Diocesan Secretary and Chief Operating Officer

The Church of England; London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The Church of England is seeking a Diocesan Secretary and Chief Operating Officer to oversee operations across diverse chaplaincies in Europe. This executive role involves strategic planning, financial management, and community engagement within a multicultural context.

Job description

Diocesan Secretary and Chief Operating Officer

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Diocesan Secretary and Chief Operating Officer

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About Us

An introduction to the Diocese

The Diocese in Europe covers a territory roughly equivalent to that represented by the Council of Europe. There are 140 chaplaincies and around 300 congregations spread from Casablanca in the South to the Arctic Circle in the North and from Madeira in the West to Moscow in the East. Kyiv, Tangier and Turkey are all in the Diocese. This is the Church of England across the continent of Europe and beyond for those keen to be part of an English-speaking Anglican Christian community.

One quarter of the countries in the Anglican Communion are in this single Diocese. The Diocese is not a ‘church of the land’ with territorial responsibilities but is present through its network of chaplaincies (our equivalent of parishes) and congregations. Diocese in Europe chaplaincies are located in capital cities, small towns, rural villages and holiday areas. Our largest multi-centre chaplaincy in France covers an area the size of Wales. The Diocese is supervised by a senior team consisting of two bishops and four archdeacons, one of whom is half-time. The lay staff of the DBF such as the Chief Operating Officer (Diocesan Secretary), finance, safeguarding and communications teams are based in Westminster, the Bishop’s office is in Brussels.

The Diocese is multi-cultural, dynamic and relatively youthful compared to many in England.

In much of the Diocese the caricature of chaplaincies made up of retired UK migrants does not accurately reflect who we are. The north of the Diocese is culturally Protestant, the south Roman Catholic, the east Orthodox and the southeast Muslim. Our churches are attended by those who are Anglican and those who might be described as ‘Anglophone’. Church members vary from diplomats and wealthy businesspeople to refugees who lack even a legal identity.

We are one of the 42 Dioceses of the Church of England and, Post-Brexit, our Diocese is an important ecclesial bridge with the European mainland. English canon law is imported into our Diocese via our Diocesan Constitution, our Diocesan Bishop is a member of the House of Bishops and our Suffragan Bishop a member of the College of Bishops. We have clergy and lay representatives in the General Synod. At the same time, in each country our chaplaincies are incarnated in the local culture and language and they follow local law alongside English canon law. These arrangements make for a range of church structures, but the combination of canon and local law brings with it some challenging issues. The Diocesan Handbook at www.europe.anglican.org sets out how some of this works in practice.

The potential to grow the Diocese is exciting. A conservative UN report estimates that 1.3 million British citizens reside in the European Union and that over 200 million people speak English across the continent. 74% of UK nationals in the EU are under 65 (80% in France). In addition, over 800,000 UK nationals live in the EU for between 1 and 12 months of the year.

A map of the Diocese and the locations of our chaplaincies and congregations can be found on the diocesan website here .

The Strategy of the Diocese in Europe

The Church of England strategy of being a diverse community of missionary disciples that is growing simpler, humbler and bolder fits our Diocese remarkably well. We do not have the trappings that go with being the majority, established church.

Where we have buildings, they are usually of appropriate size and relatively well maintained. Often, we borrow church buildings or schools (used for worship) from others. Our central diocesan office staff is very slim (18 people not all full time). Our chaplaincies pay their clergy locally (stipends and pensions), which is simpler and means our congregations get the ministry they need and can afford. This model is challenged where there are large congregations of less well-off people. The great majority of our resources are held at the local level.

The high level Diocesan Strategy ‘Walking Together in Faith’ has 5 strands and can be seen here DinE Strategy

• To build up the body of Christ, living for the values and aspirations of God’s kingdom, teaching, baptising and nurturing new believers.
• To share with other churches and mission agencies in the evangelisation of Europe – aware that this is an increasingly secular continent where church attendance is falling rapidly.
• To strive for a just and sustainable world.
• To work for reconciliation – pursuing this at local level and with ecumenical partnerships, NGOs, and government organisations.
• To resource ministry.
  
  
  

Future Plans Include

• Expansion of our network or chaplaincies particularly in urban areas of the Diocese.
• A programme of new work to develop ministry to children, young people and students.
• A focus on our work with refugees and asylum seekers.
• Resourcing new work in areas where the numbers of worshippers may be high but the resources available to fund ministry may be limited.
• The finance for the extended strategy is to be raised primarily from the Church Commissioners via the Diocesan Investment Programme. The Diocese also works closely with agencies such as USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) and ICS (Intercontinental Church Society).
  
  
  

Finance and Governance

The Diocese in Europe Board of Finance is a charity and a limited Company in the UK. The Chair of the DBF chairs the Trustees who are a mix of elected and ex Officio members as well as nominees of the Diocesan Bishop. The DBF chair also chairs the Finance, Audit and Personnel Committee.

The latest Annual Report and Accounts can be found here: DinE annual report 2023 The Diocesan Constitution is here: DinE Constitution

The total annual central operational costs are about £1.75 million. The total annual revenue of our chaplaincies is of the order of £11m pa. Like all Dioceses, we were been hard hit by Covid-19. Our financial aim is to balance income and expenditure by 2028. The DBF has almost no fixed assets but has unrestricted reserves of around £5million mainly invested by Churches Charities and Local Authorities (CCLA). 70% of the DBFs running costs are raised by the Common Fund which amounts to an average of 10% of the income of the chaplaincies. The amount requested from each chaplaincy is based on their size (membership) and their income over three years. 95% of the amount requested is returned.

The Diocese in Europe is well represented on senior bodies in the Church of England. Bishop Robert Chairs the Faith and Order Commission, the Diocesan Secretary, is a member of the Diocesan Secretaries Liaison Group and Chair of the South Central region of the diocesan secretaries network, the Archdeacon of France and Switzerland is a member of the Archdeacons Executive. The Diocese is served by one of the most senior and respected ecclesiastical lawyers in the Church of England, Aiden Hargreaves-Smith.

History

The first Church of England churches and congregations were established in Continental European countries just before the Reformation. In 1633 overseas churches of the Church of England were placed under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. The Diocese in its current form was established in 1980. This brought together the north and south of Europe (which had previously been under separate jurisdictions) and placed the whole territory under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop in Europe. The Diocese in Europe Measure 1980 provided for the representation of the Diocese in the General Synod and empowered the Church Commissioners to pay to the Bishop in Europe and to any suffragan bishop of the Diocese a stipend and official expenses.

The Diocese has grown significantly since its formation in 1980. We now have 147 licensed clergy and some 450 clergy with Permission to Officiate serving 300 congregations organised in 140 chaplaincies. We have 100 licensed Readers in post and in training. We are present in more than 30 jurisdictions with a weighting towards the North and West of Europe. In the East the work of the Diocese is focused on the capital cities.

Our clergy come from the UK and significant numbers are also appointed from other provinces across the Anglican Communion offering rich diversity across our ministry. Most work in close ecumenical relationships.

Over the last 15 years, average Sunday attendance was at its height in 2010 (12,000). It fell to around 10,000 in 2013, remaining at about 10,500 until 2019. With the Covid lockdown, attendance fell sharply and numbers are in the process of recovery. Encouragingly, electoral roll figures have recovered a little post-Covid and stood at 9,887 in 2023.

In 2023: Easter Day attendance was 13,672 up from 11,752 in 2022 and Christmas Day attendance was 15,697 up from 15,176 in 2022.

There were 378 baptisms (331 in 2022) and 82 marriages with an additional 167 marriage blessings (92 in 2022).

Whilst there are chaplaincies that are struggling, particularly in areas that have historically attracted retired British expatriates, most are in good heart with significant diversity both in age and background and some exceptionally talented laity and clergy. Brexit (and the ’90 day’ rule) has made it harder for British people to retire to and live permanently in mainland Europe. Thus, our Diocese has one of the highest proportions of working-age people relative to older retirement-age people of all the Church of England Dioceses. Along with this, attendance patterns are changing, and the Diocese is becoming ever more cosmopolitan, city-based and diverse. The next Suffragan will need to be able to help us continue on that journey.

Dr. Robert Innes was made Diocesan Bishop in 2014. Revd Andrew Norman was consecrated on February 27 2025 and has become the new Suffragan Bishop in succession to Bishop David Hamid who served in that role for more than 20 years until February 2024.

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