Transitioning: Steps Taken--Handing Things Off

There have been two types of steps I've taken in order to prepare for going part time, as well as for being gone for two months: handing projects off to others and getting projects done myself. This post will be about some of the projects and duties I've handed off to others.

Over the past several months, I've been giving many of my daily and weekly tasks to other members of our team. One way that I've helped support Jared (Elementary Director) because of his limited time in the office was overseeing the prep work for the elementary classes. I didn't do much of the prep work myself--I have an AMAZING volunteer named Mary who spends about 20 hours a week in the office helping Children's and Women's Ministries. Mary oversees a team of volunteers who come in and take care of the copying and cutting and tub stocking from week to week (each of these volunteers only do this once a month, and Mary oversees their rotation). Mary's job is to make sure they have everything they need to prep fully, and when they aren't able to make it, she takes care of it herself. Up until this fall, I was the one Mary asked questions to, made sure it all made sense, etc. But now, Mary meets with Jared each Tuesday to make sure she fully understands all the prep that's needed for the weekend. There have been many times where I haven't even known what the lesson would be about going into the weekend!

Another task I've handed off was the planning of our Family Movie Nights. For the first six months to a year of having them, I took care of making sure we had the money, the publicity, etc, and Jared took care of getting the food (food service is his thing--he's done catering in the past). But then Jared offered to take over the events (seeing as he is also really into movie stuff, he used to manage a movie theater). Since then, he's been making sure the fliers and announcements are out two weeks before an event, and that everything gets managed with money, etc. He's even recruited more volunteer help.

The most difficult task to hand off has been my role of leading worship in our kindergarten-third grade class during second service. We've been recruiting and praying, and finally had someone express an interest! She'll start training this week and hopefully be ready before this baby comes! (Now we're just praying for a guy who will step up to take my husband's place as a kindergarten boys small group leader.)

My biggest responsibility on Sundays that would be too much to hand off to a volunteer or Jared and Lucy while I'm gone for two months is managing our check in team and system. My volunteers are amazing at welcoming families and checking them in (they show true hospitality), but it's common to have a glitch with either the computer system or a family, and that's where I come in. My boss agreed to having Jan, my assistant who runs the behind the scenes work with our check in system mid week, add a few hours to her week and be present on Sunday mornings. It'll be such a relief to know she'll be there to make sure everything runs smoothly. She'll join me the first two weeks of January to be trained on all I do. She'll take over the first Sunday I can't be at church, and will go back to her normal hours the first Sunday I'm back after maternity leave.

As our transition dates gets closer and closer, it's so wonderful to not be stressed by it! We've been working toward this goal for so long that I'm confident things will go smoothly. I've handed so many duties off that I'm almost struggling to fill my time here at the office. Which will lead to my next post about the projects I've been working ahead on.

Transitioning: A Staffing Plan

I mentioned in my last post that I created a staffing proposal for my Executive Pastor prior to getting his approval for my going part time. This proposal has been slightly modified over the past 7 months, but the core of it has stayed the same. To understand where we're going, though, you need to understand where we've been.

Our staffing structure has been:
Position: Children's Ministries Director (Myself)
Hours: Full Time, Tuesday-Friday 9-5, Saturday and Sunday services
Job Description
-Oversee the vision and direction of Morning Star’s children’s ministries.
-Meet weekly with the team to go over what’s happening in the ministry, assure that the departments are fitting together, give direction, budget needs and planning for future events.
-Stay updated on what’s happening nationally in Children’s Ministries to make sure our ministry stays current.
-Report to the church leadership on what’s happening in Children’s Ministries.
-Be present for weekend services to interact with families, volunteers, etc.
-Assist with the planning and implementation of curriculum as needed in the Elementary program.
-Plan and implement special events.

Position: Early Childhood Director (Lucy)
Hours: 30/week
Schedule: Monday-Thursday 8-3 pm, 5 hours +/- on weekends
Job Description
-Oversee nursery, toddler and 2’s & 3’s classes
-Schedule and train volunteers
-Ensure cleanliness of classrooms
-Oversee weekend preschool classes.
-Schedule and train volunteers.
-Select, oversee and adapt curriculum for weekend classes.
-Plan and create additional programs for preschool aged students.

Position: Elementary Director (Jared)
Hours: 20-25/week
Schedule: Generally in on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays (hours vary), 5 hours +/- on weekends
Job Description
-Oversee the weekend elementary classes.
-Schedule and train volunteers.
-Oversee volunteers to ensure proper prep is done for weekend classes.
-Select, oversee and adapt curriculum for weekend classes.

Position: Children’s Ministries Assistant (Jan)
Hours: 12/week
Schedule: Flexible throughout the week—Monday, Wednesday and Thursday
Job Description
-Maintain and update database/registration system
-Assist the directors and pastor as needed

Jared, our Elementary Director, joined our team first as a volunteer (about 4 years ago), then became an intern, and was then moved into the role of Elementary Director. He's always been part time, and was working on getting his MDiv at the same time. He graduated this past June, which was key in the implementation of this plan. We knew that he'd be wanting a full time position, and that with me going part time, that position would open up! On January first, his title will change to Elementary Pastor and his hours will increase to full time. He will still just be in charge of the Elementary program, but many of his responsibilities will increase, not to mention he'll be utilized more as a pastor on staff--for pastoral care, etc. Since Jared has just been part time running a large program, I've been very involved in helping where needed with the elementary classes. This included overseeing prep work (until recently), being involved in selecting curriculum, teaching, leading worship, etc. Jared was the one responsible for everything pertaining to volunteers and running things on the weekends. This involvement will completely change come January 1.

My new job description is:
Children’s Ministries Director
Hours: 12-15/week
Schedule: 6 hours/weekend, 9 hours to be spent during the week (three mornings)
Job Description
-Oversee the vision and direction of Morning Star’s children’s ministries.
-Meet weekly as a team as well as individually to go over what’s happening in the ministry, assure that the departments are fitting together, give direction, budget needs and planning for future events.
-Stay updated on what’s happening nationally in Children’s Ministries to make sure our ministry stays current.
-Report to the church leadership on what’s happening in Children’s Ministries.
-Be present for weekend services to interact with families, volunteers, etc.

Jared's new job description is:
Elementary Pastor
Hours: Full Time
Schedule: 5 hours +/- on weekends, four 9-5 office days
Job Description
-Oversee the weekend elementary classes.
-Schedule and train volunteers.
-Meet with and direct interns.
-Select, oversee and adapt curriculum for weekend classes.
-Plan and create additional programs for elementary-aged students (i.e.: VBS, Family Movie Nights).
-Be available for families who need advice/direction.
-Check on elementary-aged children who may have difficult situations in their lives.
-Help create curriculum/classes for baby dedications, etc.

Lucy (our Early Childhood Director) and Jan (our assistant) will continue with their roles as before.

In my next post, I'll talk about the steps we took between July and November to make sure we'd be ready for this transition in January.