Learn more about Eldership Roles - Church Secretary

Church Secretary            

The Church Secretary is one of the elders and is charged with ensuring that all the meetings in the church run properly.  This includes setting dates for meetings, keeping attendance records, issuing agendas and writing minutes.  The secretary and the minister typically meet weekly to liaise about all aspects of church life, including the planning of the pattern of church services.  The secretary prepares and distributes Sunday Duty Team rotas, writes the weekly Sunday Notice Sheet, issues a monthly calendar of forthcoming church events and ensures the church rules are up to date.  He or she is the official verifier for Criminal Records Bureau applications.

The church secretary is the focus of communication with outside organisations, particularly the Southern Synod of the United Reformed Church, and distributes correspondence to the minister and other elders as appropriate.  The secretary prepares the Annual Statistical Returns for the URC and prepares memberships, elders’ ordination, dedication and baptism certificates and keeps lists of members, and adherents.  The secretary is also the focus of communication within the church, making sure that all members and adherents know what decisions have been taken at church meetings and encouraging members to recognise and exercise the gifts they have been given.

This may all sound a little dull and boring, but it is a great privilege to be able to use the gifts that God has given me in this way to serve the church and enable its mission..  As Acts 12:27-28 says “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  And in the church God has appointed .... those with gifts of administration ....” 

Lesley Cumming Church Secretary 2009 -