The Description & Membership of the Personnel Committee:

The Personnel Committee is comprised of three members of Session, one Deacon, and one member from the congregation-at-large.

This committee advises and supports the Head of Staff Pastor in all matters related to staff matters and employment policies and practices.  The committee is not the supervisor of the Pastor or of the staff of the church.  The committee represents the Session in its obligation to discuss annually with each Pastor on the staff the adequacy of his or her salary and benefits.  It must do this before the committee recommends to the Session the salary and related contractual financial budget items for each upcoming annual budget.

Policies Established by this Committee:

1.      The Head of Staff Pastor hires, supervises and fires lay staff in consultation with the appropriate Session committee.  The Pastor cannot open and close positions without consent of the Session.

2.      At the beginning of each year, the Chairperson of the Personnel Committee is to send a letter on church letterhead to each pastor on the staff of this church explicitly stating the amount being declared by this church as that pastor’s housing allowance.

3.      The Pastor of the church is provided a given amount of money to be determined by the Session each year for a Pastor’s Discretionary Fund.  The PDF is, as the title implies, to be used by the Pastor at his / her sole discretion, trusting that it will be used honorably.  The  Pastor shall submit a non-itemized statement that he / she has incurred PDF expenses and requests that reimbursement be made in the stated amount.  The recommended budgeted amount for the PDF is $300.

4.      The Pastor of the church is the Editor of the newsletter of the church, with full editorial responsibilities.  He or she may delegate any or all of the editorial responsibilities, but as in all delegation, may reclaim for himself / herself any or all of the editorial responsibilities any time.

5.      The Pastor is the only supervisor of any and all members of the church staff.  Members of the congregation need to refrain from giving any staff member work orders or offering work-related criticisms to any members of the staff.  The rationale is that no one can stand the confusion caused by having several people telling him or her what to do.  People need one supervisor.  That one needs to be the person the constitution of our denomination calls the Head of Staff – the Pastor.  [The Pastor may choose to delegate any or all of this responsibility to the appropriate Session committee(s).]

6.      Members of staff are defined as all ministers called by this church and all laypersons employed by this church who are paid either salary or wages and from whose paychecks deductions are made for IRS and / or benefits purposes.  Independent Contractors are not members of staff.

7.      The usual practice regarding funding and time allowed for continuing education of the pastor(s) is as follows:  While the particular continuing education events or programs do not need specific approval by this committee or by the Session, there is a reliance on the Pastor to have personal integrity regarding the use of the time and fund provided.

         Continuing Education for the Pastor is intended to be formal education provided by some institution or organization in the business of educating.  It is not informal (such as time to read or to do planning while at a cabin in the woods).  While it may be attached at one end or the other of a vacation, it is not, itself, vacation time.  Time allowed includes the necessary Sundays involved.  Time left unused in any particular years may accumulate to a maximum of 6 weeks.  Funds left unused in any particular year may accumulate to be used for future, more costly events, but may not be assigned or transferred to anyone else.

        Travel to and from continuing education events is appropriately covered by continuing education allowance.  When a member of the staff leaves the employ of this church, all unused money and time for continuing education belong to the church and do not belong in any way to the departing staff person.  Nor do they accrue to the advantage of his or her successor.  Continuing education must be related to the performance of pastoral ministry and must not be used to prepare a staff person for a future profession.

8.      Membership on this committee is by appointment by the Session.  This committee does not appoint people to be on the committee.  The Head of Staff Pastor is a member ex-officio without vote.  The committee should never meet without the presence of the Pastor unless the Pastor personally invites the committee to go ahead without his / her presence on some particular occasion.  The Pastor should rarely excuse himself / herself.

9.      The Pastor is the only supervisor of the church staff.  The Personnel Committee should refrain from criticizing or disciplining the church staff.  In the same manner, the Personnel Committee has no jurisdiction over church officers or committee members, and should refrain from evaluating or criticizing lay leadership.

         Members of staff who express concerns or problems with the Pastor should fir address the issue with the Pastor, the Head of Staff.  If they are dissatisfied with the result of the meeting, they may present their issue to the Personnel Committee in a formal meeting, with the Pastor present.

The Personnel Committee’s role is not intended to oversee or discipline the Pastor.  If there is a genuine concern regarding his / her job performance, the Committee should request a meeting with the Pastor to discuss their concern and offer suggestions to make improvements.  If the problem persists, the Personnel Committee should request that the Session meet with the Committee on Ministry of Pittsburgh Presbytery concerning the problem.

10.   An annual review of the Pastor’s performance will be held between the Pastor and the Personnel Committee.  The purpose of this review is to identify strengths and weaknesses and for the Pastor and the Committee to discuss goals for the coming year.

         All other members of staff will be reviewed and evaluated annually by the Pastor, the Head of Staff.  This evaluation allows the time to assess strengths and weaknesses and to set goals for the coming year.  The Personnel Committee will then meet with all staff members and conduct a performance review.