Church Leadership Portfolios

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Responsibilities

Apostle M. Gumbo

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A Pastor
A Pastor should be the one whom God calls and qualifies spiritual.
He should be well trained and equipped for pastoral duties and leadership skills.
He should passionately love God and people.
He should have the servant-hood spirit (willing to go down and serve).
Should prove to have the heart of a pastor.
Should be able to preach and teach sound biblical doctrine.
Should have the heart of spending much of his/her time in the church praying for the
needs of the ministry and people.
He should be a dedicated student of the Word and make sure he/she teaches biblical
messages.
He should be the one to provide leadership to the elders, deacons and membership.
He should be an example of God life to everyone.
He should train and equip all leaders and leaders needed in the ministry.
He should disciple and mentors other leaders for the work of the ministry.
He is there for home visitation, counselling, comforting and advising members.
Is the one to conduct the Lord’s Supper, baptism, child dedication and other special
services.
He should conduct premarital and post counselling, weddings and funeral services.
He should not allow false teachings or wrong doctrines taking place at his/her local
church.
Should lead in the church discipline.
He is to work as a team member with other pastors, elders and staff.
He should be the one to initiate and boldly lead in local evangelism in order to grow the
church.
He should be accountable to God, the elders and the church for the faithful discharge of
his duties.
The pastor represents the church before the world as a godly example, being above
reproach.
The pastor should be given a well-trained administrator who might be one of the trusted
elders whose job is to coordinate and oversee the business affairs of the church

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including finances, maintenance etc. the person should always report to the local
Pastor.
No senior Pastor, an Apostle or Bishop is allowed to put people into the fivefold ministry
either by promotion, appreciation, declaration or vote. It is only God and Him alone who
calls people for his kingdom to be: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and
Teachers. (Eph.4:11-16)
Our duty is to confirm what the Lord has already put upon his people and the very
person should have sensed it before though it would not be as vivid as some may
expect. But the most preferable is the scenario of Samuel being called alone then went
to tell his mentor. It’s very awkward for a senior Pastor to stand up in the congregation
and declare that brother or sister so and so has served faithfully in this ministry for a
long time; therefore he/she should be promoted to a position of being a pastor!
We are only allowed to nominate or appoint elders in every local church. The verses
below are all proving that we are allowed to appoint elders not pastors.

Titus 1:5, Acts 21:18, 1Tim.5:17, Jam.5:14, 1 Pet.5:1, Acts 16:4, Acts 15:23, Acts
15:22, Acts 15:6, Acts 15:4, Acts 15:2, Acts 14:23 and Acts 11:30.

The word: Elder, Overseer and Bishop are interchangeably used in the Bible depending
on the versions also, but they all mean the same thing. Now, depending on the
doctrines of the churches, the three offices might be given hierarchies.
Elders are the spiritual leaders of the church. Their role is to minister the word of God
and prayer.
(Acts 6: 4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the
word.")
Elders are to be Shepherds of the flock (saints), (to shepherd is to pastor and see to
their spiritual needs) and to oversee the church. That is to oversee each department of
the church, and the implementation of the vision from God for the role of the Church
in their specific community.

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1Peter 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by
compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;3 nor as being lords over
those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;4 and when the Chief Shepherd
appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
Elders should do the same work with the residing Pastor. They are there to make major
decisions together with the Pastor and to manage/lead the church according to the
Bible. They are to help in raising funds for the ministry and to see that Church finances
are not misused or abused. Also, they are to help in church policies and disciplining of
members where necessary.

Qualifications of Elders or Overseers

(1Timothy 3:1- 7)
1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good
work.2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-
minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;3 not given to wine, not violent, not
greedy
for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;4 one who rules his own house
well, having his children in submission with all reverence5 (for if a man does not know
how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);6 not a novice,
lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.7
Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into
reproach and the snare of the devil.

Appointment of Elders

 The position of an Elder is a Lifetime calling.

Elders are appointed by Elders and this is the only biblical example.
Acts 14:23 "So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with
fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”
Titus 1:5 Qualified Elders

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5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are
lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you ---6 if a man is blameless,
the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or
insubordination.7 For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed,
not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,8 but
hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled,9 holding
fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine,
both to exhort and convict those who contradict.
Elders are not chosen by popular ballot – the majority of Church Members could not
even tell you the difference between Elder and a Deacon.

Identify the next level of leaders

In Commerce this would come from middle management.
In Church this would naturally come from Ministry Leaders, and Home Fellowship
Leaders. There should be an Elders overseeing each department as this is one of the
duties of an Elder, the others being preaching and teaching (1Timothy 3:2), and
Pastoring (1Peter 5:2).

Mentor a Successor
NB: God can’t move a leader upwards until he mentors his successor.
The Church may have appointed a full time Elder as an Associate Pastor, and he would
obviously become the natural successor. However, the more Elders that the church
has the better for that church.
Too many Elders, would create the perfect condition of planting another church or
branch.
Therefore, they can never be too many Elders in the church.
The Senior Pastor/Elder must plan specific time for Mentoring, Mentoring and
Motivating his successor and the same applies to each level of Leadership to fulfill the
command to Disciple (Matt.28:18-20)

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Monitor
It is in the best interest of both the Leader and his Successor, that specific targets for
Growth are set and Monitored on a regular and pre-determined time. This will help to
Ensure that the Growth & Effectiveness of the Successor is planned and Monitored.
This should be planned in to the Daily Time Schedules.
If you have created a Secure Environment by having a Positive Attitude there should
be No problem in Monitoring, as the ‘potential Leader’ will view them as an
Opportunity to learn & grow.

Motivate & Encourage

A leader enhances the lives (Matt.5:13) of people he meets daily. It is about Motivating
& Encouraging (1Thess.2:10-12, 3:2 & 5:14) potential Leaders with a Positive
Attitude to reach their fullest potential, that God has planned for their lives (Eph.3:20,
Philippians 2:13 & 4:13) by Growing in all 4 areas: In Love, Holiness,
Wisdom & Works.
Remind them that they are Christ’s Ambassadors (2Cor.5:20), a Royal Priesthood
(1Pet.2:5 & 9-10), charged by Jesus with a ‘Great Commission’ (Matt.28:18-20).
Empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5-8 & 1Cor.12:4-11) to inform the depraved world
of the Hope that has its foundation in God (2Cor.1:10 &1Tim.4:9) and therefore the
depraved world is Depending on them to bring Light & Hope into their lives same
as for all Born Again Believers.
Extract from Leadership Course by Trevor Barnardo

Church Committee and Duties

What is the Role of the Chairperson & the Vice?

Chairing is a key role on any voluntary Management Committee.
The Chairperson must ensure that the Management Committee functions properly, that
there is full participation during meetings that all relevant matters are discussed and that
effective decisions are made and carried out. The role of a Chairperson is time

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consuming, with work between meetings, external representation of the organization,
and work with staff.

Main duties of the chairperson

Five areas:
1. To provide leadership.
The overarching (embracing) role of the chairperson is to provide leadership; they must
be an effective strategist and a good networker.
2. To ensure the Management Committee functions properly.
The Chairperson is responsible for making sure that each meeting is planned
effectively, conducted according to the constitution and that matters are dealt with in an
orderly, efficient manner.
The Chairperson must make the most of all his/her committee members, building and
leading the team. This also involves regularly reviewing the Committee's performance
and identifying and managing the process for renewal of the Committee through
recruitment of new members.
3. To ensure the organization is managed effectively.
The Chairperson must co-ordinate the Committee to ensure that appropriate policies
and procedures are in place for the effective management of the organization.
4. To provide support and supervision to the chief officer and senior team.
The Chairperson will often (always) be the direct line manager for the chief officer (the
most senior staff member).
5. To represent the organization as its figurehead.
The Chairperson may from time to time be called upon to represent the organization
and sometimes be its spokesperson at, for example, functions or meetings.

What is the Role of the Secretary & the Vice?

The role of the Secretary is to support the Chair in ensuring the smooth functioning of
the Management Committee.
In summary, the Secretary is responsible for:
1. Ensuring meetings are effectively organized and minuted.

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2. Maintaining effective records and administration
3. Upholding the legal requirements of governing documents, charity law (where
relevant).
4. Communication and correspondence
It is important to note that although the Secretary ensures that these responsibilities are
met, much of the work may be delegated to volunteers.
Given these responsibilities, the Secretary often acts as an information and reference
point for the Chair and other committee members: clarifying past practice and decisions;
confirming legal requirements; and retrieving relevant documentation.

Defining the role in your organization

What this means in practice depends on the style and size of the organization:
Where there are no paid staff members
......the Secretary themselves will carry out all these duties and may also take a greater
role in the day-to-day administration of the organization.
This can become a time consuming role. Some management committees have more
than one person with formal responsibility for secretarial tasks (e.g. a Minutes
Secretary, Correspondence Secretary and Membership Secretary). Others delegate
some of the administrative responsibilities to volunteers outside of the management
committee to reduce the burden.

Main responsibilities of the Secretary

The responsibilities of the Secretary of a Management Committee are outlined below:
1. Ensuring meetings are effectively organized and minuted:
- Liaising with the Chair to plan meetings.
- Receiving agenda items from committee members
- Circulating agendas and reports.
- Taking minutes (unless there is a minutes secretary).
- Circulating approved minutes.
- Checking that agreed actions are carried out.
2. Maintaining effective records and administration

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- Keeping up-to-date contact details (i.e. names, addresses and telephone numbers) for
the management committee and (where relevant) ordinary members of the organization.
- Filing minutes and reports.
- Compiling lists of names and addresses that are useful to the organization, including
those of appropriate officials or officers of voluntary organizations.
- Keeping a record of the organization’s activities.
- Keeping a diary of future activities.
3. Upholding legal requirements
- Acting as custodian of the organization’s governing documents.
- Checking quorum is present at meetings.
- Ensuring elections are in line with stipulated procedures.
- Ensuring organization’s activities are in line with its objects.
- Sitting on appraisal, recruitment and disciplinary panels, as required.
4. Communication and correspondence
- Responding to all committee correspondence.
- Filing all committee correspondence received and copies of replies sent.
- Keeping a record of any of the organization’s publications (e.g. leaflets or newsletters)
and Reporting the activities of the organization and future programs to members, the
press and the public (unless there is Information or Publicity Officer).
- Preparing a report of the organization’s activities for the year, for the Annual General
Meeting.

What is the Role of the Treasurer & the Vice?

The Treasurer has a watchdog role over all aspects of financial management, working
closely with other members of the Management Committee to safeguard the
organization’s finances.
It is important to note that although the Treasurer ensures that these responsibilities are
met, much of the work may be delegated to a finance sub-committee and volunteers.
In summary, the Treasurer is responsible for:
1. General financial oversight.
2. Funding, fundraising and sales.

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3. Financial planning and budgeting.
4. Financial reporting.
5. Banking, book keeping and record keeping.
6. Control of fixed assets and stock.
Given these responsibilities, the Treasurer typically acts as an information and
reference point for the Chair and other committee members: clarifying financial
implications of proposals; confirming legal requirements; outlining the current financial
status; and retrieving relevant documentation.

Main responsibilities of the Treasurer

Each Management Committee will have its own way of doing things, and the way in
which work is shared out can also depend on the skills, interests or amount of time that
a person has to offer. Always ensure that the role description for your Treasurer
matches the current dynamics of your organization.

The following points outline the typical financial responsibilities of a Treasurer:

1. General financial oversight
- Oversee and present budgets, accounts and financial statements to the management
committee.
- Liaise with designated staff about financial matters.
- Ensure that appropriate financial systems and controls are in place.
- Ensure that record-keeping and accounts meet the conditions of funders or statutory
bodies.
- Ensure compliance with relevant legislation.
More on financial oversight
2. Funding, fundraising and sales
- Advise on the organization’s fundraising strategy.
- Ensure use of funds complies with conditions set by funding bodies.
- Ensure that fundraising and sales comply with relevant legislation and is bound by
effective financial systems and controls.
- Ensure effective monitoring and reporting.

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3. Financial planning and budgeting
- Prepare and present budgets for new or ongoing work.
- Advise on financial implications of strategic and operational plans.
- Present revised financial forecasts based on actual spend.
4. Financial reporting
- Present regular reports on the organization’s financial position.
- Prepare accounts for audit and liaising with the auditor, as required.
- Present accounts at the AGM.
- Advise on the organization’s reserves and investment policy.
5. Banking, book-keeping and record-keeping
- Manage bank accounts.
- Set up appropriate systems for book-keeping, payments, lodgments & petty cash.
- Ensure everyone handling money keeps proper records and documentation.
6. Control of fixed assets and stock
- Ensure proper records are kept.
- Ensure required insurances are in place.
In all of these areas the Treasurer is responsible for ensuring that effective
financial systems and procedures have been established, are being consistently
followed and are in line with best practice and legal requirements.

Delegating financial responsibilities

It is not good practice for all tasks associated with the finance function to be performed
by one person (whether a management committee member or staff) without supervision
from others. For this reason, it is good practice for both small and large organizations to
set up a finance sub group to manage and monitor their finances.
How this happens will depend on the size and dynamics of your organization.
For example:
Even if the Treasurer and finance sub-committee carry out much of the work, final
responsibility for the organization’s finances rests with the Management Committee as a
whole. All members are accountable.

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In small organizations with no staff
.......the finance sub group could consist of the Treasurer and 2 other members of the
management committee. The Treasurer often chairs and gives leadership to the
finance sub group. This provides an opportunity for those with no experience of finance
matters to develop their knowledge and skills.

In larger organizations
...the finance sub group could consist of the Treasurer, 1 or 2 other members of
management committee, the Chief Officer, and the senior staff member responsible for
financial management and fund raising. The financial duties undertaken by
people/groups in the organization should reflect levels of authority and responsibility.
The management committee should identify:
- which tasks need to be performed, who will undertake the tasks and how will they be
monitored?

The Role of financial Committee

The role of the finance committee is primarily to provide financial oversight for the
organization. Typical task areas for small and midsized groups include budgeting and
financial planning, financial reporting, and the creation and monitoring of internal
controls and accountability policies. An outline of responsibilities appears below.

Budgeting and Financial Planning

Develop an annual operating budget with staff.
Approve the budget within the finance committee.
Monitor adherence to the budget.
Set long-range financial goals along with funding strategies to achieve them.
Develop multi-year operating budgets that integrate strategic plan objectives and
initiatives.
Present all financial goals and proposals to the board of directors for approval.

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Effective finance committees fully engage in an annualized budgeting process in
cooperation with the staff administrative leader and senior staff. Unless an
organization’s bylaws expressly forbid it, it may be advantageous to include non-board
members with financial expertise on the committee.
In addition to developing an annual budget, the committee should also set long-term
financial goals. These goals might include, for example, the creation of a working capital
or cash reserve fund and the creation of a fund for maintaining or replacing equipment.
If the organization has a strategic plan, the finance committee will work with the staff to
determine the financial implications of the plan and will plot them into a multi-year
organizational budget that will financially support the implementation of the strategies.

Reporting
Develop useful and readable report formats with staff.
Work with staff to develop a list of desired reports noting the level of detail, frequency,
deadlines, and recipients of these reports.
Work with staff to understand the implications of the reports.
Present the financial reports to the full board.
Effective finance committees require staff to provide highly contextual reports clearly
communicating the organization’s financial and cash position, its adherence to the
budget, its allocation of resources toward the accomplishment of its mission, and its
support of any donor-imposed restrictions on contributions. Having a predetermined list
of reporting expectations permits staff to allocate enough time to produce accurate, high
quality reports and not be caught off guard by ad hoc requests. In addition, these
reports should help to focus the board’s discussion about expected outcomes and
potential strategies for overcoming setbacks or changes in the financial environment.

Internal Controls and Accountability Policies

Create, approve, and update (as necessary) policies that help ensure the assets of the
organization are protected.
Ensure policies and procedures for financial transactions are documented in a manual,
and the manual is reviewed annually, and updated as necessary.

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Ensure approved financial policies and procedures are being followed.
Although the entire board carries fiduciary responsibility for the organization, the finance
committee serves a leadership role in this area, making sure appropriate internal control
procedures for all financial transactions are documented in a manual and followed by
staff. The committee should also play a role in determining and updating bank account
signatories as well as overseeing all legal and governmental filing deadlines are met.
Finance committees are also often charged with ensuring compliance and/or developing
other policies that further serve to protect the organization and manage its exposure to
risk.
NB: Pastors are advised to abstain from the issues of church finances at all cost.

Organizer’s Job Description

Organizers are there to prepare, clean, arrange, and tidy places of meetings and
conferences.
Organizers make sure that the place of meetings, seminars or conferences are paid for,
clean and ready for use.
Organizers are sent during and after events just to make sure that all items and
equipments to be used or which were used are in order. Also they are to make sure that
anything that breaks or gets lost during the operation should be accountable for.
During events, the organizers should always arrange ushering, flyers or anything
needed to be available.
Organizers should always have Ambulance and Police Station number for in any case
of emergence.
Organizers carry out a wide range of tasks, which vary depending on the organization
they work for. Based on job listings and analyzed, an organizer’s duties typically involve:
Organizers travel to their members depending on the task given from the chair’s office.
Organizers maintain regular communication with the chairperson’s office.
Organizers keep track of their personal inventory and equipment that they take to jobs.
They replace these supplies – such as business cards and marketing materials – when
necessary.

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Organizer Skills and Qualifications
Organizers are open-minded, non-judgmental, and comfortable with challenges of their
duties. They work well with people from range different backgrounds while remaining
professional.
There are no formal requirements for this job, but the following abilities are beneficial:
Self-motivated – organizers usually work dependently, and initiating things which makes
the organization move forward.
- Time management – organizers must manage their time effectively to meet deadlines
and to work to strict schedules with various plans.
- Networking – Organizers should be comfortable talking to new people and
communicating their ideas to teams and members.
- Focused – this job often involves repetitive or mundane tasks, such as organizing files
or clearing out closets, so organizers need strong focus.
- Interpersonal skills – organizers work with different people and a range of
personalities, so they need great interpersonal skills to communicate effectively, listen
to members’ needs and requests, and have great phone etiquette.

Committee Members
- Committee members should always help the organizers to make sure the
targeted goals are achieved before the deadline.
- Committee members are used in any department with a special request from the
office.

Apostle M. Gumbo
Cell: +27 76 800 0216
Email: ev.gumbo@gmail.com

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