Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Good administration is good pastoral care. This is something a pastor I know likes to say. If you’ve ever gone to a meeting without an agenda or received a message about an event that didn’t include the date and time, you probably know it’s true.

As a church employee, this is something I have to remind myself occasionally. Administrative tasks are a part of every job, and when we’re busy with large projects it’s easy to let these things slip. Unfortunately, when you miss the little administrative details, it feels to others as if you aren’t paying attention (and they may be right).

Of course, mistakes will happen, and we will have to forgive each other. One of my responsibilities in my current job is entering events into the online calendar. On busy weeks, I’m prone to rush or I neglect to double-check my work, which can lead to mistakes. This happened with an event recently that was important to a particular parishioner. I got the time of the event wrong, and I heard about it later (though they were kind about it, for which I’m grateful).

As the pastor at my church often says, congregants should feel like they are being held. In other words, they should feel like someone is guiding them along and paying attention, and that they don’t have to worry about whether the candles will get lit or whether someone will tell them what happens next in the service.

If we are making an effort to attend to the administrative details, it demonstrates that we are paying attention the experience and needs of a congregation, allowing them to relax and connect and worship.