I hope Term 2 is off to a great start for you and your communities. We have many exciting updates for you in this edition, so I’ll get right into it.
Staff Conference
Although it might feel far away right now, we are excited to have SU QLD’s annual Staff Conference returning in the second week of the Term 2 holidays. This conference will run from July 6 – 9 and will be held at a brand new location: Novotel Resort on the Sunshine Coast. I’m really looking forward to connecting face-to-face with all the chappies, and for the wonderful line-up of elective speakers we have secured this year. Your chappies are guaranteed to return equipped and resourced to better serve their communities.
*Please note all travel and accommodation costs for this are covered by SU QLD.
Chappy Week
Chappy Week is coming up from May 23 – 30! This is always such a great week celebrating our chaplains and communities, and I hope you’re looking forward to it too.
We have put together a brand new Chappy Week website for you, full of tips and creative ideas to help you run a smooth and successful week.
One other thing to mention is we have begun a recent partnership to provide each chaplaincy service with a chaplaincy-service-specific QR code.
This exciting opportunity is an easy and efficient way for your chaplaincy service to gather donations, and hopefully will be a helpful tool in your fundraising efforts.
To receive a QR Code specifically for your chaplaincy service please email support@suqld.org.au and they will send you the digital file for you to use.
LCC Recovery Fund
As mentioned previously, SU QLD has set up an LCC Recovery Fund with the goal of ‘no chaplain losing hours.’ During 2021, fundraising is restarting as communities recover from Covid shutdowns and SU’s heart is to support LCCs who are struggling to maintain their chaplain’s hours. In term 1, SU supported 53 schools to maintain their chaplaincy service.
We are happy to advise that in term 2, we are in a position to support a further 59 services to sustain their chaplain hours. Through the term, we will monitor actual LCC balances, via the Financial Health Check, to see if there are any other schools or LCCs which may need assistance from the LCC Recovery Fund, on a discretionary basis.
NSCP and State-Government grant funds will continue. The LCC Recovery fund is not designed to cover a situation where a school or P&C decides to reduce their funding below 2020 levels. It is there to support LCCs who, due to the current climate, have difficulty with their fundraising plans to raise the community funds to support their chaplain’s hours.
Term 2 support includes 10 weeks of gap funding, which will give those schools and their LCCs the time to set up a fundraising plan and make decisions about how to sustain their service going forward. We will write to each LCC who we are supporting to relieve their stress and let them know of the term 2 support.
LCCs, we need your help!
School chaplaincy was founded by a small group of people who cared about our young people and believed in the power of community. And to this day, chaplaincy exists because of others who have continued to champion this mission.
However, there are still nearly 70 schools across Queensland looking for a trained, trusted and passionate school chaplain to meet the social, emotional and spiritual needs of their school community. We have new schools each week, ringing and asking for a chaplain, but we need more, particularly in our more rural communities. 70 is a big number, and we are asking for your help to lower it.
Do you as an LCC know of anyone looking for a career where they can live out their faith to help those in need? We would be most grateful if you could help us spread the word by sharing this recruitment video, which you can access here. Anyway you can help share this message would be appreciated.
Please let us know at support@suqld.org.au if you have any queries about the recruitment process, or if you know of a suitable person to fill the position.
National
Our four-year journey towards becoming a united, nation-wide SU movement has certainly picked up pace this year. The next important milestone in that journey is May 8, when our SU QLD Company Members will vote to decide if we will join the SU Australia merger.
If they vote in favour of merging, the newly-formed SU Australia board has named our very own, Peter James, as Group CEO for SU Australia. We are extremely excited to continue under Peter’s exceptional leadership.
I’ve had many conversations with representatives from the other states about what school chaplaincy looks like in other parts of Australia. It has been really helpful to hear about their strategies and systems, and we have been working together to decide how we can share resources to strengthen chaplaincy into the future.
We are looking forward to continued learning from one another, and exploring what this will mean on the ground for our Queensland chappies, and are really grateful for your support at this time. It is very exciting to be a part of such a pioneering change, and we are confident this merger will enhance the vital work you do in bringing hope to children, young people and their families in your local community.
Blessings on you and your community as you embark on this new term. May it be a good one!
Jenni Dobbin