Church Clerk
The Role of the Church Clerk
The clerk is to familiarise themselves with the method used for reporting and organising records in the local church. Experience working with computers or a willingness to learn the computer is beneficial.
The church clerk is responsible for:
- ensuring that the church’s records are maintained and the church’s business is documented.
- working with lists, changes, numbers and people.
Specific tasks include:
- Church board/ business meeting minutes. The minutes are to include reports and financial statements. These are then circulated to the pastor and board members. Minutes can be accessed by members and other denominational representatives on request.
- recording changes to the church role, facilitating correspondence, providing certificates for new baptisms or professions of faith, staying in touch with transferring members and encouraging visitation by the church pastor.
- Quarterly reports, church officer forms and session delegation lists sent to the conference.
- Documenting church committees and the tasks planned for completion.
- Compiling a church directory to facilitate friendship in the congregation (this is not an official membership list but all those who attend on a regular basis).
Becoming a Church Clerk
The church clerk is elected by the church nominating committee on a yearly basis.
Responsible to
The church clerk works closely with the pastor, church officers and members. He/she reports to the church board and the local conference. Assistant clerks report to the church clerk.
Time Commitment
- This requires a significant amount of time to ensure that records are accurate and information can be quickly accessed when needed.
- The allocation of time will be influenced by the size of the church and if assistants are appointed.
Term of Office:
One year. This role may continue for consecutive years. However, the clerk is encouraged to teach others the skills that they have learned.
Skills and Spiritual Gifts
God has gifted each of us in a unique way. The following gifts are valuable when considering membership for the church clerk.
The gift of helps: as the keeper of church records is a source of information and a great help in supplying statistics, history and church procedures.
Energy: enables the clerk to be thorough and enthusiastic as they serve God
Orderliness: facilitates a more efficient church life. With busy schedules and a diverse membership, the clerk’s work brings order and enhances the way a church functions. If there is no secretary available a clerk conducts most of the church’s business.
Love: that is unconditional, without judgment or favouritism is necessary. While it is the gift most desired by all members of the church, love and grace need to be particularly evident in the clerk.
Awareness
The clerk would be better informed by meeting with those in church who hold leadership positions. Get to know people, especially new members and those who are transferring or recently baptized. Encourage them to be involved with the church program and provide a warm welcome. Observe who is not regular or missing and share these names with your pastor and senior elder to follow-up.
Although the clerk deals with statistics, the figures revolve around people with skills and spiritual gifts. Working together as a team will improve the ministry of the church.
Training
The previous church clerk can provide valuable information and training. The Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual is an essential resource that outlines procedures for transferring and record keeping. Your local conference office can also update you on changes and new methods for reporting.
Meet the Membership Management Team
Valmarie Young
Membership Management
North New Zealand Conference
Sherine Solomon
Membership Management
South New Zealand Conference
Church Attendance Report
Submit your churches weekly Sabbath head count online.
Church office Positions Form
Submit changes to contacts of church office postions.
Adventist Organisational Directory
Directory of all Seventh-day Adventist offices and churches worldwide.
Advent Source
If you’re a new church clerk, this page is a great place to get started.
North Island Newsletter
Essential email newsletter for Adventists in the north island of New Zealand.
South Island Newsletter
Essential email newsletter for Adventists in the south island of New Zealand.
Church Clerk Resources
Quarterly Reports / Church Membership
When are Quarterly Reports due?
Quarterly reports are due on the 5th day of the new quarter. You can either email or post the forms to the conference office. It is imperative that the forms are returned to us within this period. Reports that are returned after the due date may not be included in the statistical reports until the following quarter.
- 1st quarter (1 Jan to 31 Mar) report due 5 April.
- 2nd quarter (1 Apr to 30 Jun) report due 5 July.
- 3rd quarter (1 Jul to 30 Sep) report due 5 October.
- 4th quarter (1 Oct to 31 Dec) report due 5 January.
What do I do for a Baptism / Profession of Faith?
Baptism or Profession of Faith slips must be completed by the Church Pastor and forwarded to the Conference. Ensure that the baptism or profession of faith is recorded on the Quarterly Report. The new member can only be added to the membership list if the baptism or profession of faith has been recorded in the Quarterly report
Receiving Members on Profession of Faith—There are four circumstances in which individuals who have accepted the Seventh-day Adventist message may be accepted into the local church by profession of faith:
- A committed Christian coming from another Christian communion who has already been baptized by immersion as practised by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. (See p. 30.)
- A member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who, because of world conditions, is unable to secure a letter of transfer from his/her home church. (See p. 37.)
- A member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church whose request for membership transfer has received no response of any kind from the church where he/she is a member. In this case, the assistance of the conference/mission/field shall be sought. In case the requesting church is located in another conference/mission/field, the assistance of both conferences/missions/fields should be sought.
- An individual who has been a member, but whose membership has been misplaced or has been withdrawn because he/she was a missing member, yet who in reality has remained faithful to his/her Christian commitment.
When a person applies for membership on profession of faith, earnest inquiries should be made concerning the applicant’s former experience. The church officers should seek the advice and help of the conference/mission/field president. Sufficient time should be taken to extend the investigation as far as needed to reveal all the facts.
(Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual pg. 41)
What do I do when a member is missing?
The missing list statistic is by far the most difficult to deal with. It is extremely difficult to stay on top of your membership, especially in larger churches. In cities, where there is a lot of movement between churches this can be an issue as sometimes it is assumed that members are attending another church when in fact they may have moved on entirely. For whatever reason, it is almost inevitable that there will come a time when you will find that you have names on your church role of people you no longer know the whereabouts of. To deal with this situation the church manual is very clear:
Members Moving Away and Not Reporting—When members move away from the vicinity, it is their duty to inform the church elder or clerk as to their new location and address. While they remain members of that church they should recognize their responsibility of reporting regularly to the church and sending in their tithes and offerings. It is desirable for such a report to be sent at least once each quarter. If, however, such a member leaves no address behind and makes no effort to reach the home church or send a report and it is found impossible to locate the missing member, then, after an absence of two years, an individual may be removed from the membership of the church by a vote of the church, provided the church officers can certify that they have faithfully endeavored to locate the person but without success. The clerk should record in the proper column, “Whereabouts unknown. Voted to designate as missing.”
(Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual pg. 198)
How do I Transferring a member In or Out of a Church?
The member’s name is taken to the Church Board and Church Members to approve the transfer In or Out. Both churches board and church has to approve the transfers before it is recorded in the Quarterly Reports. It is against policy transfer a member to another church without the other church being aware of the transfer. Contact the clerk or church’s pastor if you are unsure or to double-check.
How do I transfer a member In or Out of a Company?
Transfers In or Out of members belonging to the Conference Roll, Company’s must be approved by the North New Zealand Conference Executive Committee or South New Zealand Conference Executive Committee. The clerk must seek approval from the Executive Committee to transfer or receive a member. A ‘Recommendation for Transfer of Church Membership’ Form or an email must be forwarded to the Conference who will then forward this information to the Executive for approval. Both Churches will be notified once the committee has accepted the transfer.
How do I remove a member from church membership?
To remove a member from the churches membership, approval must come from either the member or/and the church board and members. Name removal cannot occur without this process.
Please note: In 2000 the General Conference Session voted to replace the term ‘disfellowshiped/apostasy’ to ‘removed from membership’.