HELPFUL HINTS FOR SERVING AS
CLERK OF SESSION
The
task of the church’s Clerk of Session is to primarily be the recording
secretary for the Session and the Congregational meetings.
What the Book of Order’s Form of Government has to say about the work of
the Clerk of Session:
G-3:0104.
The clerk of the Session is a ruling elder, but not necessarily a voting
member of Session. The clerk records the
transactions of the council, keeps its rolls of membership and attendance,
preserves its records carefully, and furnishes extracts from them when required
by another church council of the church. Such extracts, verified by the clerk,
shall be evidence in any governing body of the church.
The clerk of the session shall be an elder elected
by the session for such term as it may determine.
G-1.0505.The clerk of the session shall be secretary
of meetings of the congregation.
The General Assembly offered this interpretation of
the Book of Order in 1988: An elder, not currently active on session, may serve
as clerk of session. (GA 1988, 137, 12.187, Com. 4-88).
Procedures for the Clerk of Session
“The
clerk shall record the transactions of the governing body…”
1. The
Clerk or the Moderator will form the agenda and distribute the agenda and all
reports to the session members prior to the meeting.
2. The
Clerk keeps the minutes of the session meetings.
4. During
the meeting, the Clerk should have access to minutes of previous meetings on
hand so as to answer questions and provide information to the session as needed
about previous actions. It is best to
have a laptop available with an electronic copy of the previous minutes in the
form of a single document that can be searched quickly during the meeting.
5. At
the conclusion of the meeting, the moderator or clerk will often send an email
to all elders summing up Session’s actions.
This is an unofficial report of the Session.
6. The
moderator or the clerk will provide a summation of each meeting for the
newsletter.
7. The
clerk will type the minutes and distribute to the elders. This should not be difficult if the clerk
uses the printed agenda as a starting point.
To do this, the clerk should:
a. Begin with an electronic copy of the agenda.
b. Type into the agenda additional information. For example, with a motion, the Clerk will
not need to retype the motion, as it is in the agenda. The Clerk will simply need to note the motion
was made and seconded (if a second is needed) and whether it passed or
failed. It may also be necessary to add
motions, such as an amendment to change the wording of the original motion.
c. The Clerk should add to the agenda a list of those present,
excused or unexcused.
d. The Clerk should add to the agenda the time the meeting
adjourned.
e. The pastor’s report should appear as part of the text of the
minutes.
f. The Clerk should submit this typed copy of the minutes to
the next Session meeting for approval.
8. After
the minutes are approved by the Session, a copy should be prepared on special
paper (the office staff can assist). The
clerk and moderator should sign the minutes.
This copy should be added to the bound book of minutes kept in an
appropriate place.
“The
clerk shall … keep its rolls of membership and attendance…”
1. When
a request for membership into Chapel by the Sea is received the clerk should
send a letter, or form, to that person’s previous church informing them of the
transfer of membership. The clerk
records in the Membership Roll Book the appropriate information. A membership number is assigned to that
member and the Church Administrator is informed of that number.
2. When
a request for membership out of Chapel by the Sea is received the Clerk should
present that request to the Session during the Clerk’s Report. Once the Session has voted, then the clerk
will respond to the receiving church that such action has been taken. Appropriate notation of the transfer will be
made in the Membership Roll Book.
The Church Administrator is
informed of this action.
3. The
clerk will record in the appropriate register book the ordination and
installation of each elder.
4. The
clerk will keep track of the attendance of each elder at the meetings of the
session, receiving notices of excuses and reporting those to the session. In the event that an elder has been routinely
absent (more than three consecutive meetings), the clerk should bring that matter
to the Session’s attention.
“The
clerk shall … furnish extracts from them
(the records) when required by another governing body of the church. Such
extracts, verified by the clerk, shall be evidence in any governing body of the
church.”
1. The
clerk will be attentive to the Presbytery of Peace River’s schedule for
reviewing session records.
2. The
clerk will submit the books when requested.
3. The
clerk will be responsible for the return of the records to the church.
“The
clerk of the session shall be secretary of meetings of the congregation….”
1. The
clerk will be present at the meetings of the congregation.
2. The
clerk will keep the minutes of the meeting of the congregation and present them
to the session for approval.
Other
responsibilities not specified in the Book of Order:
1. A
lot of correspondence is received addressed to the clerk; e.g. from
Presbytery. The clerk of Session will
review the correspondence and handle accordingly, often routing to the
appropriate ministry team chairperson for handling. Depending on the nature, the clerk may want
to include some as informational items in the next session agenda. Not every letter needs to be shared with the
Session, and the Moderator can assist in determining what deserves the
Session’s time and attention.
2. The
clerk will occasionally sign correspondence and forms as officer of the church.
3. At
Chapel by the Sea the Clerk of Session acts as the Secretary or clerk of the
Corporation (By Laws of the Chapel by the Sea, Article III Section 2).
4. Each
year the General Assembly and Presbytery will expect each congregation to
submit an Annual Statistical Report.
Most of this information is gathered by the office staff using the
computer records. The clerk may be asked
to provide a signature to this report.
5. The
clerk is responsible for reminding the session to elect commissioners to the
Presbytery meetings. This can be done
annually or prior to each individual meeting.
6. The
clerk must occasionally complete various forms for Presbytery, or to provide a
signature attesting to session’s approval of a specific matter.
7. The
clerk maintains the policies and history of the church. For the policies, the official set is
maintained online so all can have equal access.
To update the policies, use the clerk's email address
as the login, followed by entering the password. Always be sure that the “post” INDEX is dated
more recently than any of the policies.
This will enable anyone who views the policies to see the index first,
rather than the most recent policy. This
makes the policies easy to find. If a
new policy is added, the clerk will need to update the index page.
