ST JAMES, and ST BOTOLPH, with Stretton Baskerville (North )

PARISH PROFILE

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BISHOP’S INTRODUCTION

‘In the community, for the community’

That’s how the congregation of St James’ Bulkington describe their purpose. It’s a deeply Anglican approach to ministry and it’s greatly valued by the local people. The parish of Bulkington, combined with the small village of Burton Hastings, provides an excellent opportunity for a priest with a vision for the flourishing of congregation and local community together.

Bulkington is a large village of about 6,000 people and so there are plenty of missional opportunities. The congregation value the Eucharist and their ‘informal formality’ as they celebrate it. Though wanting to keep a mainly eucharistic approach, they would welcome someone who wants to introduce other ways of worship, and are genuinely keen to be attractive to younger families and children. The Church Academy and the other schools in the parish give a real foothold in the community and offer all sorts of opportunities for outreach.

Burton Hastings is a delightful village with a committed group of people ready to work with an imaginative priest.

The Diocese of is committed to enabling health in existing and emerging forms of church. We welcome clergy who can join with us in our mission purpose of worshipping God, making new disciples, and transforming communities, and we seek to support priests who want to try new ways to fulfil this calling. There’s a solid basis and a lot of scope in the parishes of Bulkington and Burton Hastings for a new and fruitful season of ministry and mission.

I commend the post to you.

With my prayers

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DEANERY SUMMARY

Nuneaton Deanery has one of the largest populations in the Church of , and is also one of the largest for numbers of clergy, although we currently have a lot of vacant posts, mainly due to clergy retirements. It is also one of the poorer areas of Warwickshire and Coventry Diocese.

The Deanery Chapter has a mixture of stipendiary, self-supporting and retired clergy, from a wide range of traditions. We support each other by meeting for prayer and discussion, and sharing lunch together, taking turns to host our colleagues. We have an interesting mix of rural and suburban churches and we endeavour to support each other as much as we can. The Deanery is currently subsidised financially to the level of 1.9 full-time posts by other Deaneries in the Diocese, but we are starting to take up the challenge of supporting each other rather than relying on financial help from outside. Rather than simply cut back on posts however, we are strategically looking at opportunities for considerable growth, and we think that these parishes have the potential for considerable growth and influence. We are therefore looking for a new vicar to help this parish grow spiritually, numerically, and financially, from an already strong foundation.

The Deanery has a huge potential for mission and is fully committed to fulfilling the Diocesan Mission Purpose of Worshipping God, Making New Disciples and Transforming Communities. Bulkington is an attractive village with plans to build more houses in the near future. The parishes of Bulkington and Burton Hastings have worked well together since joining up a couple of years ago, with members of both churches regularly attending each other’s services. There is a lot of community engagement to build on.

We hope and pray that you may be the person to help these churches to continue to grow. We look forward to welcoming the new vicar to Bulkington, Burton Hastings and the Deanery!

God bless,

Frank Seldon Area Dean

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BACKGROUND TO POST

St James lies in the large village of Bulkington (population just over 6,000) in North Warwickshire. We have a commitment to be ‘In the Community, For the Community’, and are (we believe!) a friendly, outgoing church, who give a warm welcome to visitors. We value the Eucharist, but with an ‘informal formality’, and although wanting to keep a mainly Eucharistic approach to our worship, we would welcome someone to also introduce more informal and interactive ways of worship, attractive to younger families and children.

Our previous incumbent served the parish well on a 0.7 basis for over 9 years. Under his leadership, the congregation grew to the extent that the Deanery and Diocese agreed that the post warranted an increase in clergy time. Since his departure about 2 years ago, we have since joined amicably with Burton Hastings (a small village 10 minutes drive to the north- east) to create a full time post, with an allocation of 0.9 to Bulkington and 0.1 to Burton Hastings.

For the past 18 months, we have been well led by an assistant curate who was already a curate with us. Coming from a chaplaincy background her curacy was extended to test a possible calling to parochial ministry and incumbency (possibly also as our next vicar), but in the end she has felt God calling her back to chaplaincy. We have enjoyed this period under her leadership, in which she has encouraged more lay people to be involved in running the church, and we wish her well in her future chaplaincy roles.

We therefore seek a priest who will continue to help us engage with the wider community and surrounding area, and who will help us to continue to grow, especially in the increasing numbers of younger generation who are forming part of the village of Bulkington.

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ROLE DESCRIPTION

The role of the vicar of St James Bulkington and St Botolph’s Burton Hastings is to lead the churches in fulfilling the Diocesan Mission Purpose:

 Worshipping God  Making New Disciples  Transforming Communities

This will be achieved in developing 8 essential qualities in the life of the church:

 Empowering Leadership  Gift-orientated Ministry  Passionate Spirituality  Inspiring Worship  Holistic Small Groups  Need-oriented Outreach  Loving Relationships  Functional Structures

PERSON SPECIFICATION

We would welcome applications from candidates with a Eucharistic tradition, and who:

 Are able to have a good laugh and are fun to be with!

 Are able to develop people’s confidence in their faith and ability to share their faith with others. This will also include the ability to deliver and develop appropriate ‘faith-exploration’ courses for those wishing to explore Christian faith.

 Are keen ‘community oriented’ leaders, who value the church at the heart of the community, and are a positive ‘presence’ in the wider community. This will include being a Governor of the local CofE Junior School, St James Academy.

 Value lay-leadership with a track record in identifying, training and developing lay leaders.

 Can make Christian faith through St James and St Botolph relevant and appealing for the 21st Century.

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ST JAMES AND THE 8 ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF HEALTHY CHURCHES

We completed our first NCD survey soon after our previous vicar had left in November 2016. We are still working through some of the points raised in that survey, and expect to be completing another survey once the new vicar is appointed.

Empowering Leadership

We have been working at improving our lay leadership development over the last couple of years. For example, we recognised that we needed to encourage lay people to be involved with leading aspects of worship, which they now do (Café Church, some Evensongs, some 10am Wednesday services of Morning Prayer). Our Bible Study groups are lay-led. We have also started a worship band. In the last 12 months we have identified new leaders for Children’s Ministry. We have choir-led evensong, and lay-led Wednesday morning services.

One of our churchwardens has been selected for training as a lay reader commencing in September 2018.

Gift Orientated Ministry

At present we have many valued people within the church who volunteer and use their particular gifts and talents. We have enthusiastic teams involved in flower arranging, cake making (especially for the monthly coffee mornings), serving on committees, cleaning and gardening. All enjoy using their gifts for the benefit of the church. Others organise trips, social activities, and participation in community and school events.

Many people participate in general Church activities and duties and enjoy doing so. Within church services people use their gifts to prepare the sacrament, welcome, read, lead intercessions and administer the chalice.

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A small enthusiastic bell-ringing team ring at all Sunday services, weddings and special occasions. Quarter peals are rung weekly during November and December. A faithful small robed choir sings at most services, and our gifted organist and assistant organist provide excellent accompaniment. We now also have the talents of younger people within the Worship Band.

Outside the church a number of people use their gifts and talents within the community, visiting the sick, taking home communion, serving at local hospitals and the Cathedral, and voluntary services within the village.

We now need to further recognise and develop people within the congregation who have talents but may be hesitant about offering themselves to use their gifts in lay ministry within and outside the church.

Passionate Spirituality

As a predominantly older congregation, we might initially appear to be ‘set in our ways’, but beneath this exterior are faithful worshippers who attend regularly, and want to see the Spirit moving in our church. We are probably a little too complacent at times, and should be gently moved out of our comfort zone.

We are trying to explore different forms of worship, designed to attract newcomers and inspire our existing congregation. This is evident in our Café Church, which has successfully attracted a different congregation to the other services.

The congregation listen to the readings from scripture during services, but few may read the bible independently on a day to day basis. Bible study notes are taken by a few, but this has not been encouraged or promoted sufficiently. Bibles have now been placed at the end of each pew.

A prayer corner including a candle stand where people are encouraged to either write a prayer or light a candle. Written prayers are blessed at a communion service once a month.

It was revealed in our most recent NCD survey that for many of our congregation faith has an important influence on their life, but many people are reluctant to talk about their faith to others, and the experience of God working within them, preferring to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in their lives than to talk about their faith.

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Inspiring Worship

For many years the Eucharist (with Vestments) has been the principal service on Sundays. Using Common Worship with seasonal variations we aim to make our worship accessible, friendly, inspiring and with an ‘informal formality’. Hymns are both traditional and modern. We have a highly imaginative team who provide spiritual activities for children.

We enjoy the services of a very experienced Lay Reader, who adds another dimension to worship especially at Evensong.

The 10.00am midweek service is increasingly popular, with mainly elderly people enjoying the quiet reflectiveness of a simple service followed by fellowship.

The organ music provided before services is of a high standard, and creates a moving atmosphere for the preparation of worship. Sermons are enjoyed by the congregation, who see them as being relevant to individual situations.

We are introducing livelier hymns and alternative musical accompaniment from our worship band to provide an enjoyable experience to younger worshippers, and give them a desire to learn more about the love of Christ.

On the first Sunday we have a Café Church, with more informal singing and worship. We are attracting families who are not otherwise regular church attenders by using an interactive, informal and creative approach. Children ask their parents to take them to church! This is an area that we need to continue to develop in order to move our church forward and bring more people to Christ.

We have experimented with a variety of other services including Taize style worship and a silent Eucharist. Prayer and Praise and Songs of Praise have been very inspiring.

We have also valued the experience of different styles of service by joining St Botolph’s at Burton Hastings. The intimacy of a smaller church gives a different dimension to worship.

The congregation have an invitational culture and will invite anyone to services (even Methodists and Catholics in the village!).

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Holistic Small Groups

St James has a few small groups which meet on a regular basis. The Men’s Monthly Prayer Breakfast, Monthly Serenity Space, and a newly formed St James Pilgrims Group (fortnightly) are spiritually based. In these groups participants are encouraged to pray together, and enjoy fellowship. The Men’s Prayer Breakfast is entirely lay led. Serenity Space has been initiated by our assistant curate. Serenity Space provides a time for relaxation and silence, and is a recognised way of improving mental health. It is hoped that this group will continue into the future. St James Pilgrims has been formed within the last 12 months, with a focus on Bible study.

We have a pastoral group which meets regularly to support one another in their ministry to the sick and housebound.

Throughout Lent over recent years a study course has been followed, with the most popular courses, accompanied by a film. This year we have joined with the Methodists to study ‘Women in the Bible’.

There are a number of other small groups who meet regularly in and outside of church, such as the PCC and associated committees, flower arranging, social group, cleaning, women’s natter group, bell- ringing and choir where members enjoy fellowship and time together and the support of each other.

Need-Orientated Evangelism

Within the village there are 2 schools, Arden Forest Infants (non- denominational) and St James C of E Academy. Both schools attend church on a variety of occasions, and have been supported by past vicars. The new incumbent would be expected to join our 2 keen and enthusiastic foundation governors on the governing body of St James Academy. A new head teacher takes up her post in April 2018 and we would wish to further links between the church and the school.

We have fostered links with local youth groups who visit the church for particular services.

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The vicar is a trustee of the Bulking ton Charities. The purpose of the Charities is to provide financial assistance to the poor and needy of the village. Village people can be nominated or apply to the charity. This is not a church charity.

Church members are generous in giving to the local food bank, and produce is brought to church accumulated and distributed at regular intervals.

As part of our aim to keep in touch with Baptism families we have highlighted the need to create a mid-week service for mums/carers and very young children. At some time in the future we hope this will materialise.

The monthly Saturday coffee morning goes from strength to strength and attracts a large number of both church and non-church people from the village. Church members provide a warm welcome and a listening ear for everyone including the elderly and lonely. Future church activities are promoted and people are encouraged to participate.

We welcome people enthusiastically to coffee mornings, but this could be extended to opening the church more regularly to welcome specific groups such as the elderly, newly bereaved and the lonely.

We open every Saturday morning for enquiries, prayer and the booking of baptisms and weddings. A lay person is responsible for the completion of the wedding and baptism registers and attends each Saturday morning accompanied by a PCC member and usually the vicar. Hospitality is provided for all visitors.

We have had a number of events/services involving ourselves with the wider community. These include afternoon teas, musicals evenings, Christmas meal, visits to places of interest and pilgrimage to Santiago last September. A walk along St Cuthbert’s Way is planned for this year. All Souls Service and a service for Wedding Couples always proves popular.

As a church we pride ourselves on being of the Community for the Community, and would like to continue to be a focal point for people to come to join with us when joyfully celebrating, or in their need for solace. We would want our new incumbent to support village activities and therefore be a ‘presence’ within the village. We have encompassed the needs of a small traveller community on the boundary of the village and the church is used on occasions for this communities baptisms, weddings and funerals.

We have a desire and commitment to serve our local community, but we are not so good at helping people explore Christian faith. We have no faith-exploration courses running at present, which is an area we need to develop, alongside the need to help us share our faith appropriately.

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Loving Relationships

St James is both a ‘reaching out’ as well as a ‘welcoming in’ church. We consider that one of the strengths of St James is reaching out to the heart of the community, with love, friendship and laughter. The energy of the clergy and lay congregation has helped to form on the whole a very committed congregation, who often go out of their way to help and support each other and others. People are valued for what they do and are complimented for their achievements.

The men’s prayer group are part of the village Men’s Society and meet monthly for outings, friendship and fellowship.

We give loving support to our clergy! We always provide a warm welcome for visiting clergy too, who enjoy their visit and express a willingness to return.

We are delighted that we have now joined with Burton Hastings. We look forward to our new priest cementing and developing this relationship further.

We like a good laugh and so humour in our incumbent is important to us!

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Effective Structures

St James has an active and effective PCC, which meets bi-monthly. There are 15 members, including 2 Church Wardens and 3 Deanery Synod representatives. Some members are long-standing, and there have been newer members though we have found it difficult to retain them on PCC due to family and other commitments. The church council has lay-led sub-committees for Finance, Buildings and Fabric, Children’s Ministry, and General Worship. The Buildings and Fabric group also oversee the maintenance of the open churchyard. All of these committees are well-organised and effective, and give reports back to PCC.

Services and service times are reviewed regularly. Reluctantly at present we have ceased providing an 8.00am Communion service twice a month due to declining numbers. The evening service times change according to season.

We have a rota system for readers, intercessors and chalice assistants, who are reminded automatically by email. Effective rotas also exist for cleaning, flowers, refreshments, coffee morning and sides-people.

Pew news is available every week and highlights services and forthcoming events. It also contains a reflection either by the incumbent or a member of the congregation. The responsibility of the publication has been taken on by a lay person. Monthly services are posted on the church door. Both of these have improved communication. Our website is updated regularly and our Facebook page has almost 500 followers.

The Quinquennial inspection of 2017 highlighted repairs to the vestry roof, and work is in progress to obtain grants, by the Buildings sub- committee. We have a preservation account to support church maintenance. We have recently used expertise from a local church to support us with our safeguarding training.

ST JAMES CHURCH, BULKINGTON

St James (Grade II Listed) is the largest place of Christian worship in the village of Bulkington, and a church has existed on the current site since the early 13th century. The earliest patronage of Bulkington Church is dated 1258. The church has an attractive profile in a prominent site on the main road in the centre of the village.

St James is dominated by the 15th Century grey sandstone tower, which houses a peal of eight bells. The tenor bell is of the 16th Century, and three other bells were added from 1605 to 1676. The remaining bells are more recent additions. St James has an enthusiastic team of ringers, and the bells are rung before Sunday Services, on request at weddings, and on other special occasions.

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There are a number of features within the church which are worthy of particular mention:

 The distinctive font is a carved bowl of Numidian marble, surrounded by figures to depict the Baptism of Christ, and supported on four feet enriched with panels containing dolphins.  The font stands on a single drum from an antique column of Carrera marble. The column and font were imported from Rome in 1798 by Richard Haywood of Weston Hall. Richard Haywood was a master sculptor, and there are other examples of his work in the church, and commissioned pieces of his work can be found in Westminster Abbey, Arbury Hall and Virginia USA.  On the wall of the chancel there is a coat of arms in oak, dated 1629.  The attractive east window (placed there in 1893) contains the figures of the four evangelists, and of Abraham, Moses, David and Elijah.

Significant improvements to the west end have taken place since 2008, and a children’s room, meeting room, kitchen and toilet have been added. We do not however have a separate church hall. For this we use the Community Centre (see below).

St James Churchyard

The church is surrounded by an extensive churchyard, which is still open for burials. There are areas of the churchyard to the north of the church building dedicated for cremated remains. The churchyard is a focal point for many villagers, and many memorials are visited regularly. There are a number of significant tombstones, two are listed (which have now been laid flat due to their unstable condition), and there are four commonwealth war graves. Two characters mentioned in George Eliot’s Mill on the Floss are buried in a vault near to the entrance of the porch.

Grass-cutting within the churchyard is supported by a Remembrance Garden Fund. The fund is replenished by fees from burials, memorials and the burial of cremated remains. There will be a future need to generate more income into this fund from community users and to make the wider public aware of maintenance costs.

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St James Vicarage

The new modern, excellently maintained, four bedroomed vicarage is situated immediately behind the church, and has an interlinking gate with the churchyard. The new vicarage was built in the 1960’s in the grounds, and in front of the Old Vicarage. The vicarage is surrounded by an attractive garden, and access is gained through a driveway known as The Barbridge. Only two other properties, including the Old Vicarage can be accessed from this drive.

THE PARISH OF ST JAMES BULKINGTON

Geographical Location

Bulkington lies approximately 6 miles north east of Coventry, 1.5 miles east of Bedworth, and 3 miles south east of Nuneaton.

Bulkington is one of the largest villages in Warwickshire, and is fortunate to be surrounded by pleasant countryside, yet conveniently close to shopping and retail outlets. Situated within the centre of North Warwickshire, it is within easy reach of , Northamptonshire and Birmingham, being just 2 miles from the junction of the M6 and M69 motorways.

There is little industrial development in the village.

Population

The population of Bulkington at the 2011 census was 6,146. The population as a whole is older than the national average. However, the population of Bulkington is younger than the Warwickshire average. 93% of the village were born in the UK, and 72% of housing is owner-occupied.

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Schools

Arden Forest Infant School is a county school (175 pupils), and St James is a Church of England School Junior School (approximately 240 pupils). St James became an Academy in 2014, and 2 church members are foundation Governors. The vicar regularly led assemblies in the school, and whole school services are held in church termly. The new incumbent would be expected to join our 2 keen and enthusiastic foundation governors on the governing body of St James Academy. A new head teacher takes up her post in April 2018 and we would wish to further links between the church and the school.

Nicholas Chamberlaine Technology College is a senior school situated 2 miles from Bulkington . Blue Coat C of E School in Coventry is one of a number of excellent secondary schools in the surrounding area.

A page summarising the work of the DBE with schools can be found here: http://www.dioceseofcoventry.org/images/document_library/UDR01414.pdf.

Housing

A large amount of private housing development took place during the 1960’s, when there was a significant increase in the population. New estates were developed around Cleveland Road, Nuneaton Road, Leyland Road, Severn Road and Villa Crescent. Many of the people moving into these properties have remained in the village. There are 3 sheltered housing complexes at Philip Docker Court (private) Leonard Perkins House and Oakham Crescent (Council owned). Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council have recently produced a plan proposing the building of 750 houses in three areas within the village boundary.

Shopping

The modern shopping centre is situated centrally. There are 2 supermarkets, a building society, an estate agent, a car showroom, and numerous other retail shops. A post office is situated in the Spar supermarket.

Licensed Premises

There are 4 public houses, two of which offer food. There are 2 privately owned clubs, Poppies (which was formerly the War Memorial Club) and the Working Men’s Club. Weston Hall, a 3 star Great Western Hotel stands within the parish boundary.

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Bulkington Village Community Centre

The village centre was formed in 1996 after the closure of Bulkington First School. The centre is a registered charity, and is self- supporting, with all profits being ploughed back for the benefit of all its users. The centre has drawn together a blend of statutory and community services on one site. These include a doctor’s surgery, NHS Clinic, children’s centre, nursery and pre- school. The centre also provides rooms to hire for conference and training purposes in addition to social, educational and cultural purposes. The church has close links with the centre, with a member on the Management Committee, and a very good working relationship with the Centre.

Library

The former local authority run library is now a community library and managed by volunteers from the community.

Other Places of Worship and Ecumenical Relationships.

Bulkington has 4 places of worship, St James Parish Church, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Ryton Methodist Church, and Bulkington Congregational Church. The churchyard surrounding St James Parish Church is open for burials and the internment of ashes for all denominations.

We support the local Methodist Church and Roman Catholic Church., and take part in occasional joint services. However we are always looking for ways that this could be developed further.

Services and Statistics

 First Sunday of the month  10.00am-Café Church  4.30pm/6.30pm Eucharist

 Second/Fourth Sundays of the month  10.00am Eucharist

 Third Sunday of the month  10.00am Eucharist  4.30pm/6.30pm-Evening Worship

 Fifth Sunday of the month (when they occur)  10.00am Eucharist

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There is a celebration of Holy Communion/Morning Prayer each Wednesday at 10.00am. On the second and fourth Sundays we join with Burton Hastings for Evensong.

Further details may be obtained on the church website: www.stjameschurchbulkington.org.uk There is also a Facebook page: facebook.com/StJamesBulkington

Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals In the last year there have been Baptisms 33 Weddings 14 Funerals 23

Finance and Stewardship

The table below summarises our financial situation for the year ending 31st December 2017

ST JAMES BULKINGTON CHURCH General Income 81,390 Planned Giving 23,802 Gift Aid 8,828 Fundraising 5,197 Grants 80 General Expenditure 80,158 Parish Share 47,300 Unrestricted Reserves 2,684 Restricted Reserves 28,902 Plans for future Possible new heating expenditure system and repair to Vestry Roof

The Parish Share for 2018 is £50,103. This enables St James to have a priest for 90% of the time.

The Parish Share for 2017 was paid in full.

At present the gift aid scheme has 56 members, 50 of which are tax payers. In the spring of 2016 we launched a campaign entitled “Giving in Grace” in order to inform the wider community of the cost of running St James Church. The results of this have slightly increased our weekly giving.

St James Church supports the Children’s Society through individual boxes and the Christingle service. This generates over £1,000

A copy of our accounts for the last 3 years and the leaflet “Giving In Grace” are available on request.

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BURTON HASTINGS AND THE DIOCESAN MISSION PUR- POSE AND 8 ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF HEALTHY CHURCHES

St Botolph Burton Hastings with Stretton Baskerville is a small church in a small village. We recognise this and also the fact that the majority of the Vicar’s time (90%) will be spent in Bulkington, and a small amount of time in Burton Hastings with Stretton Baskerville (10%). However, though small, our congregation love our church and we get on well within the church and also with the congregation of Bulkington.

Empowering Leadership

We are only a very small church so most of the work falls on very few shoulders! Although we have no structured process of developing leaders, we do give space for people to lead if they would like to. For example, someone asked if they could run a Christmas event and they did and it was great. It brought people into the church, including children!

Gift-based Ministry

All people who attend services are encouraged to read the lessons if they wish. At festivals such as Easter, Christmas and Harvest, the church is bedecked with flowers from individuals who embellish different areas within the church. At our flower festivals, the church is decorated by volunteers in the community who have some link with the church/parish.

Passionate Spirituality

This was our weakest area. We love our church building (though it could be improved with the provision of a toilet!), but we are more reticent about declaring our love for God. We are a Middle- of-the-Road church and expressing our faith does not come naturally to us.

Inspiring Worship

This was found to be our strongest quality! Although small (10 for the morning congregation) we enjoy our worship, and our Evensong services (15 attending) attract people from Bulkington too! We enjoy coming to services and the combination of a beautiful church in a lovely setting, well-kept church-yard, with a warm welcome and friendly people, ‘cosy’ seating arrangement, traditional services, and uplifting music all help contribute to the positive atmosphere. This could be further improved with some more comfortable seating (cushions?!) and some toilets!

Our festivals attract larger congregations (eg about 50 for Harvest, and also larger for Christmas and Easter).

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Holistic Small Groups

We are effectively only one small group! Some of us also join in with the small groups at Bulkington (eg Lent groups and/or Bible study groups).

Need-Oriented Outreach

We have held several events at St Botolph’s in 2017 to try to connect with the wider village:  Bring and buy, March  Full Peal, April  Stainer's Crucifixion, Maundy Thursday  Musical Concert, September  A Children's Christmas Carol, December

We are not however good at helping people explore Christian faith and have not run any enquirer’s courses.

Loving Relationships

We are a very friendly and welcoming congregation who get on well together. We are not aware of any resentments.

Functional Structures

The PCC has 4 members and the Electoral roll has 8. Typically there are 3 PCC meetings per year, in March, June and October. Emergency meetings may be held after the morning service.

The church really does need additional facilities, especially a toilet but also refreshment facilities. We now have permission to build a toilet and servery and are in the process of fund raising, plus applying for grants. There is a lot of support for this in the congregation (though not from everybody!).

Parking is also difficult.

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THE PARISH OF BURTON HASTINGS WITH STRETTON BASKERVILLE

History

In the reign of Henry II (12th century), St Botolph's Church was granted to Nuneaton's priory by Ralph de Tureville at the request of his mother Emma, who had become a nun there. There is only one Nuneaton in the world! The prefix “Nun-” refers to the inhabitants of the Benedictine priory which was in the town.

The church, a grade II* listed building consists of a chancel, nave, porch and west tower with 5 bells. The north side of the nave has traces of a blocked door. The font of c.1300, as mentioned by Pevsner’s Architectural Guide, is octagonal with blind trefoiled arcading, rosettes and fleurs-de-lys, on a round base. The chancel and a portion of the tower masonry appear to date back to the 14th century. Outside above the porch and to the right, there is a slate sundial dated 1867.

Burton Hastings with Stretton Baskerville had formerly been part of the Benefice, with Withybrook and , but during the 2014 interregnum, the decision was taken for Burton Hastings with Stretton Baskerville to become a separate benefice and share the vicar of Bulkington. This was our request and the arrangement is working well.

Location

The parish of Burton Hastings with Stretton Baskerville is in North Warwickshire, bordering on Leicestershire. The church is in Nuneaton Deanery, though in Rugby Borough. The church is less than 2 miles from the M69/A5 Stretton Baskerville roundabout.

The Ashby de la Zouch canal winds close to the village. As well as the church, 3 canal bridges are listed by English Heritage.

Population

There are about 180 residents in Burton Hastings and 20 in Stretton Baskerville. The School in the catchment area is Wolvey School. Burton Hastings Church of England Junior and Infants School closed in 1973. There are no pubs in Burton Hastings, no shops, and no longer any post office.

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Buildings

There are plans to repair the stonework. The glass of the south church window was refurbished in 2017. The church currently has no plumbing facilities (apart from the font). Plans are being made for an extension. To date, the architect’s plans have been approved by Rugby Council and a Faculty has been approved. Major funding applications have been made so far without success. However, a variety of funding has been successfully gathered. More about this can be seen online on the website by following the link “Extension: the story so far”.

The building is not used as much as it could be if it had facilities, ie running water and a WC.

There is a graveyard surrounding the church. It is open.

Vicarage

The vicarage is in Bulkington.

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Services

An example of an average monthly service rota is shown below. We are willing to consider changes to this. (Recent changes, 2017, included swapping 1st with 2nd, and 3rd with 4th Sundays and rescheduling evensong times from 1830.)

1st Sunday 2nd Sunday 3rd Sunday 4th Sunday 5th Sunday Burton 0830 1630 0830 1630 Hastings Eucharist BCP Evensong Eucharist BCP Evensong (spoken) (spoken)

8.30am on the 1st and 3rd Sundays link well with Bulkington’s morning service schedule.

Many people from Bulkington join us for the evening services.

As yet, we don’t have a schedule for 5th Sunday so would go to Bulkington.

We had 2 baptisms and 2 weddings in 2016, and 2 weddings in 2017.

School Links

There is no school in our parish.

Ecumenical Links

We do not have any ecumenical links.

Administration

Website: (general information, embedded twitter for news, link to JustGiving page) http://stbotolphsbh.org.uk

A Church Near You: (for services) https://www.achurchnearyou.com/stbotolphsbh

Twitter: (for spreading news and messages) https://twitter.com/stbotolphs

The website is updated by Anne Dickinson

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Finance and Stewardship

The table below summarises our financial situation in 2017.

Burton Hastings w Stretton Baskerville Total

General Income 4,595 Planned Giving 0 Gift-Aid 2,791 Fundraising (eg fetes) 3,928 Grants 6,500 General Expenditure 29,538 Parish Share Contribution 5,589 Unrestricted Reserves 10,362 Restricted Reserves 26,918 Any special considerations, future 15,000 expenditure etc?

Clergy expenses are met in full.

Parishes are expected to fund the costs of their own ordained ministry. This in effect means paying the full cost of all clergy. Currently the contribution for a vicar with all ancillary costs is approximately £57,000/annum so we recognises that there is a large shortfall between current contributions and the full costs. We are grateful to those churches elsewhere in the Deanery and Diocese who help to support our ministry. It is our every intention to contribute more ourselves towards these costs as the congregation grows.

A copy of our accounts for the last 3 years is available on request.

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FURTHER INFORMATION

For further details and an application form please contact: Yvette McDonald, PA to the Archdeacons By email to [email protected] or 02476 521337

For informal conversations, please contact: Archdeacon Missioner, Ven Morris Rodham, on tel: 07506731892 ([email protected]) or Area Dean, Rev Frank Seldon on tel: 02476 346413 ([email protected])

Closing date for applications: Noon, Friday 29th June, 2018 Interviews: To be held on Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th July, 2018

An application form can be downloaded from the Diocesan Website: http://www.dioceseofcoventry.org/vacancies

Enhanced DBS disclosure is required for this post.

This is a Lord Chancellor’s Patronage Appointment.

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