Planning Center SMS Integration — Send SMS to Your Church
Send SMS to Your Planning Center Contacts
Mobile Message connects directly to Planning Center, so your church can send SMS to your congregation without manually importing contacts. Your Planning Center people, lists, and groups automatically sync into Mobile Message — then you send messages through the Mobile Message platform at just 2c per SMS.
How it works:
- Connect your Planning Center account to Mobile Message (one-time setup)
- Your people with Australian mobile numbers are automatically imported as contacts
- Choose which Planning Center lists and groups to sync
- Send SMS through Mobile Message to those synced lists and groups
Once synced, all messaging happens through Mobile Message — not through Planning Center. This means you get affordable bulk SMS pricing, delivery tracking, and two-way messaging, all while keeping Planning Center as your source of truth for contacts.
What You'll Need
- A Mobile Message account — sign up here if you don't have one
- A Planning Center account with People and Groups access
- You must be an administrator of your Planning Center organisation
Connect Planning Center
- Log in to Mobile Message at app.mobilemessage.com.au
- Go to Settings > Integrations
- Click Planning Center, then click Connect Planning Center
- You'll be redirected to Planning Center to authorise the connection
- Click Allow to grant Mobile Message access to your People and Groups
That's it — Mobile Message will automatically set up the connection, configure real-time sync, and start importing your contacts.
Your Contacts Are Synced Automatically
After connecting, Mobile Message imports all people from Planning Center who have an Australian mobile number. These appear as regular contacts in your Mobile Message account.
When someone is added, updated, or removed in Planning Center, the change syncs to Mobile Message automatically in real time.
What syncs:
- First name and last name
- Mobile phone number (Australian numbers only)
- Campus and membership status
People without an Australian mobile number are skipped — they'll be added automatically if a mobile number is added later in Planning Center.
Sync Lists and Groups
You can choose which Planning Center lists and groups to sync as Mobile Message contact lists. This is where it gets powerful — sync a list like "Youth Group" or "Sunday Volunteers", then send a bulk SMS to everyone on that list directly from Mobile Message.
- Go to the Planning Center integration page in Mobile Message
- Click the Lists or Groups tab
- Toggle on the lists or groups you want to sync
Each synced list or group becomes a contact list in Mobile Message. When people are added or removed from the list in Planning Center, the Mobile Message list updates automatically.
Send Messages
Once your lists and groups are synced, sending SMS is simple:
- Go to Send Messages in Mobile Message
- Select the synced list or group as your recipients
- Type your message and send
Messages are sent through the Mobile Message platform using your SMS credits. You can personalise messages with contact names, schedule them for later, and track delivery — all the usual Mobile Message features.
Inbound SMS and Planning Center Notes
When someone replies to your SMS, Mobile Message can automatically log that message as a note on their Planning Center profile. This gives your church staff visibility into SMS conversations right inside Planning Center.
To enable this:
- Go to the Planning Center integration page
- Click the Settings tab
- Toggle on Log inbound SMS to Planning Center notes
Inbound messages from known Planning Center contacts will appear under a "Mobile Message SMS" note category on their profile.
Disconnect Planning Center
If you need to disconnect the integration:
- Go to the Planning Center integration page
- Click the Disconnect badge in the top-right corner
Your synced contacts and lists will remain in Mobile Message, but no new changes will sync from Planning Center. You can reconnect at any time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this send SMS through Planning Center? No. Planning Center is used only for syncing contacts, lists, and groups. All SMS messages are sent through the Mobile Message platform.
How much does it cost to send SMS? SMS is sent at standard Mobile Message rates — from just 2c per message. There's no additional charge for the Planning Center integration.
Can I sync all my lists and groups? You choose which lists and groups to sync. Only the ones you toggle on will appear in Mobile Message.
What happens if I edit a contact in Mobile Message? Changes made in Planning Center will overwrite the contact's name on the next sync. Planning Center is treated as the source of truth for contact details.
Will it create duplicate contacts? No. The sync checks for existing contacts by phone number and links them rather than creating duplicates.
What if someone doesn't have a mobile number in Planning Center? They'll be skipped. If a mobile number is added later, the next sync or webhook update will create the contact automatically.