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Transform Your Church’s Data Into Stories

Welcome to Parable – where your church’s scattered data becomes unified insights. No more juggling spreadsheets or pulling the same reports week after week. Let’s get your data working for your ministry.

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What You’ll Accomplish

In just a few minutes, you’ll connect your Planning Center account and database, creating a single source of truth for all your church’s data. Once connected, you can query your data directly and build dynamic dashboards in tools like Power BI or Tableau.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

Planning Center Account

Admin access to your church’s Planning Center account

Database Credentials

Connection details for your church’s database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.)

SQL Knowledge

Basic SQL skills for querying your unified data

BI Tool (Optional)

Power BI, Tableau, or similar for visualization

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Setup Your Account in 4 Steps

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Step 1: Add Your Organization

Start by telling us about your church. This helps us tailor Parable to your specific ministry context.
  1. Organization Name: Enter your church’s name (e.g., “Echo Life Church”)
  2. Mailing Address: Complete all address fields
    • Street Address Line 1
    • Street Address Line 2 (optional)
    • City, State/Province, ZIP Code
This information helps us understand your church’s context and size for better insights.
Share key metrics about your congregation:
  • Denomination: Select from the dropdown
  • Average Weekly Attendance: Choose your typical attendance range
  • Age of Organization: How long has your church been established?
  • Number of Staff Members: Select your full-time equivalent staff count
These demographics help benchmark your data against similar churches and provide contextual insights.

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Step 2: Connect Planning Center

Planning Center is the heart of your church management data. This integration brings all that valuable information into Parable.
1

Select Planning Center Integration

Click “Add an Integration” and select Planning Center from the ChMS options.
2

Choose Your Apps

Select which Planning Center apps to sync:
  • People: Membership database
  • Giving: Tithes, offerings, & reporting
  • Calendar: Scheduling, facilities, & resources
  • Check-Ins: Attendance & volunteer tools
  • Groups: Community engagement & chat
  • Publishing: Custom pages, video, & audio library
  • Registrations: Signups, tickets, & payments
  • Services: Worship planning & scheduling
Select all apps for the most comprehensive insights, or start with core apps like People and Giving.
3

Authorize Access

You’ll be redirected to Planning Center to authorize Parable. Ensure you have Organizational Admin and Giving Administrator permissions.

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Step 3: Create Database Connection

This is where the magic happens. Connect your database to unlock SQL querying capabilities and nightly-synchronized data access.
Enter your database credentials:
  1. Connection Name: Give it a memorable name (e.g., “My Database Connection”)
  2. Username: Your database username
  3. Password: Your database password
  4. Host: Database server address (e.g., ep-blue-hill-a74116gq-pooler.c-2.us-west-2.aws.neon.tech)
  5. Database: Database name (e.g., neondb)
Copy your password immediately after creation – you won’t be able to see it again for security reasons.
Your connection string will be automatically generated: postgresql://[username]:[password]@[host]/[database]?sslmode=require Use this string to connect from BI tools or custom applications.

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Step 4: Setup Billing

Complete your account setup by selecting a plan that fits your church’s needs.

Start Using Parable

Click “Start Using Parable” to select your plan and enter payment information. Your data will begin syncing immediately after setup completion.

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What’s Next?

Congratulations! Your church’s data infrastructure is now unified. Here’s how to start extracting powerful insights:

Access Your Data

Connect to your database with PGAdmin, TablePlus, or DataGrip

Connect BI Tools

Set up Power BI or Tableau for visual dashboards

Build Reports

Create recurring reports that update automatically

API Access

Integrate Parable data into your custom applications

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Common First Queries

Get started with these practical SQL queries: 
-- Weekly attendance trends
SELECT
  DATE_TRUNC('week', check_in_date) as week,
  COUNT(DISTINCT person_id) as unique_attendees
FROM check_ins
WHERE check_in_date >= CURRENT_DATE - INTERVAL '12 weeks'
GROUP BY week
ORDER BY week DESC;

-- Giving patterns by demographic
SELECT
  age_bracket,
  AVG(gift_amount) as avg_gift,
  COUNT(DISTINCT person_id) as givers
FROM giving
JOIN people ON giving.person_id = people.id
WHERE gift_date >= DATE_TRUNC('month', CURRENT_DATE)
GROUP BY age_bracket;

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Your Data Tells a Story

Remember, every data point represents a person in your congregation – their journey, their engagement, their spiritual growth. Parable transforms these individual stories into actionable insights that help you shepherd more effectively.
Need Help?

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The Journey Ahead

You’ve just taken the first step toward data-informed ministry. As you explore Parable, you’ll discover patterns and insights that were previously hidden across multiple systems. Each report you build, each trend you identify, brings you closer to understanding and serving your congregation more effectively. Welcome to a new chapter in your church’s data story.