Church Attendance Tracking for Classes, Catechesis, and Formation

When people search for church attendance tracking software, they usually mean one of three things: counting heads at Sunday services, checking children into the nursery, or recording who comes to a class. ParishSignUp does the third and is built specifically for it. Catechesis, part of Parish Plus, records attendance at every class for inquirers, catechumens, and anyone preparing to be received, with QR check-in as people walk in. It does not count Sunday service attendance or print children’s name tags — those need a different kind of tool.

Class attendance vs. service attendance

Service attendance is a number: how many people came to Liturgy or Mass this week. Class attendance is a record about a person: did this catechumen come to the session on the Creed, and how many sessions have they missed before reception? Formation programs need the second kind, because the priest deciding when someone is ready to be received looks at their history, not a weekly total.

What it doesn’t track

For events, signup sheets and Event RSVP sheets show who said they would come — adult and child headcounts for a parish dinner, for example — but that is a commitment made ahead of time, not a record of who walked in.

Sunday or weekday service headcounts
Child or nursery check-in with security labels and pickup codes
Door counts for parish events

How attendance tracking works

QR check-in as people arrive

Tap “Start today’s class” and a QR code appears that works for 12 hours. Put it on a screen or hold up a phone. People scan it, sign in to their ParishSignUp account, and are checked in. Someone coming for the first time fills in a short form — name, and optionally phone, photo, and a comment — and joins the roster as an inquirer.

Manual marking when needed

Not everyone brings a phone. Catechists can tick people present or absent by hand, during or after class, so the record stays complete even when the QR code isn’t practical.

A roster with stages and dates

Each person moves from inquirer to catechumen to received, with the date of each step, and “Undo last step” corrects a mistake. Archive someone who stops coming and restore them later with their history intact, or delete a record entered by mistake.

CSV export for reports

Download attendance as a CSV file to open in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers — for the priest before a decision about reception, or for a diocesan formation office that asks for numbers.

Attendance in formation programs

A catechumen class meets weekly from Theophany to Pascha.
The priest starts each class from his phone and catechumens scan in. Before Holy Week he can see who has missed sessions and talk with them in good time.
An OCIA team runs sessions on two evenings a week.
Each evening’s session is started separately, so attendance is recorded against the right day. At the end of the term the catechists export a CSV file for the pastor.
A visitor wanders into an inquirers’ class.
They scan the QR code, fill in the first-time form, and appear on the roster as an inquirer, with no separate registration step.

Start tracking class attendance

Subscribe to Parish Plus as an admin or treasurer
Name catechists under Parish Admin → Access
Open Catechesis and tap “Start today’s class” at your first session
Show the QR code on a screen or phone as people arrive
Mark anyone without a phone present by hand
Record each step as people move from inquirer to catechumen to received

Attendance tracking questions

Can we track Sunday service attendance with it?

No. ParishSignUp doesn’t count service attendance. If you need weekly headcounts, keep a tally sheet or a tool built for that; Catechesis is for attendance at classes.

Do people need an account to check in?

Yes. Scanning the QR code asks them to sign in to ParishSignUp, which is how attendance links to the right person. First-timers fill in a short form after signing in. Catechists can also mark people present by hand.

Who can see attendance records?

The priest, parish admins, treasurers, and catechists named by an admin. A catechist sees the roster and takes attendance but nothing else in Parish Admin. Members and coordinators don’t see Catechesis unless they are named catechists.

Does it handle children’s Sunday school check-in?

No. Catechesis is designed for formation classes — inquirers, catechumens, and those preparing to be received. It isn’t a child check-in system: there are no guardian pickup codes or printed labels.

What does attendance tracking cost?

Catechesis is included in Parish Plus with memberships, surveys, stewardship, and analytics. It is one yearly subscription per parish with the first month free; the price is shown inside the app to admins, treasurers, and priests.