60 people responded to the survey.

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Earlier today, we released a podcast with Gavin and Lewis Roderick, one of the pastors at Christchurch, talking about their experiences of working together and some areas where they had challenges when they first started working together. They took some time to talk through the results we'd had to the first part of our 'Check-in' survey from where people are experiencing grace in their work to verses that have encouraged them recently. (If you've not listened yet, you can catch it here!)

We thought it would be nice for you to be able to see the results for yourselves. 60 people kindly responded, we have anonymised the answers and so, without further ado, here's the first part of the 'Check-in' results:

‍1)     Who do you work for?

·      86% Church

·      10% Christian Organisation

·      4% Other

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2)     What is your role?

·      18% Operations Director

·      16% Church Administrator

·      16% Church Manager

·      16% Trustee/PCC member

·      10% Administrative support

·      10% Other

·      4% Pastor/Vicar/Church Leader

·      4% External Hire Manager

·      4% Facilities Manager

·      2% Finance Manager

·      2% Communications Manager

·      0% Children’s Ministry Worker

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3)     From the following list, which of these is included in your role?

Most people’s roles included health and safety and finance, then compliance and governance and managing staff and volunteers, followed by facility management and organisation management. The lowest numbers of people covered IT support.

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4)     Where are you currently experiencing grace in your work?

- I am being given opportunities to grow in my leadership from a spiritual aspect

- New highly motivated & competent volunteers have emerged

- We are a very small rural church, but the numbers are growing, and with that have come responsibilities which were not required when there were only a dozen of us.

- Very supportive leadership team, colleagues and congregation. God who hears and responds to our prayers.

- Facility management and traditional warden duties on Sundays as we now have trained teams of volunteers doing it too.

- We have moved into a place of being able to start the recruitment process for an administrator!

- Commitment through support, education and giving to others.

- Meeting the poor and needy and sharing their life experiences.

- Grace is the provision of food for those in crisis, seeing them come into a church and being welcomed, loved and supported when needs arise .

- Working with an excellent body of trustees who are full of integrity, intensely prayerful and humility and with volunteers who are doing much of the work of the orgnisation.

- A wonderful team and a job that I love.

- We have a church that love to serve. It’s a joy to coordinate.

- Wonderful staff and church volunteers.

- God seems to know when I need a less busy time to catch up on jobs that need to be done but get put on a back burner as they are not part of the daily whirlwind!

- The pleasure of working with like minded people in a beautiful setting in order to support the work we do in the community (hire revenues cross subsidise our  charitable work)

- Services and Fellowship.

- Provision of community volunteers from places of emergency / temporary accommodation and  the privilege of working alongside and trying to disciple some of these guys.
 
- Financial provision, exceeding our World Mission Gift Day target.

- Via Acts 435 being able to help hundreds of people.
 
- Collaboration in the City - Street Support and Christian Action Brighton

- Fantastic team, great new building, supportive family, strong admin team

- Blessing of the team I work with and how we support each other

- Dealing with people

- Support of church trustees

- Migrating off traditional copper phones. Complicated for us in that we have a separate  phone line for the emergency button in the lift and a third line dedicated to the fire alarm.
 
- Accessing trusted and affordable support for basic IT - file sharing, desktop, OS management, etc
 
- Getting the most out of software that we have - eg churchsuite. It would be great to see instructional videos to show optimal use of calendars &  flows to organise things such as weddings / funerals flowing through to DBF  payments & reconciliation.

- In networking, in wellbeing and being looked after.

- Congregational support.

- Having amazing systems that are starting to work for us and make all of the extra compliance manageable.

- So many ways. Vicar is very flexible about my working hours. She is great about the challenges I have had.

- Benefits of collaboration with other organisations and churches. Partnerships have been a real source of joy.

- In the fact that I've managed to develop the systems to support the running of our organisation/churches to a point where less daily management is needed, freeing up some time for broader vision/planning work.

- Just broken my ankle and my colleagues have been great at rallying round!

- Great Church Leaders who are working together well, great unity.

- External Hire is slowly returning after covid. Love the people I work with.

- Church is growing.

- Great colleagues, understanding towards my situation.

- I experience grace when I feel supported by my colleagues and also from members of the congregation. When I have conversations with people that are not critical or judgemental I experience grace.

- Our income is slowly growing after covid.

 5)     What are some of the challenges you face?

·      26%- Volunteers

·      20%- Staffing

·      18%- Policy

·      14%- Support

·      10%- Financial

·      6%- Other

6)     On a scale from 1-10, how would you describe your capacity? (1 being under used to 10 overstretched)

Every respondent placed themselves above 5 on the scale, with most answering 8.

 

7)     What scripture has really encouraged youin your work this year?

Micah 6:8

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to  do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Philippians  4:13

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Matthew 16:18  - remembering that God is the Lord of the harvest

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the  gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Jeremiah  29:11

“For I  know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not  for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Psalm 19:1

“The  heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

Psalm 29:11  "The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace."

Matthew 16:18  - The Lord Jesus will build HIS church!

“And I  tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the  gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Jeremiah  29-11

“For I  know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not  for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Hebrew 11

Psalm 73  verses 1 and 2.

“Truly God  is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had  almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.”

Colossians 3

Feeding the  five thousand ,five loaves and fishes

He is at work  in you both to will ands to do of His good pleasure - also the dwelling place  of the Lord is with "the humble and contrite heart".

Esther 4v14  adapted 'called for such a time as this.'

“For if  you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews  from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who  knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Jesus feeding  the 5000

1 Corinthians  15 vs 58

“Therefore,  my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of  the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.”

Col 3 vs 17

“And  whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord  Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

I know this  is not Scripture, but as a staff team we are reading "serving without  sinking" by John Hindley and it's brilliant - so easy to read, very  encouraging but also challenging. Highly recommend it.

Psalms 19:1

“The  heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

Mark

Ephesians  2:10

“For we  are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God  prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Blessed are  the peacemakers

1 Corinthians  12.28

“And God  has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then  miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds  of tongues.”

Psalm 62

Isaiah 9:6-7

“For to us  a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his  shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Whatever you  do, work as for the lord.

Yes always

I use Daily  Bread each day

Be still and  know that I am God

Ephesians  4:12

“to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ”

Acts 6 -  organisational/operational work enabling word ministry to happen

We have been  working through the Psalms as a staff team this year, reading, reflecting on  and praying over a Psalm a week and these have been incredibly helpful at  restoring my view to be upon God and the reason I am doing the work I am  doing - so not a specific scripture in that respect, but really helpful  encouragement and challenge in my work from the Psalms.

Our church  verse for the year - Enable your servants to speak your word with great  boldness. Stretch out your hand to perform signs and wonders through the name  of your holy servant Jesus. Acts 4 v 29b-30

Nehemiah 4 v  14

“And I  looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the rest of the people, ‘Do  not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight  for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

Col 3 vs 17

“And  whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord  Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

1 Peter

Acts 6

1 Corinthians  12:28
28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third  teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and  various kinds of tongues.
 
Administration is listed alongside gifts that may be considered more  spiritual gifts.

 

 

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