Parish Administrator

St Mary's is a friendly, multi‑cultural evangelical Anglican church in south‑west London. We are looking to appoint a Parish Administrator for 20‑30 hours per week to play a key role supporting our church life, the Vicar and Parochial Church Council (PCC).

Responsibilities

• Oversee and deliver the day‑to‑day administration of St Mary's Church, providing organisational and administrative support to the Vicar, staff team, and PCC, ensuring compliance with policies and statutory requirements.
• Be the first point of contact for the public, ensuring the church office is welcoming, responsive, and aligned with the ethos and aims of St Mary's.
• Shape the core operations and smooth administration of the church.
• Be part of a small, friendly and supportive staff team and a welcoming church family.
• Access relevant training and development opportunities, such as ChurchSuite or IT training, UK Church Administrators Network conference.

General Administration:

• Oversee and maintain all administrative systems required for the smooth running of church life, including church diary and bookings, administration for meetings, and Sunday Services, and maintaining databases.

Policy Management & Compliance:

• Maintain, update, and store all statutory and internal church policies (e.g., health & safety, data protection, risk assessments).
• Arrange appropriate policy reviews and updates, working with others.

Safeguarding Administration:

• Provide administrative support to the Parish Safeguarding Officers e.g. DBS checks.

Deployment & HR‑Related Admin:

• Assist with staff, volunteer, and rota deployment by managing contact information, onboarding processes, and coordination of availability.

Buildings Administration:

• Handle administrative aspects of the church building, including faculty applications, permissions, contractors' paperwork, and record‑keeping.
• Support the Vicar and Churchwardens with building‑related documentation and scheduling.

Hall Hire & Nursery Liaison:

• Manage hall bookings, invoicing, agreements, and enquiries.

ChurchSuite & Digital Systems:

• Use ChurchSuite to manage rotas, calendars, communication, and member information.

Finance, Fundraising & Grants (Administrative Support):

• Provide administrative support for fundraising initiatives, grant applications, and donor communication.
• Handle basic financial administration such as invoices, hall hire fees, petty cash records, and expense forms.

Occasional Lifecycle & Legal Administration:

• Manage the administration of banns, baptisms, funerals, and weddings, including legal documentation, registers, and liaison with families.

Communications:

• Assist with written communication on behalf of the church (emails, newsletters, orders of service).

Required skills

Essential:

• Strong organisational skills with excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to prioritise workload, solve problems, and work independently.
• Proficiency with IT (Microsoft Office and online tools; familiarity with ChurchSuite is highly desirable).
• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• Discretion, reliability, and ability to handle confidential information appropriately.
• A collaborative team player who can also work alone confidently.

Desirable:

• A committed Christian.
• Experience in church administration or charity administration.
• Knowledge of GDPR, safeguarding, or compliance administration.
• Experience overseeing volunteers or junior staff.

Other

• Hours: 20–30 hours per week, to be negotiated.
• Working pattern: Ideally within office hours (9am–5pm), flexible across days. Can be term-time only. Occasional evening or weekend work may be required for specific events.
• Place of work: Ideally church office but could include some home working.
• Salary: £15 per hour.
• Annual leave: 5 weeks (pro rata) plus bank holidays.
• Supervision: The Parish Administrator reports directly to the Vicar.
• The successful candidate must obtain an Enhanced DBS Disclosure.