It’s always awkward when you meet someone at church, invite them to lunch…and then forget their name on the drive to Panera. What about the stress when you promise to invite a couple to a small group and forget to ask for their phone number?

No shame. We all do it, but also, awkward.

Enter, the church directory—it’ll be relevant as long as community is, which is to say, always.

As of today, you can give your congregation access to a directory in the Church Center mobile app, and on the web. It’s completely free for your church to set up through Planning Center People.

See the Directory in Church Center

Church Center is where your congregation can go to connect with the life of your church by engaging with the content you share, which now includes a directory with other members’ contact information.

Customer Publishing Layout


People can search by individual names, by family, or scroll to scan faces if they don’t remember names. When they view a household page, they’ll see the family photo and then each person in the household.

A family household page on the church directory with a photo of a whole family and individual profiles beneath.

So how do you get this set up?

Invite your Congregation to the Directory

Like everything involving your congregation’s information, setting up the directory starts in People.

Everyone’s information is already organized and ready to go in their profiles; however, congregants' personal information is always private until they choose to share it.

So before people’s information is included in the directory, you have to invite your congregation to join by sending an email through People.

The Planning Center People directory home page with configuration and invitation options to add people.

After people accept your email invitation, they’ll be able to choose exactly what personal and household information they would like to share.

An individual profile on the directory indicating the information a person wants displayed publicly.

People can also always go back and change their privacy preferences for their contact and household information.

Publish the Directory

Today we released Planning Center Publishing—a brand new product to help you manage and completely customize your church's presence in Church Center.

Publishing is where you will go to publish the directory to Church Center and make it officially available for your congregation.

You can learn more about Publishing in the announcement post, but all you need to know now is that publishing the directory is free.

This article will walk you through each step of the process, and you can use this guide to get started with Publishing. And as always, our support team is ready to help you as you figure out all this newness!

We hope the directory is a way for your church to care for and connect with one another in meaningful relationships.

♥️ Planning Center