The Church Administration - Essay Example

CHURCH ADMINISTRATION ASSESSMENT

The church administration plays a very great role in ensuring smooth running in the church activities. Among the key roles of the church, the administration is: ensuring successful day to day operations, policy-making and ensuring proper policy enforcement, managing church supplies, planning the activities of the church among other roles. The key areas which church administration focuses on finance management, church policies and polity, organization and risk management. Currently, the position of the church administration regarding management is quite commendable. This is because all the administrative areas are doing quite well and running very smoothly.

On the current organization and structure of the church administration, it seems quite effective. Currently, the highest office is the senior pastor whose main role is to provide the way forward to both the leadership of the church and the congregation as a whole. It is also the role of the pastor to guide the church in setting objectives and putting means to achieve them. The senior pastor is assisted by the assistant pastor whose main role is seconding the pastor in conducting church activities. The most common roles of the assistant pastor include ensuring proper communication in the church, ensuring hospitality for church visitors, coordinating various departments, takes the roles of the pastor if the pastor is away from the church among other roles. The next in order in the administration of the church is the overseer. The main role of an overseer is to take charge of various departments such as the finance department. Elders are also part of the church administration in my church.

The role of the elders in the church is to assist the clergy in managing the church activities through advising on various matters concerning the church administration. The least is the church administrator whose main role is to coordinate various teams in making sure there is smooth running of the church activities. Currently, the structure of the church administration ensures proper supervision of church activities through the various levels of administration which supervise and coordinate various teams. Because there is direct supervision, it is likely that none of the workers or staff fails in his or her duties. Through the current organization of the church government, the pastor is relieved of various duties such as supervision of various teams through the presence of an assistant pastor, overseer and church administrator. The presence of the assistant pastor also ensures that the pastoral duties are conducted even in the absence of the senior pastor. The presence of the elders in the church administration also ensures that the decisions being made are effective. Therefore the current state of the church regarding organization and structure is quite efficient and effective.

Another role of the church administration is finance management. The current state of the church administration in my church regarding finance is also quite commendable. This is because most of the activities in the church require finance and the church administration has made sure that there is proper management of the finance by coming up with the church budget which shows how the funds are spent through a particular financial period which is normally one year. The church administrator in charge of finance department has been given the task of coming up with the budget which is then approved by the senior pastor in consultation with the elders. It is evident that the church administration is doing great on finance management because various church missions such as the outreach have been conducted successfully without any difficulty. Another indication that the church administration is currently doing well in finance management is through various projects the church under the church administration has been able to conduct successfully. For example, the church has been able to cater for expenses such as church insurance, salary to the clergy, retirements for the clergy among other expenses. Apart from catering for the expenses the church has also been able to purchase various assets such as two buses, powerful public address systems, furniture and other assets. This indicates that the church administration is at a good position in the financial management of the church.

Risk management is another important aspect used in assessing the position of the church administration. The church administration in my church is very prepared in managing risk through various means. One of the most important moves taken by the church in risk management is through the formation of the risk management committee. The committee works in hand with the church administration in managing risks which are likely to face the church. Through the help of this committee, the church administration has been able to predict potential risks and their effects in case they occur. The risk management committee has been able to propose to the church administration the possible ways of evading the risks or managing them in case they occur. Currently, in my church, the church administration has taken various measures in risk management. One of the measures is the church has taken an insurance cover against any possible risks which are likely to occur. Among the potential risks insured are disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis. The church has also insured itself from fire, theft, and accidents which might occur to an important church official or staff while on a church mission. Through the insurance cover, the church is assured that it will be able to contain losses which might be accompanied by the risks. Through the risk management committee, the church administration has also been able to incorporate third parties in ensuring proper risk management. This has been achieved through the employment of personnel who have experience in security matters to act as security guards. The role of the security guards is to do proper screening of every person entering the church. This is important in reducing the risk of the congregation being harmed by individuals with the intention with such intentions. The security guards also provide security to the clergy when necessary. During special events, the church administration accesses the security of the events, and if necessary it may request for more security from government agents in charge of security. The church administration has also been able to put up facilities to curb the potential risks. These include fire extinguishers to put out the fire in case it occurs. The church administration has also been organizing fire drills among the church after a certain period to be able to equip them the skills of reducing the effects of fire after it was is was found out that fire was the most potential risk to the church. The church has also taken care of the risk of loss of important documents through risks such as fire by making duplicates and keeping away from the church building. Therefore it is evident that the church administration has made great progress in risk management.

To ensure the smooth running of the church, the church administration must come up with policies regarding the operation of the church. The church administration has also done the same in the church by creating various policies. Among the policies, the churches should focus on is the policy of social events such as wedding policy. In my church, various guidelines have been put down by the church administration to ensure that such events achieve the acceptable standards not only those of the church but also the government policies. In a wedding, for example, the couples must be approved by government agencies such as a judge before their wedding is conducted. The main reason for the wedding policy is to ensure that the marriage is legal and as a way of the couple expressing the desire to serve God in a Christian way of life. To ensure the success of such events the church administration has also put in place policies regarding the charges for the events. Example for a couple to conduct a wedding in my church a wedding fee of $1000 is applicable. Apart from the policy of wedding, there are others policies such as leadership roles, emergency policy, access to the church, church ethics, corrective action plans among other policies.

The leadership role policy specifies the roles of each staff and officials of the church starting from the senior pastor to the church administrator. Apart from the administrative offices, the policy of leadership roles specifies the roles and guidelines of the various church units such as ushers, praise & worship team and sounds crew. In the emergency policy, the following situations are considered as being an emergency: fire, flood, bomb threats disasters, theft, robbery, burglary, and kidnapping. The policy states that it is the role of every member to ensure a safe environment in the church and any unsafe practices must be reported to church authorities immediately. The church ethics policy provides rules which apply to all leaders, ministers, staff and the members of the church. Failure to observe the rules would lead to corrective actions such as counseling, additional training and even dismissal from church duties. From the assessment of the current performance of the church administration in various sectors, it is evident that the church administration is in good progress.

Despite the good performance in various areas, the church administration in my church has failed to address such key issues in those critical sectors. Therefore, the church should take into account the key areas where it has failed and address them. The areas include finance, the structure of administration, decision making, risk management, corrective measures, upholding moral values, gender representation, among other sectors. The church administration should, therefore, look into issues in these areas and come up with ways of improving. Failure to which it could lead to severe consequences.

In the finance sector, the church administration has failed through various ways. The church administration has failed to allocate funds to do community work such as helping the needy. In doing so, the church has failed to fulfill the commitment assigned to it in the bible to help the needy. Therefore, I recommend that the church administration should allocate part of its budget to support the needy. The church administration has also failed to audit the church budget and give a report to show how it spends its money. The members of the church, therefore, are not informed on how funds were spent. The professional financial auditor should be hired to audit and determine how the funds are spent in the church. Financial statements such as receipts should also be availed to the members of the church as proof that the transactions which the church was involved are correct. The members of the church should also be informed of the expenditures of the church. I also recommend that the members of the church financial team should undergo training on the management of funds. If this recommendation on finance would be implemented, then the church administration would never have any constraints in financial management.

The church administration should also improve in the risk management area. This is because some of the risks have been ignored and some have not been addressed fully. The church administration should focus on the risk of sexual harassment which has been completely ignored. Although the cases have never been reported, the church administration should consider this a risk and come up with ways of dealing with it. Some of the ways which the church administration can prevent this risk from occurring are by educating members of the church about the risk, ways of avoiding it and the procedure of reporting or handling a case of sexual harassment. The church has also failed to address the risk of employee theft. This is because there is no background check on the employee’s behavior before they are employed. Rather they are employed through their ability to deliver services to the church. Therefore, there is a risk that this employee may be involved in crimes such as theft. Therefore I recommended that the church should do the background checking of every employee before they are employed. Lastly, the church administration should address the medical risk which is a very crucial area. The church should train or high a personnel who is qualified in the medical field to address medical emergencies. The church should also acquire facilities such as first aid kit to be used in case of emergencies such as accidents. Those are the key areas which the church administration should address on risk management.

Few reforms are also recommended on the polity of the church. One of the reforms is assigning personnel who are trained or have skills to sensitive departments such as the finance department. Currently, the finance department is headed by an overseer who has no experience in handling financial matters. Therefore, this could lead to challenges in financial management. Another reform on the administration is the members of the church should be allowed to have a chance of removing an elder who is found out to have committed a gross misconduct. In the current church administration, once an elder has been elected he or she cannot be removed. This should be amended to ensure that the elders serve in their position according to the policies of the church and the code of conduct.

In conclusion, the church government in my church is making great progress in the management of the church activities. However, there are several reforms which should be done by the administration so as ensure even more efficient church administrative organ.