Good evening everyone! I’m Teena and I moved over here to France in December to become the Aumoniere (Chaplain) of the Church of England in the Pas-de-Calais. You might not be aware that the Church of England has priests in France - but there are several of us, all over the country, part of the largest CofE Diocese - the Diocese in Europe.
I’m here on a ‘house for duty’ basis, which means I have been blessed with a beautiful appart here in Boulogne-sur-Mer…I love this area and there is so much to keep me amused when not busy on Sunday and my one other working day each week.
I’m slowly getting my head round the ex-pat life - I did have a brief sojourn down south in Aix-en-Provence about 30 years ago as a student, so I’m not completely new to French life, just new to doing it for real…and to dealing with the bureaucracy without the backing of a University department!
I cover quite a wide area, with congregations currently in Calais, Boulogne s/ Mer and Hesdin la Foret so get to move about a bit, which I am hoping will become even more enjoyable once I’ve got my new French campervan.
I will in due course be grateful for any assistance and advice as I tackle the renewal of my VLS-TS. Also if anyone has any wisdom to impart on to-ing and fro-ing in the most economical way whilst not falling foul of the 90/180 day rule (my partner still lives and works in England at present) that would be warmly welcomed too.
Hi Teena, does house for duty still constitute payment in kind, in which case may still involve you being seen as a foreign worker? I’d have thought someone in the benefice, if not then diocese, could advise you.
Yes - well it’s more than just the Sunday which is what most people joke that vicars do!!!
Moved from a full on, albeit fully paid, 6-days a week role in the UK to early semi-retirement here, a long-held dream that just fell into place.
The two days are flexible to meet the needs of the congregation, so if I have visits to do I flex as required. Some things are fixed of course - Christmas doesn’t often fall on a Sunday, for one thing. But so far (4 months in) it’s feeling very freeing and fulfilling. Blessings aplenty…
Hi Ancient_Mariner, wierdly it’s not classed as ‘work’ - my visa prohibits any ‘work’, but yes, the apartment will constitute a benefit in kind, and so I’ve got a tax advisor lined up to help me with all of that.
Thank you CaptainMorgan. We have regular (ish) Archdeaconry Chapter meetings online - I missed the one that was just after I arrived, but there’s another scheduled next weekend, and then I hope to meet a few more of the other Chaplains so that I can pick their brains in future. My congregations have also been wonderfully supportive - they are a mix of ex-pats and second-home owners, with the odd Anglophile French person thrown in the mix, so they are a great source of ‘how things are done around here’. Of course, I’ve come in post-Brexit, and most of them have been here for years, so there are things that are different now, sadly…
