How Documenting Policies & Procedures Supports Ministry
When it comes to ministry, most people don’t think of employee handbooks, meeting agendas, or policy and procedure documentation. That makes sense – after all, we gather as congregations to grow in our faith and to share it with others. However, since we do have staff and resources to steward, we need to pay careful attention to how we do things. That’s how documenting policies and procedures becomes useful for supporting the ministry of a church. If you’re wondering why you should spend time developing and documenting policies and procedures, here are a few benefits of going through that effort: #1 – Provide clarity These questions and many more should be addressed within the church’s policies and procedures. Instead of having to answer these scenarios as they come up (and potentially having different people provide different answers), documented policies and procedures answer those questions in advance. #2 – Offer Protection Childcare, background checks, and financial approvals are a few processes that can create a great deal of harm to individuals. If handled incorrectly, these can also cause legal trouble for the church. By agreeing on how to handle these situations ahead of time, documenting the procedure, and training those who’re responsible for carrying out these policies, you’re protecting your church and those who attend it. #3 – Saves time While the initial time spent creating these documents is significant, this effort will save you time in the long run. Instead of answering many of the same questions with each new employee, they can read the employee handbook first. From there, you can offer to answer their questions as needed. The person who fields questions can refer to documentation when answering requests for weddings, counseling, benevolence, and more. If you don’t have these documents in place (or if they could use an update), here’s how to get started: While documenting policies and procedures doesn’t feel like ministry, this effort truly does support the ministry of your church.
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