Periodically church members will need documents to be notarized. This notarization may be for a document required to participate in a church event or even for a private need. FYI, all banks have notary public and people can get a doc notarized at their local bank. But it is often more convenient for the church to provide this service.
Becoming a notary public is pretty easy. Most of the work can be done online through the state agency. Do not use private companies that do the paperwork for you – they overcharge and you end up doing most of the work anyway. The notary public fees are about $100 and the certification lasts for five years in many states.
I required all church administrative assistants to become notaries public so they could notarize docs as needed. Frequently the youth or children’s ministries had documents related to retreats or trips which needed to be notarized. It was easy to tell people to come to the church and ask for an admin who would then notarize the doc.
I told the admins who were notaries that they could notarize other people’s documents and even charge the legally permitted fee. They were forbidden from charging members a fee since the church paid for the notary public license.
This system has worked well and I encourage churches to take this step.
Lead On!