Dedication of the Church Office

by Rev. James Wong

We thank God for his grace that we have now set up the English Church Office. Today is the dedication of this office for the Glory of God and for the service of our Church members. The theme of our office is “True service involves sacrifice of time and energy”. This is symbolized by the Crown of Thorns surrounding a big clock.(Come and visit the office and find out!)

Here are some thoughts about a Church office. The purpose of a church office can be well represented by the acronym W.O.R.K.S. The office is not simply a working place. It is a place to achieve the following purposes.

W = WORK SPACE & WORK ENVIRONMENT
Work Space: It is a working place for pastors, full-time staffs and other church members who assist in ministry works. It is also a place for weekly meeting, evaluation, planning and execution of work.

Work Environment: A conducive work environment would include good lightings, temperature control and all necessary equipments and stationery that are needed for the work to be done. For example, photocopy machine, fax machine, computers, tables, chairs, proper fixture, fittings and furnishing.

O = ORGANIZATION ORDER AND ORGANIZATION IMAGE
Organization Order: The office must give a sense of order from table arrangements to sitting arrangements to filing arrangement. Orderly tables and shelves. A messy office is time consuming especially in searching for things.

Organization Image: A church should be able to project a professional presence in an urban setting. The office that claims to serve the Almighty God and God’s people must be careful with its set up; at least a decent set up. The office represents the business counter of God. Members of the church should be able to feel proud about their church office when they walk in.

R = RECORDS KEEPING AND RESOURCE CENTRE
Records keeping: Minutes and other church documents, CDs and etc must be properly organized and kept for future references and ease of retrieval. The ultimate goal is to keep soft copy of church documents in PDF, video or DVD format. Events of the church should be properly documented in the relevant format for the church archive.

Resource centre: The office must have a section of resources related to pertinent issues of Christian living and ministries. Resource materials should include a section on family life, evangelism, youth ministries, children ministries, leadership, music and worship, discipleship, church growth, bible study materials, prayer, DVD evangelistic or Christian movies and etc.

K = KEEP IN TOUCH WITH MEMBERS & OTHER CHURCHES
Keeping in touch with members: This is a crucial matter in promoting a closer relationship between members of the church near and far and the church office. Therefore, the office must be set up in such a way that promotes a sense of belonging and pride. For example, when members come to the office, there is a place for them to sit comfortably or to get the relevant assistance.

The office is also a communication centre that keeps in touch with members near and far via telephone calls, emailing, instant messages, providing church websites that contains information regarding the Christian faith, church events, Sunday sermons, study materials and etc.

The church office is also a centre to keep in touch with other churches and other related organizations for networking and promoting church unity, sharing of discipleship seminars and others.

S = SERVICE CENTRE FOR CHURCH MEMBERS & OTHERS
The office is the service centre for church members: The purpose of the office is to provide service for the church members and to serve their needs. Church members have contributed generously to the church and it is the church’s responsibility to serve them well through a proper church office.

There are five categories of church members that come to the church office. (1) Those who visit the pastor to get to know him. (2) Those who come because they are going to get married and some come with their parents for advice (3) Those who have lost their loved ones or going through suffering (4)Those who come for advice or counseling. (5) Those who come and do work in the office because they are involved in some church ministries.

For those who wish to do preparation work for ministries, we have prepared an extra table and a meeting room for them to work. We also provide internet connection for their convenience when they bring in their lap top computers to work.

The office also exists to serve guests from out station and to provide the necessary assistance on food, accommodation and other matters.


The church is a place of worship to God;

The office is a place of service to members.