Ministry Margin

Preparing to launch in late July 2026 for Mac and iPhone

Reclaim margin for ministry.

Ministry Margin makes Apple-native tools for churches that use Planning Center.

See what needs attention, find the person you are looking for, or pray for the people in your care.

These tools do not replace Planning Center. They work alongside the information, databases, and workflows your church has already built, giving pastors and church staff a calmer working layer for the weekly details that need attention.

Sunday is always coming.

Church staff carry a lot each week: service plans, volunteer follow-up, people lists, calendars, blockouts, reports, prayer requests, and the next Sunday that is already on its way.

None of that is the heart of ministry. But all of it is work that keeps the work going, and it often cuts across tools, tabs, people, memory, and time.

Ministry Margin was built to help answer ordinary church-week questions: Who still needs follow-up? Who is unconfirmed for Sunday? What is the best way to reach this volunteer? Who did I say I would pray for?

The goal is less administrative drag, so ministry leaders can give more attention to preaching, shepherding, discipleship, prayer, leadership, and care.

See what needs attention.

Start the week with a clearer picture of upcoming plans, open spots, blockouts, people, and ministry details that need follow-up.

Find the answer without the hunt.

Find the service, person, report, or prayer request you need without digging through more interface than the task requires.

Keep ministry connected to people.

Names in a database represent people to know, serve, contact, pray for, and care for. Ministry Margin is built to keep that connection close.

An Apple-native layer for churches that use Planning Center.

Ministry Margin connects to the Planning Center account your church already uses and gives that data a focused place to work on Mac and iPhone.

It does not ask your church to move systems, migrate records, or replace the tools your team depends on. Think of it as a simpler working layer for the ministry details you already manage every week.

Your Planning Center account

You sign in with the account your church already gave you.

Your existing permissions

Ministry Margin only shows the Planning Center data your account is already allowed to access.

A focused ministry workspace

Work with services, people, calendars, blockouts, reports, prayer, and weekly details in one calmer Apple-native place.

Ministry Margin

A native Mac app for the Planning Center work your week depends on.

Use the Mac app when you are at your desk planning services, reviewing people, checking calendars, managing blockouts, pulling reports, and keeping prayer connected to care.

Start in Today to see what needs attention, then move into focused workspaces when the week needs a deeper look.

Today: upcoming plans, open spots, blockouts, people signals, events, and details that need attention.
Services: plans, teams, volunteers, needed positions, songs, files, service orders, MP3 streaming, and order-of-service details.
People: contact details, serving context, addresses, blockouts, local People lists, Add to Contacts, Messages, Mail, Maps, and person-linked prayer.
Calendar: upcoming church events, color-coded automatically, with calendar events and registrations brought together.
Reports: volunteer availability, scheduling pressure, song usage, church directory, and practical planning reports.
Prayer: general requests, short-term needs, long-term requests, answered prayers, and private iCloud sync with Ministry Margin Directory.

Ministry Margin Directory

Finally, your church members are just a tap away.

Directory is built for pastors and church staff who need quick access to people away from their desk.

Choose a Planning Center People list, keep it available on your iPhone, search by name, open a person's profile, and take the next step: call, text, email, open directions, save to Apple Contacts, or add a private prayer request.

That is the whole app: contact and pray for your people.

A focused people list: choose one Planning Center People list and keep it cached on your iPhone.
Instant search: search by name and open the right person.
One-tap contact actions: call, text, email, or open directions from a person's profile.
Save contact info to Apple Contacts: tap a person's profile, tap Save to Contacts, done.
Prayer away from your desk: create and review private prayer requests connected to people in your directory.

Prayer keeps ministry personal.

Prayer requests often live somewhere else: a note, a spreadsheet, a text thread, a conversation, or someone's memory.

Ministry Margin keeps prayer connected to the people in your care, so follow-up stays tied to an actual name, family, and story.

Connected to people

Attach prayer requests to people so care and follow-up stay grounded in real relationships.

Private by design

Prayer requests stay in Ministry Margin. They are not written back to Planning Center.

Local or iCloud sync

With iCloud Sync off, prayer requests stay on the device where you create them. With iCloud Sync on, they sync through your private iCloud account.

Remember the need, pray faithfully, and follow up with care.

Built carefully, because ministry data is sensitive.

Church data is people data. Your church's records represent members, volunteers, guests, families, prayer needs, schedules, real ministry relationships, and sensitive situations.

Ministry Margin is designed to work with that data carefully.

OAuth sign-in

You sign in with Planning Center using your own account. Ministry Margin works with the data that account is allowed to access.

Your permissions are the permissions

What you can see in Ministry Margin depends on the permissions your church or organization has already given you in Planning Center. Ministry Margin does not grant broader access than your Planning Center account already has.

No middleman server for Directory

Ministry Margin Directory does not operate a separate server for directory data. Directory requests go directly between the app and Planning Center.

If something does not appear in Ministry Margin, first check whether your Planning Center account has permission to see it and whether your church subscribes to that Planning Center product.

Ministry Margin does not collect your church data on Ministry Margin servers. The apps connect directly to Planning Center using your account permissions, store the data they need on your devices, and only use iCloud for prayer sync when you turn it on.

For more info, read our Privacy Policy.

Tools for the work behind the work.

The sermon gets preached on Sunday, but someone planned the service. Someone checked the volunteers. Someone followed up with the family. Someone remembered the prayer request.

Ministry Margin is built by a pastor for that work, not because administration is the point of ministry, but because administrative friction can quietly consume the time and attention ministry leaders need for the gospel work that matters most.

Software cannot preach the Word, pray with the hurting, disciple a new believer, shepherd a church, or make wise pastoral decisions. But better tools can reduce the administrative drag around that work.

Less administrative drag. More ministry margin.

Privacy Policy

Ministry Margin Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 2, 2026

Ministry Margin apps are designed to keep your church data under your control.

Ministry Margin does not operate a server that collects, stores, sells, analyzes, or advertises against your church data. The apps connect directly to Planning Center using your Planning Center account permissions, store the data they need on your device, and use Apple services only when you choose features that require them.

This policy applies to Ministry Margin apps, including Ministry Margin for Mac and Ministry Margin Directory for iPhone. Some features are available only in certain apps; app-specific differences are noted below.

Planning Center Data

Ministry Margin signs in to Planning Center using Planning Center's secure OAuth sign-in process. Ministry Margin does not ask for, receive, or store your Planning Center password.

When you connect Planning Center, the apps may read data your Planning Center account is allowed to access. Depending on the app and features you use, this may include:

People list data, such as names, profile photos, phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, household or family details, and list membership
Service plans, teams, assignments, schedules, blockouts, songs, and related service information
Calendar events, registration-related event information, and reports available to your Planning Center account

Ministry Margin may import and cache selected Planning Center data on your device so the app can open quickly, search, display useful views, and remain helpful between refreshes. For example, the Mac app can import a Planning Center People list into the app for browsing, searching, contact workflows, and prayer-request association. Ministry Margin Directory imports the Planning Center People list you choose so you can browse, search, contact people, and connect prayer requests to people.

Planning Center requests go directly between the app and Planning Center. Ministry Margin does not receive a copy of your Planning Center data on a Ministry Margin server.

Some features may send changes back to Planning Center when you intentionally use them, such as creating blockouts or updating supported Planning Center workflow data. Those changes are made through Planning Center using your account permissions.

Local Storage

Ministry Margin stores app data locally on your device. This may include cached Planning Center data, selected lists, app preferences, profile images, prayer requests, and connection state.

Planning Center OAuth tokens are stored securely using Apple's Keychain.

If you sign out of Planning Center in the app, Ministry Margin removes the local Planning Center session and local account-scoped cached data from that device. Deleting the app also removes its local app data from that device.

Your original church records remain managed by your church in Planning Center.

Prayer Requests

Prayer requests are private Ministry Margin app data. They are not written back to Planning Center.

You can use prayer requests locally without iCloud Sync. In that case, prayer requests stay on the device where they were created.

If you turn on Prayer iCloud Sync, prayer requests sync through Apple's CloudKit service using your own iCloud account. This allows prayer requests to stay updated across supported Ministry Margin apps, such as Ministry Margin for Mac and Ministry Margin Directory for iPhone.

Prayer requests are not sent to a Ministry Margin server and are not shared with analytics, advertising services, or Planning Center.

When a prayer request is deleted, it is removed from normal app views. To prevent old offline devices from bringing deleted prayer text back, Ministry Margin may retain a minimal deletion record in iCloud sync metadata. That deletion record is designed not to retain the prayer text, the person's name, or the person's Planning Center ID.

Apple Contacts

Ministry Margin apps may help you save Planning Center contact information into Apple Contacts when you choose to do so.

Ministry Margin Directory saves a selected person to Apple Contacts only when you choose Save to Contacts.

Ministry Margin for Mac may add or update contacts from a selected Membership list when you explicitly choose the Contacts sync feature. The app asks for Contacts permission before using this feature. It uses Apple Contacts locally to add missing cards or update clear matches. Unclear matches are skipped.

Ministry Margin does not upload your Apple Contacts database to Ministry Margin, Planning Center, or any advertising or analytics service.

Contact Actions

When you choose to call, text, email, or open directions, Ministry Margin hands that action to the appropriate Apple app or system service, such as Phone, Messages, Mail, Contacts, or Maps. Those Apple services are governed by Apple's privacy practices and your device settings.

iCloud

Prayer iCloud Sync is optional. If enabled, prayer requests sync through Apple's CloudKit service using your iCloud account.

Turning off Prayer iCloud Sync stops that device from syncing prayer requests through iCloud. It does not necessarily delete prayer records already stored in your private iCloud data. To remove synced prayer requests, delete them in the app before disabling sync, or manage app data through Apple's iCloud settings where available.

Purchases and Subscriptions

Purchases and subscriptions are handled by Apple through the App Store. Ministry Margin does not receive your payment card number.

Apple may provide subscription status or transaction information needed to unlock paid features. Apple's handling of payment and App Store data is governed by Apple's own privacy policy.

Demo Mode

Demo mode uses sample data on your device. Demo mode does not connect to Planning Center and does not upload demo church data to Ministry Margin.

Analytics, Advertising, and Tracking

Ministry Margin apps do not include third-party advertising SDKs.

Ministry Margin apps do not track you across apps or websites.

Ministry Margin does not sell personal information.

Ministry Margin does not use church, contact, Planning Center, or prayer data for advertising.

Apple may provide developers with App Store, TestFlight, crash, or performance information under Apple's own systems and privacy practices. Ministry Margin does not use that information to identify church members, prayer requests, or Planning Center records.

Logs, Search, and AI Features

Ministry Margin is designed not to place prayer text, contact data, pastoral-care data, or Planning Center records into diagnostic logs.

Prayer and contact data are not intentionally exposed to Spotlight, Siri, Apple Intelligence, or AI features by default.

If you manually copy, export, screenshot, email, or share information from the app, that action is controlled by you and may be handled by the service you choose.

Children and Ministry Data

Ministry Margin is intended for ministry leaders and church staff, not for use by children.

Depending on your Planning Center permissions, church data visible in the app may include information about children, families, or household relationships. Ministry Margin treats that information as sensitive ministry data and uses it only for the app features you choose.

Data Retention and Deletion

Local app data remains on your device until you sign out, delete the app, clear the relevant data through app settings where available, or your operating system removes it.

Planning Center data remains controlled by Planning Center and your church's Planning Center account.

Prayer requests stored only locally are removed when deleted in the app or when the app's local data is removed.

Prayer requests synced with iCloud remain in your private iCloud data until deleted through the app or managed through iCloud. Minimal deletion metadata may be retained to prevent deleted prayer requests from reappearing on other devices.

Apple Contacts created or updated by Ministry Margin remain in Apple Contacts until you edit or delete them in Contacts.

Third-Party Services

Ministry Margin uses these services only as needed for app functionality:

Planning Center, for church data accessed through your Planning Center account permissions
Apple iCloud and CloudKit, if you enable Prayer iCloud Sync
Apple Contacts, if you choose to save or sync contacts
Apple system apps and services, when you choose actions such as calling, texting, emailing, opening maps, or subscribing through the App Store

Ministry Margin does not share your church data with third-party advertising networks, data brokers, or analytics services.

Your Choices

You can:

Choose whether to connect Planning Center
Sign out of Planning Center in the app
Choose which Planning Center People list to use
Use prayer requests locally without iCloud Sync
Turn Prayer iCloud Sync on or off
Delete prayer requests in the app
Choose whether to save or sync contacts to Apple Contacts
Revoke Contacts access in Apple system settings
Delete the app to remove its local app data from that device

Changes to This Policy

This policy may be updated as Ministry Margin apps change. If the apps add new data practices, this policy and the App Store privacy information will be updated to reflect those changes.

Contact

For privacy questions, contact:

jonny@ministrymargin.com

Questions?