Tuesday 2/3/09
4. Administrative Work

Grant United Methodist Church
Pastor Constance Cherry – Friday 1/30/09

1. Monitor Attendance Report – She does this to see who has patterns of absentees, so that she can contact them.
2. Monitor Giving Report – Looking over the giving pattern to help church budget.
3. Prepare Monthly Pastor Reports – Pastor Connie does this voluntarily to give to the Pastor Parish Relation Committee. It is a list in categories of everything she does for the church for the month, so they are aware of the work she does. It is a good way to keep a pastor accountable!
4. Record keeping for filing all committee work (Trustees, councils, ext.)
5. Write Personal Notes – She blocks out time during administrative hours, so that she can write cards to members.
6. Conference/Distract Reporting (some members help with this) – 1st of the year: Report all statistics to conference/distract (number of converts, baptisms, memberships, attendance, youth group, and more) 2nd of the year: Annual meeting with district superintendant going over budgeting, lay leader reports, and ext.
7. Read and Keep Track of Fairmont Ministerial Association – Can’t attend meetings, but reads over the minutes to know what it going on.
8. Manage Committee – Makes sure they are meeting and reporting on a regular basis.
9. Announcements in bulletin and its layout – She often has to connect with people during this time to make sure she includes all announcements.
10. Administrative Planning – Example: Finance Committee
11. Letter Writing – Pastor Connie will often get asked to write reference letters for members of the church.
12. Total Hours for Administrative Work: Part time Pastor – 4-5 hours; Full time Pastor – 10-15 hours (depending on time of year and size of church)

Observations:
1. Pastor Connie does not include any of her pastoral care and counseling or sermon preparation as administrative work. Her personal view is that she has many different leadership roles with in the church, and the administrative part is all the business/organization side.
2. We discussed how it is important to always keep office hours, even if you live in a parish. It keeps a pastor accountable, because it is very easy for them to cheat their hours since they are their own boss.
3. I found it interesting that she also writes monthly pastor reports. I believe that is going above and beyond, since it is not required of her. She wants a small group of the church to always know all the things she is doing. It is a great way to keep you accountable!