Fr Louis gives a Summary of the Chaplaincy Council meeting, Wednesday 4th December

We agreed to find three quotes for the redecoration of the interior of the church. We want to paint the walls and replace the carpet in the sanctuary. Our preference is to remove the carpet in front of the altar rail and polish the floor. Funds are already available for this from a church trust fund which can only be used on church fabric, in addition to private sponsors.
For some time now we have been exploring ways in which we can improve our toilet facilities, kitchen space and meeting space in the vestry. The activity of the church is growing and its needs are changing. The current facilities are no longer serving us well. The Cemetery Foundation is developing their own plans which affect the church. We are seeking a meeting with members of the Foundation to discuss how we can work together on a shared project and clarify areas of responsibility.
In February we will be working on improving the process for the recruitment and care of our volunteers. Role descriptions are being prepared for the different areas of church life which will make clearer the responsibilities, lines of communication, what support and training is offered and length of time. Roles will be time-limited with an opportunity for the length of time to be extended. We recognise the importance of succession planning wherever possible, but acknowledge there will always be circumstances in which someone vacates a role at short notice. Continuity is more likely when the terms of the person’s brief are already clear.
We are working with the Venerable Paul Vrolijk from christilience.orgon more stable funding for the work of our chaplaincy. Our objective is to slowly increase the number of people who are able to pledge regular giving to St George’s. This will enable us to cover all of our running costs and reduce the burden on fund-raising for day to day expenses. Ideally, fund-raising events are geared to special projects. We are working out how best to communicate the financial situation of the church in such a way which is clear and helpful. We have begun preparing a budget for 2025, which will be signed off the Council in February after we are able to assess the result of 2024. I will meet with the Fabric and Funding working group to consolidate the financial plan.
David Tweed shared with the council his proposal for a high-end summer music festival which would attract some significant names in the classical music world. If this comes to fruition it would help establish St George’s and the cemetery as a unique venue for performances in the context of a picnic. We asked David to continue developing his plan and to report back to us. It should be noted that we also confirmed our commitment to continue to organise concerts around the €15 price range.
We have identified two volunteers to take key roles with int eh church. One will be assuming the role of Communications Coordinator for which a role description has been prepared. The core task will be the management of data, enabling us to communicate with a wide audience. This also requires us to be up to date with privacy policy requirements. Our other volunteer responded to an advertisement on the website for a Chaplain’s Admin Assistant. Likewise a role description has been prepared. She and I will work together on the day to day administration of the church. I am very grateful for her enthusiasm and interest in the role. Both roles will be reviewed after two months.
We took a look at the Intranet pages set by Fr Hilary on the website to display all minutes, financial reports, role descriptions, calendar, policies, protocols and more besides! Access to the intranet is shared on a needs basis and will greatly serve us in becoming more efficient in our governance. We recognised the transformation of the church website and expressed our deep thanks to Fr Hilary for the time and effort spent on the website which will already bearing good fruit.
We received John Gardner’s resignation as Secretary. John is taking a break from his commitments, but will contribute to our life as time allows. John has done an incredible amount of work behind the scenes with various administrative aspects of St George’s, in addition to making ‘Music at St George’s’ a successful programme of concerts. We expressed our heart-felt appreciation.