The Church Office

Andy Geers is back!

Gavin had the delight of chatting to Andy last year about PrayerMate and this time we invited him back to share about the exciting The Serpent & The Seed app that's just launched. With a real heart to reach people who don't know the Bible, here's how they would describe it:

"Walk through the pages of scripture, take in the beautiful sights and sounds, and along the way you may just discover your own place in the universe and the only source of lasting hope."

Listen in to find out...

Join Gavin and Jon Wright, Operations Manager at Frinton Free Church, as they reflect on their experience at the recent UCAN National Conference. In this episode, they share highlights from the main teaching sessions, personal takeaways, and the encouragement they found in gathering with fellow church administrators and managers from across the UK.

It was a real joy to connect with others in similar roles, share stories, and be reminded of the value and impact of church administration. Whether you attended the conference or not, this conversation offers insight, inspiration, and a glimpse into the heart behind...

Gavin was thrilled to recently speak with Pelé Ling, Communications and Creative Director at All Souls, Langham Place.

Listen in as Pelé talks about relaunching free English classes at their church a few years ago and shares the success this rebranding has had in creating opportunities to tell people about Jesus. (He also talked about their Christmas plans which Gavin LOVED- only 23 weeks to go!!)

Christian Safeguarding Services' Paul Harrison joins Gavin to talk through 5 common challenges with safeguarding in churches:

1. Poor governance

2. Low standards

3. Conflicts of interest

4. Not raising low level concerns

5. Lack of professional curiosity

We absolutely loved learning from Paul and are so grateful for his time and expertise. This is definitely an hour well spent!

If you'd like to learn more about Christian Safeguarding Services, head to: https://thecss.co.uk/

Meet Emma! Emma is the Operations Manager at The Globe Church in London and she recently sat down with Gavin to talk about her role, how she creates sustainable rhythms of church life and the variety of tasks that come across her desk in any one week.

Listen in for ideas and to see how the role of a Church Administrator fits into the life of a church!

Listen in to the latest episode of The Church Office podcast with special guest, Manny Kemp! Manny is part of the team at ACAT (the Association of Church Accountants And Treasurers), a charity that exists to support the work of those in church finance.

He recently sat down with Gavin to discuss the challenges and joys of serving a church in an accountancy/treasury role and shares some insights from his own experiences.

To find out more about the work of ACAT, head over to: https://www.acat.uk.com/

We were thrilled to have Mark Jones from Edward Connors join us on the latest episode of The Church Office podcast. Listen in as Mark and Gavin discuss key areas of employment that churches can struggle with. They recommend a number of resources that might serve you in this area of church life.

To find out more about the work of Edward Connor or get further support, head to: https://www.edwardconnor.com/

Gavin recently had the joy of sitting down with Dan Peters and Andy Ferrett from Joyned.

Joyned is a secure internal communication platform designed to grow and strengthen in-person communities.

Joyned offers churches a great alternative to WhatsApp. Listen in as they discuss the benefits of partnering with them to better serve your church.

To find out more information please check out their website. https://www.joynedapp.com

Welcome to The Church Office podcast, Richard Coekin!   Richard Coekin has recently joined Reach Ministries UK as their Director. Listen in as he discusses Reach Ministries' heart to serve and support church leaders as they shepherd their churches in godly and effective gospel ministry. The team helps church leaders to reflect on their current situation, clarify their vision, and structure their teams effectively.   They provide mentoring, diagnostic tools, and conversations to explore churches' needs.   To find out more about their work, head to: https://reachministries.uk/

Gavin recently sat down with Evangelical Alliance's Director of Advocacy Danny Webster to talk about one thing- Martyn's Law.

Listen in as Gavin and Danny discuss some of the changes this new law could bring for our churches. Thanks again to Danny for giving up his time.

If you'd like to find out more, here's an article from the Evangelical Alliance on the topic:

https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/martyns-law-where-does-this-leave-my-church-and-christian-events

Following on from his time with Joe and Hannah from Gourds and Pomegranates, Gavin returned the favour and visited their podcast!

Catch up on this bonus episode now!

https://gppodcast.uk/

Gavin teamed up with Joe and Hannah from the Gourds and Pomegranate Podcast. Joe and Hannah have a wonderful heart to serve churches by breaking down practical, no-nonsense strategies to help churches communicate with clarity. It was great to get to know them and find out a little bit more about their stories.

To find out more about Joe and Hannah's podcast please check out the link below:

Do reviews have a place in church? Are they of benefit? Or are they too managerial for church life?

We were thrilled to be able to open up this topic with John Truscott, a good friend of The Church Office.

Listen in as John and Gavin discuss why we often don't like the topic of reviews and consider the benefits. To hear more from John, head over to his website: https://www.john-truscott.co.uk/

Dan Steel is a former market researcher who transitioned into pastoral ministry and has been involved in church planting for over twenty-five years. In this podcast Dan and Gavin talk about his new book "Wise Church Planting: Twelve Pitfalls to Avoid in Starting New Churches,"

In the book Dan examines the common challenges that cause nearly a third of new churches to falter within four years. Drawing from interviews with 80 church planters across 27 countries, he identifies internal issues such as character flaws, disunity, and misaligned priorities, as well as external obstacles like opposition and unmet needs. Hope...

In this podcast Gavin interviews Pete Greasley one of the founding Elders at Christchurch in Newport. Pete has served in Pastoral Ministry for 40 years and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Gavin and Pete talk about enjoying the gospel, not taking your self too seriously and finish their discussion by talking about building teams and having a diversity of different gifting. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

To find out more about Christchurch please check out their website: www.christchurchnewport.co.uk

To find out more about the church office please check o...

Working out the renumeration of your Pastor can be a challenging job for any Trustee or Church Officer. 'How much should we pay our Pastor or Church Leader?' is a very common question that we get asked at The Church Office.

Gavin talks to Pete and draws on his 40 years of ministry experience to try and answer that question.

If you would like more information or would benefit from a conversation with Pete, please feel free to get in touch at: info@thechurchoffice.co.uk

"One of the things that struck me about Matt during our conversation was his wonderful heart to serve leaders in Christian Ministry."

Gavin recently had the joy of sitting down with Matt Waldock, co-pastor of City Church Manchester and UK Gospel Coaching Director.

If you have not heard of Gospel Coaching then this is a really good introduction into what it is and the benefits of having a gospel coach.

https://www.cmmnet.org/pages/uk

Join Gavin and John wright, the Operations Manager at Frinton Free Church, as they talk through the first part of the 2024 Check-in survey. They enjoyed talking through the results that related to the pressure points that admin and Ops roles faced this year and where people had experience grace at work in their churches.

During the podcast John also shares a little bit about his experience of partnering with UCAN (UK Church Administrators Network). We hope you enjoy the podcast.

In this Episode Gavin talks to Lourens Du Plessis from Stewardship who leads the team that guide and strengthen churches and Christian charities with their governance and finances.

It was great to talk to Lourens about the challenges that churches are facing in the area of good governance. It was also a joy to talk about the gift of administration and how effective it can be in a local church. We hope you enjoy todays podcast. 

www.stewardship.org.uk

ExpensePlus are back! Listen in as Gavin is joined by Sam and Dan to talk through the most common pitfalls in church finance.

From not having the right people in the room to spending too much on everyday costs, these are areas that we can all do with a hand figuring through.

In this podcast, Phil Swann, the Pastor at Llanelli Free Evangelical Church in West Wales, shares a little bit about his experience of buying a new church building in just three weeks! It's a wonderful story of adventurous faith and God's wonderful provision. We absolutely love having Phil on the podcast and enjoy his passion for the gospel and reaching the lost.

To find out more about the church please check out their website:

https://www.lfec.org/about/building-project

Introducing...Owen Gilham!

After working in education (and a brief stint in theatre) Owen now works for Danbury Mission as the Operations Manager. Listen in as he and Gavin talk about the diverse work that Church Managers complete on a weekly basis. They cover the importance of getting appropriate policies and procedures for your church in place as well as the challenges around adding a new Sunday service and the co-ordination of all the service teams to make that happen. It's an interesting job, we hope you enjoy the episode.

https://www.danburymission.org.uk/<...

How do we make best use of our buildings for the gospel? Rich Spens has spent many years working behind the scenes at Kings Cross Church in London trying to think this through and put it into action.

Listen in as he chats with Gavin about how he's managing and developing his church, including an idea to take the church roof off!

Hot off the press- Churchsuite have very kindly agreed to sponsor The Church Office podcast! We're really grateful for all the support from Gavin and the team at ChurchSuite and can't wait to work alongside them.

Listen into this special episode as Gavin Courtney joins us to talk about why the team wanted to sponsor the podcast and everything that's new at ChurchSuite.

Data protection can often feel like a minefield, especially in a church context where sensitive data is handled frequently. We recently asked our followers to submit any questions they had about data and privacy for us to pass on to the experts.

Listen in to this Church Office special as Gavin brings your questions to Harry and Leanne from the ICO.

Gavin recently had the joy of sitting down with Ashley Ellis, CEO of ACAT, the Association of Church Accountants and Treasurers.

Listen in as they discuss what ACAT has to offer and why no church accountant or treasurer should feel alone.

The ACAT Team have a wonderful heart to serve local churches and those serving in the area of church finances.

For more information please visit https://www.acat.uk.com

Would you describe your church as being an awkward size?

Listen in as Gavin and Ray talk about overcoming some of the barriers to gospel growth that are faced in our churches. Ray serves as the Leadership Consultant for the FIEC and is also the author of Ready, Steady, Grow. 

In the video Gavin got the opportunity to chat to Steffan Job the General Secretary for the Evangelical Movement of Wales. It was great to find out more about all the different ways that the EMW are serving churches across Wales and beyond. You will pick up Steffan's heart straight away to serve churches with fewer members.

The EMW have a rich and wonderful history of reaching out to young people with the gospel through their summer camps and they've very kindly provided us with some of their risk assessments as document templates. You will find these...

In this podcast, Gavin got the chance to sit down with David Anderson from Face2Face Scotland. David is an experienced Pastor who provides mentoring, coaching and discipleship to pastors in their early years of ministry. It doesn't take long to pick up David's lovely heart and desire to care for leaders. In the video David makes reference to a short survey he would love listeners to complete.

Please follow this link to complete it:

https://www.cognitoforms.com/CoMissionChurchesTrust/MentoringAndCoachingPresentAndFuture

For more information please visit

www.facetofacescotland.org

Gavin recently got to sit down with a good friend, Steve Robinson and talk to him about his new book 'Serve'.

Serve is a really encouraging read about what it looks like to follow Jesus' example when serving the church and what it means to serve sacrificially.

Listen in as Gavin and Steve talk through serving with purpose and joy.

Gavin recently caught up with Andy Weatherly from Grace Church, Stirchley about what prompted him to hire a Church Administrator and the difference having one has made.

It was great to meet him and listen in to his thoughts on the gift of administration, church deacons and strengthening the local church.

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...

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 ro...

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