Closing date: 7th December

Salary: £17.57 per hour | Location: Dockhead, Greater London | Hours: Part-time, 14 hours per week

 

Purpose of the role:

The Parish Secretary is to provide comprehensive support to the Parish Priest in all administrative matters. This will cover secretarial, administrative, financial, office management and volunteer liaison. The parish secretary will deal with a range of sensitive pastoral enquiries and so kindness, patience and confidentiality are expected.

 

Key responsibilities:

Secretarial and administration

  • Attend weekly meeting with the parish priest to review priorities and outstanding matters.
  • Provide general administrative support for the Parish Priest and other volunteers as required including following and developing office systems and procedures.
  • Take minutes of meetings as required by the Parish Priest.
  • Receive, record and book mass requests and handle stipends.
  • Prepare sign-up lists and produce rotas for relevant parish activities.
  • Maintain the Parish database and other computer records as required.
  • Manage all stationery, office and church consumables and check stocklist bi-monthly, always ensuring that the Parish uses the most cost-effective supplier.
  • Coordinate the office filing system and file all documentation as required in compliance with GDPR, ensuring disposal of nonrelevant items.
  • Ensure all office equipment is kept operational, organising repair as needed.
  • Liaise with contractors for repairs, maintenance and cleaning.
  • Collect Annual Statistics and send to Archdiocese as requested.
  • Do printing, photocopying and scanning as required.
  • Keep an up to date record of all keys for the Church / Hall complex.
  • Issue keys to parishioners and hirers after approval from the Parish Priest.
  • Maintain the parish diary and coordinate appointments, church bookings, sacramental celebrations and parish events, in consultation with the Parish Priest.

Enquiries

  • Answer the telephone and parish office doorbell in a warm manner, ensuring that visitors/ messages are processed efficiently. Ensure non-urgent messages are responded to within 2 working days.
  • Deal with all correspondence and emails appropriately, coordinating responses within 2 working days.

Communications and publications

  • Prepare and produce the weekly parish newsletter, submitting a draft to the Parish Priest for review and approval by the agreed weekly deadline, and ensuring publication and printing in good time for weekend Masses. Coordinate the upload of the newsletter to the website.
  • Prepare, edit and produce leaflets and booklets for a range of events and liturgical celebrations.
  • Liaise with the webmaster to produce updates for the Parish website, social media pages.
  • Ensure the noticeboard and leaflet racks are updated weekly.

Sacramental preparation

  • Liaise with the lead for each sacramental programme to:
  • Establish dates for the programme
  • Create and administer online forms and advertise in the newsletter
  • Deal with any queries
  • Facilitate issue and collection of necessary paperwork within deadline for the ceremony.
  • Complete registers once ceremony has been completed.
  • Notify Church of Baptism regarding the new sacrament for those not baptised here within 48 hours of sacrament.
  • Record and return requests from other parishes regarding our registers within 48 hours.
  • Provide administration and liaison in relation to Baptisms, Marriages and funerals.

Schools

  • Administer the system for registering parents / children’s Mass attendance.
  • Request at the appropriate time of year the forms required to be signed by the Parish Priest, receive them, collate and prepare them to be signed.
  • Arrange for signed forms to be collected at the appropriate time.

Events

  • Assist with the organising of Parish events including purchasing necessary consumables.

Safeguarding

  • Inform the Parish Priest and/or the authorised parish Safeguarding Representative/Diocesan Safeguarding office where there are concerns regarding security or safety of anyone on the parish premises.
  • Comply with the safeguarding policies and procedures of the Archdiocese of Southwark and the national safeguarding standards of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, promptly reporting concerns through the appropriate safeguarding channels.
  • Provide administrative support to the Parish Safeguarding Representatives, including maintaining accurate volunteer records and assisting with safer recruitment documentation, in accordance with diocesan procedures

Finance

  • Support the Chair of the Finance Committee with administration of parish finances, including managing AIQ system, invoices, payments, Gift Aid and financial records, working in conjunction with the Finance Officer and the Archdiocesan Finance Office.
  • Process and review invoices and query/rectify mistakes on a weekly basis.
  • Manage the petty cash and general banking.
  • Administer the £200 club.

Other duties

  • Any other reasonable duties as requested by the Parish Priest.

 

Person Specification

Essential 

  • A good standard of education, including English and mathematics
  • An empathy for the religious nature of the organisation and its objectives.
  • Demonstrable secretarial or administrative experience in a busy office with fluctuating workload
  • Previous bookkeeping or financial experience
  • Intermediate working knowledge of Microsoft applications: Word, Excel, and Outlook
  • Previous experience of answering the telephone
  • Previous experience of dealing with confidential and sensitive information
  • Use of digital forms and online systems
  • Strong organisational and prioritisation skills
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Ability to deal with vulnerable people and those experiencing distress.
  • A strong desire to help and assist people.
  • Ability to work unsupervised and under own initiative.

Desirable

  • Another financial or administrative qualification
  • General understanding of the Roman Catholic Church.
  • Previous experience of database management.
  • Knowledge of social media.
  • Touch typist

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check.

Applicants must already hold the right to work in the UK, as the Archdiocese is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

To apply to this role, please send your CV and cover letter to recruitment@rcaos.org.uk