# Job Description: Custodian
### [Church Name] · Approved by SPRC [date] · Reviewed [date]

**Reports to:** [the pastor / the church administrator] — one named person, not
"the trustees"
**Works with:** the board of trustees on building projects and repairs (¶2533)
**Classification:** [full-time / part-time] · **non-exempt (hourly)**
**Hours:** [ ] per week · [schedule, including which Sundays]
**Compensation:** $[ ]/hour, reviewed annually with the budget

### Purpose

To keep the church's buildings and grounds clean, safe, secure, and ready for
worship and ministry.

### Core responsibilities — **FULL TIME (30–40 hrs)**

**Daily / weekly cleaning**
- Sanctuary, restrooms, classrooms, fellowship hall, kitchen, offices, entryways.
- Trash and recycling; restock supplies.
- Floors on a stated rotation `[specify: vacuum weekly, mop weekly, wax annually]`.

**Worship and event readiness**
- Set up and reset rooms for worship, funerals, weddings, and church events.
- Unlock and lock the building; arm and disarm the alarm.
- Snow, ice, and leaf clearing at entrances and walkways before use.

**Building systems and grounds**
- Change filters, bulbs, and batteries on a schedule; report anything beyond
  routine to the supervisor and the trustees chair.
- Monitor heating and cooling; adjust for scheduled use.
- Basic grounds upkeep `[or: grounds are contracted — say which]`.
- Maintain a written maintenance schedule — see the
  [maintenance schedule](/forms/maintenance-schedule) template.

**Safety and security**
- Keep exits clear and emergency lighting working.
- Maintain fire extinguisher inspection records.
- Hold and account for keys per the [key log](/forms/key-log); report any lost key
  immediately.
- Maintain safety data sheets for cleaning chemicals kept on site.

### At **HALF TIME (15–20 hrs)** — what changes

Keep: worship readiness, restrooms and high-traffic areas, trash, lock-up, safety
checks, and the maintenance schedule.

Reduce or move: classrooms and fellowship hall cleaned after use rather than on a
fixed rotation, with **user groups responsible for their own reset** — write that
into the facility-use agreement, or it will not happen; deep cleaning becomes
seasonal; grounds contracted out.

Name explicitly which **events** are in scope. "Funerals and weddings as scheduled"
means overtime — plan for it and budget it rather than discovering it.

### At **QUARTER TIME (8–10 hrs)** — what changes

Keep only: Sunday readiness and reset, restrooms, trash, and lock-up. In practice
that is one weekday visit and Sunday morning.

Everything else must be assigned somewhere else in writing: renters and user groups
clean up after themselves as a condition of use; grounds and deep cleaning are
contracted; a trustee handles filters and bulbs; repairs go straight to vendors.

At this size the church should expect to **pay for what it used to absorb** — the
savings on hours reappear as contracts. If nobody has priced that, the quarter-time
decision hasn't actually been made yet.

### Qualifications

- Able to work independently and keep a schedule without supervision.
- Physical requirements: `[be concrete and accurate — e.g., able to lift 40 lbs,
  climb a ladder, stand for extended periods. State them honestly; they matter for
  hiring decisions and for accommodation requests.]`
- Trustworthy with keys and alarm codes, and comfortable being alone in the
  building.
- [CHOOSE: experience with commercial cleaning equipment / basic repairs.]

### Screening

Background check required before the first day of work — this role has keys and is
in the building alone, often when children's or youth activities are also present.
`[Add Safe Gatherings-type training if the custodian's hours overlap with children's
programming or a weekday preschool.]`

### Working conditions

Regular exposure to cleaning chemicals; occasional evening and weekend work;
occasional emergency call-in `[state whether call-in is expected and how it is
paid]`.

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**This is a starting point, not legal advice.** Employment law varies by state, and your annual conference may have policies that go beyond the Discipline. Before you rely on anything here for a hiring, firing, or compensation decision, run it past your conference office or chancellor.

Paragraph references are to the 2020/2024 Book of Discipline. This document paraphrases; for the binding text, see the Discipline itself.

From Itineracy Commons — https://itineracy.app/commons/jobs/custodian/
Licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapt it freely; keep the attribution.
Last updated 2026-07-22.