Local churches have many important administrative responsibilities in caring for the life, property, mission and witness of the congregation. Roles and responsibilities, overseen by the pastor, are delegated among various church leaders, boards and committees, including the Trustees Board, the Finance Committee, the Staff-Parish Relations Committee, the Administrative or Church Council, etc.
To be effective in their work, leaders and committee members require training and resources to work effectively and cooperatively.
On this webpage, we offer information and videos, leadership guidelines, and other resources for lay leadership in the local church.
Have questions about foundational UMC beliefs, history and structure? Visit Ask The UMC-FAQs.
Guidelines for Leading Your Congregation
One set of resources to assist your leaders is the Guidelines for Leading Your Congregation 2017-2020. These are official United Methodist resources that cover many ministries in the local church.
To access the guidelines booklets for individual ministry areas, click on Guidelines Booklets Folder with Password Protection. Select the topic of your choice. When prompted, enter the password: Guidelines20172020.
In addition at this site, there are free supplemental materials and handouts available for your use.
Hard copies of the booklets may also be ordered individually or as a set through cokesbury.com.