Church Administration Toolbox

Called to Serve:
A Manual for Ministers

The calling of shepherds of God’s flock has not changed over the centuries but the language we use to convey the practice of ministry does. Ministers also face changing challenges in the context of ministry over time. For these reasons, the Board of Leadership and Outreach has revised the minister’s manual that we trust will meet your need.

Deacon Training Videos

How can the work of being a deacon be fruitful, biblical, and encouraging not only for the church, but for deacons? These four videos created by Darryl Klassen in partnership with the EMC, are intended to be used by pastors in orienting new deacons to effective caring work in the church.

Pastoral Search Committee Guide

This guide helps churches find pastors. What kind of pastor do we need? Who is a suitable candidate? How can we decide? How do we communicate with applicants?

Minister-in-Training Guide

The Minister-in-Training guide was developed to assist churches in setting up an effective congregational ministry training program for emerging leaders. It includes information on administering such a program, responsibilities of the church, pastor and intern as well as a student minister evaluation form outline.

Pastoral and Congregational Evaluation Guide

These guidelines help churches do the important work of giving regular feedback to their leaders. It also helps churches evaluate themselves.

Pastoral Employment Contract and Ethics Covenant

Here is a sample Pastoral Employment Contract (Covenant) that your church can use when hiring a new pastor. It can be modified to suit your church situation. There is also a Pastoral Ethics Covenant to guide the pastor and church in understanding the ethical standards for pastoral ministry.

Pastoral Salary Guidelines and Worksheet

These guidelines show churches how to determine fair salaries for pastors. These formulas factor such things as experience, congregation size, education and expenses. They also include information on pastoral benefits and additional factors related to work in congregational ministry.

Pastoral Sabbatical Policy

This policy helps churches and pastors by defining what a sabbatical is, how they are structured and how to plan for them so that they become beneficial for both the pastor and the church.

Pastoral Severance Guidelines

These guidelines help churches understand what their financial duties are when a pastor is forced to resign or is terminated.

Treasurer’s Day 2023

This video provides three different seminars by three presenters. Reinnie Brandt presents a webinar on best practices for reporting financial information to church leadership and congregations. Henry Friesen investigates the necessity of internal controls to protect both the church and the Treasurer. Harold Penner unpacks the various aspects of Planned Giving and how each of these can be useful to members of the congregation. Handouts are provided for each of the three webinars.

Treasurer’s Day 2021: Charitable Giving Trends

Charites exist because people see value in our work and support it with charitable gifts, but the charitable landscape is changing and churches are part of that landscape. When you look at the giving trends in Canada and overlay that with declining church attendance it becomes evident the future well-being of faith-based charities is in trouble. The good news is we can plan now for the church and its’ mission to remain strong and vibrant, but we need to act now. This session will look at giving trends in both Canada and in the church. We will also talk about ways we can create more generous people through involvement, but beware, the church may need to do things differently if that is going to happen.

After a brief discussion outlining the legal and tax framework within which charities operate in Canada this seminar will review a number of disbursement and receipting issues common to churches, including special projects and designated giving.

Treasurer’s Day 2021:
The Treasurer’s Toolbox

This seminar will cover some of the key parts of a treasurers role and responsibilities, including the importance of cash management policies, tips for budgeting and managing payroll.

Click here for a sample cash management policy.