Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and Biblical Inspiration to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission
Effective Church Communications provides Timeless Strategy and a Biblical Perspective to help churches create communications that fully fulfill the Great Commission. Our tools constantly change; our task doesn’t; we can help.
The position of church secretary or ministry assistant is one of the most important in the church and one with a great history!
Ed. note: In other posts published this week ( CLICK HERE & HERE to go to them) I've wanted to encourage all of you who do church communications. As we all know it is only in very large churches that communications is the only work you do. In most churches, communications is part of the incredibly demanding work of the church secretary, administrative assistant, or church office administrator. Though one of the most vital positions in the church, it is also one of the most invisible—until the person doing the work is sick for a week and the church almost closes down.
Below Gayle Hilligoss wrote an interesting story about the First Ministry Assistant and in addition to sharing that, I also wanted to share what she enclosed with it that she put into her church newsletter, along with publishing the piece about the First Ministry Assistant. I wanted to highlight this because I think it is a very gracious, yet effective way to point out the essential work being done. Also in talking about the professional group, it shows how people who do this work take their work seriously and are involved in continuing education.
Think of some way you might do something like this in your church—not to simply promote yourself, but to encourage people to pray for and respect the vital ministry you work so hard on each week. With that introduction, enjoy the two articles from Gayle Hilligoss:
Who Was the First Ministry Assistant?
Although I can’t say with certainty who the first scribe who assisted in ministry was, ministry assistants have been around a long time.
Jeremiah 36 reads, “…this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Take a scroll and write on it every word I have spoken to you… Then Jeremiah called Baruch, son of Neriah, and he wrote on the scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words which the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah.”
Throughout religious history, the secretary’s role has been a significant one. Although work is often done in the background, these vital support tasks allow the more visible ministries to succeed. [Read more...]
Add value to your service in the church office by following the tips here.
All administrative assistants are valuable to the ministry of the church. Some, their pastors say, have become indispensable. How have these outstanding assistants risen above the norm? And, how can you use value-added strategies to enhance your own professionalism?
• Learn something new every day.
Once basics are mastered it is easy to become complacent. Make it a priority to add to your work knowledge daily. Listen, read, ask questions, check websites, attend seminars, network.
• Promise a lot; deliver even more. Be so well qualified that you can confidently commit to getting the project done. Then, as often as possible, put a little frosting on the cake: do more than just what is necessary, get jobs done before the target date, keep costs less than budgeted.
• Give tasks appropriate effort. While quality is as important as quantity, realize that all tasks are not of equal value. Routine jobs need to be dispatched quickly. Look for and use shortcuts that don’t adversely affect your results. Special projects may demand a higher level of excellence. Sometimes it is more valuable to do fewer tasks and do each one better.
• Put your personal stamp on what you do. A ministry assistant recounted a story about a member who told her, “As soon as I saw last week’s bulletin and newsletter I knew you were on vacation. They were fine, of course, but just didn’t have that ‘Margie’ touch.” What a nice compliment. It affirmed to one assistant that people do notice her efforts.
• Establish rapport. Use regular meetings with your supervisor to demonstrate your management skills. Summarize projects in progress, review completed assignments, offer suggestions for upcoming events. Anticipate needs; be prepared. Take the initiative in managing your work. When faced with a problem, handle it or bring it to your supervisor along with a possible solution or two. Share information with others; show newcomers the ins and outs of daily routines, computer programs, and office machine quirks. Show by both word and action you are supportive of each team member. When someone needs help, be the one to lend a hand.
• Volunteer for more responsibility. After you are able to handle current responsibilities well, increase your contribution to the office by asking to take on other tasks. These might be ministries you envision or special jobs usually outsourced or handled by other busy staff members. Assistants have done research for ministers, organized pastors’ libraries, created various databases, started food pantries, and volunteered for many other “optional” ministries.
• Keep a personal work record. Documenting your work is an excellent way to chart your progress and to plan goals for future growth. One effective way to do this is with your computer’s calendar program. Note your accomplishments and contributions. List the location of any supporting documents or examples of your work. Track training events you attended; indicate how you use what you learned. Although the primary purpose of the record is for your own planning, you just may find occasion to review with your supervisor as well.
Is the quality of work you perform as a ministry assistant like bland vanilla wafers or chocolate chip cookies with milk?
With research I’d narrowed my choices to two. The salesman was helpful as we compared features of the pair of vacuum cleaners under consideration. Still I wasn’t sure which one would best do all I needed. “Why not buy both, take them home, use each on your carpets, see which handles better for you, and just bring back the one you like least?” he offered.Knowing that opened cartons and used products are sold at a discount—and thus lower the seller’s profit—I asked, “Your company is okay with a customer doing that? I like shopping here and don’t want to abuse your good service.”
The salesman responded with an interesting illustration. He explained that his company’s goal is to provide “chocolate chip service.” I learned no real cookies are involved, just performance. And that even good service, chocolate chip service, has degrees.
Imagine going into a store and, as you shop, being offered a plate of chocolate chip cookies. How nice! Then you discover the store next door doesn’t want to be outdone, so their cookies are homemade and warm from the oven. Store three takes note and adds walnuts to their freshly made cookies. Store four gets inspired to do even better and serves its shoppers cartons of icy cold milk along with their baked treats.
“Our company tries to anticipate what customers want from a business,” explained my salesman. “We are keenly aware of what other stores are doing. If service can be seen as cookies, we want ours to look like warm, freshly baked chocolate chip chunkies with walnuts—served with a tall glass of milk. The ordinary store-bought variety won’t do.” In this case, that meant encouraging me to test drive two vacuums and then cheerfully extending a refund for the one I returned. I chose my sweeper—and will do more business with this store.
More importantly, since I tend to relate many things in my life to the church office, the experience caused me to reflect on how the chocolate chip principle might be applied by ministry assistants. Think of the services you render, the tasks you do, the questions you answer, the courtesies you extend.
Ready for an experiment? Try seeing the sum of your work product as a cookie. As you do, remember: There are chocolate chip cookies and then there are Chocolate Chip Cookies!
As a professional you recognize the difference between mediocre and extraordinary. You know that even good work can be improved. Establish yourself as someone who consistently delivers the best!
