A church secretary is responsible for all aspects of church administration, including answering phones, designing bulletins, making copies, and managing correspondence. However, the job entails much more than juggling paperwork and ringing phones. Most secretaries must also serve as the organization’s public face. Because the secretary may be called upon to answer broad questions from a wide range of people, basic knowledge of the church, its structure, and its beliefs is often required.
The specifics of what a church secretary does must be determined the organization in question. Administrative tasks, on the other hand, make up the majority of the job. The church’s front office is usually managed the secretary. This entails keeping track of the master calendar, making appointments, and knowing how to contact all employees. He or she must be well-versed in the church’s programming and know where to direct specific public questions.
A church secretary must, to some extent, serve as a general church resource, both to congregants and to the outside world. He or she is in charge of connecting church members with pastors, managing class and event sign-ups, and publishing and distributing announcements on the inside. Managing e-mail databases, as well as printed fliers and bulletins, is common.
Secretaries are also responsible for representing the church and its programs to the general public. When newcomers call with questions about services or events, they usually get the church secretary as their first point of contact. The secretary must be able to answer questions about the church and its policies in a courteous and honest manner. The church secretary’s responsibilities include scheduling pastoral counseling, providing information about wedding and funeral planning, and answering questions about the church’s basic beliefs.
A church secretary may be assigned to an individual pastor or priest in some churches, particularly those with large congregations. This type of church secretary is similar to a personal assistant in many ways. He or she will be in charge of the pastor’s personal schedule as well as receiving and sending correspondence on his or her behalf. The secretary will interact with other church staff members and will occasionally take on more general tasks, such as assisting with the preparation of weekly newsletters, but she will spend the majority of each day in the service of only one person. Multiple secretaries are typically employed churches with this structure: one for each member of the senior leadership team, as well as one or more to sit at the front desk and handle more general inquiries.
To maintain consistency in outreach and task management, all secretaries must usually work together. This holds true for large churches with multiple secretaries as well as small churches with a number of part-time administrative assistants sharing the workload. Most church organizations require a church office, and the secretary’s primary responsibility is to ensure that the office is efficient, effective, and helpful.