Who sets Grace London's salaries? Who tracks our cash flow? Who signs off hiring plans or significant costs?
Behind the scenes at Grace London, we have a team of experienced accountants, administrators, lawyers, and bankers, who hold these responsibilities and more, mostly as volunteers. Paul Nicholas is our Finance Team Manager and a Trustee. He tells us more about himself and the finance team below.
Please tell us about yourself.
I’m married to Gloria, and we have two daughters, Abigail (Abby, 4) and Eleanor (Ellie, 3). We’ve been at Grace for around three years and love the community and fellowship. I grew up in South London (mainly Peckham), so I’m one of the few born and bred South Londoners at Grace! We live in North Kennington, close to Elephant & Castle, where we lead a life group. I work as a fixed-income fund manager in the City of London.
Paul, Gloria, Abigail & Eleanor
What do your roles involve?
As Trustees, we focus on the more administrative aspects of church life. We have formal meetings once a quarter where the Finance Team produce a financial update to review income (i.e. giving), compare expenses against budgets, and assess the ongoing financial position of the church. We then discuss key business items, such as hiring plans or potential significant expenditures.
We also communicate regularly over email to make ad hoc spending or staffing decisions. I also sit on the Remuneration Committee, which reviews salaries for current employees and sets the initial pay for new joiners.
What does the finance team do?
We have a theological (as well as legal and regulatory) obligation to steward the church finances well. It includes:
Categorising every item of income and expenditure so we can track against budgets and prepare detailed accounts.
Maintaining appropriate reserves and managing cash flow.
Helping to set budgets once a year so the ministry teams know how much they can spend.
Zach Kellett on the staff team does most of the day-to-day work with oversight from Pete Mills. Kat Miller will shortly take up a finance role on the staff team. Cezar Rugasira, Naomi Wang and I help in a voluntary capacity.
Our finance team, minus Cezar (Pete, Paul, Naomi, Zach & Luke)
Why did you step up to the role? How do you see your role connecting with your faith?
It’s somewhat niche – Luke said I was the first person ever to mention ‘Trusteeship’ as one of my gifts in the membership interview!
One of the first problems the early church encountered was administrative - "[some] widows were being neglected in the daily distribution" (Acts 6:1). The apostles had to choose “men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom” (v3), including Stephen, the first martyr. Paul lists ‘administrating’ as a spiritual gift in 1 Corinthians 12:28.
Although it’s mostly behind the scenes, doing this work well has a big impact on helping all our ministries to flourish and thrive, as well as taking some of the burden off the elders.
What's a highlight from the last year?
We’re so blessed by God’s faithfulness and all of your generosity! We have a policy to give 10% of our income away to kingdom causes. It’s a huge joy to support churches that are faithfully witnessing but struggling financially, and they are so grateful for our support.
How can we pray for/support the team?
Pray for wisdom, discernment and faith! It would also be great to have one or two more people with relevant experience/gifts join the team.
As a church, let's get behind them in prayer! If you'd like to join the team, contact Paul via finance@grace.london. For more info about giving to support the church, head to grace.london/give.