Category: Archdeaconry Circular
Archdeaconry Circular 30 May 2022
Archdeaconry Circular 18 February 2022
Archdeaconry Circular 26 November 2021
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and His Son Jesus Christ. May we all walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and may God’s divine presence be manifest among us and through us.
I do pray that as we go into Advent this weekend, that we will all give ourselves to following the “star” that leads to the revelation of God among us. That we will all reorder our lives and receive new direction, so that we can see Jesus. The enemy is indeed prowling like a roaring lion seeking to devour us (1 Peter 5:8); but we know that no weapon formed against us will prevail (Isaiah 54:7). Therefore, we go into this new liturgical year with confidence that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10).
May our life of witness to the truth of our Saviour be that star. May our Churches and our discipleship, be that star. May the grace that we share and the hope that we profess, be a star to the communities we serve, and may our lives together as the people of God, the fellowship of believers, be that star that leads people to Jesus.
Please continue to uphold Revd Luthuli in prayer. As we pray for his healing, we pray for peace for Lindiwe and his family and for their wellbeing. Sipho is in Entabeni Hospital Rehabilitation Centre.
- Clergy Forum
You have received, via email, an invitation to a meeting with Bishop Ndwandwe on the 3rd at 09h00 at St Barnabas Bluff. This is a critical meeting and it is important that you attend. Please confirm attendance with the Bishop’s office and me. We will be joined by the clergy of eThekwini Central and Umzimkulu Archdeaconries. - Insurance
You have received your Insurance Schedules. Please study them carefully and make sure that you have adequate cover. The contents of the accommodation of all Clergy must be covered by your insurance. Sound Systems and computers need to be separately insured. The review of these policies is critical and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask, I will also review all of your policies to assist you, but the Exco of every parish must take responsibility and then Pay for the insurance. The full amount is due in January, and I encourage parishes wherever possible to pay upfront. Many Parishes also have insurance arrears, but I will write individually to each parish in that regard. - Assessments
I am pleased with the discussions that are taking place to address the Assessment
arrears. I remind you that we have all received money out of the Central Fund and
received the renumeration that comes from the Assessments. This is money that we have
received but not paid into. It is true debt, because the Stipends of all our clergy have
been paid every month, despite contributions towards that not been received in full. As
we see increased attendance and start to recover from 2020/2021; paying these arrears
is a priority. Thank you to those Parishes that have been faithful in paying the
Assessment. - Diocesan Council
Please pray for the Diocesan Council as it meets tomorrow (27Th) the Budget will be
discussed.
Let us be unwavering in our devotion to Christ. Let us not tire of doing good and let us be of
good courage.
My I end with St James exhortation to the Church (James 3: 16-18)
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of
mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of
righteousness.…
Be assured of my love and prayers as we continue to sow in peace and reap the fruit of
righteousness.
Yours in the service of Christ
Love and Peace – Andrew.
Revd. Andrew Manning.
Be curious, be present and re-imagine
Archdeaconry Circular 05 November 2021
The Lord be with you.
We thank God for the peaceful elections and pray for the continued peace of our country as new coalition Councils are formed.
- Archdeaconry Executive
The Executive met on Zoom on the 4th November at 18h30.
The Executive prepared for the Archdeaconry Council and discussed a number of key issues in the life of the Diocese. I am grateful for the work done by the Stewardship Committee. We are looking for a new Property Commissary who can assist with the building and maintenance aspects of our Archdeaconry. If any parish has someone who is willing to assist, it is a wonderful opportunity to put their gifts to work. Two people would make the work load lighter. I look forward to hearing from you. - Archdeaconry Council
We will meet at 18h30 on the 18th November at Woodlands (St Etheldreda) to discuss the budget and give feedback from Diocesan Council. A light snack will be served, please arrive early to facilitate Covid Compliant registration at the meeting.
Revised Agenda:
• Feedback from Diocesan Council
• Budget 2022
• Report from Stewardship Committee
• Property Issues - Review of Financial situation
In any business, Budget time is stressful. Money is a complex subject. So, I ask you to be prayerful and patient with each other, use your diverse experience to support each other. Respect each other’s points of view. But at the end of the day – we need a reasonable and forward thinking and committed contribution to the budget.
Reviewing the Budget has been a difficult exercise as we are all aware of the challenges brought about by Covid. Preparing our own Parish budgets has been difficult because we know that the expenses are rising, and that income is under pressure. However, there are things that we can be doing to address this.
Re-building the confidence of our parishioners is key to increasing the financial contributions. We can all show ways that we are managing the money well and being good stewards.
We need to consider that if we are in arrears with Assessment – the Clergy have been paid out of the Investments of the Diocese which has depleted these Investments and therefore the interest that we were drawing down to cover part of the Budget is no longer available. Thus, a shortfall in Assessment has a double negative because it reduces our ability to earn interest on investments, our only other income stream.
There is more to the story than this. But let’s start here and contribute to the solution.
We are grateful to those Parishes who are faithfully paying the Assessment to cover the Clergy costs and Diocesan Overheads.
I continue to encourage you all to:
• Determine the number of people on your Parish Roll.
• Do you know how many pensioners, how many unemployed, how many students you have on your parish Roll?
• How many are on your Dedicated giving System?
• What would the value of your income be if everyone gave what they committed to?
• How much do the top 10 or 20 (if your parish has more than 500 people) give?
• How much do the bottom ten or 20 give?
• what is the amount that most people pledge?
• If your whole congregation gave that amount what would your income be?
• How many give by EFT
• How many give by Envelope
• What percentage of your income is Pledge, and what special appeals, and what loose plate?
We would love to discuss and compare this analysis with each other on the 18th.
I again appeal to every parish Council to produce a real summary of expected expenses, not just what you can pay for but what needs to be done. That Million Rand roof repair, that new car that’s needed, that extra staff to make the mission work. Draw up a “what we’d like to do budget” too. If you don’t have dreams and visions, then we are not doing what God requires of us. Too many things never happen because we don’t know how we will pay for them, so we give up on the vision for God’s church, we give up on growth, we give up on doing our best for God. In the words of our Stewardship Committee – People don’t give to a budget they give to an activity, a vision, a mission a plan – the budget needs to show the Plan not just the
numbers.
Be of good courage! Let’s be good stewards of what God has given us.
In conclusion.
Let us continue to work together to strengthen God’s ministry in our area and build the
Kingdom together. We all have many trials in this life, but we are called to a life of love
of God and of each other. Let us fix our eyes on things above.
Be assured of my love and prayers.
Love and peace.
Revd. Andrew Manning.