The first meeting of the new Parish Council was held on 16 March 2022 over zoom. We welcomed new members of the Council, Doreen Laforest (Warden), Genevieve Scarfe, Gillian Stumbles and Peter Yedalian.

Stuart opened the meeting in prayer, seeing God’s wisdom and guidance as we work towards the spiritual transformation of the Parish.

The meeting addressed a number of staffing, finance and property issues:

• We have an opportunity to have a new organist at St Peter’s, Jassen Rose. A donation has been received from a member of the congregation to assist in supporting that ministry
• We are planning a major refurbishment to the Curate’s cottage at Watsons Bay. This will be carried out later in the year
• Work is in progress at the columbarium, this has been delayed by the weather – it is a bit of a mess at the moment, but it will be improved as soon as possible.
• We have completed the work on the stonework steps at St Michael’s. We hope people notice the improvement. Next is work on the office steps. A donation has been received to allow us to repave the driveway.

The financial statements for the month were presented.

Notes

1. We broke even on ordinary church activities for the month.
2. The income from the columbarium is significantly below budget. It is not clear yet whether this is a trend. Note that last year, the income varied significantly from month to month.
3. Year to date offertories are above budget, although February was below budget.
4. The extraordinary income relates to an insurance payout received for the repair of the damaged gatepost at St Peters.
5. The Church Property Expenses year to date include the cost of the solar panel installation and the stonework repairs to the path outside the church main entrance.
6. The Government Support was a fee rebate we received from Service NSW.
7. The Improvement Project cost is the final payment for the bathroom project.