Chapter 18 Annex 5 - Examples of duties appropriate to a minister of religion

This Annex provides a list (which is not exhaustive) of duties which a minister of religion, especially one serving a largely ethnic minority community, could be expected to perform in addition to his/her "core duties". The actual duties performed will, of course, depend on the size, type and location of the particular congregation, both within a larger city or town and within the United Kingdom as a whole.

• Leading worship - daily;
• leading worship weekly and on special occasions;
• running the supplementary schools;
• religious instruction;
• religious education;
• mother tongue teaching;
• social and welfare work as needed;
• counselling duties;
• administration and general correspondence;
• visiting hospitals and providing chaplaincy services;
• visiting local schools, as required, for RI lessons;
• visiting prisons and meeting prisoners' needs;
• officiating at births, marriages and funerals;
• arranging for special services;
• servicing and minute-taking at management/committee meetings;
• recruiting/training and co-ordinating the work of volunteers, lay preachers and supplementary school teachers;
• arranging programmes aimed at reformation and "missionary" work, as necessary, for adolescents and other "lapsed" members;
• providing emergency "Priest"/Teacher cover at associate places of worship, as and when required;
• liaison with community projects and initiating fund raising activities, conferences and community meetings;
• special tutorials for those children aiming for academic qualifications in languages and religious subjects;
• where appropriate, providing herbalist/homeopathy services for those seeking such guidance and assistance;
• caretaker duties for the buildings;
• youth leaders for clubs, more appropriate;
• marriage guidance duties;
• moral and spiritual guidance;
• being available on a full-time basis, at all times, to perform other appropriate duties at the request of the management committee;
• teaching mother tongue classes, e.g. Urdu, Gujarati or Bengali etc. in any place determined by the the management committee, (e.g. at home, or in halls, local authority buildings and supplementary schools);
• organising and preaching at evangelistic meetings or gatherings and ecumenical symposia (usually on a regional basis);
• visiting housebound members and others in their homes.

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