By Chris Nelson, Registrar/General Manager.
2021 Synod
COVID-19 has had its impact on our diaries again. Unfortunately, our plans for holding Synod in Grafton on the first weekend in August have had to be changed. Under the current health orders, we would not be able to get sufficient people into the venue.
Synod members are now getting letters advising that the Synod has now been rescheduled to be held in November from Friday 12th to Sunday 14th.
Looking for Leaders in Governance
The Anglican Diocese of Grafton relies on the efforts of volunteer members in all aspects of church life across the Diocese. There are currently opportunities in Diocesan governance bodies that require volunteers who are willing to tackle the weighty issues of governance.
There are now three vacancies for Bishop-in-Council, the body that makes decisions on behalf of the Synod. Two of those vacancies are for clergy and one is for a lay member and nominations are open to Synod members.
There is a vacancy as Corporate Trustees, the body that handles the property ownership, investment and legal representation of the Diocese. Skills in finance, business or legal matters would be particularly valuable for a Corporate Trustee. Nomination is open to all Anglicans.
Anglicare North Coast, the key welfare group of the Diocese of Grafton, is looking for new board members. If this is your passion, Anglicare North Coast would like to hear from you.
Anglican Funds Grafton Diocese
Earlier this year, it was advised that the Corporate Trustees and Bishop-in-Council considered it prudent to wind up the operations of Anglican Funds Grafton Diocese (AFGD) in an orderly manner with a target of completing the wind up by the end of the year.
It is pleasing to report that the wind up has been going smoothly with the support of AFGD account holders.
In the next week or so, account holders will receive information from Anglican Funds South Australia (AFSA) who are keen to take on as many of the former AFGD accounts as it can. AFSA’s offer will provide AFGD account holders with minimum disruption and the chance to remain with an Anglican fund.
It will be up to each account holder to see if the AFSA offer suits their circumstances. For individual account holders that want to take up the AFSA offer, there is no waiting period. For parish account holders that want to take up the AFSA offer, there will be a delay until about September when the balance of loans and deposits in AFGD will allow parish accounts to exit the fund.
Learning Manager
The Anglican Diocese of Grafton has entered into a partnership with Catholic Church Insurance to use CCI’s Learning Manager product. Learning Manager is an online training tool on health and safety topics and this will become available later in 2021 for parish leaders and key volunteers to improve their health and safety skills and knowledge.
Learning Manager provides a very affordable and flexible way of improving our skills and knowledge for a safer church. More information will become available later in 2021.