SEXTON JOB DESCRIPTION

DATE:

NAME:

POSITION: SEXTON

The position of Sexton has been established to properly maintain the building and grounds of
St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The Sexton shall be directly responsible to the Church Council through the Property
Committee. Any concern he/she has relating to his or her work shall be directed to the
Property Committee. If the concern is unresolved, the Chairperson of the committee will refer it
to the Council President. If still unresolved, the concern will be taken to the Congregational
Council.

The above named person shall have the following duties and responsibilities.

These functions are to be within the responsibilities of the Sexton for St. Paul's Evangelical
Lutheran Church; however, they are not intended to be the total limit of responsibility for the
position of Sexton. Any other function that should properly be considered in this position
description should also be included.

SEXTON'S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR WORSHIP ACTIVITIES

1. The Sexton shall open the building at least 45 minutes before all scheduled Church
functions such as worship, Sunday School, mid-week activities during Lent, wedding
rehearsals, weddings, and funerals when held at the Church. The Sexton shall adjust
the heating or air conditioning thermostat controls, as necessary and in a timely
manner, to make the building comfortable for whatever functions are taking place.
2. Whenever a congregational function takes place, such as Worship services, Sunday
School, and mid-week services, the Sexton must be on call in the event his/her services
are needed. This does not apply to small group meetings such as Church Council,
Sunday School teacher classes, or committee meetings, etc. These groups will open
the building and properly close it when their meetings end.
3. Sexton will turn on the P.A. System for all services.
4. At Christmas Eve Candlelight Services, the Sexton shall make certain pew candelabra are
put in their proper places and in conjunction with Altar Guild check supply of dripless
candles or filled with oil as necessary. Ushers light candles for services, Sexton and
altar guild check and replace or refill any that need it before the second service.

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5. Weddings
a. 1-2 weeks before wedding meet with bride, go over wedding policy sheet and
have clear times to open building on wedding day as well as what they are
using: A unity candle* (they purchase); kneeler; wedding banner;
candelabra; changing rooms; etc.
b. *Contact Altar Guild to purchase candles.
c. If reception is here, go over social room policy and familiarize them with location
of dishes, etc.
d. Day of the Wedding - Set up and clean changing rooms, sanctuary, and
Kammerer Room. Put No Parking cones out front and unlock the church
for the florist, photographer, etc.
e. After wedding, close the church, clean all areas and return to original order.
f. Fees for weddings will be governed by wedding policies.

BASIC CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE RESPONSIBILITIES INSIDE CHURCH

1. The Sexton shall keep the nave of the church including stairways, balcony and choir lofts,
all rest rooms, all Sunday School rooms, all church offices, social room, kitchen and all
other parts of the church building neat, dusted, and vacuumed and in an orderly manner
at all times.
a. Includes weekly dusting of all window sills and all other surfaces needing
attention.
b. Includes weekly vacuuming of carpets and floors where and when needed.
2. The Sexton shall wash and wax all tile floors in the church whenever it is needed.
3. The Sexton shall empty all waste baskets weekly and dispose of trash for weekly pick-up.
4. The Sexton will defrost the kitchen freezer whenever necessary and keep freezer and
refrigerator clean at all times.
5. The Sexton is responsible for keeping cupboards, stoves, and sink located in the kitchen
clean at all times and house- cleaning should be done at least once a year or more if
needed. The "house-cleaning" of the kitchen should be coordinated with help from the
congregation and should be overseen by the Sexton.
6. The Sexton shall restock all miscellaneous household supplies as needed, including
necessary cleaning supplies, dish-washing detergent, light bulbs and assorted paper
products.
7. The Sexton is responsible for ordering and maintaining a sufficient, standardized, inventory
of coffee, disposable paper/ plastic/Styrofoam dinnerware, utensils, cups and napkins
suitable for use by all Church groups and committees. Any extraordinary requests for
supplies or requests for inclusion of new items into inventory shall be made to the
Sexton with ample time allowed for action to be taken.

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8. All windows and screens should be washed at least once a year or more when needed.
This should be coordinated with help from the congregation and should be overseen by
the Sexton.
9. The Sexton shall perform whatever minor repair work he/she feels capable of doing so long
as it doesn't endanger his/ her health or safety.
10. Any major repairs requiring outside contractors should be reported to the chairman of the
Property Committee for action.
11. The Sexton shall see that all clocks and timers in the Church are changed and maintained
at appropriate time of the year, with the exception of the church chimes. The
maintenance of the chimes are the responsibility of the Property committee

BASIC RESPONSIBILITIES OUTSIDE CHURCH - BUILDING & GROUNDS

1. The Sexton shall cut the lawn, apply weed killer, remove weeds and grass from pavement
cracks, edge and sweep the sidewalks, as well as rake and clean up leaves as
necessary.
2. The Sexton should check and clean out the window wells and check the grounds for paper
and cigarette butts on a regular basis.
3. During the winter months, the Sexton will use the snow blower, shovels, scrapers and/or
de-icing agents to remove ice and snow from steps and sidewalk areas for snowfall
accumulations of up to one inch.
4. The Sexton will be responsible for contacting the Church's snow removal contractor when
accumulations are greater than one inch. The contractor shall be responsible for
clearing all walks, steps and the parking lot and use of de-icing agents, if needed. Once
the contractor has completed his work, the Sexton shall then be responsible for removal
of any minor amounts of snow and ice from steps and sidewalk areas resulting from
flurries, drifting snow, sleet or freezing rain that might occur between larger winter
storms, thereby assuring that all sidewalks and entrances to the Church are always safe
and accessible. Clearing of minor snow amounts may be postponed at the discretion of
the pastor if all scheduled activities at the Church and/or Sunday School have been
canceled for the day.
5. The Sexton is responsible for minor outside building repairs, assuming they do not
endanger his/her safety. The need for major repairs shall be reported to the Property
Committee Chairman so that appropriate action may be taken by Council.

Sexton Signature: ___________________________________________Date:____________

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