Summary: Connecting Planning Center Online (PCO) to Safe Ministry Check keeps your trainee list up to date automatically. It's a two-part process: first set up groups and lists in PCO, then connect and map them in your Safe Ministry Check admin portal.
Key terms
PCO: Planning Center Online, a church management system (ChMS).
Training levels: Member, Volunteer Leader, Team Leader, and Staff & Board.
Part 1: Set up Planning Center Online
Log in to PCO. Open the menu in the top-left corner and select Groups.
Work out which of your groups need which level of safe ministry training.
To create a group, click New Group, give it a clear name (e.g. "Kids Ministry Team") and click Create Group. Add people by selecting the group, clicking Add Member and searching for each person.
Return to the main menu, select People, then open the Lists tab.
Create four lists, one for each training level. Click New List and name each clearly (e.g. "Safe Ministry Check – Members").
Set each list's rule to Group → Member → of a group, then select the group(s) for that training level.
For example, your "Safe Ministry Check – Members" list includes everyone in the "Safe Ministry Members" group. Repeat for all four training levels.
Part 2: Connect in Safe Ministry Check
Log in to your Safe Ministry Check admin portal.
Go to Settings > ChMS Syncing, select Planning Center Online and click Setup PCO Syncing.
Step 1 on this page is already complete: you've set up your PCO groups and lists.
Click Connect to PCO. If you're already logged in to PCO in another browser tab, the connection authenticates automatically. Important: as the warning on this page says, current trainees who aren't in a PCO list will be archived automatically.
Map each training level (Member, Volunteer Leader, Team Leader, Staff & Board) to its PCO list using the dropdown menus.
Under each mapping, tick the box if a Personal Safety Identification (e.g. a Working With Children Check) is required for that level.
Click Submit.
Members of your PCO groups will now appear in your trainee list automatically.
Tip: The sync isn't instant, so allow a little time for people to appear.
The sync is ongoing, not a one-off import
Once Planning Center is connected, your mapped PCO lists decide who is in your Safe Ministry Check trainee list, and they keep doing so every time the sync runs.
Added to a mapped list in PCO: the person is added to Safe Ministry Check at the matching training level.
Removed from all mapped lists in PCO: the person is archived in Safe Ministry Check, and the History Log records that they were removed by the PCO sync.
Added directly in Safe Ministry Check (with Add Trainee or a CSV import) but not in a mapped PCO list: the person will be archived at the next sync.
How to add someone while PCO is connected: add them to the right group in Planning Center so they appear in the matching list, rather than adding them in Safe Ministry Check. Alternatively, if you'd rather add them in Safe Ministry Check, just make sure you also add them to the right list in Planning Center, so they aren't archived at the next sync. If someone has been archived by mistake, add them to the right PCO group or list. The next sync will bring them back. Allow a little time for this, as the sync isn't instant.
Tip: if a person's first name, last name, email address and mobile number don't match exactly between the two systems, the sync may create a new profile for them. Check Trainees > Duplicate Trainees if this happens.