Planning Center People SQL Queries

Know Your Congregation Through Data

Your church database is the foundation of ministry. With Parable’s SQL access to Planning Center People data, you can understand your congregation deeply, track engagement, manage pastoral care, and ensure no one is overlooked.

Quick Start

Ready to explore your people data? Here’s your first query to see recent additions to your church:

-- See the 10 most recently added people
SELECT 
    person_id,
    first_name,
    last_name,
    name,
    status,
    membership,
    created_at,
    CASE 
        WHEN child = true THEN 'Child'
        WHEN graduation_year IS NOT NULL THEN 'Student'
        ELSE 'Adult'
    END as age_group
FROM planning_center.people_people
WHERE status = 'active'
ORDER BY created_at DESC
LIMIT 10;

What You Can Do With People Queries

👥 Understand Your Congregation

Track membership growth and demographics
Identify family units and relationships
Analyze age distributions and life stages
Monitor geographic spread of your church

📊 Measure Engagement

Track attendance patterns across ministries
Identify highly engaged vs occasional attendees
Find people not connected to any groups or serving teams
Monitor volunteer participation

🎯 Pastoral Care

Identify people needing follow-up
Track milestones (birthdays, anniversaries)
Monitor spiritual journey progress
Manage background checks and safety protocols

📈 Strategic Planning

Demographic analysis for ministry planning
Campus and location insights
Communication preferences analysis
Volunteer capacity planning

Available Tables

Your Planning Center People data is organized into these primary tables:

Table	What It Contains	Key Use Cases
`people_people`	Core person records	Demographics, status, membership, permissions
`people_households`	Family units	Family groupings, primary contacts
`people_household_memberships`	Links people to households	Family relationships, household composition
`people_emails`	Email addresses	Contact info, primary emails, communication
`people_phone_numbers`	Phone numbers	Contact info, SMS capability
`people_addresses`	Physical addresses	Mailing, geographic analysis, home visits
`people_campuses`	Church locations	Multi-site management, campus assignment
`people_lists`	Custom people lists	Segmentation, targeted ministry
`people_field_data`	Custom field values	Additional data points, ministry-specific info
`people_notes`	Pastoral notes	Care tracking, prayer requests, follow-ups
`people_workflows`	Process workflows	New member classes, volunteer onboarding
`people_workflow_cards`	Workflow progress	Individual progress through processes
`people_forms`	Church forms	Sign-ups, registrations, information gathering
`people_form_submissions`	Form responses	Submitted data, event registrations
`people_background_checks`	Safety screening	Volunteer clearance, child safety

Understanding Relationships

Parable stores Planning Center relationships in separate tables to maintain data integrity. Key relationship patterns include:

people_people_relationships - Links people to campuses, lists, inactive reasons
people_household_relationships - Links households to people and campuses
people_email_relationships - Links emails to people
people_phone_number_relationships - Links phone numbers to people
people_field_data_relationships - Links custom field data to people

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

Key Concepts

Person Status

active - Current member/attendee
inactive - No longer attending
Other custom statuses your church defines

Membership Levels

Your church defines membership levels like:

Member - Full members
Regular Attender - Non-members who attend regularly
Visitor - Occasional attendees
Custom levels specific to your church

Age Groups

child - Boolean flag for children
graduation_year - Indicates students
birthdate - For age calculations
grade - Current school grade

Permissions

site_administrator - Full system access
people_permissions - Access to People app
can_create_forms - Form creation rights
can_email_lists - Mass email permissions

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

How do I find a specific person?

SELECT * FROM planning_center.people_people
WHERE LOWER(first_name) LIKE '%john%' 
   OR LOWER(last_name) LIKE '%smith%'
   AND status = 'active';

What’s the difference between name fields?

name - Full display name
first_name - First/given name
last_name - Family/surname
nickname - Preferred name
middle_name - Middle name
given_name - Legal first name

How do I calculate age from birthdate?

SELECT 
    name,
    birthdate,
    EXTRACT(YEAR FROM AGE(CURRENT_DATE, birthdate)) as age
FROM planning_center.people_people
WHERE birthdate IS NOT NULL;

How do I find household members?

Join through the household membership table:

SELECT 
    h.name as household_name,
    p.name as person_name,
    hm.pending
FROM planning_center.people_households h
JOIN planning_center.people_household_memberships hm 
    ON h.household_id = hm.household_id
JOIN planning_center.people_people p 
    ON hm.person_id = p.person_id
WHERE h.household_id = 'YOUR_HOUSEHOLD_ID';

What does status = ‘active’ mean?

Active people are current participants in your church. Inactive people have been marked as no longer attending (moved, deceased, etc.). Always filter by status unless you specifically need inactive records.

Tips for Success

Filter by Status - Usually include WHERE status = 'active'
Handle NULLs - Many fields are optional, use COALESCE or IS NOT NULL
Use Relationships - Join through relationship tables for connected data
Consider Privacy - Be mindful of sensitive data like medical notes
Test with LIMIT - Add LIMIT 10 while developing queries

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

Every person matters. Let data help you care for them better.

​Planning Center People SQL Queries

​Know Your Congregation Through Data

​Quick Start

​What You Can Do With People Queries

​👥 Understand Your Congregation

​📊 Measure Engagement

​🎯 Pastoral Care

​📈 Strategic Planning

​Available Tables

​Understanding Relationships

​Key Concepts

​Person Status

​Membership Levels

​Age Groups

​Permissions

​Next Steps

​Common Questions

​How do I find a specific person?

​What’s the difference between name fields?

​How do I calculate age from birthdate?

​How do I find household members?

​What does status = ‘active’ mean?

​Tips for Success

​Getting Help