Church administration has never been an easy task.
Several factors make this task insurmountable. Some of these factors include money, resources, skills, etc.
A church administrator must be great with planning, have proper support systems, and possess business acumen. All of these are necessary to ensure the smooth administration of the church. The challenge is that it never seems to be enough.
How then do you improve church administration? We will show you 7 ways in this post.
Ways to Improve Church Administration
The church is one of the most peculiar organizations existing. It is a mix of people from all walks of life. Your ability to lead people to Christ, disciple members, and serve the community depends on your church administration. Here are a few ways to improve church administration:
Seek an automated solution
Every church has volunteers in its system. While larger churches may have hundreds of volunteers, smaller ones may have just a few. Regardless of the number, there is a need to keep track of your volunteers and communicate with them effectively.
Church communication, especially to volunteers, can be a daunting task. You will not always have your volunteers available at the same time. Also, you need them to take up different tasks based on the need at hand. An easy way to communicate with and track volunteers is using an automated solution like ChurchPad.
Such apps allow you to book multiple resources and services at a time. By so doing, you improve your church communication and flexibility. It also makes it easier to schedule tasks during service and non-service days.
Communicate to your congregation
Church communication goes beyond just communicating with volunteers. You must also communicate effectively with your congregation. It is impossible to separate communication from administration. Without proper communication, efficient administration is impossible.
Technology has provided us with several tools to make communication a far easier task to handle. Some years back, you’d have to do all your communication via the pulpit, notice boards, and post. What this meant was that people didn’t get information if they weren’t in church or didn’t drop their addresses.
Today, you can send messages via email, social media, SMS, etc. All you need is a database and a church app that can automate the transmission of these messages to your congregants. A good example of a church app is ChurchPad.
Draw up SOPs
SOP stands for “Standard Operating Procedures.” Every organization that wants its administration to be top-notch operates by SOPs. When there are laid down procedures and rules, it is easier for a team to function better.
It is the responsibility of the administrator to ensure that these SOPs are available. The administrator must also communicate these procedures to the volunteers and other church staff. With these procedures in place, people can carry out their duties independent of supervision. It saves the administrator time and effort. As such, they can channel their resources into other productive endeavors.
Risk management
Several risks come with running a church. It is the role of the administrator to sniff out these risks before they show up. This way, they can nip such risks in the bud. Without this, the church will deal with several legal maneuvers and unnecessary liability.
The church administrator should act as the risk management officer of the church. Look at each operation to figure out possible risks. Some of these risks could be legal, others could be organizational or reputational. One of the easiest ways to deal with such risks is to get risk management software.
The church administrator doesn’t have to do all of this by themselves. There are legal experts that you can reach out to for advice and help when things don’t go as planned. You can also access online resources to make the job easier. With a proper risk management system, church administration becomes less tedious than it usually is.
Improve your leadership ability
The church administrator is among the most important individuals in the church. As a church administrator, your hands are in so many pies within the church system. Nothing happens without your knowledge. What this means is that you are automatically one of the leaders of your church.
Because of this, you cannot afford to not have strong leadership abilities. The pastor sees you as the main driver of the church vision asides from himself. Building your leadership ability makes you form a formidable team with the church pastor. You act as the information link between the pastor and the rest of the church. This puts a lot of leadership responsibility on your shoulder.
Attend leadership training seminars and sign up for leadership webinars. Take some time off to read leadership books and take leadership assessments online. Invest in your leadership ability and it will reflect on your church administration.
Work in conjunction with church leadership
Asides from being a church leader, the church administrator should work alongside church leadership. You need to educate the leaders on what everyone expects from them and how you can help them. Be clear about each leader’s responsibilities so that you can set up a proper working relationship between them and your office.
Sometimes, especially in a smaller church, you’d need to handle extra responsibilities such as treasurer or secretary. Whatever the case is, you must bolster leadership with materials, support, and resources to make them better.
Connect with other church administrators
The job of a church administrator is quite tasking. You’d have to organize church activities, collaborate with leaders, and coordinate volunteers. All of these can take a toll on you.
An easy way to get around these tasks is by reaching out to other church administrators. You can find out from them how they handle their tasks. From doing this, you’d learn a few tricks to improve on yours.
Conclusion
Technology has presented us with several solutions like ChurchPad to help improve church administration. Asides from technological tools, there are a few practices that help to make church administration better. We have discussed a few in this post. You can also share some of yours in the comments section.