The Church Office

Listen in as Gavin chats with Neil Tallamy from Baglan Community Church about why and how we can be making the most of christmas events in our churches. Christmas can be the start of people having exposure to the gospel and to the church so we want to be maximising the opportunity to meet as many different people as possible. This starts with good hospitality and care, so that they're in the best disposition possible to listen the gospel. 

In this podcast Gavin had the wonderful opportunity to interview Nigel Ring who has served Terry Virgo and Newfrontiers leadership team behind the scenes for over 40 years. I loved hearing his heart and encouragement for church administrators. A great opportunity to learn from the best! A big thank you to our listeners for sending in their questions. 1. Do you have any tips on recruiting volunteers? This is a really challenging part of my job at the minute. 2. Do you have any suggestions of how we can better recognise volunteers contribution and thank them? 3. How do you sustain a long service in Christian Ministry? 4. How do you know when it is time to stop your involvement in a christian activity and how do you explain this to your friends who are still very much involved with and committed to that activity? 5. What kind of gifting do you need on a church planting team? 6. From your experience is there a link between good church management and a church successfully growing? 7. What advice do you have for churches who face financial challenges over the next few months and years? Any practical application? 8. When it comes to church finances and budgeting there can be a tension between faith and finances, how did you navigated that tension? I loved every minute of this interview with Nigel, grateful for him and his faithful service to the wider church.

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview Nick Coles the Uk Director for Operation Christmas Child. Operation Christmas Child is the world’s largest children's Christmas Project that sends shoe boxes filled with gifts to children all over the world. As church administrators we love a good statistic and since Operation Christmas Child started they have delivered 198 millions shoe boxes to children in 100 different countries. What an incredible achievement and a wonderful demonstration of God's Love in Action. It was great to hear Nick's passion for the project but we loved his heart to reach out with the gospel Locally, Nationally and Internationally. The shoe boxes provide the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus! There is nothing better!   To Find out more please check out their website. There are so many ways to get involved!   https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview Fran Richley the Operations Director for a Homeless Charity in Newport called Eden Gate.  The Church Office loves to make the connection between the practical and the gospel. Fran is doing both of these, He is both passionate about sharing Jesus and caring for the needs of some of the most vulnerable folk in our communities. We loved hearing about Eden Gate and the opportunities that the church has to get alongside projects working with the homeless in our area.

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview Naomi Hodges from Renewal Church in Solihull. Naomi leads the brilliant Toy Offering Project in her church. Last year they blessed over 600 children with Christmas gifts and food parcels. Community projects like this are a wonderful way to reach out to our local community, become more visible and create opportunities where we were able to express kindness and share Jesus.

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to talk to Jenny Herrera. Jenny is Acts 435's Executive Director and has been involved in the charity since operations began in October 2009. Acts 435 is a giving website that allows people to give money directly to others, and 100% of what is donated via Acts 435 goes directly to those in need. They work through a network of churches and local charities who nominate an Acts 435 representative, called the Advocate, who is trained by Acts 435 and posts requests directly onto our website for people in their community who are in need. As a local church we have hugely benefited from our partnership with Acts 435, we would highly recommend every Uk church partner with them.  

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview Becky Thomas the Operations Manager at Beeston Free Church in Nottingham. Becky has loads of experience in running conferences and events for her church. In her spare time she also serves as the conference director for UCAN running their national conference called 'Cutting Edge'. She loves her local church and has a heart to serve others for the gospel. If you are thinking about running a conference then this podcast is full of top tips and a helpful step by step guide of what to do next.

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to chat with Jo Roach a Church Manager for St Andrew's, Histon & St Andrew's, Impington in Cambridge.  Jo is passionate about serving her local community and clearly loves people and church administration. She has an infectious personality, she was an absolute delight to learn from and talk with, we hope you enjoy this episode.    At the end Jo talked about the UCAN ILM course "Managing Church Well" For more information please use the following link.  https://www.churchadministrators.net/managingchurchwell

Gavin got the opportunity to sit and talk to Sam Lewis one of the Co Founders of Expense Plus at the UCAN Conference 2022.  It was a joy to spend time with Sam and hear his heart to serve local churches. Expense Plus is a brilliant piece of software that I would recommend for churches to use. Having the right tools in place to manage your church finances will save you time and money. Worth checking out www.expenseplus.co.uk ExpensePlus is an easy to use, cloud-based fund accounting package that is specifically designed for Churches and Charities. It’s customisable, it's scalable, it's affordable, and designed for teams. As well as saving lots of time, it provides users with up-to-date, accurate, drillable financial reports, that help inform decisions. www.expenseplus.co.uk      

In this podcast Gavin got the opportunity to interview Justin Humphreys the CEO of Thirtyone:eight who have been serving churches in the area of safeguarding for decades. It was lovely and inspiring to hear Justins heart to care for the voiceless and the vulnerable in our churches and communities. Their discussion around creating safer environments by reviewing and investing into our culture was very helpful. We all play a part in creating a safe environment and it was lovely to hear about the resources and services ThirtyOne: Eight are producing to support the church and wider Christian community. ‍