Welcome back everybody for Term 2! I’d just to take a moment to say that I am so encouraged to see what is happening in the world of chaplaincy, and it is my pleasure to share some of these developments with you.
To start with, a growing number of schools have contacted our Field Development Managers enquiring about the process to hire a chaplain. It is wonderful that the importance of a chappy’s work is being recognised, and we look with hope towards the future.
I am also pleased to share that from the beginning of Term 2, all chaplaincy salary bands have been lifted to encourage your chaplains in the work they are doing in your communities. I’m sure we can all agree this has been a long time coming! The updated Chaplaincy Cost Calculator is up on the My SU site.
If you have any questions concerning this, please contact our Field Support team at support@suqld.org.au.
As I mentioned to you earlier this year, we will soon be looking to launch our lapsing series campaign to help you re-engage with your donors who have not given to your service for more than 12 months. All donations given in response to the lapsing donor project will go back to the original LCC. SU doesn’t charge anything for that service. If a committee wants to opt out, it will be on the front page of their school service data on our Chaplaincy Services Management site.
Thank you to those of you who have responded regarding the lapsing series. We have received various comments from you excited to partner with us and to hopefully re-engage you with your supporters who you haven’t heard from in a while.
The Agreement with the Department of Education for the National School Chaplaincy Program (2019-2022) has been delayed to July 1. While we haven’t been able to offer new contracts to your chaplains at this time, we have extended everybody’s existing contract through to the end of the year. As soon as we hear from the Government, we will begin the process of rolling out the new contracts.
I’m also encouraged to see more chaplaincy services making use of our partnership with online charity database GIVIT. To date, 6,370 items have been accessed by chaplains through GIVIT to assist families in need across Queensland. That is just remarkable.
Chaplains in Townsville were able to distribute 5 tonnes of resources for school communities devastated by the floods earlier this year.
I am also excited to remind everybody that Chappy Week is fast approaching from May 19 to 26. This is such an important week for chaplains and LCC’s to profile their service, as well as an opportune time for chaplains to update their targets on their Champion Your Chappy fundraising page.
It’s quite remarkable what a difference setting a new target and freshening up your blurb can make! Chappy Week is such a powerful time to gather friends and family around and advertise the value and meaning behind what we do. It really is incredible!
In this edition of Chaplaincy Matters we’ve included a link to the media pack, which you can access to help you in promoting your service throughout Chappy Week.
I was delighted to receive a message from one of our schools last week, which ended with “we love our chappy”.
Sometimes in Chappy Week just thanking those supporters who keep your service going makes all the difference.
We have a lot to be grateful for in this season, and I’m overjoyed to be on this journey with you. Thank you sincerely for the effort, perseverance and time you all have sacrificed to sow hope into the lives of our children and young people.
I wish you every success for the term ahead!
Jenni Dobbin