People – Healthy Church Communities

‘A church’  can mean a number of things. It may refer to the building (St Mary’s Church on Church Road), it may refer to the denomination (the Church of England), but at its heart, a church is a community of Christians, engaging in worship, ministry and mission to those around them.

A church is an organisation too – a body of people with different roles, some ordained, most lay; some paid, most unpaid.  The Church of England’s website has some amazing statistics:

  • More people do unpaid work for church organisations than any other organisation.  Eight per cent of adults undertake voluntary work for church organisations, that’s around half of those who see themselves as belonging to a religious or church organisation.
  • A quarter of regular churchgoers (among both Anglicans and other Christians separately) are involved in voluntary community service outside the church. Churchgoers overall contribute 23.2 million hours voluntary service each month in their local communities outside the church.

But wherever there are different roles and structures, wherever there are paid staff and dedicated volunteers, it is important to have good, principled, management and leadership. This section of the site seeks to help parishes ensure that their church community is a healthy one.

Employing Staff

A range of resources to support churches who wish to employ administrators, youth or family workers, caretakers or other paid staff.  From our underpinning theology and principles, to adopting good practice and living out our values, it’s important that the church is a good employer. We also have a page on paying staff, including guidance on PAYE and the new Real Time Information (RTI) scheme being introduced by HMRC from April 2012.

Working with Volunteers

But who is a volunteer?  With a wide range of levels of participation, from the occasional helper at a church fete, to years of service in church music, children and young people’s work and all points in between, there is no single way to nurture volunteering in a chuch. But there are some important principles and guidance points that can be followed to ensure volunteers are able to make an effective contribution, to be kept safe and protected, and to enjoy giving their time. Click here to find out more.

Healthy Church Communities

Lots of other resources to enable church communities to become and remain healthy.

  • Safeguarding – the importance of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, and where you can find out more.
  • Gifts and Talents – resources to support the process of enabling church members to discover their gifts and talents, and to use them effectively within the life of the church.
  • Health and Safety – resources and links to help you ensure that your church is a safe place to be.