Why not a free tool?
A fair question. There are free ways to schedule interviews — a shared calendar, a sign-up sheet, a tool someone in your ward built. Some of them are good. Here is what a unit is actually paying for with Minster, so you can decide whether it matters for yours.
It keeps working after the person who set it up is released
Callings change every few years, and a tool that lives with one person tends to leave with them — the login, the settings, the reason it existed. Minster is built around that moment: the subscription belongs to the unit, not to a leader, and when a bishop or secretary is released the next one picks it up with a payer handoff instead of starting over.
We are a small team too, and we say so. What stands behind the promise is a legal entity that is accountable for the service, a published support model, and a written plan for keeping it running — not a headcount.
Whose data it is, and who answers for it
Interview scheduling touches sensitive things: who is meeting with the bishop, when, and — for youth — a guardian's contact details. Whatever you use, it is worth asking: is there a privacy policy and terms of service a lawyer has read? How long is data kept, and what happens to it when you stop? Are notes encrypted? Is there an audit trail? And if the tool holds a list of members, what does it do with that list — who can see it, what does it send, and how long does it keep it?
Minster's answers: counsel-reviewed terms and a privacy policy you can read below; a stated retention schedule; leader notes, where a unit turns them on, encrypted per unit; and an append-only audit log. Your slots are private to your presidency, not visible to the ward.
On lists in particular: a presidency can keep follow-up lists, because that is the work — who is due for a youth interview, a tithing declaration, a temple recommend. Two rules bound them. Minster never sends anyone a message because a leader added them to a list: every text we send is about an appointment that person booked, and follow-up messages are composed on the leader's own phone, from the leader's own number. And a list holds a name, a contact detail, and a date — never a member's standing, never a reason. It is yours, never sold or shared, and deleted when you ask.
Text messages that keep working
Reminders and booking links by text are what make members show up — and texting is the first thing a free tool drops when it gets expensive or when carriers start filtering unregistered senders. Minster sends from a registered, toll-free-verified number, with member consent captured properly, and the cost is already inside the price. Reminder texts stay generic, so the interview type is never exposed on a phone screen.
Someone to email
When something is wrong on a Sunday morning, you want a person, not a repository. Email support@minster.church — we reply within one business day. There are short role guides for bishops, secretaries, and stake presidencies, and a help center for the common tasks.
Depth, when you need it
Last, because it is the part you have to feel rather than read: each leader keeps their own availability, the presidency shares one calendar, interview types route to the right people, slots are private, and a stake can give every ward the same booking experience with one link. A sign-up sheet is a list of times; this is a schedule that understands how a presidency actually works.
The honest way to decide is to run a season on it. Sign up by December 31 and your trial is 60 days — two full months of tithing-declaration season, on us.