Church admin sells out

The inaugural SDS Church Administration Conference was ‘sold out’ last month with almost 500 wardens, parish councillors and treasurers attending the free day-long event.

The Wesley Conference Centre was filled with Sydney Anglicans keen to get the latest tips for parish administration. SDS Manager, Clergy and Church Support Services Michael Newman says the pilot conference was well received.

“All the comments on the day were positive. The overwhelming response is that we should do it again either annually or every two years,” he says.

Mr Newman says the main purpose of the conference was to encourage parish councillors and wardens in their important ministry role.

In many parishes, administration becomes a burden on the rector, so Mr Newman hopes wardens and parish councillors will be encouraged to see the value in their role of assisting their minister in this work.

Over four sessions, key SDS employees and a chartered accountant shared their expertise in a range of areas relating to church administration.

“This is another part of an overall strategy by SDS to better assist and resource parishes,” Mr Newman says.

Treasurer and parish councillor for the parish of Berrima Cum Moss Vale, Mrs Vonnie Cook, travelled two-and-a-half hours each way to get to the conference and says it was well worth it.

“I’ve been doing the books for St John’s, Moss Vale for three years and wanted to verify that the things I was doing were correct. I also wanted to learn more about other parts of parish administration,” she says.

“I was very impressed with what the presenters had to say as it was very relevant to parish councillors. I now know if I have any problems I can contact SDS for help.”

For parishes who had no representatives attend the conference, SDS is sending out a free DVD of the conference with extra materials useful for church administration.

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