We are urgently in need of a new Business Manager/Development Director to help us on a full-time or part-time basis
Our work
Our Institute is doing extremely important work that affects the lives of millions of people around the world. We bring about these changes mainly by promoting reform within the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian Churches.
The Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research (WICR) is one of the leading independent think tanks focusing on debated issues in Catholic theology.
As a clearing house of theological research, we coordinate leading academics worldwide to cooperate on interdisciplinary research reports tackling the Catholic Church’s officially uncomfortable, difficult, and disputed areas: women’s ordained ministries, Christian sexual ethics, and church authority. These “no-go” areas affect millions of Roman Catholics every day of their lives.
Our research agenda is informed by the latest findings in theology and other relevant disciplines, and is driven by the questions and suggestions of ordinary Catholics from across the world. The experiences and insights of both laypeople and experts help us identify problems and develop solutions to help the Roman Catholic Church reform.
As we know from feedback received, our work also helps Christians in other denominations and non-Christians ministered to by Christian institutions around the world.
We are committed to ensuring that the interdisciplinary reports we produce enjoy the authority assigned to peer-reviewed, evidence-based, and academically rigorous scholarship.
Job Description
We need a Business Manager / Development Director who can help us re-structure our financial set-up. We do not need help with accounting, but with changing our sources of income. We need to evolve from a mainly charismatic to a more institutional organization.
We coordinate a huge international network of scholars who are experts in sacred scripture, theology, sociology and other related areas. They help us on a voluntary basis. We also have many volunteers, some London based, others worldwide, who contribute to maintaining our many educational websites – websites which give free information to 800,000+ visitors a year. In our core team we have at present only two paid staff members: our Executive Director and the administrator.
So far our modest expenses have been funded by donations of Sponsors and Friends. However evolving circumstances and new demands require a change. The Board of Trustees believes that we need a new organizational and financial restructuring. At the moment we do not have the in-house expertise to bring this about.
We are therefore looking for an experienced professional Development Director who can help us set up our organization on a sound long-term financial footing. We hope this can initially be achieved through a carefully planned part-time involvement.
Our central office is at present based in Rickmansworth (North London), on the Transport for London Metropolitan line (the Underground).
If you have experience in planning, fund-raising (including applications for research grants) and organization, share our vision and are interested in this work, please send me your CV at john.wijngaards@wijngaardsinstitute.com. In a follow-up meeting with myself and members of our core team, you could then explore the possibilities of future cooperation.
Our Impact
WICR is an academic partner to the Centre for the Study of Religion & Politics at the University of St Andrews and the Dialogue Institute, Temple University (USA). We are a member of the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD, see www.partner-religion-development.org/) and in the process of applying for UN-observer status.
Our research has featured in publications such as the Washington Post, Huffington Post (USA), The Sunday Times (UK), The Irish Times, the National Catholic Reporter (USA), The Tablet (UK), Nederlands Dagblad (Netherlands), America (USA), Religión Digital (Spain), Adista (Italy), the www.voxfeminae.net website (Croatian and English, 2017), as well as on ABC Radio “Religion and Ethics” program.
WICR is also an academic consultant for a video documentary on women’s ministries in early Christianity, scheduled for Channel 4 (UK) in April 2018.
Why Us?
In an ideal world the work of the Wijngaards Institute would be carried out within that wonderful galaxy of educational and research institutions that Catholics throughout history have set up. Sadly, this is nowadays only rarely the case. Many Catholic authorities – bishops, educational institutions, individual theologians – are reluctant to allow free public discussion concerning some of those issues, for fear of antagonizing the Vatican or undermining their careers and even risking their jobs.
As long as this situation persists there will be a need for institutes such as ours. WICR is a private educational charity, and can therefore maintain full independence from external pressures. This has made it possible for us to build vast online libraries of high quality academic research on precisely those issues which are the least openly discussed in the Catholic Church.
We have been conscious that integrating with the worldwide academic community helps the credibility of our research findings and education material. A leading University has now offered us an Honorary Research Fellowship at their Department of Theology and Religious Studies. We are also in the process of launching – with another University – a MOOC Course on the Ethics of Artificial Contraception that will be open to Christian leaders all over the world.
Chair of the Board of Trustees