The Clergy Wellness Commission

Position Description
Sexton

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Church of the Good Shepherd, Raleigh, North Carolina

May 1992

Objective

To maintain Good Shepherd's buildings, grounds, and facilities in good order, so that the mission and ministries of the parish are supported and advanced.

Dimensions

• $__________ Annual Budget for Janitorial Equipment & Supplies
• Four Buildings: Church, All Saints' Chapel, Parish Hall, Ashby Building
• Grounds: Parking Lot for ___ Vehicles
• Sidewalks on 3 sides of Good Shepherd's half-block
• Plantings at Ashby Building; Patio, Lawn & Plantings around Church
• Assistance: Assistant Sexton for alternate weekends
• Cleaning service for half-day on Mondays
• Volunteer Building & Grounds Work Crews 2 or 3 times annually.
• Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 11/2 hours break time daily.
• Alternate weekends: Saturday, 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 m.; Sunday, 7:00 - 1:00 p.m.
• Flex time (day-to-day adjustments in reporting and dismissal times) may be granted by supervision for personal reasons, and may be required by supervision as a result of workload demands.

Nature & Scope

The Sexton is appointed by and accountable to the Rector, serving at the Rector's pleasure, and supports the Rector and Vestry as maintainer of cleanliness and order of Good Shepherd's buildings and grounds. The Sexton is a member of Good Shepherd's support staff, whose mission is to support the ministries of Good Shepherd's professional ministry team and lay leaders. The support staff also includes the Parish Secretary, Bookkeeper, Assistant Sexton, and a number of office volunteers.

The Sexton has Good Shepherd's janitorial, yard work and maintenance equipment at his/her disposal for the discharge of official functions, and oversees maintenance and the inventory of supplies and equipment that are required for the Sexton's responsibilities. S/he works directly with volunteers, supervising and coordinating their activities. S/he serves as liaison for the Rector and Treasurer with members of the staff and congregation, and as a resource person to the Vestry and Vestry Committees, and Good Shepherd's professional ministry team.

The Sexton is a primary contact person in a large downtown church with a diverse constituency. There is daily contact with other staff members, parishioners, vendors, and others having business with the congregation.

The Sexton must be qualified to perform all the usual tasks required of any building and grounds maintenance worker. Specific skills include (but are not limited to) operation of cleaning machines and equipment; stripping and waxing floors; operation of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment; routine monitoring of plumbing and electrical systems, and simple parts repair and replacement for them; basic yard work. The position requires robust health, occasional heavy lifting, and ability and willingness to undertake unpleasant and laborious tasks (for example, policing the grounds of trash left by passers-by, patrolling the parking lot at key traffic times, dealing with street people).

The Sexton is an official representative of the church, and must therefore be able to deal pleasantly, efficiently, and effectively with a wide range of tasks and people, often meeting several needs at once. Timeliness and courtesy are primary. The Sexton must be able to set goals and priorities that reflect program and administrative deadlines, but remain flexible and sensitive to shifting demands upon the professional ministry team this position exists to support. The need to maintain strict confidentiality is paramount, whether privileged information comes directly as a result of discharge of official functions, or indirectly through informal channels. When in doubt whether information is privileged, the Sexton must treat it as if it were.

Beyond formal and informal training and experience, the Sexton meets the challenges of this position through participation in weekly staff meetings, collaboration with other members of the support staff and with the Junior Warden and the Property Committee, supervisory guidance, and in-service training.

Accountabilities

To achieve the objective of this position, the Sexton must:

1. Establish and maintain a regular schedule of cleaning, so that all worship, education, program and administrative facilities are kept clean, tidy and ready for comfortable and appropriate use.

2. Maintain grounds (including at least daily policing for trash, and yard work as needed), so that Good Shepherd presents an inviting, good neighbor face to the neighborhood and visitors.

3. Engage contract workers as directed for routine maintenance and minor repairs, as authorized, so that facilities are kept in good order.

4. Report all exceptions, abnormalities and deficiencies in facilities and their use, so that responsible church officers may take timely preventative or remedial action.

5. Supervise the work of Assistant Sexton and other buildings and grounds contract workers, so that they efficiently perform the functions for which they are engaged.

6. Oversee maintenance of equipment and inventory of supplies necessary to perform the Sexton's duties, so that tasks may be done without unnecessary delay.

7. Support staff and volunteer church workers timely performance of tasks as assigned (such as furniture arrangement, movement of program supplies and equipment, etc.), so that they may more readily perform their ministries.

Note Concerning Title of This Position

The current title for this position is "Supervisor of Buildings & Grounds", which the Vestry created some years ago when certain staff changes were made. This position description reverts to the title "Sexton", because that term is commonly used throughout the Episcopal Church and is generally less cumbersome.

May 20, 1992

Prepared by Interim Rector for Personnel Committee review and submission to Vestry.

This position description follows the form and models contained in Called To Work Together, a handbook available from the National Church. It was composed by the Interim Rector, based on information supplied by the Sexton, conversations with the Junior Warden and the Finance Committee, documents on file, and experience at Good Shepherd.

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