Michael Pailthorpe, SCA’s CEO, on where we are, and where we are going
Hi all
Another season of winter sports complete! For our chaplains in those sports I hope that firstly you are enjoying having some of your weeknights and weekends back. Secondly, I trust that you are also taking the time to reflect on the opportunities that you had to pastorally care for the people in the club and the impact that you have had on their lives throughout the year.
We have had a number of ‘huddles’ around the country with others coming up later this month. It fantastic to be able to connect with one another, share stories, pray and learn more about how we can continue to serve our sporting communities.
The rollout of our Partner Church program is going strong with Churches signing up around the country. For us to be able to meet the massive demand for sports chaplains we need to partner with like-minded churches. We are grateful for, and have been enormously encouraged by, the willingness of Pastors to promote and incorporate sports chaplaincy into the their local church ministry.
On the ‘big picture’ front we have been able to commence work on a Brand Positioning Strategy for Sports Chaplaincy Australia, and we will look forward to sharing the outcomes of this exciting initiative later in the year.
We have also been doing a lot more work on a strategic plan to 2025 to significantly increase the numbers of sports chaplains identified, trained and appointed … for those that have been attending our huddles you will have already got to some insights and had opportunity to provide feedback on our exciting plan for the future.
Finally our AGM is coming up on 12 November in Melbourne. If you are able to, you are most welcome to attend, but if you can’t we will be including some of the highlights in our November newsletter.
Thanks again for all your work and support!
And fellow cricket tragics – we can look ahead with renewed optimism to the new season following the boys stoic effort in the UAE!
Michael Pailthorpe
National Director (CEO)