There are a couple of “in-house” issues worth reporting at the moment.
Building Project
Thanks again to all those who have pledged to give money towards our building project at St. Anne’s. Double thanks to those who have pledged and donated already. We have received pledges for around $240,000 and donations in the order of $72,000. Under half of our members have made pledges to date so we are very hopeful that those who haven’t filled in a pledge form yet will do so in the near future. You can download a pledge form here.
If you would like to donate without making a pledge, you can do so in one of the following ways…
- Cash in the offertory plate, sealed in an envelope marked “building project”;
- Cheque (to Moorebank Anglican Parish) in the offertory plate or via mail (to 68 Lucas Ave Moorebank NSW 2170), again in an envelope marked “building project”; or
- Direct debit from your bank account to the following account – Bank: Glebe Income Accounts; BSB: 704-998; Account #: 100005770; Account name: Moorebank Anglican Parish. Please member to attach your name if you want us to know where it came from.
Once completed, it will be great to be able to house all of our ministers parish-owned houses. This will ensure that our ministers live in houses that are suitable for ministry. It will also relieve our parish of the financial burden of paying rent year by year. The more that we are able to pay for through donations the less loan-repayments will be necessary in coming years; this is why we would love to raise $500,000 in donations in the next 12 months and pay for the entire project up front. We are still praying for this outcome!
Church Offices
In the past week our full-time staff (me, Tim McIver, Ed Loane and Tom Habib) moved into newly established offices at St. Thomas’, where we will be working during the week from now on. This means that the number to contact all of us Monday to Friday in office hours is the main church number: 9602 8836.
While the setting up of these offices has taken a certain amount of effort and expense (which was kept to a minimum), the payoffs will be substantial and hopefully obvious. It is certainly exciting for the staff to be able to work more as a team. The previous working arrangement for our staff was that we all worked from our homes, which meant operating somewhat independently of each other. However, this new centralised arrangement will enable much easier collaboration. I hope that everyone starts seeing the effects in the input into Sunday services, as well as follow-up of individuals and better communication both across and within our congregations. I hope that people will see us as more accessible now and feel free to drop in!
Following this development, we hope to employ an administrative staff member before too long, part time to begin. This person will be responsible for all kinds of tasks such as maintaining the member-database, managing communications (mail-outs, website, initial follow-up of newcomers, correspondence, etc.), reception, helping with finances and property matters and other “ministry housekeeping” duties.
Where the action is
I am aware that the issues mentioned are administrative issues and, in a sense, not where the action is. Staff housing and offices are useless if we all (not just staff) are not connecting person-to-person, sharing our lives and the gospel. It is good for our church to be developing its “infrastructure” to support such person-to-person ministry, but the challenge remains to DO that ministry. It is the role of our staff to do ministry, and also to lead, train and equip all of our members to do it too.
Steve
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