See of Selsey: Supplementary Fund
Unlike many other contemporary Christian leaders, but like St Paul the "tent-maker" apostle (Acts 18:1-4) I do not receive a regular stipend from the Church but "live by faith" (Matt 6:31-33) i.e. I utilise my God-given skills, talents and abilities and trust in God to provide the material resources necessary to sustain myself and fulfil my ministry.
Without the benefit of legacies and trust funds that other ministries have, I am reliant upon my own resources and donations to support my ministry among the homeless, the elderly and the disadvantaged and the community cohesion and social action projects I support and champion e.g. community cohesion, cultural awareness and tackling faith motivated hate crime. I am registered as self-employed but sadly fall below the eligibility required for Government support schemes.
Before COVID I was able to partially support myself and my ministry through a peripatetic music ministry, providing musical therapy to elderly, dementia and alzheimer residents in nursing homes, combining this with regular Sunday services for residents. But since the pandemic and resultant restrictions, I've not been able to realise this ministry for over a year.
Likewise, the supplementary music projects I would otherwise normally have supported myself with e.g. musical accompaniment to local theatre projects and répétiteur (coaching) work were likewise cancelled. This has left me with a shortfall of funds to cover some of the regular costs involved with my living expenses and ministry. It is likely to be a long time for the arts and music industries to recover.
Despite offering Mass daily watched by hundreds of viewers online, I rarely receives/solicit stipends for Mass intentions. A Patreon account has been established to support the running and development costs of this online ministry #TheOldRoman, but this gofundme page has been established to help me personally.
The funds raised from this campaign are to cover my subsistence expenses i.e. personal shopping from food to clothing, daily living expenses, travel expenses, and sometimes the renewal or replenishment of items necessary for the fulfilment of my ministry e.g. from clerical collars through books for study, etc and it is hoped even a modest allowance for recuperative retreats.
If you value, have benefited from or appreciate my varied ministry from community and social action projects, through online Masses and lectures, to pastoral ministrations, retreats and spiritual counselling; please consider contributing to help cover the basic necessities to sustain me, a would be servant of Jesus Christ. I will pray most assuredly for you!