Resources e-letter 13:5 - October 2013

Two new sets of Training Notes have just been uploaded to the website.
  

NEW: How to prepare a job reference

These notes give advice if you have been asked to act as a referee for a friend's application for a job on the staff of a church or mission agency. They also apply for Minister references.

There are six sections:

Find out all you can about the post
Study job description, person profile, website and talk to the candidate.

Consider what your role should be
If you think you are here to press a friend’s case, think again.

Submit your reference in the correct format
Pro-forma or letter, areas you are asked to include, deadlines.

Assess the candidate against the requirements of the post
Be specific about their strengths, but don’t omit the obvious weaknesses.

Avoid sweeping statements
... such as ‘She’s the perfect fit for the post’ or ‘I know of no weaknesses’.

Write nothing you would not want the candidate to see
plus a note about the legal requirements for employers’ references.

Training Notes TN76, How to prepare a job reference, are now available online.
   
   

NEW: Administrator wisdom

Here are 63 points that Church Administrators have submitted to form a body of wisdom about working in a busy church office. Some are challenging, others poignant or amusing. Several have a depth of meaning. They are grouped under eight headings:

• Foundations
• Role
• Stress
• Sundays
• Systems
• Deskwork
• Visitors
• Congregation

The notes are designed to encourage those who work as Church Administrators. But they may also be used to help others understand what it’s like to sit where your Administrator sits.

Training Notes TN77, Administrator wisdom, are now available online.
  
  

A passion for administration

I am establishing a small network of people who have a passion to see God’s gifts of administration being effectively employed in churches throughout the UK and possibly beyond. There are no big plans: to start with just a sharing of people’s understanding of these gifts, a commitment to pray for each other and a waiting to see what transpires.

I have already found a few people willing to commit to this from the UK Church Administrator network but there may well be others who do not necessarily work as Administrators but who would be interested. If this might include you, please get in touch. An initial enquiry does not commit you to anything.
  
  

Thank you for your interest in the website. Please tell others about it. I welcome feedback so that I can be constantly improving it. It is updated every two or three days and there is a constant stream of new material being added to its various sections. If you’ve not visited recently, have a good look round.