Colin Thompson, Treasurer at St Mark’s in Chadderton, has recently retired after forty years of looking after the parish’s finances.
Despite his long and dedicated service, Colin recalls that he initially had no ambitions to become a treasurer! It all started when he became acting chairman of St Mark’s PCC during interregnum in 1982, meaning he was involved in lots of financial decisions. When Fr Alan Cooke arrived as parish priest in 1983 and sought a new Treasurer, the previous churchwarden recommended Colin. “I didn’t know I had been recommended until just a few months ago when I got a letter from Fr Cooke after he learned I was standing down. He thanked me for the 31 years we spent working together, and informed me that I had been put forward for the role by the previous churchwarden.”
One of Colin’s favourite memories as Treasurer was a Flower Festival he organised at the church in the 1980s. He chose the Seven Sacraments as the theme and the weekend-long festival was a huge success, bringing people from the community into the church who wouldn’t normally visit and raising significant funds.
Colin believes the key to being a good Treasurer is having a good working relationship with your parish priest and others in your parish. “I had an excellent working relationship with my parish priest, Fr Cooke”, he says. “We would meet once a month and discuss the accounts, and he never assumed that I would carry on as Treasurer. He would always ask me before a PCC meeting if I was happy to continue.” In return, Colin promised to give the PCC 12 months' notice before stepping down from the role – a promise he kept. “It was actually 18 months’ notice I gave in the end!”
From his forty years of experience, Colin would advise other church treasurers to be open with their PCCs and always listen to them to reach an agreement. “I would also say it’s important not to be a one-man band and appoint a financial team. I kept the day-to-day accounts and had a trustworthy team of three assistants to help count the Sunday collections. Don’t do it on your own – get a financial team to give support, is my advice!”
While Colin has now retired, he continues to serve on the altar as a lay minister at St Mark’s and looks back at his time looking after the parish’s finances fondly. “I would encourage people to take the role – I would have no hesitation. It brought me into the life of the Church more, and the amount of knowledge I’ve gained over the years alone makes it worth the while.”
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