B.     Church Personnel Policy and HandbooksMs. Catherine Bolder, Trustee, Bethany Baptist Church of Newark

Churches often give great attention to their various ministries of the Church, but frequently fail to pay adequate attention to the Church as a business…as an employer. Whether your Church is large or small, you have employees and have responsibilities to your employees as does any other organization. It is no longer sufficient to operate based on historical memory or solely on faith that people will do the right thing. There are many federal and state laws and regulations with which the Church, as an employer, must comply. Your employees must also clearly understand your expectations of them. This workshop will explain why it is important to document your employment policies and procedures, what you should include in an employee handbook and provide an example of how to do it.

Catherine Bolder, Trustee is a member of Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, where she has been a member for nearly twenty years. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees and serves as Chair of its Personnel Committee. Last year, she participated as a member of the Personnel Committee as it completed a major revision of its Employee Handbook. She also serves as a treasurer for the Bethany Baptist Church Black History Committee. Ms. Bolder has over twenty years of experience in Human Resources, Equal Opportunity and Diversity work in the public and private sectors and is currently Associate Vice President for Workplace Diversity at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Her position involves policy development, review and interpretation and providing education and orientations for faculty, staff and students in the areas of discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment. She serves as the Title IX and American with Disabilities Act Coordinator for the University. Last year, Ms. Bolder received the Distinguished Service Award from the UMDNJ School of Health Related Professions.

Ms. Bolder is a member of the Board of Directors of: The Montclair Fund for Women, Trilogy, An Opera Company and Gilda’s Club of Northern New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology, cum laude, from Boston University and a Master of Science Degree in Management from New Jersey Institute of Technology.

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Registration Form can be downloaded here. Cost is $25.00 per person.

This form can be printed as a bulletin size document using Adobe Reader 10 (it is free).