GENERAL SECRETARIAL RECOMMENDATIONS
This position is for a Part-time Parish Secretary for two parishes but located in one office location. The Part-time secretary will be familiar with and trained on all duties of the parish office. The primary duties of the position will be the secretarial. The candidate for the secretarial position for St. John Bosco and Immaculate Conception parishes should possess the following:
- Faith Commitment: As this role involves preparing sacred documents, interacting with sacramental processes, creating liturgical programs and liturgical calendar events and preparing Mass intentions and pulpit announcements, a practicing Catholic in good standing with the church is often preferred. The knowledge of the Catholic faith is helpful when performing these tasks. While this is preferred, it IS NOT required that the secretary be Catholic.
- Confidentiality & Discretion: This is the most critical skill. The secretary will be privy to sensitive information regarding parishioner finances, family struggles during funeral planning, and internal staff discussions. There must be an absolute commitment to maintain the information that is obtained in this position and is treated with upmost confidentiality and discretion and is not shared or discussed with others.
- Secretary for two locations: The position of secretary is for two separate and distinct parishes. You must keep this in mind when answering the phone. You will also keep this in mind when emailing as the email will be specific to the appropriate location. For example, you will discuss items that are pertinent to St. John Bosco with those associated with St. John Bosco. Likewise, things pertaining to Immaculate Conception will be discussed with those associated with the happenings of Immaculate Conception.
- Safe Environment: The candidate applying for the secretarial position MUST be able to pass a background check and complete the Diocesan-mandated UKG training before hiring. This training must be completed on a computer or tablet. It is not compatible with mobile phones.
- Technical Proficiency: Proficiency in Church Management Software such as ParishSoft (or similar platforms) for data entry, budget management, and contribution tracking is highly preferred but not required. Proficiency of Microsoft Office (Word/Excel) and Canva is preferred but not required. Expert-level use of Google Calendar to manage complex schedules for the Pastor and various parish groups is preferred. The ability to manage and update parish websites for both St. John Bosco and Immaculate Conception, including uploading weekly bulletins and coordinating with external webmasters is preferred.
- Time Management: Given that the role involves two parishes and diverse tasks ranging from simple tasks to bulletin design to possible bookkeeping tasks, the ability to prioritize the importance of tasks and deadlines is vital.
- Collaboration: Candidate must be able to work effectively with the Pastor, Business Manager, Maintenance staff, Religious Education Directors and various committees (i.e., Rosary Society, Parish Council/Finance Council, Holy Name Society, Kingdom Builders),
- Working Hours: This position is a part-time position. The hours worked are somewhat flexible but are worked Monday – Friday for a maximum of 15 hours per week. There may also be a time when occasionally it is necessary for you to attend a meeting or training outside these hours. These instances will be discussed and agreed upon as they arrive.
- Physical Requirements: There may be times when it is necessary to lift boxes, set up or move chairs for meetings, etc. Candidate should be able to lift and carry 45-50 pounds. Candidate should also be able to navigate stairs, climb a stepstool and be able to put items on or to remove items from bulletin boards which may also require you to stretch up with arms.
- Transportation: Due to the fact that this position will be for two parishes, occasionally it will be necessary for you to travel between the two locations (St. John Bosco and Immaculate Conception) for various parish activities. This will require you to have a valid driver’s license and reliable transportation.
SECRETARIAL DUTIES
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The office staff are often the “face” of the parish. You must be able to interact with people who are grieving (funerals) or joyful (weddings) with appropriate empathy and professional boundaries.
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Sort incoming mail and pass mail on to appropriate recipient
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Answer phones and phone messages and pass on messages to appropriate recipient
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Read/Respond to emails/Forward emails to appropriate recipient
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Update the phone greetings when necessary
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Prepare documents for Parish Council meetings
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Prepare items for and attend Thursday Staff meeting
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Maintain Safe Environment files and ensure employees/volunteers are compliant for St John Bosco. (Currently, this task for Immaculate Conception is handled by the Director of Religious Education.)
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Maintain Google calendar, shared by the Pastor and office staff, to list all events of both parishes.
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Promptly contact groups that meet in the church basement, of a church event or other event that will conflict with their meeting. Such instances could be a funeral dinner, waxing of basement floors, maintenance/repairs, etc. Church or major maintenance events take precedence over other groups.
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SJB Website-
- Upload weekly bulletin
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Enter events on calendar
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Contact Communications Team for other changes/updates to website
- Ege Website-
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Upload weekly bulletin
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Enter events on calendar
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Contact Communications Team for other changes/updates to website
Sacraments: Sacramental record keeping is a canonical requirement. It is vital that this information be recorded with tremendous accuracy and permanence of these legal church documents.
a) Speak with the parents and obtain pertinent information regarding the baby, parents and godparents.
b) Get proper paperwork to parents/godparents
c) Give Father a copy of the information obtained
d) Assist in scheduling the parent/godparent meeting/baptism
e) Add meeting dates/date of baptism on Google calendar
f) Inform sacristans of the date of the baptism
g) Prepare keepsake baptismal certificate
h) At Immaculate Conception, notify DRE of baptism
i) Enter sacrament in sacramental records
a) Speak with the couple and obtain pertinent information
b) Give Father a copy of the information obtained
c) Assist in scheduling meeting with Father and wedding date
d) Add meeting date and wedding date to Google calendar
e) Enter sacrament in sacramental records
f) File Wedding Document Envelope in office
g) Mail wedding document to courthouse
a) Speak with the family or Funeral Director and obtain pertinent preliminary information
b) Give Father a copy of the information obtained
c) Work with Father to schedule date of funeral
d) Notify Musician of funeral Mass at parish
e) Notify Rosary ladies of funeral dinner if applicable
f) Acquire servers and Mass ministers for funeral
g) Enter funeral in sacramental records
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The secretary should have a basic understanding of the Catholic Liturgical Year to create and print programs for First Holy Communion, Confirmation Mass, All Souls’ Day, Corpus Christi and other specific liturgies
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Obtain competency in desktop publishing software, such as Canva, to create the weekly bulletins, liturgical programs and flyers.
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Create bulletin for each parish. Submit the St John Bosco bulletin to publisher by the designated deadline. Immaculate Conception bulletin is printed in house, fold and get ready to be picked up on Thursday afternoon.
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Prepare the weekly Mass intentions, pulpit announcements, and collection bags for the Masses each week.
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Record Mass intention requests and stipends. It is vital that Mass intention requests and the Mass stipend be recorded accurately ensuring the intentions are fulfilled as requested by the person requesting a Mass. Prepare Mass intention list and any pulpit announcements prior to the weekend Masses.
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Print items submitted by various groups such as Kingdom Builders, Rosary Society, Bosco Brunch Bunch, Bible Study, Youth Ministry, etc.
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Post announcements on bulletin board (after approved by Pastor)
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Remove items from bulletin board after event
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Prepare and submit Diocesan Annual Report
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Enter new parishioner data on ParishSoft
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Maintain ParishSoft by updating data
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Maintain Our Sunday Visitor envelope data and order envelopes for parishioners
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Entering weekly envelope contributions in ParishSoft
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Create/post ministry schedule for Immaculate Conception Parish and send to volunteers (St. John Bosco’s schedule is handled by a parish volunteer. You will assist her if she has questions.)
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The office for both parishes is located at the St. John Bosco campus, sometimes the position may require you to drive between St. John Bosco and Immaculate Conception parishes for activities. Mileage can be reimbursed with documented records listing the date and exact mileage to/from the locations.
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Assist in coordinating activities at both parishes (Youth Group events, Penance Services, Chicken Dinner, Chili Cook-off etc.)
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Act as the liaison for the various parish groups like the Rosary Society, Youth Ministry, Bosco Brunch Bunch, Kingdom Builders, SPARC, Knights of Columbus, Holy Name Society and the Chicken Dinner Committee just to name a few.
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Manage requests for meeting rooms at both St. John Bosco and Immaculate Conception and post on the Google Calendar appropriately.
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Assist the maintenance person in scheduling repairs and help service personnel to gain entry to facilities if necessary (Holy Name handles most of the repairs/maintenance at Immaculate Conception. On a rare occasion you may have to assist in scheduling or gaining access to property.)
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Maintain a Master Key log for anyone who obtains a key from St. John Bosco.
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Purchase:
- supplies for SJB kitchen
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supplies for SJB maintenance
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office supplies for both parishes
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postage stamps for both parishes
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supplies for sacristy at both parishes
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items for parishioners as gifts for both parishes
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other items requested by Father
- Prepare items for and attend Thursday Staff meeting with Father
BOOKKEEPING DUTIES
While the bookkeeping duties will be the primary duties of the Business Manager, the secretary will be trained on the general knowledge of the processes so that, if needed, the secretary will also assist with bookkeeping duties in the absence of the Business Manager. Some of these duties may include any of the following:
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Receive invoices and prepare to be paid by the appropriate parish
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Create checks for Father’s signature
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Mail checks
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File paid invoices
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Prepare financial documents for Finance Council meetings
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Prepare items for and attend Thursday Staff meeting with Father
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Create checks for the appropriate finance council member’s signature. (Father’s Mass stipend and phone/food/mileage allowance checks.)
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Because both parishes share one office, the office staff, one Pastor and one residence for the Pastor, some expenses are shared by both parishes. The expenses are paid by St. John Bosco and then billed appropriately to Immaculate Conception. It will be important to understand and invoice the appropriate shared expenses.
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Budget
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Prepare preliminary figures for Father
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Work with Father to prepare “rough draft” of budget for Finance Council to review
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Prepare budget revisions for final approval
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Submit budget to Diocese
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Enter budget into ParishSoft
- Prepare for Diocesan audits
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Familiarity with preparing and filing 1099-NEC by January 31st of each year, Indiana-specific forms such as ST-103 and NP-20R preferred but not required.
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Printing annual contribution statements and mailing them by January 31st of each year
Must complete Safe Environment training and a background check.
Must have a valid driver's license and reliable transportation.
