The Church Office

In this podcast, Gavin sits down with Phil Topham, the Executive Director of the FIEC, to share their passion to better support churches in the area of policy and governance. The Church Office is grateful for the support and funding it has received from the FIEC to enable The Church Office to continue to be a free resource for churches. https://fiec.org.uk https://fiec.org.uk/resources/how-to-do-nothing https://fiec.org.uk/resources/the-ministry-of-administration

In this podcast, Gavin sits down with John Truscott to discuss whether churches should be setting targets and goals. Is it going to help grow and move a church forward? How would you answer that question? Listen in as Gavin and John share their experience about setting vision, developing aims and organising the next steps. Please check out John's training notes exploring this area in greater detail on his website: https://www.john-truscott.co.uk/Resources/Training-Notes-index/Should-a-church-set-targets

In this podcast, Gavin got the opportunity to talk to Andy Gears who leads a charity called Disciple Tech. His passion is to create technology that helps people grow in their walk with Jesus. Listen in now as Andy and Gavin talk through Andy's projects from PrayerMate, a brilliant app that supports individuals and churches to pray more consistently, a Bible reading app called Redeeming Time and a new game called the 'Serpent and the Seed'! To find out more information please check out the following links and check out the podcast! https://www.prayermate.net/app https://discipleship.tech https://redeemingtime.app https://www.thechurchoffice.co.uk/blog/prayer-mate--technology-and-faith-working-together

Gavin sits down with Paul and Sue Harrison from Christian Safeguarding Services to chat about the services that they provide churches and christian charities. During the podcast Gavin asks Paul to answer some questions from listeners. Together they open up the discussion about safeguarding vulnerable adults in the church context. To find out more about Christian Safeguarding Services please check out their website

The Church Office team would firstly like to wish all our listeners a happy new year, we hope the Christmas season has been a much needed rest for many of you serving in Administration and Operations. In this podcast, Gavin sits down with Sharon Clarke to talk through their hectic starts to 2024. Gavin has been navigating a long list of jobs, dismantling Christmas decorations, finalising year end accounts and preparing for a pastoral team retreat as well as the many other tasks that are needed to restart the new year. Add to that list a leaking church roof and a telephone system that decided to stop working and you get a pretty good idea of how January 2024 is panning out!

In the last video of 2023, Gavin sits down with Anna Hodgson the Operation Director at Mosaic Church in Basingstoke. Gavin and Anna spend some time reflecting on the diverse roles in Church Administration and Operations. From caring for staff and volunteers, being creative, enabling others to serve, releasing gifting and being strategic with resources, there's a lot to cover. It was a joy to get to know Anna and team up with the Commission Sphere of New Frontiers.

In this podcast Gavin get the opportunity to sit down with Gavin Courtney the founder of ChurchSuite and discuss all the latest from ChurchSuite. They caught up on new features to come, using ChurchSuite for holiday clubs and using flows for welcoming more people into your church family. Listen in now!

In this podcast Gavin talks to Karen Coleman a Church Administrator from Fuller Baptist Church in Kettering. Karen shares life as a part time administrator giving us an insight into some of her responsibilities, highlights and challenges. Gavin and Karen also start the conversation around listed church buildings. Karen is also a member of UCAN and highlights some of the benefits of being involved in the network.

In this podcast Gavin had the opportunity to chat with 5 guests and find out what they enjoyed about the Terry Virgo Podcast. Loads of really good practical advice and reflections. If you missed the podcast with Terry Virgo then please check out the link below. https://www.thechurchoffice.co.uk/blog/an-interview-with-terry-virgo

It was an absolute pleasure to sit down and chat with Terry Virgo about the role church administration and our good friend Nigel Ring played in enabling his work and ministry to take place. Listen in as we touch on church planting, prophecy, developing and building teams and ways to work well together.

A quick pod! Gav and Lew travelled to East Sussex this week (you’ll have to listen in to find out why). On the way home they took a few moments to look back over the first two years of The Church Office.

Almost every church we know has faced a shortage of volunteers over the past few years. Gavin takes the opportunity to chat to John Truscott about his 12 recommendations that help support people in church to serve. I love the fact that John challenges our thinking and helps us to build a culture of serving and discipleship. In the video John references two training notes on his website. ‍ Serving in a Post-Covid Church Every member on active service ‍

Join Gavin and Anna Wood, the Operations Director for Cornerstone Liverpool, as they talk through the third part of our results for the Check-in survey, the Bad Habits of a Church Administrator. Thank you for everyone who took part in the survey and shared their Bad habits with us.

Join Gavin and Anna Wood, the Operations Director for Cornerstone Liverpool, as they talk through the second part of our results for the Check-in survey, the Good Habits of a Church Administrator. Thank you for everyone who took part in the survey and shared their Good habits with us. The result were so encouraging and inspiring.

Join Gavin and Lewis Roderick, one of the pastors at Christchurch Newport, as they talk through the first part of our results for the Check-in survey. They talk through the struggles they faced early on in their working relationship, where people were experiencing grace in their work currently and verses that are encouraging us this year.

In this podcast Gavin and Penny share their thoughts and takeaway points from the recent UCAN Cutting Edge Conference. The theme this year was all about Doing More with Less. With fewer financial resources, fewer staff and fewer volunteers delivering “business as usual” has never been more challenging.

Gavin had the opportunity this week to chat to Joel Morris the Executive Director of Union. Joel serves behind the scenes co-ordinating and leading administration and operations. He has a very interesting back ground in engineering and nuclear power, as he shares a little bit about his story. It was lovely to hear his heart to serve and equip the church in all the aspects of their work. If you have not hear of Union they exists to grow leaders through their School of Theology, supporting church planting through their Mission network, as well as helping believers delight in Christ through their Publishing initiative. You can find out more about their work by visiting www.ust.ac.uk

Ever wondered what a Church Administrator gets up to in the week? Gavin and Becky share their to do lists on the podcast, encouraging each other and enjoying the huge diversity of the tasks ahead. On the podcast Gavin and Becky mentioned two UCAN events for those in the UK to get involved in. PLEASE SEE THE LINKS BELOW. Cutting Edge Conference Bench Marking Survey

This week we had the opportunity to speak to Jonathan Carswell, the Founder and CEO of 10ofThose. 10ofThose is a book ministry that hand picks the best books from across a wide range of publishers; ensures that they hold to the Bible; and then discounts them so that more can go out. Their profits are then used to support missions around the world. We loved Jonathan's heart to help everyone in the church to read books that excite them about Jesus and to give away books that point others to Jesus. There are numerous ways that churches can partner with them- check out their website for more information at www.10ofthose.com

In this Podcast Phil Swann the Pastor at Llanelli Free Evangelical Church in West Wales, shares a little bit about his experience of partnering with the church office. Gavin completed what he calls a " Back Office Review" looking at the work that happens behind the scenes and hopefully offering some support and advice to improve the running of the church which we pray will ultimately serve the gospel. The second half of the podcast focussed on caring for our Pastors or Church Leaders. It was great to talk to Phil and learn more about some of these pressures and how we as deacons and operational staff can serve and care for our leaders better. We hope this video is a blessing to you and your Pastor. To find out more about what a back office review looks like please click here www.thechurchoffice.co.uk/services During the Podcast Phil mentioned a conference that he is involved in to find out more please follow the link below. The Affinity book link is https://www.affinity.org.uk/challengingleaders/ The Affinity conference link is https://www.affinity.org.uk/challengingleaders/events/

Gavin had the opportunity this week to chat to Gaz Sim's one of the staff members behind Newday, tasked with organising this brilliant event for young people. We love his passion for the local church and the gift of administration. In the podcast he talks about his calling and describes it as "facilitating people to meet with Jesus.' Love that Gaz! If you have not heard of Newday it is one of the largest Christian events for young people that takes place in the UK every year. Thousands of young people aged 12-18 descend on Norfolk Showground, near Norwich to join hundreds of churches from all over the UK and Europe to learn about and worship God, camp out together and soak in the summer festival feeling, leaving Newday further along in their relationship with Jesus. Newday take place this year between Monday 31 July - Friday 4 August 2023. For more information please check out the following links below. Website: newdaygeneration.org Bookings: bookings.newdaygeneration.org Be on team: newdaygeneration.org/be-on-team Contact: [email protected] 020 3488 5241

In this podcast Gavin talks to Andy Bagwell one of the Executive Director of UCAN who has helped launch a new HR Support Service for Churches in the UK. Andy is passionate about creating healthly church cultures and wants our churches to be excellent employers. To find out more about the HR Support Service that UCAN offer please check out the link below. www.churchworkers.net

In this video Gavin got the opportunity to talk to Tim Wyatt about Managing Church Finances and provided some practical examples around budgeting and forecasting. Gavin and Tim also discussed deficit budgets and the challenges that some churches are facing over the next couple of years . A big thank you too Wyatt and Co for giving the time for Tim to share his experience and wisdom with our viewers. Here is a link to a helpful Finance Procedure Document and further videos that Tim has recorded to support churches in the area of finances. https://www.thechurchoffice.co.uk/blog/church-finance-procedure-document https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqpRatRvipg

Whether documented or not, we all likely follow some type of work flow. Sometimes they can be a bit random or inefficient, other times they can work really well. But in order to effectively carry out the vision of our churches, we need to be reviewing them- from our newcomer welcome process to how we process our orders and deliveries. Join us as Gavin talks to Mark Parsons from Christchurch Bristol about a really helpful seminar he did on work flows behind the scenes.

Gavin recently sat down with John Truscott to discuss the opportunity January presents to look through how things are going in your church. John has developed a fantastic tool on his website that supports leadership teams to review the health of their church. He has cleverly broken it down in to 5 key themes with 9 questions to work through under each theme. John is passionate about the local church and offers loads of great tips and insights. Very helpful tool Here is the link to the church office website where you can download the tool for free. https://www.thechurchoffice.co.uk/blog/church-health-review-part-1 https://www.thechurchoffice.co.uk/blog/church-health-review-part-2

Listen in as Gavin chats with Neil Tallamy from Baglan Community Church about why and how we can be making the most of christmas events in our churches. Christmas can be the start of people having exposure to the gospel and to the church so we want to be maximising the opportunity to meet as many different people as possible. This starts with good hospitality and care, so that they're in the best disposition possible to listen the gospel.

In this podcast Gavin had the wonderful opportunity to interview Nigel Ring who has served Terry Virgo and Newfrontiers leadership team behind the scenes for over 40 years. I loved hearing his heart and encouragement for church administrators. A great opportunity to learn from the best! A big thank you to our listeners for sending in their questions. 1. Do you have any tips on recruiting volunteers? This is a really challenging part of my job at the minute. 2. Do you have any suggestions of how we can better recognise volunteers contribution and thank them? 3. How do you sustain a long service in Christian Ministry? 4. How do you know when it is time to stop your involvement in a christian activity and how do you explain this to your friends who are still very much involved with and committed to that activity? 5. What kind of gifting do you need on a church planting team? 6. From your experience is there a link between good church management and a church successfully growing? 7. What advice do you have for churches who face financial challenges over the next few months and years? Any practical application? 8. When it comes to church finances and budgeting there can be a tension between faith and finances, how did you navigated that tension? I loved every minute of this interview with Nigel, grateful for him and his faithful service to the wider church.

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview Nick Coles the Uk Director for Operation Christmas Child. Operation Christmas Child is the world’s largest children's Christmas Project that sends shoe boxes filled with gifts to children all over the world. As church administrators we love a good statistic and since Operation Christmas Child started they have delivered 198 millions shoe boxes to children in 100 different countries. What an incredible achievement and a wonderful demonstration of God's Love in Action. It was great to hear Nick's passion for the project but we loved his heart to reach out with the gospel Locally, Nationally and Internationally. The shoe boxes provide the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus! There is nothing better! To Find out more please check out their website. There are so many ways to get involved! https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview Fran Richley the Operations Director for a Homeless Charity in Newport called Eden Gate. The Church Office loves to make the connection between the practical and the gospel. Fran is doing both of these, He is both passionate about sharing Jesus and caring for the needs of some of the most vulnerable folk in our communities. We loved hearing about Eden Gate and the opportunities that the church has to get alongside projects working with the homeless in our area.

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview Naomi Hodges from Renewal Church in Solihull. Naomi leads the brilliant Toy Offering Project in her church. Last year they blessed over 600 children with Christmas gifts and food parcels. Community projects like this are a wonderful way to reach out to our local community, become more visible and create opportunities where we were able to express kindness and share Jesus.

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to talk to Jenny Herrera. Jenny is Acts 435's Executive Director and has been involved in the charity since operations began in October 2009. Acts 435 is a giving website that allows people to give money directly to others, and 100% of what is donated via Acts 435 goes directly to those in need. They work through a network of churches and local charities who nominate an Acts 435 representative, called the Advocate, who is trained by Acts 435 and posts requests directly onto our website for people in their community who are in need. As a local church we have hugely benefited from our partnership with Acts 435, we would highly recommend every Uk church partner with them.

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview Becky Thomas the Operations Manager at Beeston Free Church in Nottingham. Becky has loads of experience in running conferences and events for her church. In her spare time she also serves as the conference director for UCAN running their national conference called 'Cutting Edge'. She loves her local church and has a heart to serve others for the gospel. If you are thinking about running a conference then this podcast is full of top tips and a helpful step by step guide of what to do next.

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to chat with Jo Roach a Church Manager for St Andrew's, Histon & St Andrew's, Impington in Cambridge. Jo is passionate about serving her local community and clearly loves people and church administration. She has an infectious personality, she was an absolute delight to learn from and talk with, we hope you enjoy this episode. At the end Jo talked about the UCAN ILM course "Managing Church Well" For more information please use the following link. https://www.churchadministrators.net/managingchurchwell

Gavin got the opportunity to sit and talk to Sam Lewis one of the Co Founders of Expense Plus at the UCAN Conference 2022. It was a joy to spend time with Sam and hear his heart to serve local churches. Expense Plus is a brilliant piece of software that I would recommend for churches to use. Having the right tools in place to manage your church finances will save you time and money. Worth checking out www.expenseplus.co.uk ExpensePlus is an easy to use, cloud-based fund accounting package that is specifically designed for Churches and Charities. It’s customisable, it's scalable, it's affordable, and designed for teams. As well as saving lots of time, it provides users with up-to-date, accurate, drillable financial reports, that help inform decisions. www.expenseplus.co.uk

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview Justin Humphreys the CEO of Thirtyone:eight who have been serving churches in the area of safeguarding for decades. It was lovely and inspiring to hear Justins heart to care for the voiceless and the vulnerable in our churches and communities. Their discussion around creating safer environments by reviewing and investing into our culture was very helpful. We all play a part in creating a safe environment and it was lovely to hear about the resources and services ThirtyOne: Eight are producing to support the church and wider Christian community. ‍

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview Robin Vincent the CEO of Care for the Family. Robin has had a career in working with people. It was great to listen to his wisdom relating to organisational structure, communication and leadership. He talks about the tension between caring for staff while at the same time driving them to be the best that they can be. His thoughts about developing healthly cultures in organisations was excellent. At the end of the interview they briefly talk about staff capacity and burnout. Hopefully both helpful and practical!

The Church Office podcast took a road trip this week to Cardiff to hear more about a local church that is running a community cafe. It was lovely to meet Paul and Alyson to learn from there experience and hear all about what God has being doing through the cafe to grow the church. Paul and Aly are Husband and wife duo, Paul serves as a Deacon for Ararat Baptist Church and Aly is the manager of the church cafe called The Ark.

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to talk to Tim Wyatt about some of the financial challenges churches have faced during the pandemic. They also have a very interesting discussion around the important of charity governance and provide some practical examples and application points for UK churches. Gavin and Tim also discuss some of the implication for church budgets and some useful tips to consider over the next few years. A big thank you too Wyatt and Co for giving the time for Tim to share his experience and wisdom.

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview and learn from David Norbury the chair of the Evangelical Movement of Wales. David had a very successful career in education and shares what he has learnt about Leadership and how it relates to the church. David identifies three models of leadership and explores their benefit in the church context.

In this podcast Gavin connects with Lewis Roderick, they are chatting about the up and coming Rebuild Conference. It captures their heart behind the conference and an opportunity to hear about what is planned. ‍Venue: Christchurch Centre, Newport, UK Date: 20th and 21st June 2022 To attend the conference please book here www.rebuldthechurch.co.uk

In this podcast Gavin is talking to Penny Clarke about the latest UCAN roundtable event on Church Finances with Tim Wyatt from Wyatt & Co Chartered Accountants. Their discussion covers the main points from the training session as well as encouragement to those serving behind the scenes overseeing church finances. A very interesting discussion about the tension between faith and stewardship or faith and operations. We hope you enjoy the video.

In this video Gavin talks to Verity Yeates a Parish administrator from St George and St Paul about the weird and wonderful world of church administration. They share stories, highlights and encouragement for those serving behind the scenes in their churches.

In this podcast Gavin had the wonderful opportunity to interview Nigel Ring who has served Terry Virgo and Newfrontiers leadership team behind the scenes for over 40 years. I loved hearing his heart and encouragement for church administrators. During the interview Nigel gives great examples of how to work with a senior church leader. I don't know if you can tell but I loved every minute of this interview with Nigel, grateful for him and his faithful service to the wider church.

Gavin connects with Anna Wood, the Operations Director for Cornerstone Collective in Liverpool. They are reflecting on how they are approaching the new year. Lots of encouragement for Church Administrator to look out and enjoy the grace of God around them. As well as an encouragement to be faithful in everything they are doing for the Glory of God.

In this podcast Gavin asks John Truscott some of the questions that listeners have sent in to The Church Office over the last few months. 1. How do you protect yourself from Burnout? 2. My senior leader is gracious with me but I find it hard to deal with my own mistakes and failures? Can you help? 3. How do you train the next generation for church administration? 4. Do you think there is a recommended length of time someone should stay in post? 5. Aren't church administrators really church deacons? Why do people use a different name? 6. I always feel like I am the person saying No to everything? It creates tension and I don’t know what to do different? 7. Is there a recognised pay scale for church administrators and operation jobs for churches? 8. I need help chairing meetings, what are your top three recommendations? 9. Help, I have challenges with my senior leader/ manager who interrupts governance and policy differently to me. We can’t agree! 10. We don’t have enough volunteers to run a church project, nobody wants to close it down but the burden is falling on me? I can’t keep going!

It has been a brilliant first year for the church office, God has been so Kind and gracious to the team. In this podcast Jonathan Thomas interviews Gavin and asks him what's been happening in the background. They review some of the stats and churches that have been helped in 2021. It's a great opportunity to celebrate the success of the website and podcast in its first year. Thank you everyone who has supported the church office both financially and through prayer. Much Appreciated!

Here at The Church Office, we appreciate that one of the best ways to learn can be to read. And I love passing on a great book recommendation! Our good friend Sharon Clark has recently written a book for Church Leaders offering a personal account and exploration of the Spiritual gift of administration. In this 184 page paperback, Sharon shares her insight and wisdom regarding the challenges, joys and opportunities of being a church administrator, negotiating spreadsheets and prophecy… Available here

In this podcast Gavin links up with John Truscott a church consultant to discuss the topic of Capacity. Your capacity and ability to achieve any task is impacted by a number of external factors and personal issues. The podcast offers lots of practical help and encouragement as we think about this topic.

Gavin teamed up with Julian Mander from Riverside in Birmingham to hear more about their Community Money Advice Centre. As we approach Christmas, levels of debt are on the rise. It is wonderful that the church is making a massive difference in supporting people to be completely debt free. Julian previously served as the Operations Director at his church and is now taking a full time position to manage and lead this initiative at Riverside. Julian is very passionate about his work, it was a joy to interview him.

Gavin teamed up with Becca Staniforth from STC Sheffield to discuss the work that goes on behind the scenes to deliver a Sunday Morning week in week out. They discuss some of the challenges running church events post covid-19. The podcast offers lots of practical help and encouragement.