Meet MAX: Your AI Coach for Church Metrics
MAX is the assistant inside Holy Insights that turns your weekly numbers into staff-meeting talking points, answers questions about your data in plain English, and adapts to whichever of three coaching voices you respond to best, all from the same data.
MAX is the AI coach inside Holy Insights. On Core ($40/mo) you get 3 coaching reports, 2 staff meeting briefs, and 5 Ask MAX questions a month; on MAX ($80/mo) all three are unlimited, in any of three coaching styles.
By Braden Murray, founder of Holy Insights · Updated
Pick How You Want to Be Coached
Most pastors don't want their dashboard talking to them like a spreadsheet. MAX gives you three different voices, so the AI sounds like the kind of advisor you actually want at your staff meeting.
Ministry Coach
Warm, clear, & action-oriented
"Attendance is down 8% from last month. That's about 30 households we haven't seen lately. Here's who to follow up with first."
Board Summary
Data-first for elders & finance teams
"Giving per attendee is up 4.1% YoY despite attendance being flat. Recurring donor count rose 11%, most likely driven by the January giving campaign."
Deep Dive
Analytical & future-focused
"Volunteer coverage is at 73%. If it stays below 80% for two more weeks, your kids' ministry team will start missing rotations. A recruiting push this Sunday changes that trajectory."
Staff Meeting Prep: Stop Writing the Monday Agenda on Sunday Night
Hit Generate Brief and MAX produces meeting-ready talking points comparing this past week to your prior 4-week average. Attendance, giving, volunteers, NextGen, first-time guests, salvations, baptisms, with the changes worth talking about ranked by significance so you don’t have to guess what mattered.
Pick weekly or monthly cadence. Brief length adjusts with the window. Output stays grounded in your actual numbers. MAX only reports figures that come from your data, and says so when a number is missing.
Sample Output
Week of Apr 27: Adult attendance 412 (−6% vs. 4-wk avg). Kids 84 (+9%). NextGen ratio 27%, the first time above 25% in three months. Giving units held flat at 138 even as average gift size dipped 4%. Two first-time guests followed up with personal calls; both returned. Recommended talking point for staff: ask why kids ministry is climbing while adult attendance dipped.
Ask MAX: Type a Question, Get an Answer From Your Real Data
Most church leaders don’t have a data analyst. Ask MAX anything in plain English and it answers from your church’s actual numbers. Core includes 5 Ask MAX questions a month, and the MAX tier is unlimited.
MAX answers from your data first, ministry research second. If your data has gaps, it’ll say so rather than make up a number.
Grounded in Published Ministry Research
MAX is grounded in published research from groups like Barna, Pew Research, and the Unstuck Group. Sources it draws on include:
- Barna Group
- Pew Research Center
- The Unstuck Group
- Ministry Architects
- Church Answers
- Carey Nieuwhof
When MAX tells you what a NextGen ratio of 27% suggests for your church, the benchmark comes from that published research.
When MAX Makes the Most Sense for Your Church
- You don't have a data person on staff. MAX is the in-between: natural-language Q&A means you don't need to know SQL or build a pivot table to get an answer.
- Board prep, budget season, or annual review. MAX turns the last 90 days into a document you can hand to a board member without rewriting it.
- You want a sparring partner for ministry strategy. Ask "what should I be paying attention to right now?" and get a coached response instead of a chart.
- You're multi-campus and can't be at every campus weekly. MAX surfaces the campus-level changes that need your attention so you don't have to read every dashboard manually.
MAX Is Included on Every Tier
Core has monthly limits on MAX features, and the MAX tier removes them. Here’s the map.
| Feature | Core $40 | MAX $80 |
|---|---|---|
| MAX Weekly Summary | ✓ | ✓ |
| Staff Meeting Prep briefs | 2 / mo | Unlimited |
| Coaching Reports | 3 / mo | Unlimited |
| Ask MAX (Q&A) | 5 / mo | Unlimited |
| All coaching styles | All 3 | All 3 |
| Trends, Seasonal & Insight Analysis | ✓ | ✓ |
See MAX in Action
The fastest way to understand MAX is a 30-minute demo.
Watch MAX generate a Staff Meeting Prep brief on real data. Switch coaching styles live. Ask whatever question you'd want your data to answer.
Book a free demoFrequently Asked Questions
What is MAX in Holy Insights?
MAX is the AI coach inside Holy Insights. It auto-generates weekly and monthly Staff Meeting Prep briefs, answers natural-language questions about your church's actual numbers, and adapts to one of three coaching styles you choose: Ministry Coach, Board Summary, or Deep Dive.
What is MAX grounded in?
MAX is grounded in published research from groups like Barna, Pew Research, and the Unstuck Group, along with frameworks from Ministry Architects, Church Answers, and Carey Nieuwhof. It answers from your own data first and uses that research for context.
Can I change how MAX talks to me?
Yes. MAX has three coaching styles, Ministry Coach, Board Summary, and Deep Dive, that change how it phrases insights and recommendations. All three styles are available on both Core and MAX, and they use the same data with a different voice.
What is the difference between MAX Weekly Summary and the full MAX AI Assistant?
MAX Weekly Summary, Staff Meeting Prep, coaching reports, and Ask MAX are included on both Core ($40/mo) and MAX ($80/mo), in all three coaching styles. Core has monthly limits of 3 coaching reports, 2 staff meeting briefs, and 5 Ask MAX questions. The MAX tier ($80/mo) removes those limits, so all three are unlimited.
How accurate are MAX's answers about my church data?
MAX answers from your actual numbers, the data you've connected via Planning Center or uploaded via CSV. MAX only reports figures that come from your data, and says so when a number is missing.
Does Vitals.church have something like MAX?
Vitals offers AI trend explanations, anomaly detection, and a photo headcount tool; it does not advertise a named assistant or natural-language Q&A on its site as of October 2026. MAX is a named assistant with three coaching styles, Staff Meeting Prep briefs, and Ask MAX natural-language Q&A.