Two new sets of Training Notes have just been uploaded to John Truscott's website. Have a look at how they can help you and your church ...
GDPR - 4 little letters but what do they mean?
Why not join us at Spring Harvest?!
News from Local Groups
Worcester Group
We last met on Wednesday 18th October, when we were hosted by Martyn Walley, at Wood Green Evangelical Church.
As we usually do, we shared lunch together, and enjoyed catching up with each other’s news, as well as welcoming a new member to the group. We had a helpful discussion about a number of issues we come up against, both locally and more widely, as well as starting to think about GDPR, which no doubt will come up again as a topic next time we meet! We finished with prayer, and as many of us hadn’t been to Wood Green before, with a tour around the church and its facilities.
We are next meeting on Wednesday 7th February, at Worcester Baptist Church, Sansome Walk, at 12.30pm. If any other administrators in the area would like to join us, we’d love to see you there – do get in touch!
Alison Moore and Liz Wilson
Oxfordshire Group
We held our very first local group meeting on 27th September 2017 at the Barn’s Café in Abingdon, which is part of Christ Church Abingdon. The location was accessible for most people with the added advantage that we could order delicious sandwiches! 13 administrators came to the lunch meeting and we had several apologies due to holidays etc, so it was a very encouraging start to the group.
We shared a little with each other about the work we do as administrators, which varied greatly in terms of hours worked and roles undertaken. Then we used John Truscott’s “Administrator Types”, based on Winnie the Pooh characters, to look at the different qualities and skills we bring to our jobs. It was a fun exercise but also helped us to recognise how unique we all are.
We also talked about what we would like to get from the group and made suggestions about topics that we could cover in future meetings as well as letting those who didn’t know about UCAN membership and the wealth of resources available to members.
Since our first meeting we have set up a closed Facebook Group for administrators to ask questions and share ideas. We are hoping to meet once a term and the next meeting is planned for March 2018.
Karen Stoddart and Vicky Johnston
The first official meeting of the South Yorkshire Group will take place on Tuesday 20th February at 12.30pm. Hosted by Sally Davies they will be meeting at the Wilson Carlile Centre, Cavendish Street, Sheffield S3 7RZ in the Café area. If you are in the area do come along and support the South Yorkshire group as it gets up and running.
The Surry + Senior Manager group will meet on 1st February at Christ Church Woking. For more details please contact Brian Howells.
Congratulations to our distant learning students
Five students on our distant learning module, The Work of a Church Administrator, have completed the whole course. Well done to:
Debbie Marsh, Administrator of the Minster Church of St. Andrew Plymouth
Cathy Walters, Church Administrator of St. Mary's Wythall, Birmingham
Angela Davies, Administrator of Mickleover Methodist Circuit
Linda Tudor, Parish Administrator of Holy Trinity, Chester
Val Simpkins, Development Worker for the Beakon Mission Partnership, Doncaster
Congratulations to them all on a great achievement!
If you are interested in taking the course please do get in touch. John Truscott continues to oversee the course which is run in association with St. John's School of Mission, Nottingham. More details are available from www.john-truscott.co.uk
There are currently over 30 students and four tutors involved in the course.
What kind of Church Administrator are you anyway?
When I first started in church administration, lots of people, after the usual polite congratulations for the new job, paused and then asked me, ‘but what are you actually going to do?’ It was, as I was to find out, a good question! As most of the administrators reading this will know, no two days are the same and it is a rare week indeed when you do not find yourself doing something that most definitely is not on your job description.
In response to those enquiries, I found myself using analogies to describe my role and, over the years, have found these helpful when working with administrators, ministers and church congregations who are trying to understand the key aspects of their administrators’ job and purpose.
I now offer them to you and please consider whether any or several of the below describes your role, and if so, what you might need to watch out for. Maybe you could use this as the basis of a role review discussion with your minister or line manager?
The Bulldog
Your job is to protect the minister / other staff from those in the congregation, neighbourhood or elsewhere who are always clamouring for attention, answers etc.
Be careful that those you guard actually want and need to be protected. An overzealous bulldog can be a dangerous thing for both its owner and the public who meet it!
The Conductor
Your job is to make sure everything fits together, everyone knows their part, where they should be, when and what they should be doing.
Be careful that you give space for that special person who often plays flat and off the beat, but nonetheless has a tune God wants them to perform.
Oil can
Your job is keep the wheels of the church in motion, checking for places it may be getting stuck and applying a little judicious oil to get things started again
Be careful that you do not spend all your time fixing problems without also looking for why they may be occurring in the first place. Sometimes the church may actually need a mechanic.
Tea lady (or man)
Your job is to provide tea and a sympathetic ear to church and community members who pop into the office as a warm comfortable place to talk and sometimes moan
Be careful not to confuse accessibility with ability or gifting. Are you the best person for this and is this the best use of your time just because people know where to find you?
Jack of all trades
Your job is to be the church’s ‘go to’ fixer. You can be relied on to have a go, after all, who else will do it?
Be careful that you are not, by leaping to the rescue, getting distracted from the mundane, but important stuff that is waiting on your desk.
First mate
Your job feels like it is to be the minister’s ‘enforcer’. You make sure things get done and everything is ‘shipshape and Bristol fashion’ in the church.
Be careful to communicate really well with your minister about what is really essential and what would just be nice if it were possible. Messy church can also be good….
Scapegoat
Your job is basically to take the blame for everything that goes wrong, particularly when it is not your fault or it is out of anyone’s control.
Be careful of your own mental and physical wellbeing. Do this too often and it will take a toll on you and your family. Who is also praising and affirming you?
Spider
Your job is to know everything about everything and everyone. If in doubt, people know where to come for answers
Be careful of buses. If you fell under one would all that knowledge, experience and information disappear? Write it down!
UCAN Members dived in together!
We've teamed up with our friends at ChurchSuite to provide every member with online access straight into the heart of the UCAN network.
We sent a personal invitation to every member church across the network, to set up a password and be able to connect in.
(Did you miss your invite? - e-mail isabel.willerton@churchadministrators.net for a replacement)
You can log in direct via the link on the new website and download the ChurchSuite App direct to your Android or Apple device from your device's store. If you're already familiar with the ChurchSuite interface, your app will allow you to seamlessly switch between your own church's interface and ours.
Once inside, you'll find all sorts of goodies - like the details of events (and you can book online too!), recordings and resources from previous conferences, and our on-line database of articles. You can quickly search for contact details of someone else you may have met in the network, and see local groups who may be near you. At any time, you can update your account and communications preferences with us - and lots of administrators have already been eagerly uploading their profile pictures to help us recognize each other when we next meet.
We've received great feedback so far, and are always happy to hear from you as we serve the church together.
At a venue near you!
A grand total of 21 local groups of administrators/church managers are now officially listed with UCAN, spanning the country from Bournemouth to Aberdeen, from Northern Ireland to the M11!
Group sizes range from a handful to 40 (on the mailing list!), with each group meeting with timing, location and frequency to suit the constituent members.
Most meetings involve food and drink to a greater or lesser extent, and vitally provide a link with others who share the same joys and frustrations, and find that their burdens are lightened in this knowledge! Groups tend to include a mix of pre-arranged content, and informal opportunity to ask questions and benefit from each others’ wisdom and experience: hot topics seem to be databases and GDPR…but the range of discussions is as broad-ranging as our roles!
The newest group is in South Yorkshire – welcome to Sally Davies and her members. Take a look at ChurchSuite and see if there is already a group near you. If not, why not get in touch with other UCAN members near you (search the membership database) and see if you could start one. Just let us know if we can help you get this started – making contacts, working out formats, providing materials. Any questions, please feel free to contact Isabel Willerton or I’m on the end of an email: joyce.gledhill@churchadministrators.net
Book early to avoid disappointment!
Senior Manager Church Administrators are warmly invited to join us on Tuesday 27th February 2018, 11.00am-5.30pm at Bloomsbury Baptist Church in London.
Our guest speaker will be Richard Steel and together we will look at how we create a culture that values volunteers and assists with their recruitment. You'll receive a free copy of his book 'Building up the Body' on the day.
Places are limited and we are initially opening bookings to Senior Manager Church Administrators across our network. So, for more information, to download a copy of the brochure and to book click here. You may also bring one paying guest from your church - just add a second ticket when you book online.
Congratulations to our distant learning students
Two students on our distant learning module, The Work of a Church Administrator, have completed the whole course. Well done to Liz Leaman, Administrator Dustan Parish, Northampton and Sally-Ann Hamilton, Administrator at Finaghy Baptist Church, Belfast. Congratulations to them both on a great achievement!
If you are interested in taking the course please do get in touch. John Truscott continues to oversee the course which is run in association with St. John's School of Mission, Nottingham. More details are available from www.john-truscott.co.uk
There are currently over 30 students and four tutors involved in the course.
News from local groups
The Taunton Group met on 11th October and five administrators attended.
We discussed several topics including copyright reporting and Qualifying Connection requirements for weddings. It was clear that we are all very busy at the moment with a succession of special services for Harvest, All Soulstide, Remembrance Sunday and then on to Advent and Christmas.
It is good to meet up and share experiences and also to discover different areas of expertise among the group and I personally, came away feeling very much supported and encouraged.
Ruth Cook, Taunton Group
Woking Group
The Woking group gathering was very ably hosted by Jess McNutt at Trinity Methodist and we ate our lunch and treated ourselves to doughnuts and cookies whilst chatting about various hot topics including next year’s General Data Protection Regulation and Church Management systems. It was so good to benefit from other people’s expertise and experience, and I, for one, have returned to my office very motivated to organise some local training from Church Suite. Watch this space Woking! Our next local group meeting will be on Monday 29 January at 12noon at St Andrew’s Church, Goldsworth Park.
Caroline Bowen, Woking Group
Bucks/ Herts Border
The Bucks/Herts Border local group was only established officially a few months ago, although administrators in our area had met more or less once per year prior to this.
We are about to meet again in November, with around 40 folk now on our mailing list. We aim to meet over lunchtime and get to know one another over a buffet lunch. We usually also have a short message of encouragement brought by one of the group leaders, and then opportunity to ask questions of each other to conclude.
A list of contact details for attendees is circulated to enable those discussions to continue. Judging by the speed with which administrators respond to the invitation, this is increasingly viewed as a valuable use of time. Title for our next meet is –‘Hooray for Administrators’!
Joyce Gledhill, Bucks/Herts Border Group
Farnborough Area
Five members of the UCAN local group for the Farnborough Area met in Fleet Parish Community Centre on Wednesday 20th September.
We talked about life in general rather than any specific items this time and propose the next time we meet to look at the John Truscott article on Christian Administration https://www.john-truscott.co.uk/content/download/607/10936/file/A15%20-%20Christian%20administration.pdf – so if you’re able to come to the next meeting (and new members are always welcome) please bring a Bible so that we can spend some of the time looking at this together.
We closed the meeting in prayer, and will look to meet again in January.
Chantelle Gardner, Farnborough Group