Integration · Planning Center
Planning Center headcounts, filled in automatically
A camera at the front of your room takes one photo during the service. Kingdom Metrics counts every person in the seats, keeps the photo so you can verify it, and writes the number into Planning Center Check-Ins as a Headcount — before your team has left the building.
- Writes
- One Headcount per service in Check-Ins, on the matching Event and Event Time
- Reads
- Only Events, Event Times and Attendance Types — never People, check-ins or giving
- Connects with
- A Personal Access Token you create in Planning Center and can revoke at any time
Already on Planning Center? Nothing changes for your check-in stations, People data or workflows. Kingdom Metrics adds one thing: the headcount.
How it works
From the room to Check-Ins in three steps
No clicker, no spreadsheet, no “did anyone count today?” — the headcount is measured, verified and delivered on its own.
Your service starts
On the schedule you set, a camera mounted at the front of the room takes one wide photo of the congregation. Nobody has to remember, nobody has to click — the same moment, every service, every week.
The AI counts, and keeps the receipt
Our model, trained on more than 20,000 images of people in church services, counts every person in the seats — typically 95%+ accurate on the first capture. Open the photo in the portal and you can see exactly who was counted. Adjust it if you need to; the portal number is the one that stands.
The headcount lands in Planning Center
Kingdom Metrics writes the count into Check-Ins as a Headcount on the matching Event and Event Time, under an attendance type named “KMetrics” — or one your team already reports on. Your Planning Center reports, and anything that reads them, see a measured number instead of a guess.
What lands in Planning Center — and what we never touch
The integration is deliberately narrow. It writes one kind of record and reads only what it needs to file that record correctly.
Written to Planning Center
- A Headcount total for each service, filed on the matching Event Time
- An attendance type called “KMetrics” — or the existing one you choose (one per auditorium, for example)
- One Kingdom Metrics schedule per Planning Center Event; Events with several service times are matched by start time
- One camera per room — each room writes its own headcount, so multi-room and multi-campus churches get a number per space
Never touched
- People records — we never read or write them
- Check-ins — kiosk, child and volunteer check-in keep working exactly as they do today; we don't create or edit check-in records
- Giving, Services plans, teams or songs
- Your login — the connection uses a Personal Access Token you create in Planning Center and can revoke at any time
Headcount methods, side by side
Every method produces a number. They differ in who has to remember, what the number actually measures, and whether anyone can check it afterwards.
| Method | Who triggers it | What you get | Verifiable later? | In Planning Center? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usher or clicker count | A volunteer, every service | One number that drifts week to week and usually runs high | No | Only if someone types it in |
| Check-in stations | The attendee | How many people checked in — not how many were in the room | Per person, yes | Yes, as check-ins — not a room headcount |
| Photo-estimate apps | A staff member who remembers to take the photo | An estimate the staff member confirms by hand | No — typically the photo isn't kept | Varies by vendor |
| Kingdom Metrics | Scheduled and unattended | A count of the room, 95%+ on the first capture, with the reference photo | Yes — open the photo | Yes — written as a Headcount automatically |
What you need
Most churches are writing headcounts to Planning Center on their first Sunday after the camera arrives.
- 1
A Planning Center account with Check-Ins
Headcounts live in Check-Ins; that is where the number is filed.
- 2
A Personal Access Token
Created in Planning Center in about five minutes — we walk you through it at setup. You can revoke it in Planning Center at any time.
- 3
One Kingdom Metrics camera per room
Ships pre-configured; mounts at the front facing the congregation; WiFi; live in about 15 minutes. Installation guide →
- 4
Tell us which Event each service is
Done together at onboarding, along with the attendance type you want the count filed under.
Planning Center questions
Does Kingdom Metrics replace Planning Center Check-Ins?
No. Check-Ins keeps doing everything it does for people, kids and volunteers. Kingdom Metrics adds the one number Check-Ins otherwise asks a person to type in after the service: the room headcount.
Which number goes to Planning Center — the AI's or ours?
The count in your Kingdom Metrics portal. If your team reviews the photo and adjusts the count, the adjusted number is the one that stands — see source priority.
Can we keep our existing attendance type instead of “KMetrics”?
Yes. Some churches route the count into an attendance type they already report on — one per auditorium, for instance. Tell us the name at setup and the headcount is filed there.
We run three services under one Event. Does it know which is which?
Yes. Each Kingdom Metrics schedule maps to one Planning Center Event, and when an Event has several Event Times the headcount is filed against the one whose start time matches the service.
What about multiple rooms or campuses?
One camera per room. Each room has its own schedule and writes its own headcount to its own Event, so a campus with a main auditorium and a chapel gets two honest numbers, not one blended one.
Do you read our People data?
No. Kingdom Metrics reads only the Check-Ins structure needed to file the number — Events, Event Times, Attendance Types and existing Headcounts (so we update rather than duplicate). Never People, check-in records or giving.
What about privacy?
No facial recognition, no names, and nothing about an individual is written anywhere. The reference photo is a wide shot of the room, kept so your staff can verify the count, and handled under our privacy policy.
Is Kingdom Metrics a Planning Center partner?
Kingdom Metrics is an independent integration built on Planning Center's public API. Planning Center is a trademark of Ministry Centered Technologies, which does not sponsor or endorse Kingdom Metrics.
What does it cost?
Each sensor is a one-time $449 plus $49.99 a month, and the Planning Center delivery is included in the subscription — there is no separate integration fee. See pricing.
New to the term? Read what a headcount is and why the method behind it matters more than the number.
Stop typing the headcount into Planning Center
Fifteen minutes with us, and your next service's headcount arrives in Check-Ins on its own — with the photo to prove it.
$449 per camera, $49.99 a month per sensor — Planning Center delivery included. Full pricing →
Planning Center is a trademark of Ministry Centered Technologies, LLC. Kingdom Metrics is an independent product and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Ministry Centered Technologies.