Advent Letter from the Interim Dean
The Revd Canon Dr Neil Evans
I would like to begin by saying a huge thank you to everyone for the warm welcome I have received. It is a joy to be able to contribute to the life of this wonderful community, and to be a very small part of the ongoing history of Southwell Minster, the Cathedral Church of the Diocese.
At the end of my first month, I have been delighted to meet many of you, though please do continue to help me out with names! I’ve experienced a lovely season of Remembrance, a joyful confirmation service for the Feast of Christ the King with the Archbishop and our own Bishop Paul, and a great start to the Advent Season with the Advent Procession, all accompanied by excellent music and enabled by an expert team of clergy, staff and volunteers.
Last Tuesday we had a Community Forum attended by nearly 50 people, which offered a great opportunity for me, along with David Coulthard our Chief Operating Officer, to share a ‘state of the nation’ report, hear concerns and answer questions. This was followed by my first Chapter meeting on Thursday. I am delighted to share with you a number of key updates which are significant at the beginning of the new season, and the start of the Church’s year.
Residentiary Canons
Following the departure of Paul Rattigan, I am delighted to tell you that we have two people who will be, effectively, job-sharing this post for the next year. Both are well known to the Cathedral and will be able to launch straight in when they begin on 6th January. These posts will be paid for by the Church Commissioners, and they will continue to live in their own homes. They are:
Acting Canon Pastor
Stephen Hippisley-Cox is already well known to the Minster as a member of the College of Canons and a non-executive member of Chapter. He will be half-time acting Canon Pastor, alongside his parish and Area Dean ministry, with a clear focus on the pastoral care of the Minster community. He will work closely with the whole ministerial team, and particularly with Erika Kirk.
Acting Canon Missioner
Amanda Lees has been working with Bishop Paul as his chaplain, and more recently as his interim Head of Staff. As she ends this ministry she will be moving to the role of acting Canon Missioner. In this half time role her main focus will be developing and building further on relationships with Town and County, as well as connecting with the mission of the wider diocese. Amanda will also be Cathedral and Chapter Safeguarding lead.
These are two really exciting appointments of experienced and wise clergy. They will be installed on the Feast of the Epiphany (6th January 2025) at the 7.30pm Festal Eucharist. Please do make a note of this and come and support them.
Finance
Phil Sturgeon, our interim Chief Finance Officer, along with David Coulthard, have done an impressive job in untangling our finances and producing some clear accounts for this year and a realistic budget for next. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make good reading. The very short summary is that, when we take everything into account, on an annual income of roughly £1.4 million, on the current trajectory we anticipate spending to be £500,000 more than we generate – both this year and next. This is clearly unsustainable; we have been drawing down our reserves in order to plug the gap and if we continue at this rate we will run out of funds in the near future.
This is a large gap to fill, and a number of factors have contributed to this situation. Property maintenance on our historic estate is a significant issue, along with the rise in the cost of living and the costs of employing staff, a fall in regular giving, the loss of some grant support and other factors. We will not be able to turn this around overnight, but as we move into 2025 Chapter has a clear determination to address the issue head on.
We have been fortunate in securing a significant grant from the Church Commissioners for us to work with a specialist company to assess the whole of our property portfolio and give us an options appraisal. This will include both residential and commercial properties.
Chapter also approved an excellent fundraising strategy as we move into next year, which includes everything from grant-giving bodies, through approaching high net worth individuals, to local freewill giving and donations. A thoroughly rounded approach.
Importantly, Chapter have re-committed to being good stewards of the resources that the Minster holds and will examine all possibilities, including any specific areas of overspend, going forward. Further, we are keen to be as open and transparent about the ongoing situation and will aim to keep the Minster community informed.
Sacrista Prebend
It is really sad that we are having to sell Sacrista. This has been a wonderful resource to the Minster community, and to the wider church for many years. As can be seem from above, though, this has become inevitable with our worsening financial situation. Chapter are keen to ensure that the funds from the sale are not simply swallowed up in serving overspend, which is why we are taking the financial situation so seriously. We are working our way through the process of selling, and it is hoped that this will conclude in the New Year.
Some good financial news!
Not all is doom and gloom… As you may be aware The Longest Yarn was a wonderful and rather surprising success. Once all the outgoings have been accounted for, we are likely to have raised between £40,000 and £50,000. This equates to around £2 for every visitor (not quite the £5 we wanted, but there are a number of variables taken into account arriving at this figure).
We have also been very successful in boosting the amount taken from the wide variety of commercial ventures we have undertaken, from Candlelight concerts, to hosting the Moon exhibition. Income has risen to £200,000 from just £30,000 a few short years ago. Without this our financial situation would have been considerably worse. However, with the amount of events now taking place we are unlikely to improve on this significantly next year.
The Cathedral and Churchyard
The recent heating repairs revealed a substantial leak underneath the floor emanating from one of the radiator legs at the West End. The remainder of the exposed pipework was found to be in remarkably good condition, so with the fix completed we are hopeful that the issues there are resolved. The rebuild of the Quire Organ is complete and it is now re-tuned and ready for service – we believe it is now in good shape for decades to come. The architect’s investigations into the cathedral roof continue, with work likely to be required in 2025, and we should soon be able to commence the remedial works in the churchyard near the south-west corner of the Cathedral following a tree fall earlier in the year.
And finally…
My first month here has been a total delight and I feel very privileged to be your interim Dean. Southwell Minster has been a place of worship and prayer for the best part of 1,000 years and will continue to be so long after our time. It carries the prayers of generations with it and has lived through good times and bad. For this tiny snapshot in its history, I am excited to be here, and I have said to the Bishop that I fully prepared to stay until a new Dean is appointed, which we hope will be in around a year’s time. We have the most amazingly committed staff, volunteers, Chapter and community and we are committed to serving the needs of the Diocese as its Cathedral and the people of Southwell as its parish church to the best of our ability.
Neil
Neil Evans
2nd December 2024