Help your church learn names

Belonging starts with a name · FAQ

New attenders often know faces long before they know names. Long-time members can struggle too — especially in churches that grow or plant. Church Directory’s Learn Names game turns your private photo directory into short practice rounds anyone can play.

How the game works

You see a photo and choose the right name from four options (tap-to-match on web and phone; voice recognition where the device supports it). Choose how many people to practice; personal best scores are tracked. After each round you can shuffle and go again.

When join-date data is available from Planning Center, a new members mode focuses on people who joined in the last 1–12 months — useful for welcoming classes and for anyone who wants to catch up after a busy season.

Why it belongs next to prayer

Learning names is not a gimmick bolted onto a directory. It supports the same goal as Pray: a congregation that knows one another. Members practice faces; then they recognize people on Sunday and know who they are praying for during the week.

Private by design

The directory is for your church’s members only — no public profiles and no social feed. Photos and names come from the roster your church syncs (today via Planning Center People for self-serve churches). The iPhone and Android apps keep a local directory copy for offline use; the web app needs internet to load the roster.