St Paul's Cathedral - Liturgical Office Administrator

Overview

The Liturgical Office is the administrative centre where all cathedral services are devised, planned and facilitated. It works closely with the Music Department and the Virgers Department as well as the Events Coordinator and other members of the cathedral clergy. Because worship and music lie at the heart of the Cathedral’s life and witness, the Liturgical Office intersects, to a greater or lesser extent, with every aspect of the Cathedral’s operation.

The Liturgical Office undertakes a large amount of desktop publishing and also oversees the Cathedral’s programme of weddings and baptisms, and the recruitment and administration of visiting choirs (who sing services when the Cathedral Choir is on holiday).

The department is staffed by three members of the clergy: the Precentor (who is also a member of the Chapter: the Cathedral’s governing body), a Succentor and a Sacrist,  two lay administrative staff, one of which has a liturgy focus and the other a music focus, and a lay Print Room Administrative Assistant. 

The Cathedral is home to the chapels associated with various orders of chivalry, including the Order of the British Empire, whose members have certain privileges relating to weddings and baptisms – as do members of the cathedral community. These services are administered by the Liturgical Office.

The Liturgical Office works closely with the Music Department on all choral services and other special events and with regard to visiting choirs.

The Liturgical Office produces approximately 400 orders of service a year, as well as concert programmes, hymn sheets, special service instruction leaflets, rotas, and other printed matter. Most of these are produced in-house but there is also some liaison with external printers.

Together, the two administrators share the oversight of the liturgical programme with the Precentor, Succentor and Sacrist. In consultation with them they are expected to be able to work independently, managing tasks according to the policies and procedures of the Department. According to their brief, they develop working practices to improve communication and efficiency. All members of the department work as a team, especially on major events.

Introduction

The main purpose of the role is to be accountable for effective and pro-active administration and liaison for the Liturgical Office - with a liturgy focus - and specifically for the service schedule, desktop publishing for all orders of service, coordinating the proof reading team and the required printing.  The latter is mainly done in-house and the Liturgical Administrator, liturgy focused role, supervises the day-to-day activities of the Print Room Administrative Assistant and line manages that post. The post-holder works closely with the Liturgical Office Administrator, music-focused role, on efficient and effective systems and procedures for the Liturgical Office as a whole, identifying opportunities for improvement and implementing agreed changes and improvements, and ensuring excellent communication and liaison with that post-holder. 

Main Responsibilities

Main duties include:

• Desktop publishing for all orders of service (approximately 200-300 per year). This represents a significant part of the role*
• Proof-reading, ensuring proofs reach the agreed standard before distribution and coordinating the proof-reading team and their responses
• Production of the three monthly Print Schedule which details all the deadlines in the process of producing orders of service
• Management of database of hymns and anthems (which are inserted as appropriate into the orders of service)
• Production of the published monthly Service Schedule which details all of the services taking place in the Cathedral and the music that will be sung at them
• Attending the Christmas and Easter planning meetings (two per year)
• Administration of the diocesan Confirmation Services (two per year)
• Management of in-house printing, including line management and supervision of the Print Room Administrative Assistant
• Personal assistance to the clergy in the conduct of their liturgical work and advising on the administrative procedures in the Liturgical Office
• Administering with the Sacrist the Cathedral Altar Servers and Communion Assistants

Any other appropriate duties that the line manager, senior management or Chapter may request from time-to-time

* The Liturgical Administrator, liturgy focused role, covers the majority of these but the other administrator takes a proportion according to capacity and in the event of annual leave or sickness.

The Ideal Candidate

• Experience in a busy office with a high throughput, strict deadlines and high standards for output
• An understanding of Christian worship and liturgical texts. Knowledge of the liturgical and pastoral life of the Church of England (or a Church in Communion with it) is desirable
• Excellent administration skills
• Excellent interpersonal and team-working skills
• Desk Top Publishing/IT skills, including Word and Outlook; also Sibelius and Quark, for which training will be provided if necessary
• Effective written communication skills
• Sensitive telephone manner, diplomatic at all times but assertive when necessary
• Initiative, confidence and judgement to be able to work autonomously on agreed tasks and preparedness to take decisions and accountability for them
• Open to change and demonstrable experience of initiating and implementing  process improvements
• Ability to maintain absolute confidentiality
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to work under pressure
• Flexible attitude and ability to adapt to differing working practices and styles
• Patience and common sense
• Commitment to our values

The successful candidate will be in sympathy with, and in their work support, the Christian aims and mission of St Paul’s Cathedral.

About us

St Paul’s draws together a very diverse set of activities, projections and aspirations.  It is the Cathedral of the Diocese of London and the seat of its Bishop, a national church and an international spiritual focus, a space for worship and holiness, a place of debate and challenge, an icon of resilience in the face of adversity, an architectural heritage centre, a partner in the City of London, and a commercial enterprise.  In addition to holding four services every day (five on Sundays), St Paul’s is open for sight-seeing six days a week, and in 2018 welcomed over 850,000 paying visitors.