David's Retirement Gift

For 12 years Revd Canon David Parrott has been a shining beacon of St Lawrence Jewry Church in the heart of the City of London. His presence has transformed our church as a very active church. For weddings alone, we have gone from 3 weddings every 10 years to 16 weddings per year. His ministry also reached far and wide, not only the City of London Corporation and the Livery Companies but also in Royal Marines, Royal Navy and the Airborne Forces and Parachute Regiments, the New Zealand Society of the UK and others. His networking skills also enabled the church be connected with different banks and financial institution like Loan Syndicate Management Forum (LSMF).

When he arrived in the church in 2009, there were already several holes in the roof of the church that allowed rain water into the interior of the vicarage, which is located above the church, and into the church itself. For many years, he worked hard to get the funding to have the roof restored. After more than a decade, he finally got the approval and funding to have it restored. And the works began this month of June 2021. But because he and Sue, his disabled wife whom he personally cares for, live above the church, they need to move out of their vicarage. He is already in his 60's which means his retirement age is near. To save him and his wife the stress of moving in & out in several times in a span of few years, the Diocese of London decided to just early retire him this year 2021. The Diocese bought a small bungalow in Lydd Kent and is now being renovated to be disabled-friendly and hope will be ready for them to move in in October 2021.

Retiring him early will mean that he will lose substantial amount of income. His major source of income will only be his work pension from the Church of England which is far below his salary as a vicar. His expenses will also increase because he will start paying for house bills like electricity, gas, phone, council tax etc which are currently being paid for by the church.

This GoFundMe page is created to generate fund as a retirement gift to him and Sue for their 37 years of Christian ministry, It will help them tremendously during the early part of their retirement. It will also help them to gradually adjust into their new stage of life.