Parish Council Update - March

Bible Reading

Luke 16:1-15 is the parable of the shrewd manager. At St Phil's and St Mark's, God has blessed us with many opportunities for ministry and many gifts in ministry. Wonderful people, wonderful talents, and a wealth of physical resources. It is important to use all things well for the glory of God. As we prepare for the year ahead, our Parish Council will have an important task in allocating resources for gospel ministry, as well as establishing a solid ground for the road ahead.

Major Works

• Ermington: A works report was tabled for the overall current needs of the Ermington site. There are urgent repairs needed, as well as several smaller and larger matters requiring attention to resource ministry effectively. We will be prioritising these over the coming year. These matters include such things as roof repairs, carpet replacement, air conditioning, moving of main power line, sound equipment, minor window maintenance and toilet renovations and improvements.
• Eastwood: Construction of the toilet block and access ramp is currently stalled due to rain, but is planned to resume soon.
• Bells: No further update on bells. Waiting on Diocesan directions for faculty requirements, and Ryde Council directions for DA considerations.
• Future works: Apart from the near future needs of the Ermington site, we also continue to plan, in God's time, for the construction of a detention tank for the Eastwood site, and the sealing of the carpark. This will alleviate many of the issues that we have faced over the past weeks of rain as well as continue to completion the stage 1 works plans.

COVID update

We have mostly come to the end of Covid restrictions on site now. A big thank you to everyone for their love and consideration of others throughout this time. Your patience and grace have held us together well. Continue to socially distance where possible and wear masks when appropriate. Stay home if you are sick or if there is a Covid case in your household.

Budget and Staffing 2022

We are pleased to announce that a new Assistant Minister for the English congregations across Ermington and Eastwood has been appointed and will be announced on Sunday! We also hope to make another announcement soon for our English speaking women's pastoral worker.

The budget has been set for 2022 and will be presented at the AGM on Sunday. Copies of financials, including an easy read summary, are all available in the church buildings and halls.

Annual General Meeting

Our AGM is scheduled for this Sunday, March 13th. At this meeting, we will elect Wardens, Parish Council, Nominators, auditor and Synod representatives as needed. All members are invited to attend. 12:30-1:30 in the War Memorial Hall. This is an important and helpful meeting to not only elect people, and to hear a summary of finances and ministries over the past year, but also a time to hear about the plans ahead for us. There are many opportunities before us at Eastwood and Ermington and we plan to share these also during our annual AGM. Please also consider nominating someone for the roles listed above. If you have any questions about what they involve, you can visit our Diocesan website for some helpful answers.

Finances

We finished 2021 at 100.3% of the budget. However, 2022 has not started quite so well financially.

This is not unusual at the beginning of a year, as people restart their online giving and adjust for the year ahead. However, we are currently only at 86.3% of the budget, which leaves us behind $19,191 for the year to date. If you have not had an opportunity to reset your online giving or adjust your giving for 2022, please consider this prayerfully and carefully today. It would be wonderful to be able to catch up on this small shortfall over the coming month.

Details for online banking can be found on our website here: Giving page

Budget summary:

• Income required:
  Yearly: $139,891
  Weekly: $15,973
• Current offertory:
  Yearly: $120,700
  Weekly: $13,411
• Shortfall: $19,191
  Current Offertory is 86.3% of the budget

Final thanks

The chairperson (Bruce) would like to offer his heartfelt thanks again to our Parish Council for guiding us through another difficult year of uncertainty and lockdowns. We have been well served again by an extraordinary and very committed team of servant-hearted people. With thanks to God, many will be offering to stand again this year. As some move on after years of service, we look forward to welcoming new members elected at the AGM.