There are thousands of church members contributing to the administration of our parishes and churches. Some are paid, others voluntary, but the life of our churches would fall apart without them. This section of the website seeks to provide some resources to support administrators and their managers & Church Councils to enable them to be effective in their work.
Administrator Guides
This section offers a range of guides developed by John Truscott. John has both a passion and many years experience in developing effective administration, and we are grateful for permission to link to the guides listed below. Many other resources are available on his website. There are now over 200 items listed as Articles, shorter Training Notes or detailed Health-checks.
These are also indexed under six themes:
Leadership – a range of resources on the role of leaders, ministry and self-management
Management – these resources are listed in groups by staff management, working with volunteers and the life of church members
Structures – items on staffing, meetings and leadership structures
Planning – resources here on the planning process, change/decision-making and practical applications
Communication – items listed under principles, print/IT, speaking/presentations
Administration – principles, church offices / Administrator appointments, personal administration, buildings/finance
Example resources for administrators within these themes are:
Sample Articles
A5 How to chair meetings – an orchestral approach
A24 Mission-shaped Church Councils – three ways forward
Sample Training Notes
TN4 Advice for all church administrators
TN40 Appointing an Administrator
TN52 The perils of PowerPoint,
TN111 A church policies checklist
GDPR awareness
Although it’s the responsibility of the PCC, it would be good practice for Administrators to keep up to date on the latest GDPR guidance in respect of any activities they do that involve collecting and using people’s data. Visit the GDPR page for more information, guides and advice.
UCAN – the UK Church Administrators Network
UCAN was launched in 2009 and now has over 1500 administrators in membership with the number growing steadily. Over 200 members hold ‘senior manager’ positions in their churches (such as Director of Operations), but many members come from small and medium-sized congregations of all denominations where they act as part-time Office Administrator, Parish Secretary or Minister’s PA. UCAN is for everyone employed by a church in any administrative capacity.
The aims include to enable Administrators to network with each other, to co-ordinate specialist events, to increase professionalism, to provide an advice service and to help people know they are not alone in this vital but often understated ministry. Click here to find out more.