What does the circus, an orchestra and the secret service have in common? Or to put it another way, how would you describe the role of a church administrator?
What does the circus, an orchestra and the secret service have in common? Or to put it another way, how would you describe the role of a church administrator?
My go-to illustration for many years has been the plate spinner at the circus, a great visual of somebody multi-tasking. The job definitely feels like that at times. We need the skills and abilities to keep everything going in the background. If you have ever had the opportunity to watch this act live at a circus it’s truly amazing. I find it hard to watch, sitting on the edge of my seat overwhelmed with anxiety shouting “it’s going to fall” or “that was a close one.” Multi-tasking is a key skill for a church administrator. One minute I can be completing a fire risk assessment, then organising the church banking, then involved in a planning meeting for Sunday, and then asked to review the CCTV about an incident in the car park. This is a normal day running from one task to the next reacting to the needs and demands of those around us. It fits the illustration well.
A friend of mine, John Truscott, likens the church administrator role to that of a conductor of an orchestra. John’s illustration doesn’t feel as manic as the plate spinner; with the conductor there is a sense of control, every thing being organised and coordinated. The conductor enables others to play their part, bringing different skills and abilities together to create one glorious sound. To be honest it’s a brilliant analogy and there is so much that you could draw out and use to describe the role of a church administrator.
My latest go-to illustration for a Church Administrator is a ‘Special Ops Agent’ which might give you an insight into my personality. I have often thought maybe I should change my introduction to people that I meet for the first time at our church. “Welcome to Christchurch I’m the church administrator or ‘Special Agent 007’, licensed to organise!” I know that might seem a cliché and too far but hang in there with me for a minute. The role of a special agent is to undergo special operations or tasks that are undercover or unseen. Isn’t the role of a church administrator a bit like that? We are in the business of serving our churches behind the scenes delivering unseen tasks that make everything happen smoothly. So smoothly that often our colleagues and church members don’t even notice the work being done. Some might find this discouraging and a bit of a challenge, you as a church administrator might be fed up of completing all the thankless tasks that aren’t recognised. The thing is I love it and if you are in that place at the minute, let me encourage your perspective.
An example of this might simply be to make it your goal to ensure that when your hospitality team on a Sunday turn up, they are never out of supplies. They are never hunting for cups, coffee, or milk. Isn’t there just something wonderful about that? It brings me great satisfaction on a Sunday morning as each team turns up to serve that have everything, they need to play their part for that morning . I rarely get asked for something on a Sunday anymore because we have a process or structure in place that delivers these tasks that is unseen. It brings me joy to see everything running smoothly and ultimately, I believe it brings glory to God.
We recently changed the main signage on the building, it was one of those jobs that everyone who attends the church has noticed at some point. It doesn’t help when you have letters hanging off the side of the building. I remember setting our admin team to work on the project a couple of months ago. I loved the process of designing the new sign and arranging for it to manufactured. We designed it with the ability to change colours so it would fit with our Christmas light (this is another passion of mine). The thing that brought me most joy is that we were able to complete the task in about 6 weeks and nobody in church noticed it had been done for months. I still have church members coming up to me saying, ‘I love the new sign’. I have one brilliant church member, who prides himself on noticing all the changes around the church building. I even had to show him the invoice for the sign confirming the install date as he couldn’t believe that he missed it. That’s Special Ops at its best.
