Welcome to St Martin of Tours Basildon
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Welcome to St Martin of Tours Basildon Parish Profile 2019 www.stmartinsbasildon.co.uk Contents 1. Basildon and Our Church at Present 3. What are we looking for in a new Priest? 5. What can we offer? 8. The Wider Context 9. Finance 10. The Rectory 11. Basildon 12. Conclusion Basildon and Our Church at Present Basildon is situated in South Essex, positioned between the A13 and the A127. It was one of the many New Towns that were developed following the New Towns Act of 1946. London, which had been badly damaged throughout the Second World War, was overcrowded and housing was largely very poor. ‘New Towns’ were the Labour Governments answer to the problem. This year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the start of the work in the building of Basildon. St Martins stands in the centre of the town, adjacent to St Martins Bell Tower, built in the millennium, the first steel and glass Bell Tower in the world, and the Civic Centre, housing the secular aspect of Basildon. From the outside the building is not particularly impressive but step through the door and stand at the back, looking towards the altar, and the magnificence of this house of God really hits you. On the far east wall hangs a very large cross and when the lights are on, the shadow from the cross depicts three crosses on the wall; just as they stood together at Calvary, at the crucifixion. The Sanctuary, chancel steps and centre aisle are carpeted. But what now really strikes the on-lookers’ eyes are the breath-taking modern stained-glass windows on the south and north sides of the church, almost ceiling to floor. These were designed and installed by Joseph Nuttgens, in the 1980’s. The north windows tell the story of the life of St. Martin and the south windows reflect the building of Basildon and Gods presence around us. They are quite spectacular and cast amazing mosaics on the floors of the North and South aisles on sunny days. Most first-time visitors to St. Martins comment on the ‘atmosphere’ and spirituality’ that is within the church walls and that is also true when the church is empty. A door on the south side of the chancel steps leads to the Lady Chapel. Once again, a stained-glass window is a feature of this space and behind the altar is a memorial to those who died in the holocaust, at Auschwitz. In the 80’s there was an exhibition about the Holocaust and the church was presented with ashes from Auschwitz. These ashes now reside behind a red brick in the wall, behind the Lady Chapel altar. A perpetual light burns above them. Back in the church, on the north side of the sanctuary stands the very impressive organ. This was reclaimed from a Southend church where our present organist learnt to play it as a boy! Its sound is amazing and we have had many recitals over the years. A door on the north side of the chancel steps leads to the vestry and then along the passageway to the Pastoral Centre, which is a moderately sized space that is used for a variety of activities; as well as church activities, it is also hired out to the public. 1. Behind the Pastoral Centre is the old church hall which is now rented by a Counselling organisation on a twenty-five-year lease. The annual income this generates helps to keep St Martin’s solvent. Like most New Towns, Basildon has been experiencing a period of change over the last decade and even more so at the present with the regeneration of the town centre. The parish caters to both the businesses of the town centre and the dwellings that have been built in recent years, mainly flats and apartments, as well as the established housing of earlier years. There are several schools within walking distance of the church, and we are popular as a venue for school visits. Our congregation originally were mainly Londoners who were re-settling in this new town but we now have an ever-growing multi-cultural congregation. The newer members of the church are the church’s future and have been a wonderful addition, providing new life and ideas. The most noticeable feature of this growing congregation is the number of children who are now attending the Sunday school. From just one regular child only a few years ago we now have as many as twelve or fourteen children most Sundays. Where are we going? We need to go out to the people; to be seen to be accessible to both the young and the old and everyone in-between. Sometimes this is daunting to members of the congregation; perhaps you have the skills to help us get over this hurdle. To show the love of Christ in our actions, as ordinary people. We have indoor space. The seating space in the church itself can be reconfigured for a range of activities. Perhaps you can visualise how the building can be used more affectively? Now the regeneration work is nearly completed we can see a vast, flat space to the south side of the church which might well lend itself to activities in the evenings for the youth of the town. Have you got experience in working with the youth? With the support of ‘Churches Together’ perhaps some of the needs of the people of the town can be addressed, and they can find Christ through a different direction. A lot of time has been spent helping the homeless, over the past 10 years, but now is the time to extend that help to others as well. Churches Together The churches in Basildon, of all denominations, support each other in many ways. It started about 10/12 years ago when a project for feeding the homeless was set up. Volunteers from the different churches joined together to provide ‘feeding’ stations where the homeless are fed every night and they are still operating today. Other projects operate in a similar way. 2. What are we looking for in our new Priest? Ideally, we would like someone who is energised for the mission of the church. We would like someone who will use the skills and willingness of the present congregation to be more active in their church and will encourage the younger congregation to also be active in the family life of the church. We would like someone who is sympathetic to family life; either single or with children themselves. We need someone who will be our ‘shepherd’ and work alongside us. It would be helpful to have some experience in outreach and evangelism, as this is BIG on the agenda at St Martin’s. We need to grow our congregation, through the Love of Christ, so that there is a viable and active congregation into the future. We need someone who can combine the dignity, spirituality and holiness of worship with the joyfulness, happiness and relevance of more modern hymns. As one of our questionnaire comments put it; ‘We need to move forward to the 21st century rather than remain in the 19th. Our Church at Present St Martin’s is open 7 days a week Services: 1st Sunday of the Month 9.15 Said Communion: includes a sermon but doesn’t have hymns. 10:30 Family Communion This service is a shortened and simplified communion service. It is aimed at families with children and new members to faith. (The children do not go out to Sunday school but remain with their families and the sermon is an all-age talk.) 2nd 3rd 4th (and 5th Sunday, when it happens) 10.30am Communion Service (fully robed, with servers and procession.) In the past incense has been used and many of the congregation would like to see it used again. The children go out to Sunday school at the beginning of the service and return during the Peace and then go back to their families, or into the children’s area, before going for a blessing or to take communion. Twenty years ago the PCC agreed that children of 7+, and who were regular in their attendance at church, could take ‘First Communion’ as in the Catholic Tradition and until their confirmation. Recently 4 of our youngsters have once more taken this option and receive their communion, but with non-alcoholic wine. (This is an option for all communicants). 3. Midweek Said communion is held in the Lady Chapel, every Wednesday at 9:30am; Lunchtime communion on Fridays Other Annual Services The Council use St Martin’s for their annual service Remembrance Sunday. St Martin’s generally hosts a joint service with the council, the Royal British Legion, youth organisations and the armed services. The service is in two parts: the first is the laying of the wreaths at the Remembrance stone (The Act of Remembrance), in the church garden on the south side of the church. This year about 800 people attended this and more then 400+ of those people (mainly uniformed organisations) squeezed into the church for a Service of Remembrance. Special Services: St Martin’s is normally available for any organisation to use it for such things as Carol Concerts or musical recitals. Schools sometimes use it if they want to hold a whole school Carol Concert, where school halls aren’t large enough. What can we offer? During the past years the members of St Martin’s have been encouraged to undertake the 2-year Diocesan Christian Studies course and this has led to members taking a more active role within the ministry of the church.