St John the Baptist, Coventry Parish Profile
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, COVENTRY PARISH PROFILE Page 1 of 26 BISHOP’S INTRODUCTION St John’s is a living example of the parable of the mustard seed. It was a struggling Anglo-Catholic parish in the city centre with a congregation in decline and serious difficulty. Questions were asked about its sustainability. But within this small congregation were individuals with a strong faith and with a genuine heart for God, their church community, and their local parish. Changing the biblical image, they were like the smouldering wick which should not be put out. So we gave encouragement to this small band of people and they more than rose to the challenge. Galvanising other members, they engaged with the Natural Church Development process of 8 Essential Qualities of Church life, and, combined with their own initiatives, they started to see their congregation grow. We have great hopes that this is the beginning of the fire of God’s love spreading through an area of Coventry that once burned with the bombs of human hatred. So we made the decision to invest in a half-time post to help further this growth. This was until we received significant funding from the Church Commissioners Strategic Growth fund for our Acceler8 project which has allowed us now to create a full-time post. Acceler8 aims to combine the strategy of the 8 Essential Qualities with the context of 20s-30s culture – with students and local residents on a housing estate St John’s parish has 60% of its inhabitants in this age range. The parish passed Resolutions A and B in 1994, and the PCC has requested, on grounds of theological conviction, that comparable arrangements now be made for it in accordance with the House of Bishops’ Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests. So we have an excellent opportunity to invest in the ‘mutual flourishing’ set out in the Bishops’ Declaration and give the opportunity for an Anglo-Catholic parish to work out how to thrive in this age range, which is currently largely absent from its congregation. We are therefore looking for an Anglo-Catholic, male, priest, with a passion for reaching the younger generation and inspiring the next generation of lay leaders, deacons and priests. At least 50% of your time will be spent with this age range, and you will be part of the Acceler8 Team which is helping the whole Diocese learn how to reach this ‘missing generation’. And you will have the freedom to try new things. If this excites you, and you relish the thought of many 20s-30s taking nest in the branches of the kingdom growing by the grace of God in St John’s, we would love to hear from you! With my prayers Page 2 of 26 MESSAGE FROM THE BISHOP OF EBBSFLEET Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Coventry When you hear the name Fleet Street, and the church that miraculously survived the Blitz, you’ll think first of London and St Paul’s Cathedral. But the same is true, perhaps even more inspiringly, of a church twice St Paul’s age – St John’s in the centre of Coventry, which has survived much over the centuries, and now stands we hope, by God’s grace, on the brink of a new and exciting chapter of its long witness to the catholic traditions of Christian faith and teaching, and distinctive catholic approaches to worship, to pastoral care and to service in the surrounding community. It is a witness that the Bishop and the Diocese alike want to embrace, to see flourish and to invest in as part of the shared life of the Diocese; and it’s a witness that unites its congregation. So, for the right priest, the one whom God is calling (perhaps that’s you), who has energy and commitment to communicate the catholic traditions of the Church, and vision for ministry in particular to younger generations, this will be a very challenging and rewarding ministry, reaching into St John’s own youthful parish community, and out to the city’s many workers and visitors. I am delighted to have been entrusted recently by Bishop Christopher with the oversight of this parish and a share in this future, and look forward to working alongside him, and the new parish priest and the worshipping community, to make St John’s a place where people’s encounter with Jesus Christ among his people is real and life-changing for many. If perhaps God is calling you to be that new parish priest, we look forward to hearing from you. With every blessing: +Jonathan Ebbsfleet Page 3 of 26 DEANERY SUMMARY St. John the Baptist, Coventry is part of Coventry North Deanery which in this Diocese is a key strategic unit for mission. Coventry North includes city centre, UPA, suburban and rural parishes. Almost all church traditions are within the Deanery, from evangelical to Traditionalist, and including a Pioneer Church in the City Centre (Urban Hope), and the Cathedral. We are all committed to fulfilling the threefold Diocesan Mission Purpose of Worshipping God, Making New Disciples and Transforming Communities via the 8 Essential Qualities of healthy churches, and there are good relationships between clergy in our chapter. The deanery is seeking to grow churches and to become more missionally sustainable. We are particularly aware of those areas of our parish demographics which are disproportionately under-represented in our congregations, and therefore work with younger people in their 20-30s is one of our target areas. We are rejecting the narrative of inevitable decline, and are expectant that God will do great things among us. Alison Evans Area Dean Page 4 of 26 BACKGROUND TO POST The geographical outline of St John the Baptist’s parish looks like a broken heart – heart shaped with a line (a major road) through it. We would like to think that this has some symbolism for our future ministry in ministering to the ‘broken-hearted’. ‘The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favour, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory. 4 They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.’ (Isaiah 61:1-4, NRSV) The church, a Grade 1 listed mediaeval gem, is one of the most historic buildings in Coventry, one of the few to survive the bombing of Coventry in the second world war. It lies in the midst of the few remaining mediaeval buildings in Coventry, and therefore has great potential to attract tourists. Indeed, more could be done to highlight the city’s mediaeval heritage for tourists, and St John’s could play a catalytic part in that. St John’s is also very close to great numbers of student accommodation for the rapidly expanding Coventry University, which attracts students now from all over the world. However, the parish also contains a significant area of deprivation ‘across the road’ (the Coventry Ring Road), which includes blocks of high-rise flats. The parish is very deprived, ranking 194 out of 201 in the diocese and 12,114 out of 12,706 in England. The age demographic is very young, with 67% of the 6,000 population being between the ages of 18 and 44. This is the highest percentage of young people of any parish in the Diocese. The mix of young people is students and deprived estate. It is fair to say that, with our focus on traditional Anglo-Catholic worship, St John’s in the recent past has adhered to an attractional model of ministry, and resources for any missional activity have been concentrated on the city centre - though good relations have been sustained and developed elsewhere. Page 5 of 26 The post became vacant when the previous Rector retired early and joined the Ordinariate, along with 7 members of the church. With a drop in stewardship, a reputation for being inward looking, and a lack of serious missional engagement within the parish, there was a serious risk that St John’s would lose the possibility of another stipendiary priest. However: ‘They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.’ The interregnum has provided us with the opportunity to reflect and re-engage with our parish and a more outward focus on our mission and purpose. Attendance has already increased by 20 people over the last year. We have created a positive visitor experience during the week, and continued our long tradition of offering refreshments on Saturday mornings. The renewed sense of purpose and direction in the interregnum has not gone unnoticed within the wider Deanery and Diocese. There has been great mutual encouragement after visits and input from Bishops and Archdeacons. We have engaged fully with the 8 Essential Qualities process and found it to be very helpful. We want to build on all of this. The Deanery and Diocesan thinking about St John’s future has therefore moved significantly over the last year.