Message from the President:
Welcome to our Webpage for United Church Office Administrators. We encourage you to browse through our site and 'Beyond the Sunday Bulletin' for job information, guidance, and support. We are an Association that prides itself on community support and encouragement for all Secretaries in the United Church of Canada. Our jobs can be isolating, sometimes frustrating, but very rewarding. We encourage all Administrators to come out to our monthly meetings so that together we can renew our spirit through personal development, professional affirmation, and mutual support.
We are located in the Edmonton, Alberta area and welcome your inquiries. The Chairperson of our Association is Debbie Baker, Administrator at Sherwood ParkUnited Church. You can reach Debbie either by telephone at (780) 467-7377 or email at spuc@telusplanet.net.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to promote the ministry of church office administration.
Together we will renew our spirit through personal development, professional affirmation, and mutual support.
In the 1970's the Edmonton and District United Church Secretaries' Association was established. Since then, United Church secretaries in the Edmonton area have been meeting to share information and support one another in their work in the church office.
In recent years, with the help of the Congregational Life Centre, the association created a Mission Statement and have strived to fulfill this statement with their activities. A relationship with Edmonton Presbytery and the Pastoral Relations and Oversight Committee was formalized in 1986. This has resulted in better communication with Ministry and Personnel Committees, support for workshops, salaries and benefits, and some financial assistance. In 2000 the association developed and published a "Handbook of Professional Church Office Administration" called Beyond the Sunday Bulletin. This handbook has become very popular and is often requested by various Presbyteries in Alberta and Northwest Conference to share with pastoral charge Ministry and Personnel Committees.
There has been a trend to move away from the title of Secretary towards a more accurately descriptive title of Church Administrator and as such we have changed the name of our association to United Church Office Administrators Association, Edmonton and Area.
We meet monthly over lunch on a rotating basis in United Churches in the Edmonton area. We bring our own bag lunch and the hostess provides tea and coffee and possibly dessert. Our meetings consist of touching base with each other, updates on pertinent information and possibly an educational component. We have experienced a number of things over the years: visits to the Provincial Archives, stress management strategies, Fung-Shei, yoga, computer tips for working on the web, as well as many more.
We welcome church administrators/secretaries to join us at any of our meetings. Please see the Schedule of Meetings for the upcoming year.
