Fancy working for a 300 year old Catholic Charity?
The Secular Clergy Common Fund was first set up in around 1701 to support Catholic priests when they were sick or needed to retire, and drew on similar funds going back to the mid 1600s. This is pretty unremarkable until you remember that it remained illegal to be a priest in England until 1778, even if for much of that time the prohibitions were not enforced. The Fund continues this work today, making grants of approaching £1million a year to support sick and retired priests in South East England (the dioceses of the old London District).
In the nineteenth century the Fund became a charity and also provided two Catholic cemeteries in London, St Mary’s in Kensal Green and St Patrick’s, Leyton, and though both are nearly full they remain important places of rest for Catholics in North and East London.
The Administrators, who are all diocesan priests, are the Trustees of the Charity and we are looking for a new Secretary and CEO to assist us in the management of the Fund’s affairs and the strategic development and operational oversight of its two Cemeteries.
The role is 0.6FTE and offers flexible working and a salary of £50k-£60k pro rata. For further details please contact our outgoing Secretary and CEO, Angela Rowe at secretary@secularclergy.org.uk and/or speak with me.
You can download the Job Description here.
Please do pass this on to anyone who you think might be interested and suitable.
PS.. I have served as one of the Administrators of the Fund since 2002. I take a sense of pride in helping look after an old English Catholic association and doing my best to ensure that its work continues for another 300 years. You may be interested to know that the Secular Clergy Common Fund is commonly known as “The Big M”, not for the generous grants it makes but for the simple reason that the AGM was on a Monday after Easter and appeared in the Calendar with a “BigM”