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Managing Profiles

Profiles are the central record for every person in your congregation. From the Staff Portal, you can browse your full member directory, add new profiles, and update existing ones. All profile data originates from Planning Center — changes made in GatherCMS sync back to Planning Center automatically.

Accessing the Profile List​

Navigate to People > Profiles in the Staff Portal to open the profile directory.

  • The list shows all profiles in your congregation, sorted by name (A–Z) by default.
  • Each row displays the person's Full Name and primary Email address.
  • Use the search bar to find someone by first name, last name, or full name.
  • Click the Full Name column header to toggle the sort direction.

Creating a Profile​

You can add a new profile manually for someone who is not yet in your congregation's directory.

  1. Navigate to People > Profiles in the Staff Portal.
  2. Click New Profile.
  3. Enter the person's First Name and Last Name — these are required.
  4. Optionally fill in Middle Name, Gender, Birthday, and Anniversary.
  5. Click Save to create the profile.
note

Profiles created in GatherCMS are automatically synced to Planning Center. If you are connected to Planning Center, the new profile will appear there within a few minutes.

Viewing a Profile​

  • Click any row in the profile list to open that person's profile.
  • The profile view shows their Name, Email, Gender, Birthday, and Anniversary.
  • If the person has a login account, their name will appear as a link. Click it to open their user account record.

Editing a Profile​

  1. Open the profile you want to edit (click their name in the profile list).
  2. Click Edit in the top-right corner.
  3. Update any of the following fields:
  • First Name — Required.
  • Middle Name — Optional.
  • Last Name — Required.
  • Gender — Select Male or Female, or leave blank.
  • Birthday — Select a date using the date picker.
  • Anniversary — Select a date using the date picker.
  1. Click Save to apply your changes.
note

Changes saved in GatherCMS will sync back to Planning Center automatically. You do not need to update the record in both places.

Understanding Email Addresses​

A profile can have more than one email address on file, but only one is marked as the primary email. The primary email is the address shown in the profile list and used for communications.

  • Email addresses are managed through Planning Center. To add or remove an email address, update the person's record in Planning Center and the change will sync to GatherCMS.
  • If a profile has no primary email, the Email field will appear blank.

Frequently Asked Questions​

I can't find someone in the profile list. Where are they?

Use the search bar to search by first name, last name, or full name. If the person still doesn't appear, they may not have a profile in your system yet. You can create one manually, or check whether they exist in Planning Center — profiles sync from Planning Center into GatherCMS automatically.

I edited a profile in GatherCMS but the change isn't showing in Planning Center. When will it update?

Changes sync to Planning Center within a few minutes. If the change has not appeared after 15 minutes, verify that the profile is connected to Planning Center (it should have been originally synced from there).

I'm looking for a field like phone number or home address but I can't find it. Where is it?

GatherCMS profiles currently store name, email, gender, birthday, and anniversary. Phone numbers and addresses are not stored in GatherCMS. To view or update those fields, check the person's record directly in Planning Center.

There are two profiles for the same person. What should I do?

Duplicate profiles are best resolved in Planning Center using its built-in merge tool. Once you merge the two records in Planning Center, GatherCMS will automatically reflect the merge and remove the duplicate. See Planning Center Integration for more detail.

Can I delete a profile?

Profile deletion is managed through Planning Center. Removing someone in Planning Center will remove them from GatherCMS as well.