Staffing Solutions for New Ministries

New ministries often lack the necessary resources to staff the church office.  While members and visitors may understand the challenges of staffing an office, they still expect quick turnaround time on phone calls and messages.  If staffing is a challenge for your ministry, there are several things you can do to provide good service and maintain a professional presence.  The following suggestions are some possible solutions to staffing your church office.

A Web Presence

Every ministry should have a web site.  Establishing a web presence is a lot cheaper than it was years ago.  Your ministry can purchase a domain name for less than $15, depending on where you purchase it.  Web hosting can be purchased for about $100 per year and you can find a company to build a basic site for you for a minimal fee.  If push comes to shove, you can use templates and build a very basic site yourself.

I saw  a church web site that had two pages:  a home page and an about page.  It gave the church’s location, phone number, service time and directions.  It provided some information about the pastor, their mission statement and what they believed.  It wasn’t much but at least it provided the main things people want to know.

Phone Calls

Your church should have voice mail, an answering machine or an answering service.  The voice on the voice mail or answering machine should be pleasant and clear.  Whichever method you choose, a reliable person should be responsible for checking messages and returning phone calls.  The person who returns the calls should be knowledgeable and professional.

Correspondence, Data Entry and Record Keeping

If you can’t afford a full time staff person a part-time staff person or a committed volunteer can get the job done.  Another option is a virtual assistant.  A virtual assistant can take care of all your correspondence, data entry, record keeping and even phone calls from their home or office.  Everything is done electronically.  Your virtual assistant can live in your city or across the country.

These are just a few things to get you started.  Got questions, ask them in the comment section or send me a note from the Contact page.

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Tags: new church office, staffing solutions