule
- Lector and communion minister rota
- Sidespeople and flower rota
- Fair rotation rules
- Keeping minors' names off the cloud
- Ministry scheduling software compared
PewRota applies the rules you set for your own parish; it ships no liturgical rules of its own.
Frequently asked questions
What is PewRota?
A rota builder for parish ministries. You enter services, ministries and people with their availability, choose the rules, and it builds a fair rota for a month, a quarter or a year, with a review grid and printouts.
Is it free?
One ministry with up to 25 people, a month at a time, with every printout, drafts and backup, is free forever with no account. Premium adds every ministry and person, a quarter or a year, fairness carried between quarters, the swap log and CSV export.
Where are the names kept?
Names never leave this computer: the list, the rota and every printout are made and kept in this browser, and nothing is uploaded. There is no account and no server copy. Save a backup file to keep a copy or to move the rota to another computer.
Does it ask for birthdates or ages?
No. Altar servers are often children, so PewRota never asks for a birthdate, an age, an address or a phone number. A senior tick box does the job an age would.