Just how important are the administrative tasks to your church? The paper-pushing, record-keeping, meeting-management, leadership-training, facility-managing tasks that largely take place behind the scenes?
In this blog post, pastor Joshua Patty reflects on the crucial role of administrators in the ministry and life of the church:
(Re)Thinking Church Administration
“I came across an interesting piece on church administration by the former president of Union Theological Seminary in New York; he encourages pastors and congregations to view administration as part of their essential ministries. …”
Louis Weeks, quoted in Patty’s blog post, has written an insightful and practical book on church administration, which can be a big help to any congregational leader interested in improving or reviewing church administration practices, humorously titled, All for God’s Glory: Redeeming Church Scutwork.
And Bruce Powers compiled a standard reference work on the basics for developing and implementing effective church administrative systems, organized into three sections. Section 1 focuses on the relationship of the pastor to organizations and people; Section 2 is devoted to the pastor’s administrative responsibilities; and Section 3 explores the development of various leadership and ministry skills, including volunteer recruitment and training, and pastoring the small-membership church. Though last updated in 1997, it contains still-relevant ideas, and can be purchased very inexpensively (never a bad thing): Church Administration Handbook.
