St. James Gerrards Cross with St. James PROFILE

www.saintjames.org.uk Contents

Welcome to The Two Saint James 1 Our Mission and Core Ministry Areas 2 Our Strengths and Challenges 5 Our New Rector (Person Specification) 10 Support for the Rector 13 Worship Pattern 14 Organisation and Finance 15 Information About Our Area 16 The Rectory 18

The Oxford Diocese 19 The Deanery 20 Appendix 1 – Leadership and Staff Structure 21 Appendix 2 – Staff Vision and Values 23 Appendix 3 – Financial Position 25 Welcome to The Two Saint James

Thank you for reading this Parish Profile. We are excited about discovering who God is calling to be our new Rector, who will discern with us God’s vision for the future and lead us in the next steps of our journey. We pray that our new Rector will be a visionary leader of leaders, a gifted communicator who will thrive in a varied and complex environment (see pages 10-11 for more details of who we think we will need). As you read this profile and consider applying for this stimulating and challenging role, please be assured of our prayers for you. Our mission: to make whole life disciples of Jesus Christ wherever we have influence, by:

• bringing people to a knowledge of Christ, • building a community passionately committed to Him, and • sending one another out to serve Him in families, relationships, the work place and the wider world.

Our values: to embody the teaching and character of Jesus as revealed in the Scriptures, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our vision: to grow spiritually and numerically for the sake of the nations.

St. James Fulmer (founded in 1610) and St. James Gerrards Cross (founded in 1859) were amalgamated into one parish with one PCC in 1984. Located in south-east just outside the M25, the Two Saint James today is a thriving and dynamic evangelical church. We are a large church family (combined Electoral Roll of 730: 634 at Gerrards Cross and 96 at Fulmer) with a good mix of ages, a diverse range of ministries and a breadth of worship styles.

Through an ongoing Mission Action Planning process, we have identified several exciting opportunities and key challenges facing us as a church. These have been created by changes in the surrounding culture, by shifts in church attendance patterns, and by the significant ‘fringe’ being generated by our midweek ministries. There are also particular opportunities for St. James Fulmer to grow as a vibrant church at the heart of the village.

The next Rector will lead the Two Saint James in the next steps of discerning and pursuing God’s vision for the church as we embrace these challenges and opportunities together. We recognise, and anticipate with excitement, that our new Rector may bring new and different approaches as we begin a new season with a new leader under God.

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 1 Our Mission and Core Ministry Areas

In pursuit of our mission to make whole life disciples of Jesus Christ wherever we have influence, we have developed a Mission Action Plan (MAP) which takes us to 2022. Like any plan, this is subject to review and, open to the movement of the Holy Spirit, we anticipate new insights and directions from a new Rector. We are very open to change, and long for growth: spiritually, missionally and numerically.

At the heart of the MAP, there are five areas of focus that are central to our mission and ministry and therefore take our greatest attention and resource week by week. They form the basis of the core job descriptions for our staff members and teams. 1 Weekly Services Our weekly services are the way we express our worship of God as a gathered community. Every Sunday we offer a range of services across our two church locations, each with a distinct style, from traditional to contemporary. We strive to make these occasions for people of all kinds to feel welcome, to encounter and engage with God, and to grow in their faith and sense of belonging.

We have a dedicated worship and media team of staff and volunteers to resource these services and help us grow in our worshipping life, especially through music.

2 Evangelism and Outreach As a church, we seek to equip one another to share our faith naturally and to reach out to others with the good news of Jesus. There are three aspects to this:

• My Frontline (‘I go’): all church members are encouraged to see themselves as ambassadors of Christ wherever they find themselves on a ‘frontline’ during the week, such as work, neighbourhood, school, with friends or in leisure activities.

• St. James Frontline (‘We go’): activities that give us opportunities to witness to Christ out in the community, for example through the St. James Football Club, taking assemblies in local schools and offering prayer on the streets. We have good relationships with the Gerrards Cross Community Association and the local traders’ association. For example we provide many volunteers and an activity tent for the biennial Gerrards Cross Fun Run and participate actively in Gerrards Cross Town Christmas Fair as well as the annual “Fulmer Day”.

• St. James Central (‘They come’): centralised events and courses that bring people into contact with the St. James community and, more or less explicitly, with the gospel. These include Alpha, which we run

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 2 St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 3 every term, one-off speaker events, Friendship Lunches for seniors, the Accord community choir, various midweek youth and children’s activities, and Sunday services at the major festivals.

Further afield, we partner with a wide range of mission organisations and charities and have a mission budget of 10% of the church’s main sources of income.

Our current ‘core’ missions are:

• A Rocha (via Church Mission Society (CMS)) • Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) • Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF) • Agape Family Life • Tearfund • Betel Prague (via World Evangelisation for Christ (WEC)) • Wycliffe Bible Translators

We also support Toybox, and the Johannesburg Bible College. Very substantial additional giving has funded Love Africa – an ongoing initiative in partnership with Tearfund to support several ministries focussed on HIV/AIDS in Uganda. Our “Loaves and Fishes Network” helps support vulnerable people in our local community, acting as a bridge connecting the needs of local charities with local people who wish to offer practical help.

3 Discipleship We seek to help every member of the Two St. James grow in whole life discipleship, through:

• personal spiritual disciplines • one-to-one discipling and small groups • preaching and gathered worship • formal courses and other learning events

There are currently over 350 people in nearly 40 Life Groups, meeting weekly or fortnightly. Life Groups generally choose their own topics or books for Bible Study, but from January to April each year most groups use study materials specially produced in parallel with the sermon series to help the whole church focus on a particular book of the bible. This helps us spend at least one sustained season of the year studying and living with the same biblical material across the whole church. Life Groups also provide pastoral care, prayer, positive encouragement and community life for those who are in them.

Over the last two years the core of our formal learning has been DVD- based and streamed courses from the St. Paul’s Theological Centre’s School of Theology (https://sptc.htb.org/schooloftheology). St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 3 4 Children and Young People We believe that children are the church of today and the leaders of tomorrow. We invest in their spiritual growth and endeavour to help whole families grow together. Our children and young people’s work is multi-faceted: from Sunday and midweek worship and bible study to drama groups, Messy Church and weekends away. A super staff team and wonderfully loyal and enthusiastic volunteers lead this work. Young people are included in our volunteers supporting many other activities. The core Sunday activities are: • PromiseLand for ages 0 – 11 • The Boat for ages 11 – 14 • Resonate for ages 15 – 18

We have strong links with our local schools, especially Fulmer Infant School and the Gerrards Cross Church of School, where the Head Teacher is keen for the Rector (an ex officio foundation governor) to play a leading part in an exciting vision for the missional opportunities provided by the school.

We have a vision to make the Two Saint James the go-to place for building healthy family relationships and for spiritual conversations.

5 Prayer Prayer is our spiritual breathing. We seek to soak all that we do in prayer and continually long to see our prayer life grow and flourish. Alongside our weekly Sunday worship, we have a group that meets each Monday morning to pray for the life of the church, we begin each term with an evening of prayer, and we run 24-7 prayer weeks twice a year, often in partnership with other churches. We encourage everyone to develop their own prayer life and to receive prayer from our prayer team at Sunday services throughout the year, an area where we are seeing a slow but steady increase in uptake. Recent successes include a redesign of our termly prayer evenings, a monthly prayer and discussion meeting in Fulmer and the introduction of prayer with anointing at our Fulmer Communion services

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 4 Our Strengths and Challenges

Our Strengths

God has blessed us in many ways, for which we are deeply thankful. The Two Saint James is a large, stable and visible church whose ministry runs seven days a week. The particular strengths that help us to pursue our mission include:

Significant resources • We have a large staff team and several hundred volunteers, many of whom take significant leadership responsibility. Around 785 roles in ministry and mission are fulfilled by some 500 individuals across the life of the Two St James.

• We have exemplary church buildings and facilities, including the Saint James Centre, opened in 2006, which is the hub for most of our midweek activities. Our buildings are in a good state of repair and we have dedicated budgets for their maintenance.

• Our finances are on a sound footing thanks to generous giving and careful budgeting over the years.

Deliberate commitment to a variety of worship styles and church traditions under a broad evangelical umbrella • We are an evangelical church with a strong tradition of biblical preaching.

• We are not a church of any one evangelical ‘party’ but have links with several different networks. For example, both Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB)’s Focus and Word Alive are attended by people from St. James; staff members and others have benefitted from HTB’s Leadership Conference, Willow Creek’s Global Leadership Summit and the Evangelical Ministry Assembly.

• Our Sunday services range from said BCP Holy Communion (once a month), through Common Worship services with robed choir and organ, to contemporary services with a band.

A vibrant children’s and youth ministry • We have a usual Sunday attendance of 152 children across our various children’s and youth activities.

• A far greater number attend our various midweek activities, including: • St. James Football Club (over 180 children involved on Saturdays with a full range of teams from under 6 to under 18) • Tiny Tots (for pre-school children and their carers, two mornings a week) • Bright Lights (creative arts group for children) • Parenting Courses

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 4 St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 5 • Messy Church has grown amazingly, starting from scratch in 2016 as a joint venture with the local United Reformed Church and now attracting up to 200 people each month in the Saint James Centre.

A large and growing ‘fringe’ • Through our midweek activities already mentioned, and others such as the Accord Community Choir, men’s leadership breakfasts, Fulmer coffee and Friendship Lunches for seniors, we have regular contact with 1500 – 1800 people who form our church ‘fringe’.

• This is a great opportunity to reach people in our community with the gospel and grow whole life disciples. This is also a great challenge (see below).

A supportive culture • Our Life Groups and a dedicated Pastoral Care Team of 25 members contribute to a strong culture of pastoral support and care.

• Mutual encouragement is a core value in the staff team and across the church as a whole (see Appendix 2 for a full list of staff values).

Wider influence • Because of its demography (the majority of church members in employment hold professional positions, many in senior positions and many commuting to ), the Two Saint James has significant influence in commerce, public service, the City and the professions.

• Our previous Rector also served as joint Area Dean and on Diocesan working groups.

• Several church family members serve, as board members, staff or consultants, large missional organisations such as London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, London School of Theology, CMS, Tearfund and Agape Family Life. Others serve as elected members of Diocesan and General synods, and Deanery Lay Chair.

• We continue to be outward looking and are ready to explore becoming a resource church as part of the diocesan and national church vision.

A track record of sending gifted people on to mission and ministry elsewhere • Former curate Nat Schluter founded Johannesburg Bible College in 2005 and we continue to support him and his family as ‘mission envoys’.

• Over the last twelve years eleven church members, both men and women, have been accepted to train for ordination. We have also had the privilege of training a succession of excellent curates. We hope that we would continue to train curates as part of our “sending” vision, helping to resource the wider church.

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 6 • The two St James enabled a church graft to St. Mary’s Denham in 2016, sending one ordained staff member to be the new Rector along with 25 of our lay members to join the congregation, which is now growing.

• In September 2016, our then Associate Rector joined the HTB staff to prepare to lead a church plant in Derby, which opened in September 2017.

• Many other church family members have gone to serve long or short-term with organisations such as UCCF, Youth With A Mission, Crosslinks and Agape Family Life.

• We aim to retain strong, supportive relationships with those we have “sent”.

Strong relationships with other local churches • St. James clergy meet and pray regularly with other local church leaders as well as participating in the Deanery Chapter.

• We collaborate on some joint services with other churches in Gerrards Cross and Chalfont St. Peter, including Maundy Thursday Holy Communion and the civic Remembrance Day service.

• We engage in occasional joint outreach initiatives, including a local mission planned for autumn 2018. Our Current Challenges Some of our most significant challenges arise either from changes in the surrounding culture or simply from being a large church:

Growth in church membership has slowed, from children through to adults • This is reflected in slowly declining electoral roll numbers, though these numbers seem to be an increasingly unsatisfactory way to measure belonging. The church graft to Denham in 2016 is also a factor here.

• Church attendance is becoming less frequent, even among core church members.

• While ‘regular’ attendance used to mean 3 – 4 times a month, busy and mobile life styles are reducing this.

• This trend is also reflected in attendance at corporate prayer events separate from Sunday worship, Life Groups and other midweek activities, especially in the evenings.

• This has an impact on communication, on discipleship, on resourcing Sunday services and on the sense of community in our Sunday congregations. St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 7 The size and diversity of the Two Saint James makes it difficult to cultivate a sense of intimate belonging within individual congregations, and across the church as a whole. • Instituting a ‘Service Pastor’ role has helped with this at 4.00, as has the addition of an Associate Minister with a specific focus on Fulmer.

We need to find ways of sustaining our midweek ministries and reaching our growing fringe with the gospel • The midweek ministries that are so effective in building this fringe are led by lay people and need strong support, training and resourcing. Interestingly, some of these (Messy Church, for example) are seeing an ethnic diversity that reflects the wider community but is not seen at our Sunday services.

• We have developed a strategy to target evangelistic events and activities more narrowly to the groups reached by each ministry. This means identifying people other than the ministry leaders to carry out this specific evangelistic and outreach brief.

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 8 Current Opportunities and Challenges at St. James Fulmer

St. James Fulmer is a church with more of a village or rural community focus. We have consulted the congregation and the village community and are developing our vision to be ‘a vibrant church at the heart of the village’. We have identified the following priorities:

• Widen the attraction of traditional worship

• Deepen spirituality

• Make the church accessible to all through pastoral care and love

• Enhance communications with the congregation

• Draw the whole community towards the Kingdom of God

These will be sustained by: • Ongoing support to the Associate Minister

• Further building on the strong relationship with St. James Gerrards Cross

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 9 Our New Rector (Person Specification)

We are looking for a Wegodly, are looking prayerful, for a godly, person prayerful, of integrity person of integrity and wisdom and wisdom from the evangelical tradition, someone rootedfrom the in evangelical the Word tradition, and the someone Spirit rooted and in passionate the Word and aboutthe communicating the gospel, to lead usSpirit on andthe passionate next stage about of communicating our journey the together. gospel, to lead us on the next stage of our journey together.

Over and above these fundamental, baseline requirements for our new Rector, we have identified the following essential characteristics:

A leader of leaders • As well as being a gifted leader, in a church with a strong team of ministry leaders, both staff and non-staff, you will be able to motivate, encourage, equip and unite the leadership of others.

• You will also be able to identify emerging leaders and help them to develop and use their leadership gift.

A visionary • You will be someone able prayerfully to discern and cast a God-given vision of the future, inspiring The Two Saint James towards growth. We recognise that a leader can receive vision from God in different ways, both directly and with and through others.

A gifted communicator • You will be able to communicate creatively and passionately with a high level of skill and clarity in a variety of different contexts. You will embrace the importance and necessity of both verbal and written communication. You will have a lead role in our team of ordained and lay preachers. Biblical preaching is one of the core disciple-making ministries at the Two Saint James, opening up the enduring and authoritative relevance of God’s Word to today’s world.

A person who will readily and joyfully embrace diversity: • In styles of worship. The Two Saint James places a high value on the variety of worship services that reflects God’s abundant creativity and makes our worshipping life accessible and attractive to a wide range of people.

• In church tradition and theological position across the evangelical spectrum. Within that spectrum, as a member of the Evangelical Alliance, the Two Saint James holds firmly to traditional biblical teaching and praxis in an ever-changing world.

• Wherever you come from in these spectra, you will be able to lead us in a way that values and enables and embraces this diversity, encouraging and developing participation in church life and ministry, based on God’s gifting and calling, regardless of age, gender, background or colour.

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 10 A person who will thrive in a complex environment. • The Two Saint James is a comparatively large church blessed with a wide and diverse set of ministries and resources (people, finance and buildings). In collaboration with your team you will be capable of overseeing this level of complexity in a way that promotes the flourishing of each area of church life.

It is also essential that the Rector shapes and leads the church culture, importantly including robust safeguarding policies and practices (The St James Safeguarding Policy is reviewed annually in accordance with diocesan guidelines).

The following characteristics are highly desirable: • Embracing change, innovation and risk

• Able to relate to people of all ages and different backgrounds inside and outside the church community

• Concerned for the spiritual lives of children and young people

• Able to inspire engagement with world mission

• Able to recognise and diffuse areas of potential conflict

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 11 “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Mt 9:37,38

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 13 Support for the Rector

Supportive and Collaborative Work Environment

We are a busy church with a vast range of activities (see our website and our annual report for further details). The Rector is able to delegate and share responsibilities with a supportive and dedicated team, with the church office, staff and churchwardens all playing their part.

The Rector has worked in particularly close collaboration with the Leadership Team and Staff Strategy Group (see Appendix 1) and our staff vision and values (see Appendix 2) encourage high levels of trust, value, vision and fun.

The Rector has an office in the St. James Centre close to the Associate Rector and Church Operations Manager, who currently manages the Rector’s diary.

Work / life balance

The Rector is encouraged, as are all staff, to protect holidays and days off (including “double days” once a month) as well as setting aside time for retreats and ministerial and spiritual development. There is a train- ing budget to support these.

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 13 Current Sunday Worship Pattern

8.00 a.m. Holy Communion Venue: St. James Fulmer – Common Worship except for the 2nd Sunday when it is BCP 9.00 a.m. Morning Worship Venue: St. James Gerrards Cross – a more traditional service with robed choir, organ and hymns; Holy Communion once a month 10.45 a.m. Morning Worship Venue: St. James Gerrards Cross – an informal, contemporary service with band; Holy Communion once a month

During term time, PromiseLand (ages 0 – 11) and The Boat (ages 11 – 14) run concurrently in the Saint James Centre, with registration from 10.30 a.m.

Outside term time, services are either fully all-age, or children leave for supervised activities during the sermon only.

11.15 a.m. Morning Worship Venue: St. James Fulmer – a more traditional service with robed choir, organ and hymns; Holy Communion once a month 4.00 p.m. Sunday worship Venue: St. James Gerrards Cross – an informal, contemporary service with band; refreshments are served before the service; Holy Communion once a month

During term time, PromiseLand (ages 0 – 11) and The Boat (ages 11 – 14) run concurrently in the Saint James Centre, with registration from 3.45 p.m.

Outside term time, services are either fully all-age, or children leave for supervised activities during the sermon only.

7.00 p.m. Resonate Venue: the Saint James Centre – our youth service during term time for ages 15 – 18

Occasional Offices

In 2017 across the Two St. James there were: Baptisms: 18 infants and 2 adults Weddings: 9 (plus 2 services of Thanksgiving) Funerals: 20 in church; 13 at crematorium or cemetery (including 2 on behalf of other churches)

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 14 Organisation and Finance

Current Staff Team and Leadership structure (For more details see Appendix 1)

Staff Team: 22 members, 9 of whom are part time, plus 3 ministry assistants and one intern • Meets weekly together for lunch and staff devotions and separately as ministry teams • Oversees the day to day ministry of the church • Gives a lead to the 500+ volunteers

Staff Strategy Group: 10 members • Meets weekly for strategic and operational planning • Provides pastoral leadership to the staff team.

Parochial Church Council: 35 members • Normally meets six times a year • Supports and guides the strategic development of the ministry and mission of the whole church

Leadership Team: 10 members, including the Rector • Standing Committee of the PCC • Meets monthly • Closer engagement with strategic issues

Wardens The four churchwardens are key strategic leaders in the life of the church. They meet with the Rector and Associate Rector monthly ahead of the Leadership Team to consider key strategic and operational matters, and to provide support to the Rector.

Financial Position

Total income in 2017 was £1,017,000, of which £889,000 came via planned giving from 312 households. The Parish Share was £211,000. There was an operational surplus of £15,000. For more details see Appendix 3. There are sufficient, but not excessive, reserves on which to call for the ongoing maintenance of our buildings and equipment.

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 15 Information About Our Area

Our parish belongs to the Diocese of Oxford and is located in south- east Buckinghamshire, just outside the M25. The total population is about 8670, 485 of whom live in the village of Fulmer. London is 20 minutes away by train; and there is easy access to M25, M40 and M4. This, together with the proximity of the Chilterns countryside, makes it an attractive area in which to live. Gerrards Cross is a small town, with supermarkets, restaurants, a cinema, green space and a children’s play area on the common and a flourishing Community Association based at the Memorial Centre. Fulmer is a small village just a mile away, with a village pub and a rural community feel. A large country park () and are nearby. Map available at https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/125/ Gerrards Cross Town Council: http://gerrardscross.gov.uk/ Fulmer Parish Council: http://www.fulmervillage.org.uk/community/fulmer-village-13326/parish-council/ Wikipedia articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulmer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrards_Cross

Local schools

The Gerrards Cross C of E School * Primary mixed http://www.gerrardscross.bucks.sch.uk

Fulmer Infant School * Infants mixed http://www.fulmer.bucks.sch.uk

Chalfonts Community College Secondary mixed http://www.chalfonts.org

Dr. Challoner’s Grammar School Boys’ Grammar, http://www.challoners.com mixed 6th form

Dr. Challoner’s High School Girls’ Grammar http://www.challonershigh.com

Royal Grammar School, Boys’ Grammar http://www.rgshw.com

Beaconsfield High School Girls’ Grammar https://www.beaconsfieldhigh.bucks.sch.uk

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 16 Local independent schools Maltman’s Green School Girls, 3 – 11 years https://www.maltmansgreen.com

Gayhurst School Mixed, 3 – 11 years https://www.gayhurstschool.co.uk

Thorpe House Boys, 3 – 16 years http://www.thorpehouse.co.uk

St. Mary’s School * Girls, 3 – 18 years http://www.stmarysschool.co.uk * indicates school in the parish Other local churches and places of worship

St Andrew’s URC * http://www.standrewsurcgx.co.uk/

Gerrards Cross Methodist Church * http://www.gxmethodist.org.uk/welcome.htm

St Joseph’s Catholic Church http://www.stjosephs.org.uk/

Gold Hill Baptist Church https://www.goldhill.org/

Al Muhassan Shia Mosque * http://www.almuhassanmosque.com/

* in the parish

N.B. This list does not include neighbouring C of E churches

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 16 St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 17 The Rectory

The Rectory, owned by the diocese, is located on the Gerrards Cross church plot not far from the Saint James Centre. There is a single garage, parking on the front driveway for up to four cars, and a large back garden.

Ground floor First floor • Study • Five bedrooms • Living Room • Two bathrooms • ‘Snug’ • Large kitchen / dining room • Cloakroom • Utility room

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 18 The Oxford Diocese

The Diocese of Oxford serves the mission of the Church in Bucking- hamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The Diocese comprises more than 600 , with over 800 churches, serving a diverse population of more than 2 million people located in all types of settings.

Due to the size and complexity of the Diocese, we have three Area Bish- ops who exercise considerable strategic & pastoral oversight for their Archdeaconries. The Bishop of is the Rt Rev’d Alan Wilson who has been the Area Bishop since 2003. With the appointment of the new Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Dr Ste- ven Croft, a new common vision is emerging for the Diocese of Oxford … The vision addresses what kind of church we are called to be – A Christ-like Church for the sake of the world.

What are the marks of a Christ-like Church? To be the Church of the Beatitudes: • Contemplative • Compassionate • Courageous

It also asks what we are therefore called to do together. This is currently a work in progress, but is likely to cover the following strategic priorities: • To make a bigger difference in the world and serve the poor • To share our faith with adults, children and young people and grow the church in every place; rural, urban and suburban • To plant new churches and congregations everywhere we can To serve every school in our community • To put the discipleship of all at the heart of our common life and set God’s people free • To celebrate and bless our largest, fastest growing city

These priorities will be supported centrally by resources, training, conferences, workshops, and much more. The diocese is inviting benefices and their priests to share a vision rather than demanding a response. It wants all its priests to flourish in ministry and to deepen their enjoyment of God.

Alongside the emerging diocesan vision, the priorities and principles for the Buckingham Archdeaconry are set out in our Buckingham Mission Action Plan http://www.oxford.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Bucks-Archdeaconry-Plan-0515.pdf

It is expected that all clergy appointed into the Archdeaconry of Buckingham will want to commit themselves to the Diocesan vision and Archdeaconry MAP and their strategic directions.

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 18 St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 19 The Amersham Deanery

Oxford Diocese in one of the largest in England, created by King Henry the Eighth out of even bigger mediaeval dioceses. It is made up of the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Each of these is run as a separate Area, with an Area Bishop and Archdeacon, who in practice fulfil the duties of the Diocesan Bishop day by day. If Buckinghamshire alone were snipped off and made into its own diocese, it would still be the 5th biggest in the country! It has great tracts of agricultural countryside, but the metropolitan areas of Slough and Milton Keynes also lie within the county. Besides this, the Chilterns, being on the Metropolitan and Chiltern tube and rail lines, are a favourite area of residence for those working in the City financial community. Property prices are correspondingly high.

Deaneries of varying sizes provide the context for the day to day working of the Church of England parishes locally. Amersham Deanery, of which Gerrards Cross and Fulmer is part, is one of the largest and almost certainly the wealthiest in the Diocese. However, while many households could be described as ‘comfortable’ there are patches of significantly less prosperous housing, notably in . Gerrards Cross and Fulmer is an important parish between Denham, and . There is an excellent spirit of cooperation between all parishes in the Deanery, and the clergy chapter is strong. Two co-area deans and their assistant aim to provide pastoral care and supervision for incumbents, and can be relied on to provide a listening ear, help and advice whenever needed.

Tim Harper Co-Area Dean

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 20 St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 21 Appendix 1 Current Leadership and Staff Structure

The Staff Team * indicates member of Staff Strategy Group (pt) indicates part time

Clergy Rector * Vacant from 16th May 2018 Associate Rector * Ben Topham Associate Pastor (Discipleship) * James Leach Associate Minister for Fulmer (SSM) (pt) * Jill Roth Associate Minister (SSM) (pt) Meyrick Beebee Associate Minister (Pastoral and Senior Ministry) (SSM) (pt) Vacant from April 2018 Curate (starting 4th year) * Chris Lion

Operations Team Church Operations Manager * Nici Johnson Church Administrator (pt) Dawn Huxtable Church Administrator (pt) Jayne Wood Finance Officer (pt) Hazel Robinson Catering Manager (pt) Kirsty Diers

Youth Team Youth Pastor * Tim Norton Youth Leader Kathryn Aboud Youth Intern Welshman Dube Youth Ministry Assistant Liseth Centeno

Children’s Team Children’s Pastor * Guy Mansell Assistant Children’s Pastor (pt) Currently vacant Children’s Coordinator Andrew Howard Children’s Ministry Assistant Vanita Sharma

Worship and Media Team Worship Pastor * Neil Wilson Worship Coordinator Debbie Henry Technical Manager (pt) Breffni Potter Worship and Media Ministry Assistant Jonny Gamboa

Outreach Team Evangelism and Outreach Pastor * Vacant, advertising soon Families Outreach Worker (pt) Sandie Norton

Ministry Assistants are usually with us for a year (sometimes two) in a voluntary capacity and often come to us through the organisation Time For God.

Our Safeguarding Officer is Ann Green

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 21 Parochial Church Council There are 35 members of the PCC, including 7 clergy, 4 churchwardens and 10 Deanery Synod Reps.

Leadership Team Rector Associate Rector Ben Topham Churchwarden, Gerrards Cross Andrew Bell Churchwarden, Gerrards Cross Edwin Clark Churchwarden, Fulmer Anthony Bargioni Churchwarden, Fulmer Francesca Hall-Drinkwater Treasurer David Steel Church Operations Manager Nici Johnson PCC Rep Keith Wilson (Until June 2018) PCC Rep Ian Mitton PCC Rep Jane Sheldon (From June 2018)

Other Committees Reporting to the PCC • Buildings and Churchyards Committee • Stewardship Committee • Fulmer Leadership Team • Mission Committee • Loaves and Fishes Steering Group • Love Africa Steering Group

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 22 St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 23 Appendix 2 Staff Vision and Values

Staff Vision

1 To further the mission of the church to make whole life disciples of Jesus wherever we have influence.

2 To cultivate high levels of trust, value, vision and fun – together and in the ministry teams we lead.

3 To model to the congregation the power of close, accountable Christian partnership.

4 To support each other within our different ministries, especially through prayer.

5 To help each other walk closely with our Lord Jesus.

Staff Values

1 That we will not allow conflict to go underground.

2 That we will respect the absolute confidentiality of anything discussed at staff level.

3 That we will not express criticism or be negative about a member of the team to someone else.(Where there is genuine concern we will address it to the person or refer it to the Rector).

4 That we will be real with each other, working towards living in open, transparent friendship; slow to judge, eager to listen and quick to forgive each other.

5 That attendance at staff meetings and staff prayers will always be our first priority as a mark of commitment to each other.

6 That we will pledge to uphold the highest standards of integrity in our ministry and our personal lives. (especially in relation to financial matters, sexual conduct, and the use of power – specified in the Staff Personal Conduct Paper).

7 That we will value diversity of personality and style of ministry within the team.

8 That we will safeguard the right to express a genuine difference of opinion without endangering mutual respect.

9 That we will always support the decisions made at staff level even where it has not been possible to attain complete unanimity on an issue.

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 23 10 That we will receive criticism without rancour.

11 That we will be willing to take appropriate risks as a team.

12 That we will not simply regard something that is ultimately unsuccessful as a personal failure, but an opportunity to learn and grow.

13 That we will ensure that proper time is given for rest and regular refreshment. Sustainability is a core value for the team and the church family.

14 That we will not envy each others gifts or strengths, neither will we exploit each others weaknesses.

15. That we will respect ‘boundaries’ in relation to personal space and family life.

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 24 St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 25 Appendix 3 Financial Position

Our major source of regular income is from Planned Christian Giving, to which 312 households contribute regularly. Church members are encouraged to contribute in a tax efficient way and to review their giving on an annual basis.

Our audited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2017 reported the following figures for the ongoing activities of the Two St James, i.e. The General (Unrestricted) fund:

Income £000’s Standing Orders 452 Other giving 99 Income Tax Recoverable 139 Gifts 199 Total Planned Christian Giving 889 Legacies 7 Collections and other giving 36 Total Voluntary Income 932 Other Income 85 TOTAL INCOME 1,017

Expenditure Mission Giving - U.K. 48 Mission Giving - Overseas 47 Parish Share 211 Ministry costs 491 Church and Centre running costs 205 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 1,002

OPERATIONAL SURPLUS 15 Transfer to designated funds (14)

FINAL SURPLUS 1

The PCC approved budget for 2018 has similar levels of income and expenditure to the above.

Our policy is to have sufficient, but not excessive, reserves on which to call for the ongoing maintenance of all our church plant and the equip- ment contained therein.

In addition to the major restricted funds that support the work of the Love Africa project and the Principal of the Johannesburg Bible Col- lege, we are blessed to have a significant unrestricted “Church Growth” fund that enables the Ministry Heads to fund “one off” type events to further God’s kingdom in our local area.

St James Gerrards Cross with Fulmer 2018. Page 25