LCA Ministry Support

Church Worker Support is a department of the Executive Office of the Church, also known as Ministry Support. It is one of five departments exercising the 'enabling' functions outlined in our LCA Strategic Direction 2015–2018.

Working with us are:

Together we provide the support services for LCA and Lutheran Church of New Zealand (LCNZ) agencies and congregations that enable them to focus on their mission and ministry activities (the 'go' and 'grow' priorities in our LCA Strategic Direction).

Church Worker Support

About us

Our church needs workers who are equipped, knowledgeable and supported as they undertake mission and ministry across Australia and New Zealand. The Church Worker Support Department serves the church by assisting employing and calling bodies to work towards seeing that their church workers can start well, stay well and finish well.

How we serve

We are developing policies and procedures, in consultation with church entities, to establish good service management practices. We can help parishes and congregations contextualise these in their unique mission and ministry settings. We can best support parishes and congregations by visiting and getting to know them. It is wonderful to support and encourage them to continue the practices that are working well. As we serve your church, we can provide resources, and we are happy to work together with you to develop other resources that will enable church workers to grow and go as God’s people. We are adding to these resources all the time, so please ask us how we can help you.

Starting well

Getting off to a good start is important in any ministry context. Good commencement practices can establish shared understandings and enable people serving your church to feel confident in their new environment. With our resources, we assist you with:

things to consider before employing someone
recruitment and selection processes
developing position or role descriptions – including for volunteer positions
induction processes
employment and onboarding-related documentation
making the most of the LCA Human Resource System (HRS).

Staying well

Once people are off to a good start, it is equally important to support them throughout their ministry and service. Staying well involves things like ensuring safe workplaces, facilitating good interpersonal relationships between teams, and providing opportunities for growth and development, through to supporting people in challenging times.

We are continuing to develop additional resources, and we can assist
you with:

vocational development planning and recording
performance development reviews
Continuing Education for Pastors (CEP) program
ministry reviews
establishing and supporting team ministry
managing unsatisfactory performance
finding your unique SHAPE (spiritual gifts and other measures)
pastoral care support practices for church workers.

Finishing well

Finishing well is also important, regardless of the reason, whether people
are are leaving a role or leaving the church. We can assist you with:

exit interviews
considerations during a pastoral vacancy
making positions redundant
terminations of employment
employment transfers.