Church Space requires a connection to Planning Center (PCO) in order to function. It’s how we know who your people are and how you send and automate emails using lists you’ve already created in PCO.

You must be at least a People Manage in PCO to connect your account to Church Space. People of any permissions can use Church Space.

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What We Sync

Once connected, we sync the following data from your Planning Center account:

  • All people and their primary email addresses
  • Lists
  • List categories
  • List members

This allows you to send targeted messages, track engagement, and automate communications in Church Space.

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Real-Time Syncing

When you connect to Planning Center, Church Space creates webhooks in your PCO account. This means:

  • Any changes you make in PCO—such as adding or removing people from lists—are reflected in Church Space within minutes
  • Your data stays accurate and up-to-date, without needing manual imports

If you make a change in Planning Center and it doesn’t show in Church Space within 5 minutes, contact support@churchspace.co.

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Who Can Connect to Planning Center

To connect your Planning Center account to Church Space, you must be a People Manager or higher in Planning Center.

  • Anyone you invite to Church Space can use the platform.
  • However, only users with People Manager access in PCO can connect your account.

If a list is not visible to the person who connected your PCO account, it may not appear in Church Space. Visibility is determined by that user’s permissions in Planning Center.

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Connecting to Planning Center

You’ll be prompted to connect to Planning Center during onboarding, so we can sync your data before you start emailing.

If your organization is not connected (or the connection is lost), you’ll be prompted to reconnect.

Reasons you might lose your connection:

  • The person who connected to PCO had their permissions changed within PCO
  • It’s been 90+ days since you last used Church Space
  • The original connector deleted their Church Space account or PCO account

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Disconnecting from Planning Center

To disconnect your Church Space organization from Planning Center:

  1. Go to Organization Settings
  2. Find the Planning Center section
  3. Click Disconnect, then confirm

After disconnecting:

  • You will only be able to manage billing or reconnect your PCO account
  • You will not be able to send emails or manage links

Disconnecting Planning Center disables all core features of Church Space until you reconnect.

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Additional Notes

  • You can see who connected your Planning Center account from the same Organization Settings page.
  • A single Planning Center organization can only be connected to one Church Space organization.

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Future Plans

Removing the requirement to use Planning Center is on our roadmap, but we do not currently have a timeline for this feature.

Need help syncing or managing your Planning Center connection?
Contact support@churchspace.co.