Is There Such a Thing as An Emergent Clerk of Session?
Once again, I’ll dip into the presbymergent brain trust with a question about the changing dynamics within my own congregation.
I love my “wee kirk,” which when I arrived back in 2003 was a group of about 17 stalwarts, the last folks standing in a suburban congregation that began it’s archetypal mainline deathspiral back in the 1970s. We’re now at about 45 attendees, a mix of Anglos, second generation Korean-Americans, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, and African-Americans. The majority of my membership is now under the age of 30.
This year, my session composition is finally changing to more fully reflect the makeup of my church, with half of my leadership now comprised of young professionals…again, under the age of 30. My dear stalwarts are pleased with this, and are eager to hand over the reins. I am both pleased and a little concerned, because while I have total confidence in the thoughtfulness and gifts of my new church leadership, I’m not quite so sure about how well we’re going to mesh with the demands of church record keeping and bureaucracy.
In the near term future, I’m going to need a new clerk of session, and to be quite blunt, I don’t want to inflict the expectations of that hallowed office on any of my new members. My current clerk is worried about it, because she recognizes that it’s going to be nearly impossible for any of my new leadership to do all the things that she currently is required to do without quitting their jobs.
I’m going to be unable to honestly persuade anyone to take on that mantle because I don’t think it’s one that ultimately *needs* to be taken up. Yes, we need to keep good records for our own planning. Yes, we need to maintain standards of accounting transparency. But I need my folks working towards our vision for revitalization and in-the-trenches evangelism, not pouring their energies into paperwork. We don’t have that luxury.
So my question is: have any of y’all managed this kind of transition? Any tips? Any pointers? Any sympathetic ears in Presbytery?
Or should I just resign myself to telling my folks that all those exceptions on our Session records are just a way of telling us how exceptional we are…
Comment by Jim Bonewald on 17 January 2008:
Just what is it that your clerk is required to do? Since I have been at my current church, and even before, we have had young clerks - its a job rotated among current session members - who are under 40 and working professionals. I’m sure we’re slacking on some things but the essentials manage to get done.
Comment by robert austell on 17 January 2008:
I feel your pain.
It is possible to have a non-sessional elder serve as clerk. If your old clerk is willing to continue in the job, the session can elect her to do so.
If you have any support staff (I realize you said “wee kirk”)… that person could take some of the communication and statistical report duties from the clerk.
Comment by Jan Edmiston on 17 January 2008:
A couple of things:
A great clerk is your partner in all things emergent. He/she and you trade ideas, books you are reading. You hold each other accountable. Our clerk is actually an “affiliate member” of the congregation - given permission by our Presbytery clerk to serve, even though she is a member of a congregation in another state. This is great for so many ways: she gets good ideas from another Presbytery and congregation, she doesn’t feel like she “owns” our local session, etc.
The second thing is minor maybe, or just semantics. But I noticed how often you referred to those on your team as “my” - my wee kirk, my membership, my session, etc. I get what you are saying but the whole notion of ownership is important. It’s never “yours.” (shared with love)
Sounds like the congregation is doing cool things.
Comment by David Williams on 17 January 2008:
Jan: I’m glad to hear “our” Presbytery clerk is open to such things ;). Your point about ownership is well taken. Hope you’re still on the mend!
Comment by Rodger Sellers on 17 January 2008:
I don’t know if what we did at a former church was “allowed” or not, but we created our own “position” by appointing a non-serving elder as “recording secretary” (and threw the bone to polity by explicitly pointing out that she was there to keep minutes and file records “for and with” the clerk (who was completely overwhelmed)) and then effectively split the job up into components. Since those involved trusted one another, the sharing seemed to work.
All above board, when minutes were sent to ecclesiastical review committee each year, we had clerk, moderator, and recording secretary sign each set of minutes. Only comment ever received back was… (wait for it!
“The Recording secretary’s repeated use of first INITIALS and last names does not conform to the Book of Order.”
Don’t know if that helps or not, but it sure worked for us and left some of the paperwork (too much of it IMO) to be done for the clerks review and signature — delegation, in other words. Worked for us.
Comment by Mark Brantley-Gearhart on 18 January 2008:
You talked about the need for “accounting transparency”. Perhaps I’m missing something, but I thought “accounting” had to do with the finances and would fall under the responsibility of the treasurer, not the clerk. If the clerk is also serving as the treasurer, then no wonder the clerk’s work requires full time commitment! Clerk and treasurer are distinct offices for a reason. However, if you’re using “accounting” in a non-financial sense (the Session needs to “account” for its actions; we need a full “accounting” of our members), then disregard this comment as the rambling of a confused mind.
On to other comments.
I agree with Rodger Sellers’ idea of delegating responsibilities. Since governing bodies above the Session tend to have recording secretaries in addition to stated clerks, why can’t a Session? I’ve served churches that split the job of treasurer between two people: the “financial secretary” handled accounts receivable, and the treasurer handled accounts payable. It makes sense that a similar arrangement could serve for the clerk: recording secretary, secretary of the rolls, and the clerk (correspondence and everything else).
This last comment doesn’t have to do with the clerk’s position, but it’s in a similar vein. Last night our Session did something different. Instead of the annual assignment of committee chairpersons, we talked about options to committees. With the exception of the Nominating Committee (which is mandated by the Book of Order), we’re doing away with committees. (The truth is, our committees died off long ago due to lack of interest.) Instead, we’re going to experiment with the idea of ministries that flow out of discernment groups. Congregants who are interested in a particular ministry will gather for ongoing conversations centered around that ministry. And instead of each elder serving as the chairperson over her or his own group, the elders will work in partnerships of two or more per ministry to help facilitate discussion and the ministries that result from discussion. We’re not sure how this is going to work, but the elders seem to be encouraged by this less hierarchical, more relational approach.