PARISH PROFILEST.GEORGE’S CHURCH

MADRIDEST 1925

2019

COntents

3 Our City

5 Our Church

6 Our Ministry Team

7 Our Services

9 Our People

12 Church Life

15 Our Future

St.George’s Church Madrid2019 Parish Profilewww.stgeorgesmadrid.com

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15 C/Nuñez de Balboa, 43 – 28001 Madrid

+34 915 76 51 09 @stgeorgesmadrid

Madrid, one of the main capitals of

Europe, is a bustling cosmopolitan city

that houses Spain’s main governing

institutions and a significant part of the

country’s economic activity, as well as

being a cultural centre.

There is a wonderful Mediterranean

lifestyle in the city; people love to be

out shopping, eating, exercising,

educating themselves or just relaxing.

The cost of living is far lower than in

the UK. It’s considered to be almost

40% lower than London and 20% lower

than that of the UK as a whole.

There is a lovely park, the Retiro, which

offers 350 acres of green space in the

city centre, as well as the Botanical

Gardens. There are museums of many

descriptions, including the world

OUR CITY

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Eating out or stopping for a mid-

morning/afternoon snack is part of the

culture and sitting outside at the many

bars and restaurants is a regular way

of life. Many restaurants offer a three

course lunch (the Menu del Dia)

Monday to Friday ranging from €9-€15.

There are key areas for this such as the

side streets off calle Carretas, Sol, or

around the San Miguel Market, which

is a popular spot for drinks & snacks.

There are several cinemas in the city

where films can be enjoyed in English

and many a show, ballet or opera

can be enjoyed without knowing any

Spanish.

famous Prado, and many of the

museums are free of charge at certain

times.

Public transport around the city is

excellent and very cheap. Buses

run approximately 6:00am-

11:30pm and the metro

(underground) from 6:00am-

1:30am. There are also plenty of

public & private taxi companies.

Madrid lies at the centre of the

Iberian Peninsula, at an altitude

of over 2000 feet. It has a very

dry climate, with long hot

summers and cold winters. In

winter there is snow on the

mountains surrounding the city

and whilst it is unusual to get snow

in the city centre the temperature

can certainly drop below zero.

July and August are the height of

the summer when daily

temperatures remain above 30

degrees Celsius and barely drop

overnight. Sleeping is a struggle

and air conditioning a welcome

relief. In August most local

people leave the city to head for

the coast or the cooler air of the

surrounding hills but the city

remains busy with tourists.

Madrid is considered one of the

safest cities in Europe, although it

is advisable to take precautions

against pick-pockets especially

around tourist areas.

As well as several private schools

that follow the British curriculum

and exam system, there are

many bilingual state schools that

offer education in both English

and Spanish. For higher

education there are several

universities, many of which also

offer courses taught in English.

St. George’s Church is centrally

located in Madrid in an area

called Barrio de Salamanca, on

the corner of the calles (streets)

Nuñez de Balboa and Hermosilla.

It’s quite an upmarket district full

of businesses, apartment

buildings and shops. It is well

connected by the metro, buses

and trains.

The church and site can be

considered as a landmark within

the Barrio de Salamanca. The

building complex consists of the

church, consecrated in 1925, the

church hall, and Church House

(containing the office, a back

room, the library, a bathroom

with a shower, and a small

kitchen downstairs; and a one-

bedroom flat upstairs)..

OUR CHURCH

All of these buildings open up to

a courtyard dominated by a two-

hundred-year-old fig tree, which

serves as a gathering place after

services, for events, and day-to-

day use by different groups.

The chaplaincy of St George’s is

part of the Diocese in Europe

which defines itself as “a mission-

shaped diocese - a network of

Christian communities and

congregations serving Anglicans

and other English-speaking

Christians across an enormous

geographical area.” .

In addition to the Chaplain, the

Ministry team is composed of a

Licensed Reader and an

Ordinand. The Reader is very

dedicated and offers a great

deal of support to the Chaplain.

She often leads Evening Prayer,

assists in leading Bible Studies and

has helped conduct retreats. The

Ordinand will need the

Chaplain’s support to complete

his training but is already a

valuable part of the Ministry

team.

As an Anglican Church in a

predominantly Roman Catholic

country, St George’s is a member

of FEREDE, the federation of

Evangelical religious entities of

Spain, which assists with the

relationship between non-

Catholic (Christian) churches and

the State.

OUR ministry TEAM

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OUR Services

St George’s currently holds three

regular services on Sunday: one at

8:30h (said Holy Communion), a

Family Service with Communion at

10.00h, and and a more formal

Sung Eucharist at 11:30h. There are

also mid-week services on

Wednesdays at 19:30h (Evening

Prayer), and on Friday morning at

10:00h (Eucharist).

The following tables provide the

statistics for attendance at services

offered by the church for 2018:

*Note: These are average figures for the month ofOctober excluding the monthly service at El Escorial.

Music for the 11:00h and 11:30h

services, as well as special services,

is directed by a well-qualified

musician who plays the organ,

directs the singing and is supported

by a deputy organist.

There is a Carol service held near

Christmas with a full choir and a

selected programme that attracts

people from outside the

congregation (requiring special

rehearsal time).

As seen in the statistics above, services

at Easter and Christmas attract a

significant number of people who do

not normally attend Church. Many

families with children attend and there

is a special service on Christmas Eve

where children are encouraged to

dress as Nativity characters and which

enjoys a large turnout.

After the services, people generally

gather in the courtyard to share

experiences, discuss chaplaincy life,

and get to know new people. During

the months of July and August when

most people leave the city, attendance

is very low and services are normally

reduced to two each Sunday with no

midweek services in August.

Additionally, there is a Sunday

evening service held once a month

in a Chapel in the town of El

Escorial, about 60km north of

Madrid, which was started as an

outreach for English-speaking

people living in the area known as

the Sierra that covers a number of

towns (collectively with a sizeable

population).

Average attendance at Sunday Services*

Average attendance at other Services*

“Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” Psalm 95:6

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OUR PEOPLE

There are many people from the

UK, most of whom have lived in

Spain for a considerable time

and have strong ties with the

local community, as well as

people from Germany,

Switzerland, Finland and of

course Spain.

We also have members from

North America, from Africa

(particularly from Nigeria) and

from Asia. Most members speak

more than one language.

Among this diverse group we

have people from several non-

Anglican denominations

(Catholic, Lutheran, etc…).

There is a wide disparity in ages

among our congregation, with a

significant number of people over

the age of 65. However, there are

also a number of families with

children who attend regularly,

and a number of young adults.

As in many churches, our

congregations from the different

services each week are quite

separate and need to be drawn

together more.

“For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” Psalm 95:7

Our Congregation

St George’s congregation can

be considered as diverse in

terms of nationalities as in age,

faith or background.

Many of our congregation do not live

near the Church, but rather come

from all parts of Madrid including the

suburbs. Some live more than 10

kilometres from the Church and are

motivated by the spiritual and

community life that St George’s

offers. This geographic distance

presents a challenge for the Church.

St. George's is more than just a place

to grow spiritually and worship God.

For many of our congregation it is the

only place in Madrid where they will

naturally mix with other English

speakers and where they can keep

in touch with their own cultures and

traditions. Experiences of living

abroad, having bilingual families, the

challenges of dealing with

bureaucracy as a foreigner etc are

all shared experiences at St

George’s.

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It is difficult to arrange regular,

informal, social events as people

don’t want to travel into the city, and

it can also be difficult to find a time

for Council Meetings when alll

members can get to the Church.

Creating a sense of unity and

oneness is something we need to

work on

There is a constant turnover within

the congregation because,

apart from the people who have

made Spain their permanent

home, there are always

professional people working in

Madrid for 2 or 3 years who join

the congregation for a short time.

We need to offer an attractive

‘home away from home’ for these

people and integrate them

quickly into the life of the Church,

whilst knowing that we will lose

them again just as soon as they

get settled.

We also get a small number of

visitors attending services who

are in Madrid for holidays.

Many of the stalwarts of our

congregation are now of

retirement age and we are

concerned that we need to draw

more people into our community

and get them involved in the life

of the Church. Only in this way

can we secure the future of St

George’s.

Churchwardens and Council

The Council takes safeguarding very

seriously and is working to ensure that

we are fully compliant with all the

guidelines.

The Godly Play team is actively run

by a team of volunteers (who have

received specific training for this as

well as all appropriate safeguarding

training), and it presently serves

children through early and middle

childhood. Once a month, St

George’s celebrates a session of

“Godly Play in Church” where we

bring adults and children together to

worship God in a child-friendly

manner.

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Throughout the school year, the

10:00h service includes a children’s

Sunday School programme in the

form of Godly Play, a well-established

programme built on Montessori

principles that helps children explore

their faith through story, to gain

religious language, and to enhance

their spiritual experience through

wonder and play.

Our Council consists of 2

Churchwardens, one of whom

has been on the Council in

different roles for many years and

the other who is in her 20s but

grew up at St George’s and is

very committed to its future

development. The Council

consists of an additional 9

members, and 3 ex-officio

members who are our 2

Archdeaconry Synod

representatives and our Licensed

Reader.

Council membership has changed

regularly over the years but the

current Council has begun to work

well together during our Interregnum.

Children and Young Adults

Beyond Godly Play we have no

programme for older children or

teenagers and we see this as a key

challenge for the future. How do we

keep the children coming to Church

as they get older and how can we

develop a programme that would

interest teenagers and young adults?

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CHURCH LIfe

Fundraising events play an important

role in our Church life and we have a

small but incredibly dedicated team

who organise events such as a

Christmas Fair and Summer Bazaar,

jumble sales, book sales, etc. These

raise an extraordinary amount of

money and play a very significant

part in making St George’s financially

viable. Social events are also

organised throughout the year both

as fund-raisers and to encourage

fellowship.

to promote English-speaking

associations and businesses.

Additionally, there is a special

Remembrance Day service held

each year with a reception

sponsored by the British Embassy.

Life beyond the Church walls, for

example interaction with other

ecumenical groups, takes place

mainly in Spanish.

“Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee.” Psalm 84:4

Events and Activities

To keep the congregation informed

and involved, and to attract visitors

and new people, St George’s has a

website and a Facebook page, and

in addition we publish a quarterly

magazine, The Grapevine, with

articles written by congregation

members.

Over the past few years,

considerable effort has been devoted

towards improving relations with

other churches. St George’s is now a

member of the Foro Ecuménico

Pentecostés and also hosts one of

the services during the Week of

Prayer for Christian Unity. Over

recent years there has been

increasing interest from local Spanish

people to learn more about the

Anglican Church and we often

provide guided tours of St George’s

for school groups, students or tourists.

Ecumenical Relations

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On the spiritual side, we have Advent

and Lent Bible groups and organise

retreats on an adhoc-basis but we

feel this is an area where we should

develop.

We maintain good relationships with

local English-speaking businesses and

organisations, such as the British

Benevolent Fund, British Ladies

Association or the American Women’s

Club. Once a year, an event called

“Fresh Madrid” is held on our premises

We have established agreements

with two other congregations to hold

regular services in our premises: the

Charismatic Episcopal Church and a

Spanish-speaking Lutheran Church.

Additionally, there is a small

congregation from the Serbian

Orthodox Church who occasionally

worship on our premises.

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There is a church office on the

premises, staffed by a part-time

administrator (12h/week) who takes

care of the day-to-day functioning of

the Church and its buildings and

manages the hall bookings.

Other part time paid staff are the music

director and a cleaner (9h/week).

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Moreover, to help spread the

financial burden we believe we

need to expand our

congregation numbers.

Administration

St George’s Madrid is entirely self-

supporting. In addition to stewardship,

our income comes from fund-raising

events, hall and flat lettings and

donations from the other

congregations who use our premises.

We do not own the Church buildings

but are responsible for their upkeep.

Finances

Over the last few years, our expenses

have exceeded income, partly

because we faced a major expense

for repairs to the drainage system

under the Church which was

unforeseen but critical. In 2018,

despite obtaining a grant towards

some of the drainage work, we had a

deficit of over €8,000.

We have some small reserves in our

bank account but these are

diminishing and we cannot continue to

run at a deficit.

Significant efforts have been made to

streamline costs but finance remains a

significant challenge for the Church.

There hasn’t been a stewardship

campaign for some years and we feel

this should be a priority.

St George’s owns a furnished flat

close to the Church (about 10-15

minutes walking distance, or a

short bus ride). The flat is 90

square metres in size, which is

quite large for this centrally-

located prime property area of

Madrid.

Chaplain’s accommodation

It consists of a living-dining room,

two bedrooms, a separate

kitchen (fully equipped, including

a washing machine and

dishwasher), a smaller ‘service’

room, one bathroom and a

cloakroom, and a large terrace

which is suitable for dining

outdoors and entertaining.

Located on the sixth and top

floor of the building, the flat has

abundant light. Additionally, it

has blinds to shut out the sun in

summer and has air conditioning

in the main rooms. There is a

small supermarket a few metres

away and the area is well

connected with metro and bus

stops nearby. There is also a

nearby medical centre.

We are happy to discuss

alternative options for a Chaplain

with a family needing larger

accommodation.

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OUR FUTURE

In Godly Play St George’s has a well-

established programme for children

although there is still room for further

development of this concept. We

have no project for children once

they grow out of Godly Play and

there is nothing to offer teenagers or

young adults.

Young people and children

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11

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As mentioned in the Finances

section, we face some challenges to

turn around our financial position.

We believe there are several ways to

achieve this. The first, over the longer

term, is to expand our congregation

to attract new members and the

second, more immediate task, is to

run a Stewardship campaign to

increase the level of committed

giving from our congregation.

Growth and Stewardship

We see the latter as a priority for

2020. We also have a plan to

improve the management of our

property and resources with a

dedicated group looking at how we

can become better stewards of

these resources.

We have been too inward looking

over recent years because of our

financial struggles. We collect

contributions for a local foodbank

and donate goods to other local

charities but little else in the way

of outreach. We are keen to

open our eyes to the world

outside and find ways to help our

wider community.

Outreach

The following are the areas identified by the Church Council as priorities for

our development and growth:.

The monthly service we hold at El

Escorial has great potential for

development as there are many

English-speaking families living in

this area of the Sierra. We

believe that further satellite

chapels could be set up to

expand our Church beyond the

city

Developing satellite chapels

We currently hold Bible Studies

during Lent and at Advent and

organise occasional retreats, but

we would like to develop a more

extensive and organised

programme. Likewise, we offer

Spiritual refreshment and formation

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St George’s has a solid base of

volunteers who are deeply

committed to the Church. We

believe this could be expanded

and that with active

encouragement, invitation and

training we could encourage

those people who have a

vocation to become more

involved in the life of the Church.

Discipleship and team building

Similarly, we believe that our

teamwork could be improved.

We have some teams which work

well, such as our sidespeople and

chalice assistants, but in other areas

we work too much as individuals and

believe we could achieve more if we

worked more closely together.

St George’s will celebrate its

centenary in 2025. We need to

develop plans for the celebration well

in advance as this will be a wonderful

celebration both of our history and of

who we are today, as well as an

excellent opportunity to raise our

visibility and better serve our wider

community.

Centenary

With the Grace of God, strong

leadership, enthusiasm and teamwork

we see all these ideas as achievable

and look to the future with

confidence.

preparation for baptisms,

confirmations and weddings but

are keen to establish follow-up

programmes for these to

encourage people to remain part

of the Church

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ST.GEORGE’S CHURCH

MADRIDEST 1925

www.stgeorgesmadrid.com

C/Nuñez de Balboa, 43

28001 Madrid

+34 915 76 51 09