Where have the secretaries gone?
I'm the one who prints the bulletins now
Most weeks, I put together a worship bulletin for my congregation. I use a Google Doc (highly recommended) that’s copied over from the previous week. I occasionally write a prayer but mostly source liturgy from places like enfleshed (also highly recommended). Since Covid, we print the full lyrics to hymns so I often type those out and include the correct copyright information that I also report to OneLicense. One every so often I include art from Vanderbilt. When I’m finished, I attached a PDF version of the bulletin to our weekly Mailchimp worship email and then print and fold copies at the church.
I can’t help but think this is all tied to the overall decline of secretaries and administrative assistants.
When I began at my congregation we had a paid 10 hour/week secretary. She answered phones, paid bills, and typed out the liturgy for the bulletin. In 2020 she retired and I recommended we not fill the position and instead reconfigure our staff. As it turns out tasks she did routinely alongside previous pastors just didn’t fit any more. I really didn’t need her to type out individual address labels—we had a database that auto generated those now. I was more than capable of formatting a bulletin. As for phone calls, we just received fewer and fewer of those that actually needed any attention.
As the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says, “Technology enables staff in many organizations to prepare their own documents without the help of secretaries. Additionally, many executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants support more than one manager in an organization, and many managers now do tasks that were previously done by these workers.”1
But then I look at my workflow for a weekly bulletin and I recognize I’m bringing particular administrative gifts that didn’t need to be replicated. Truthfully not every pastor should do what I do. But I enjoy it. I am a church musician and should absolutely be selecting hymns. I am skilled at websites and newsletters. I have an eye for visual design.
It’s a both/and where certain secretarial tasks just don’t exist in the church anymore and I am quite good at administration.
All together this means I exist in a space that didn’t exist, even in small churches like mine, even just a few decades ago. There’s no secretary folding the bulletins ahead of Sunday morning. Sometimes a volunteer does it, but mostly it’s just me.
Once again, I’m comforted to know I’m not alone. It’s not just small churches, it’s not even just in churches. Everywhere we’re adapting to new tools, new job configurations, and new ways to use our skills.
Importantly, the decline in secretaries doesn’t necessarily mean the decline in lay staff in churches. My own congregation is an example of this. After a couple of years without any paid administration we hired staff for the parts of the work I couldn’t balance. We now have a paid Financial Administration and Building Manager. Both are paid at a much higher rate than what our secretary was previously making. This follows a trend noted in the United Methodist Church where “[s]pending for lay staff went from 28 percent of personnel spending in 1989 to 47 percent in 2019, with spending for clergy declining from 72 percent of all personnel spending to 53 percent in the same timeframe.”2
We’re reconfiguring our teams and staff. From my perspective, this is a very hopeful development in everyone bringing their best gifts.
Scheduling note: This is a Thursday post due to holiday and vacation time—next week I’ll be returning to weekly Monday posts. I’ve also kept things out of the paywall these past few months, but will have a few special non-Monday posts for paid subscribers (thanks to recent supporters!) coming up soon.
What I’m fixing
Did you know that you can repair your furniture even if your cat’s a menace and wants to destroy it? Picture 1 is the result of the cutest cat Sally using her claws in all the worst ways. Picture 2 is the result of me using a toothpick, yes a toothpick, to push all those little strands back it. I find this be a very therapeutic sort of task that is largely useless and very satisfying.
What I’m reading
First read of the year was I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane. What a great start! This book was deeply sad, but balanced the tragedy with defiance. It’s about government surveillance, queerness, child/parent relationships, and joy. I especially liked the pacing of the book. There were just enough mysteries to keep me going to the next chapter, but it never was drawn out to the point to where I was frustrated.
What life looks like
Sally, the menace
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/secretaries-and-administrative-assistants.htm#tab-6
https://www.churchleadership.com/leading-ideas/5-trends-impacting-church-leadership-for-2023/