Information and Resources
Forms & Documents
Policies and Guidelines
- The PCUSA Book of Order and Book of Confessions
- Child Protection Policy
- Loan Policy
- Accounting Internal Controls Policy regarding Disbursements
- Personnel Policy for Presbytery Staff
- Exit Interview Policy
- Debt Assistance Policy
- PET Separation Policy
- Sexual Misconduct Prevention Training Policy PDF Version
- Sexual Misconduct Prevention Policy Digital Version
- Family Leave Policy
- Sabbatical Policy
- Social Media Policy
Check Request
Loan and Grant Applications
Policies Mandated by the Book of Order
Policies Mandated by the Book of Order
- A sexual misconduct policy
- A harassment policy
- A child and youth protection policy
- An antiracism policy
The policies shall state that ALL Session Members, Pastors, and Educators of each church are REQUIRED to attend Boundary Training at least once every 3 years. This Boundary Training shall include:
- Sexual Misconduct Prevention
- Child Sexual Abuse Prevention
The Presbytery of East Tennessee provides online Boundary Training for Session Members, Pastors, and Educators in a 3-year cycle. These are normally offered at the beginning of each calendar year.
- Year A: Sexual Misconduct Prevention
- Year B: Harassment Prevention
- Year C: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention
Writing Policies for Your Church
When writing any policy for your church’s safety, the FIRST step is to call or go online to your insurance carrier. All major insurance companies who write church coverage have a library of information about policies and prevention.
Sexual Misconduct and Harassment Prevention
PraesidiumAcademy.com, the Insurance Board’s online training used by our presbytery and many more, as well as other denominational judicatories, contains a library of training materials and handbooks for the prevention of sexual misconduct. Start there. All current pastors and educators should have login credentials because of our presbytery’s required annual training; however, contact the Stated Clerk of the presbytery if you need login help.
The Presbytery of East Tennessee’s Sexual Misconduct Policy can be downloaded at the Forms and Policies page of our website: https://www.presbyteryeasttn.
Child Safety
The Presbytery’s insurance carrier, Brotherhood Mutual, has an excellent booklet about Child Safety, including policies and procedures. Download the document by clicking here. Guide One has a policy template at its website. Download the Guide One document by clicking here.
Antiracism
The Committee On the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) of the PCUSA created a document providing guidelines for antiracism. Download the COGA Antiracism Statement here.
Resources for Antiracism work can be found in this PCUSA document
Trainings
Covenants/Contracts
Church Leadership
Pastors
- Sabbatical Policy
- 2024 Printable Compensation Report Form
- 2024 Digital Compensation Report Form
- 2024 Required Minumum Salary & Benefits Schedule for Ministers
- Temporary Supply Covenant
- Ordination and Installation Commission
- COM Examinations Policy
- Temporary Members of the Presbytery
- 2025 Healthcare Needs
Directors of Christian Education
Commissioned Lay Pastors
Clerks of Session
- Manual for Clerks of Session
- Session Minutes Checklist and Template for Meeting Agenda
- Parliamentary Procedure in Brief
- Training for Clerks of Session
- Employment Guidance for Sessions and Session Personnel Committees
- Temporary Supply Covenant
- G-3.02 Book of Order – Responsibilities and Ministry of Session
- Statistical Reporting System
- Statistical Reporting Guide
- Necrology Report
- 2024 Digital Compensation Report
- 2024 Printable Compensation Report Form
The Basics of Session Minutes
- Record when, where, and by whom the meeting was CONVENED. Include the name of the MODERATOR.
- All meetings should be opened and closed with prayer. That this was done should be recorded.
- Minutes should record the session members present. Absences need not be recorded.
- Report changes to the church rolls.
- Report any correspondence addressed to the session.
- Motions made may include the name of the maker, or the name of the committee making the motion. The person seconding a motion is not named. It is not necessary to record the number of votes for or against a motion, unless a written or hand ballot is called for. Simply report that the motion passed or failed.
- Baptisms, including names of those baptized and the elder presenter should be recorded with date. Celebrations of the Lord’s Supper should also be recorded after they have occurred.
- It’s not necessary to include written committee reports in the minutes. Do record all actions that committees have taken as authorized by session. If committees are functioning within their budgets and their committee description in the Administrative Manual, committee actions should be reported as shared information, but do not require further approval by session.
- Record that session approved the minutes from the previous meeting as part of the meeting. Minutes aren’t minutes until the session votes to approve them. Until then, they’re just neatly typed notes.
- Record the time of meeting adjournment with prayer.
- State the date and time of the next meeting.
Taking and Preserving Minutes
- Minutes should be typed.
- Minutes should be stored in a sturdy, 3-ring binder. Minutes should be printed on Letter-size paper.
- Most paper now is acid-free, but at least 20 lb paper is recommended.
- The pages of minutes should be consecutively numbered, not just in one binder, but from one to the next.
- If corrections need to be made to a page of minutes, they may be done in writing, crossing out the amended text and hand writing with a single line. Inserted text should be printed as neatly as possible with the CLERK’S initials beside the correction.
- Make minutes easy to read, with decisions of the session clearly marked as such.
- Write in complete sentences. Be concise, but include all necessary details.
- Minutes should be printed and preserved in a binder. This could be a 3-ring binder, or an expensive heavy duty binder from Cokesbury, or minutes could also be spiral-bound.
- Minute binders should be clearly labeled as such and stored in the church office or some other location where they can be easily accessed.
- Minutes are the property of a congregation.
- Most churches are saving their minutes online, perhaps on Google Drive or Dropbox. If so, be sure that the login credentials and sharing ability is distributed among multiple people. That way if one person leaves or otherwise is unavailable, the stored minutes will still be accessible.
- Regardless of how and where the minutes are stored, there needs to be a printed version available for public viewing, kept in a clearly-marked, sturdy binder. Storage media changes. Paper has never gone out of style.
- Every few years, a church should send a copy of its minutes to the Presbyterian Historical Society for scanning and archiving.
The Session
What’s A Session?
The Session is the governing council of the local church. It consists of Ruling Elders elected by a congregation and the Pastor(s). Ruling Elders are elected by the congregation to serve 3 year terms on Session. Elders work, study, pray, and lead together – always seeking the will of God for the benefit of the congregation. A Session is a collection of independent thinkers who use their talents to discern Christ’s presence through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
G-3.02 Book of Order – Responsibilities and Ministry of Session
Elder Training: The Miniseries
Read more here: https://www.presbyteryeasttn.org/resources/elder-training/
Five Sessions to be used at a retreat or over a series of weeks. Contains videos, Leaders’ Guide, and Students’ Guide in English and Korean.
- Foundations of Presbyterian Polity
- Ministry of ALL Members
- Ministry of Ruling Elders
- Ministry of Sessions
- Ministry of the Clerk of Session
Pastor Nominating Committees
Usual Order of Events in Pastoral Trasition
- A pastor lets the church’s Session and the presbytery’s Committee on Ministry know that s/he is leaving.
- The pastor sends a letter to the congregation informing them of the coming departure.
- The Session calls a Congregational Meeting for the purpose of asking the Committee on Ministry to dissolve the relationship between the pastor and the congregation. This meeting will normally happen after the pastor has completed her/his last day of active service in the congregation.
- The Committee on Ministry will appoint a Minister of Word and Sacrament who is a member of the presbytery to be the Moderator of the Session and its meetings.
- The Session, with the assistance of the Committee on Ministry, will contract with temporary Ministers to serve as Supply Pastors for one or more Sundays. Supply Pastors may contract with the Session to perform emergency visitations and other duties as agreed.
- The Session may, with the assistance of the Committee on Ministry, decide upon and contract with an Interim or Transitional Pastor to provide longer-term stability for the congregation until another Pastor is called and installed to the congregation.
- The congregation will elect a Pastor Nominating Committee to perform the duties of assessing the congregation’s needs and searching for a new Pastor.
Calling a Pastor
- The process of calling a Pastor, Commissioned Ruling Elder, Educator, or other church professional is a long but exciting process. The Committee on Ministry (COM), and the General Presbyter stand ready to assist your congregation as it prayerfully seeks new leaders.
The Presbyterian Church (USA)’s website has much information for churches seeking pastors. The Church Leadership Connection (CLC) page begins with videos and booklets for congregations.