Planning Center Check-ins SQL Queries

Transform Your Check-in Data Into Ministry Insights

Your check-in system is the heartbeat of your weekend services and events. With Parable’s SQL access to Planning Center Check-ins data, you can analyze attendance patterns, optimize volunteer placement, and ensure child safety—all with nightly-synchronized data at your fingertips.

Quick Start

Ready to see who checked in today? Here’s your first query:

-- See the 10 most recent check-ins
SELECT
    c.check_in_id,
    c.first_name,
    c.last_name,
    c.kind,  -- 'Regular', 'Guest', 'Volunteer'
    c.security_code,
    c.created_at as checked_in_at,
    c.checked_out_at
FROM planning_center.checkins_checkins c
WHERE c.created_at >= CURRENT_DATE
ORDER BY c.created_at DESC
LIMIT 10;

What You Can Do With Check-ins Queries

👥 Track Attendance Patterns

Monitor weekly service attendance trends
Compare attendance across different service times
Identify seasonal patterns in attendance
Track first-time guest retention

👶 Manage Children’s Ministry

Monitor classroom capacity and ratios
Track volunteer-to-child ratios with current data
Analyze age group distributions
Generate security reports for child safety

🙋 Optimize Volunteer Placement

Identify understaffed locations
Track volunteer attendance and reliability
Balance volunteer assignments across services
Monitor volunteer check-in patterns

📊 Generate Leadership Reports

Create attendance dashboards for leadership
Track growth metrics across campuses
Monitor event effectiveness
Export data for strategic planning

Available Tables

Your Planning Center Check-ins data is organized into these main tables:

Table	What It Contains	Key Use Cases
`checkins_checkins`	Individual check-in records	Attendance tracking, security codes
`checkins_people`	People who check in	Person profiles, contact info
`checkins_events`	Event definitions	Service times, recurring events
`checkins_event_times`	Specific times for events	Service schedules, time-based analysis
`checkins_locations`	Physical or logical locations	Rooms, classrooms, volunteer areas
`checkins_event_periods`	Check-in sessions	Service-specific attendance
`checkins_headcounts`	Manual attendance counts	Total attendance tracking
`checkins_check_in_times`	Times people checked into locations	Location-specific attendance
`checkins_labels`	Print labels for check-ins	Name tags, security labels
`checkins_stations`	Check-in kiosk stations	Station performance, usage patterns

Understanding Relationships

Just like with other Planning Center data, Check-ins stores relationships in separate tables to maintain data integrity:

checkins_checkin_relationships - Links check-ins to people, events, locations
checkins_event_relationships - Links events to related entities
checkins_location_relationships - Links locations to events and parent locations
checkins_event_time_relationships - Links event times to events and locations

We’ll show you exactly how to join these tables in our examples!

Common Check-ins Scenarios

Finding Today’s Check-ins by Location

-- Get check-ins grouped by location for today
SELECT
    l.name as location_name,
    l.kind as location_type,
    COUNT(DISTINCT c.check_in_id) as total_checkins,
    COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN c.kind = 'Regular' THEN c.check_in_id END) as regular_checkins,
    COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN c.kind = 'Guest' THEN c.check_in_id END) as guest_checkins,
    COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN c.kind = 'Volunteer' THEN c.check_in_id END) as volunteer_checkins
FROM planning_center.checkins_checkins c
JOIN planning_center.checkins_checkin_relationships cr
    ON c.check_in_id = cr.checkin_id
    AND cr.relationship_type = 'Location'
JOIN planning_center.checkins_locations l
    ON cr.relationship_id = l.location_id
WHERE DATE(c.created_at) = CURRENT_DATE
GROUP BY l.name, l.kind
ORDER BY total_checkins DESC;

Tracking Volunteer Coverage

-- Check volunteer-to-child ratios by location
SELECT
    l.name as location,
    l.attendees_per_volunteer as required_ratio,
    COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN c.kind = 'Regular' THEN c.check_in_id END) as children,
    COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN c.kind = 'Volunteer' THEN c.check_in_id END) as volunteers,
    CASE 
        WHEN COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN c.kind = 'Volunteer' THEN c.check_in_id END) > 0
        THEN ROUND(COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN c.kind = 'Regular' THEN c.check_in_id END)::NUMERIC / 
                   COUNT(DISTINCT CASE WHEN c.kind = 'Volunteer' THEN c.check_in_id END), 1)
        ELSE NULL
    END as actual_ratio
FROM planning_center.checkins_locations l
LEFT JOIN planning_center.checkins_checkin_relationships cr
    ON l.location_id = cr.relationship_id
    AND cr.relationship_type = 'Location'
LEFT JOIN planning_center.checkins_checkins c
    ON cr.checkin_id = c.check_in_id
    AND DATE(c.created_at) = CURRENT_DATE
    AND c.checked_out_at IS NULL  -- Only currently checked in
WHERE l.kind = 'Folder'  -- Physical locations
    AND l.child_or_adult = 'child'
GROUP BY l.name, l.attendees_per_volunteer
ORDER BY l.name;

Next Steps

📚 New to SQL? Start with Basic Queries for simple, powerful queries you can use today. 🚀 Ready for More? Check out Advanced Queries for complex analysis and reporting. 📊 Need Reports? See Reporting Examples for complete, production-ready reports. 🔍 Want Details? Review the Data Model for complete table documentation.

Common Questions

What’s the difference between an Event and an Event Time?

An Event is the recurring definition (e.g., “Sunday Service”)
An Event Time is a specific instance (e.g., “Sunday Service at 9:00 AM on Jan 7, 2024”)
Event Periods represent active check-in sessions

How do I find people who haven’t checked out?

Look for records where checked_out_at IS NULL:

SELECT first_name, last_name, security_code, created_at
FROM planning_center.checkins_checkins
WHERE checked_out_at IS NULL
  AND DATE(created_at) = CURRENT_DATE
ORDER BY created_at DESC;

What does the ‘kind’ field mean?

The kind field identifies the type of check-in:

Regular - Standard attendee (usually children)
Guest - First-time or visiting attendee
Volunteer - Someone serving in ministry

How do I track first-time guests?

Check for the one_time_guest flag or kind = 'Guest':

SELECT COUNT(*) as first_time_guests
FROM planning_center.checkins_checkins
WHERE one_time_guest = true
  AND DATE(created_at) >= CURRENT_DATE - INTERVAL '7 days';

Getting Help

🐛 Found an issue? Report it at github.com/getparable/parable-api/issues
📖 Need more examples? Check our other query guides in this folder
💬 Have questions? Reach out to your Parable support team

Your attendance data tells a story of growth and engagement. Let’s help you understand it.

​Planning Center Check-ins SQL Queries

​Transform Your Check-in Data Into Ministry Insights

​Quick Start

​What You Can Do With Check-ins Queries

​👥 Track Attendance Patterns

​👶 Manage Children’s Ministry

​🙋 Optimize Volunteer Placement

​📊 Generate Leadership Reports

​Available Tables

​Understanding Relationships

​Common Check-ins Scenarios

​Finding Today’s Check-ins by Location

​Tracking Volunteer Coverage

​Next Steps

​Common Questions

​What’s the difference between an Event and an Event Time?

​How do I find people who haven’t checked out?

​What does the ‘kind’ field mean?

​How do I track first-time guests?

​Getting Help