When a church is small and the pastor and spouse can handle most of the church responsibilities, pastors are inclined to put off thinking about adding staff until the need becomes obvious. However, if pastors wait until the need becomes obvious before developing a plan to add staff, many times they will find themselves in an administrative and management bind that could be not only stressful to them but also detrimental to the business operations of the church.
Assessing additional staff needs
Church growth necessitates change. As the church grows, staff additions will need to be considered. But, who should be added to the pastor's staff first? An associate pastor? music minister? youth minister? business administrator? secretary? missions director? evangelism director?
Assessment of need should primarily revolve around the question, “What position will help relieve the pastor of responsibility, so that the pastor can do the work God has called him or her to do?”
Most pastors will agree that the first addition to a church staff should be someone to help relieve the pastor of much of the secretarial work associated with church business.
A good secretary who is in tune to the administrative needs of the pastor and who is capable of relieving the pastor's workload is by far the greatest asset to the pastor. This will enable him or her to concentrate on ministering to the spiritual needs of the congregation, rather than being burdened with administrative work.
Secretarial position
Although most pastors agree that a secretary is the first staff position that needs to be filled, there is sometimes confusion regarding a secretary's responsibilities and work hours.
A secretary's responsibilities should be church related. The pastor should not expect or even ask the secretary to do things that are not directly related to church business. Duties that include doing personal work for the pastor, balancing the pastor's personal checkbook, keeping the pastor's personal accounts, and so on should not be part of a secretary's responsibilities.
The secretary should have specific working hours and should not be expected to work more than those hours unless there is monetary compensation and previous arrangements have been made. On the other hand, the secretary is expected to honor and be faithful to the work schedule set by the pastor. If work is to begin at 9:00 A.M., that does not mean 9:15 or 10:00.
If extra work is required by the pastor (such as on Sunday or for special events), the secretary should receive appropriate compensation in addition to the regular salary.
Secretaries generally fit into one of three categories: part-time volunteer, part-time paid, and full-time paid.
- Part-time volunteer. The position is filled by a nonpaid volunteer worker who works approximately 5-10 hours per week.
- Part-time paid secretary. The position is filled by a paid secretary who works approximately 10-30 hours per week.
- Full-time paid secretary. The position is filled by a paid secretary who works 40 hours per week.
Next staff addition
As the church continues to grow, the need for additional staff will quickly become evident. After a pastor's secretary has been selected, who should be the next staff addition?
Most successful pastors agree that the next staff position to be filled is a business administrator. This staff person will serve as treasurer, pay bills, write checks (pastors should never write or sign checks), keep the church books and accounts, and be responsible for church business and business transactions.
The business administrator should be present at every board meeting in which finances are discussed and in every special meeting that deals with financial matters.
Even though some pastors have expert business experience, God calls pastors to be pastors and not to be burdened with the business matters of the church. Pastors should be involved with business decisions, but business operations should be handled by a staff businessperson.
The business administrator is usually not a paid full-time position in the beginning. Rather, he or she would be a volunteer or a part-time paid administrator who has business expertise. Only after the business of the church warrants a full-time position should one be considered.
The pastor should not wait to select a business administrator until the need is critical. It must be made at the first hint of increased church business activities. Then, as business increases, a part-time administrator position can evolve into a full-time position.
Conclusion
As a church grows, the need to add additional staff members becomes necessary. Although pastors may be inclined to add pastoral staff to help with pastoral responsibilities, this inclination should be avoided. Usually pastors do not need help with pastoral duties until a church reaches significant size, but they do need to be relieved of administrative and business duties so that they can concentrate on pastoral duties.
Therefore, a pastoral secretary should be the first staff position to be filled, followed by a business administrator.
