Saint Mark Leaders Guide

Now that You are a Saint Mark Chair, Facilitator, Coordinator …

This information is designed to help you get things done as the leader of your group. It will let you know things that CAN be done, HOW to do them, WHO should do them, WHO to contact, etc.

More topics are planned for this page, so check back from time to time - revisions and additions will be noted on the Table of Contents. If you have a topic that you think would be beneficial for most leaders, contact Boyd Darsey so that he might make plans to include it.

Luckily, we have a lot going on at Saint Mark. You and your group of volunteers are so important to getting things done and performing many of the tasks that your ministry requires. The church staff wants you to succeed and will provide you with advice, direction, and information to make that happen.

Thank you for your willingness to lead a ministry of Saint Mark.

The Saint Mark Mission Statement

Called and unified by God’s grace, we are a grateful and diverse congregation of believers.
From our contemporary urban setting strengthened by community, worship and study, we humbly strive to emulate the life of Christ. Sustained and empowered by our Christian faith, we go into the world to make a difference, joyfully serving all of God’s creation.

Table of Contents

• Your Staff Connection
• Church & Staff Contact Information
• Building Floor Plan
• Documentation from your group may be needed

Information about Specific Committees

• Ex Officio Memberships
• Administrative Council
• Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPR)
• Board of Trustees
• Finance Committee
• Committee on Lay Leadership
• Nurture Advisory Committee (NAC)

Publicizing/Announcing Your Event

• Saint not St.
• Worship Folder announcements & inserts
• The Remarks announcements & inserts
• Web site announcements & pages
• Posters, Flyers, Bulletin Boards
• Banners
• Pulpit announcements
• Mass email

Planning Your Event

• Building Use Policy
• Church Calendar
• Reserve a Room or Space
• Reserve A/V Equipment
• Credit/Debit Card Payments Online
• Event Parking
• Access to the Building

General Information

• Safe Sanctuary
• Printing, Copying, Mailing
• Contacting Your Group
• Voice Mailbox or Email Address
• Saint Mark Office Mailbox
• Expense Reimbursements

Your Staff Connection

Every church committee or group has a staff person with whom the chairperson will work to coordinate the group's purpose, agendas, and activities. While your staff person's input may not be required to make decisions for the group, please communicate with the staff person any decision that your group has made - including initiatives or activities that it plans, etc.

The staff member will be able to work with you on certain agenda items under your consideration to determine whether church-wide scheduling is required or whether the item needs input other groups, individuals, or staff members.

As your staff member should have the opportunity to attend all of your meetings, please coordinate your meeting schedule with them in advance. If they are not able to attend, please inform them of any plans made or action taken.

The full church staff likes (and needs) to know what various committees are doing so that they can speak more intelligently and effectively with their own group members. Your staff member will be able to disseminate any relevant information to the entire staff. Often other groups will learn that they can "piggy-back" an activity with yours or that you can work together on the same activity.

Use your staff member as a resource. "Help us help you". Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.

Most church committees and their respective staff support persons are listed below. If your group is not listed and if you do not know who your staff support person might be, please contact the church office.

Church & Staff Contact Information

Click here to go to the Staff Directory page of Saint Mark's web site.

Building Floor Plan

Click to view the plan

• First Floor (Fifth Street Entrance)
• Second Floor (Peachtree Street Entrance
• Third Floor

Click here to download a PDF of all three floors.

Documentation from your group may be needed

Saint Mark is audited by an outside accounting firm at the beginning of each year. They analyze all financial transactions as well as financial and business decisions made during the previous year. The auditor requires bylaws from certain committees and may require minutes from their meetings. A master file of such documents is kept in the Business Office. Contact the Business Office to determine whether your committee/group should provide this documentation.

Contact: Deana Hilton

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Information about Specific Committees

Ex Officio Membership

Certain committee chairs are also ex officio members of other committees and councils. Most of this information comes from the Saint Mark Officiary. If you know of others, please contact Boyd Darsey so that he can update this list.

Administrative Council

The Administrative Council is the basic governing body of the church. It oversees and administers the mission and ministry of our church and serves as the administrative agency of the charge conference.

The Administrative Council normally meets at 6:45 pm on the 4th Monday of odd numbered months (January, March, May, etc.). Holidays such as Memorial Day may cause meeting dates to be adjusted. Meetings are open to all interested persons, although only Council members may vote. The meeting is preceded by a 6 pm dinner if you have made a reservation.

If you have something that you would like to be a part of the Administrative Council agenda, contact the Administrative Council Chairperson well in advance of the meeting date.

More information about the 2009 Administrative Council ...

Click here for the qualifications & duties of the Administrative Council - from the United Methodist Church Book of Discipline ¶252.

Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPR)

SPR meets the fourth Tuesday of every month, 6:30-8 pm in Room 204, unless notified otherwise.

Click here for the qualifications & duties of the Staff-Parish Relations Committee - from the United Methodist Church Book of Discipline ¶259.2.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees meets on Sundays of the even numbered months, 12:45 pm in the Kirkpatrick-Jones Conference Room, unless notified otherwise.

Click here for the qualifications & duties of the Board of Trustees - from the United Methodist Church Book of Discipline ¶ 2524-¶ 2532.

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee meets on the Tuesday immediately before the Monday Administrative Council meeting, unless notified otherwise. The Administrative Council normally meets on the 4th Monday of odd numbered months (January, March, May, etc.). Holidays such as Memorial Day may cause meeting dates to be adjusted.

Click here for the qualifications & duties of the Finance Committee - from the United Methodist Church Book of Discipline ¶ 259.4.

Committee on Lay Leadership

Nurture Advisory Committee (NAC)

As Saint Mark was growing and expanding its ministries, it seemed important to connect related ministry areas for mutual sharing and support. Thus NAC was born. The idea is to increase communication and collaboration among these ministry areas and to provide a monthly forum for the care, spiritual formation, and leadership development for our wonderful church leaders. It helps us to know what it is going on in the lives of one another, in our various ministries, and in the larger church and community, so that we can continue to discern and meet the spiritual needs of our church family, from the little babies to our eldest treasure. This is no small task, and I believe the more hearts, minds and souls we have around the table, the more faithful and creative we can be.

A listing of the NAC areas and chairs are listed in the previous Administrative Council section. NAC meets the fourth Tuesday of every month, 6:30-8 pm in Room 202, unless notified otherwise.

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Publicizing & Announcing Your Event

Saint not St.

You may have noticed that whenever you see the name "Saint Mark" printed, you see "Saint" rather than "St." We have adopted "Saint" as our standard. Please make sure you use "Saint" all printed advertisements and other documents.

Worship Folder announcements & inserts

The worship folder is also known as the Sunday bulletin. Brief information about your group’s activities can be printed in the worship folder. Whereas The Remarks is a newsletter, the Sunday worship folder is a WORSHIP bulletin. “Just the Facts” is good advice here.

Always keep in mind the author and the audience of every blurb: the author is generally Saint Mark United Methodist Church, and the audience is always ALL the people sitting in the pews. Avoid “Us” and “We” unless the “us/we” is the entire membership. Generally it is better not to use words or phrases that identify or separate “us” from “them.” If a blurb is from a particular group (or to a particular group) this should be identified in the Heading, e.g. “From the Staff at Saint Mark” or “An excerpt of a letter from Midtown Assistance Center to the Saint Mark membership.” Proofread for spelling, grammar, punctuation—every attempt is made to correct errors, but submitting “print ready” information is appreciated.

Arrangements for this information to appear in The Remarks, on the web site, etc. must be made separately.

Contact: Christia Holloway
Deadline: Wednesday before the Sunday, 5 pm.

The Remarks announcements & inserts

Information about your group’s activities can be printed in The Remarks, the Saint Mark weekly newsletter. The Remarks are mailed on Tuesdays; The eRemarks are emailed on Wednesday. The Remarks and The eRemarks contain the same information; placing your announcement in The Remarks automatically places your announcement in The eRemarks.

Church related events take priority over anything else. Other community-related announcements will be included if space is available. The editor reserves the right to edit due to space constraints.

Arrangements for this information to appear in the worship folder, on the web site, etc. must be made separately.

If you would like a separate insert in The Remarks about an activity, make your request as far in advance as possible. We try to include only one insert per issue of The Remarks, and prefer that we have no more than one insert per month. You need to create, print and cut the insert; IF you need for Christia to do it, email her an exact, completed format so that she can print it out.

The submission deadline for inserts is the same as it would be for an announcement – Friday prior to the week they want it included. An insert can be included only once. After the information is presented as an insert, it can be included in future weeks as an announcement.

Contact: Christia Holloway
Deadline: Friday before the Tuesday mailing

Web site announcements & pages

Information about your group and/or its activities can be posted on the Saint Mark web site - short-term or long-term. Web site space is not as restrictive as The Remarks or worship folder. Please designate one representative from your group to contact Boyd who will then work with that person to help them get exactly what they want onto the web site.

Arrangements for this information to appear in The Remarks, worship folder, etc. must be made separately.

Contact: Boyd Darsey

Post posters, Flyers, Bulletin Boards

We have a constant struggle maintaining the building. Tape can pull paint from the wall, no matter how careful you are. We have some guidelines for adhering things to the walls. Of course, you will see instances where people do not follow these, but good stewardship would suggest that you help us maintain our facilities.

Posting signs are fine on the glazed brick in the education building or attached to the plastic room number/name signs, but not on painted surfaces. There are bulletin boards around that can be used for advertising your event. Other areas need to be approved prior through Deana, who is our current building & facilities manager.

Once your event has occurred, please make sure that you carefully remove & discard any poster, flyer, or bulletin board before the following Sunday.

Contact: Deana Hilton

Banner in Front Yard

A banner may be placed on the poles in front of the sanctuary. As these banners can seem rather expensive, we try to be good stewards by not printing a specific date on the banner - making it reusable from year-to-year. Minor changes can be made to existing signs at relatively minor expense. You are responsible for hanging the sign as well as taking it down and storing it as soon as the event is finished. Storage is in the Fine Arts Work Room 304.

Contact: Christia Holloway to schedule use of the sign poles
Specs: 4'x9', 2-sided, vinyl, wind cuts
Vendor: Rapid Sign Systems
Approximate Cost: $300

Pulpit Announcements

Have your event announced from the pulpit during the time for announcements before each Sunday Worship Service. Please write the announcement as you would like for it to be read. Please be brief - the main purpose of the Worship Service is to worship. Inclusion in the announcements may be at the discretion of the announcing minister, depending on time, topic, and pertinence.

Contact: Beth LaRocca-Pitts

Mass Email

The Worship Folder, The Remarks, The eRemarks, and the web site are our main sources of information dissemination & event publicity. We are able to send mass email; however, as some people find it annoying to receive multiple emails from Saint Mark during the week, we try to keep church-wide mass email to an absolute minimum.  Church-wide mass emails are reserved for emergencies, for information that MUST be known before Sunday, and for more serious Care Concerns.

Contact: Boyd Darsey; must be approved by Beth LaRocca-Pitts
Depending on circumstances

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Planning Your Event/Meeting

Building Use Policy

Click here to go to the Building Use Policy of Saint Mark's web site.

Church calendar

A church calendar is published at the beginning of each month. Information for that calendar needs to be submitted no later than the third week of the previous month. If you have already scheduled space through Christia, your event will automatically be included on this monthly calendar.

Contact: Christia Holloway

Reserve a room or space

If your group is having a meeting or any other activity that requires a room or area at Saint Mark, you must reserve the space in advance. Do not assume that a certain room will be available if your group just shows up. Some rooms to be reserved for regularly occurring meetings that, due to their subject content and the need for confidentiality, safety and/or privacy are not always publicized. Rooms you assume will be available may not always be. Groups that do not reserve space must relocate if another group has reserved space.

We suggest that you reserve space any time that you want to be assured that the space that you need will be available—for meetings, events, rehearsals, and even practicing the organ.

Scheduling your event/meeting also insures that your meeting space is adequately heated/cooled. Scheduling allows us to control power and heat/air, etc. costs since especially in the education building, one side of the hallway runs off one system and the other side works off a separate one. It makes more sense to schedule meetings on one side instead of on both sides to conserve energy.

Plus, if a big group is meeting and does not tell the church staff, depending on who else is here, we may run out of parking spaces and folks may have to PAY TO PARK.

Green Sheets are located in the Workroom (on the right before you enter Wade Hall) or, preferably, click here to complete the Green Sheet online.

Contact: Christia Holloway
Form: Green Sheet

Reserve Audio Visual equipment

From time to time, your group may need a television, DVD player, VCR, or other pieces of equipment. The process is the same as reserving space. Green Sheets are located in the Workroom (on the right before you enter Wade Hall) or, preferably, click here to complete the Green Sheet online. Please make your arrangements for a/v equipment at least one week in advance.

Please click here to read the Saint Mark Audio/Visual Equipment Guidelines. For the protection of our expensive equipment, any group or individual using the a/v equipment is expected understand and agree to these guidelines.

Make sure that you return any equipment to its proper location. If you unable to do so, contact John Richardson to make arrangements for its prompt & proper return.

Contact: the church office

Event Parking

If your event will require more parking than is available in the lot directly behind the sanctuary, arrangements must be made with the other lots for which Saint Mark has access.

Other than Sunday mornings, street parking on Peachtree Street or 5th Street is not allowed without permission from the Atlanta Police Department or Midtown Blue.

Click here for a parking map or for complete Directions and Parking information.

Contact: Deana Hilton

Credit/Debit Card Payments Online

We are able to accept credit card payments through the Saint Mark web site. Participants of your event can register and pay online. The financial office will notify you when a registration/payment is received. Generally, no other registration form is required of those using Saint Mark’s online payment.

Be aware that a credit card processing fee is charged to Saint Mark based on the dollar amount and the number of charges. Set the price of your event to include this fee. Deana can help you determine this fee.

This payment option shows only on the Contributions section of the web site. If you want any other or more extensive information, see Website Announcements and Pages.

Contact: Deana Hilton
Information needed: the name of your event, a short description, the price (and the price of multiple registrations, if applicable), and the time period that you want the payment option to be available.

Access to the Building

If you need access at times other than church office hours, you may need to arrange access to the buildings.

You, as your group leader, may be given an access card to allow your entry through these doors. You will be responsible for posting someone at the exterior door to allow entry for your members, and only your members. We try to automatically unlock the interiors doors to clear the pathway for your members to your meeting area. Your door access card may only be active for your time period.

For latecomers, you may want to post a sign on the exterior door with the cell phone number of someone in the group. The Education Building Intercom rings in the Business Office and Music Suite only.

We have the locks on all exterior doors and various interior doors because of past security & theft problems. Do not prop open door for any reason or amount of time. Evidence of doors being propped open may restrict future building use by your group. If you ever see a door propped open, please un-prop. Ask your group members to do the same - it is simply good stewardship of our resources.

Contact: Boyd Darsey

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General Housekeeping

Saint Mark is a Safe Sanctuary

Click here for our Safe Sanctuary page.

Printing, Copying, Mailing

As the leader of your group, you are responsible for preparing any mail-out to or on behalf of your group. You can ask the church office for assistance with printing, copying, contact information, postage. They may be able to help as their time allows.

If you outsource these services and pay for them yourself, see “Expense Reimbursements” below.

Contacting Your Group

As the leader of your group, you are responsible for making contacts to your group members. The church office will be happy to provide you with contact information – address, phone numbers, email addresses, and any other information that you might need.

Keeping our church records up-to-date is a goal, but also a struggle. If you have a “sign-up sheet” for your group, ask for the needed information and then forward that information to the church office so we can update our records. If at any time you find corrections or updates to information provided by the church office, please notify the church office.

The church office may need to know the names of your committee members for various records, reports, & activities. Please send us the names as soon as you know them.

Saint Mark has only one official database - called ACS in the main church office! It is the best information that we have. Our ministries are too important (& we in the office try too hard to keep up-to-date information) to have things sent to the incorrect address unnecessarily. Please do not work off of old information! Church directories are nice to have for the occasional use; unfortunately, directories are often out-of-date before they are distributed. Please contact your staff representative to get up-to-date information.

Contact: Boyd Darsey

Voice mailbox or email address

If space is available on our systems, it may be possible for your group to have a Saint Mark telephone voice mailbox or a Saint Mark email address – for a limited or extended amount of time. These telephone extension numbers and email addresses can be used in your groups announcements and, depending on your desires and availability, can be listed on various listings of Saint Mark ministries.

When an email is sent to the stmarkumc.org address, it can be automatically forwarded to persons of your choice. You can add/delete/modify an email address and the forwarded email recipients by contacting the email administrator. The current groups that have assigned email addresses (all email addresses are @stmarkumc.org) are:

• Archives Committee: archives@stm...
• Audio/Visual Committee & CD sales: av@stm...
• Drama Ministry: drama@stm...
• Fine Arts Ministry: finearts@stm...
• The Green Team: recycling@stm...
• Hospitality & Evangelism Committee: involvement@stm...
• The Job Network: jobnetwork@stm...
• Outreach & Missions Committee: missions@stm...
• Prayer Partners Prayer Request Line: prayer@stm...
• Pride Committee: pride@stm...
• SaintMark@Home Groups: athome@stm...
• Wednesday Fellowship Dinners reservations: reservations@stm...
• Weddings Committee: weddings@stm...
• Worship Coordinators: worship@stm...

When a telephone voice mailbox is established for your group, you will be supplied with the extension number and the password that you will need to check messages and to modify your greeting. Then you can give the Saint Mark telephone number along with your extension as the generic number for your group. It is your responsibility to create/modify the greeting and to check your messages. The current groups that have assigned telephone voice mailboxes are:

• Drama Ministry Box Office: x53
• Prayer Partners Prayer Request Line: x31
• Pride Committee: x51
• Wedding Committee: x52
• Wednesday Fellowship Dinners reservations: x50

Contact: Boyd Darsey
Depending on availability

You have a Mailbox

You may have a mailbox in the church offices. From time to time, you or your group will receive mail, messages, etc. The mailboxes are located in the Workroom (on the right before you enter Wade Hall). Please check yours regularly.

If your group does not currently have a mailbox, and you feel that having one would be beneficial, let the church office know.

Expense Reimbursements

The committee chair and the committee treasurer must sign-off on all reimbursements. Check request forms are located in the Workroom (on the right before you enter Wade Hall). Please attach the invoice or other back-up information. An email request is acceptable as long as back-up is received prior to check release. Checks are generally printed on Wednesdays, available for pick-up mail on Thursday.

Contact: Deana Hilton
Form: Check Request or email, both with receipts or other backup information.

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