PARISH PROFILE 2016

The Collegiate Church of The Holy and Undivided Trinity Stratford-upon-Avon

Warwickshire

with All Saints’ Luddington and St Helen’s Clifford Chambers

ASSOCIATE VICAR

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CONTENTS

VICAR’S INTRODUCTION TO THE PARISH …… 3

DEANERY SUMMARY …… 4

INTRODUCTION TO THE POST OF ASSOCIATE VICAR - ROLE and RESPONSIBILITIES …… 5

PERSON SPECIFICATION …… 6

THE PARISH OF STRATFORD-UPON-AVON AND THE DIOCESAN MISSION PURPOSE …… 7

THE PARISH OF STRATFORD-UPON-AVON IN RELATION TO THE 8 QUALITIES OF HEALTHY GROWING CHURCHES …… 9

THE PARISH: HISTORY, LOCATION AND POPULATION …… 15

THE BUILDINGS …… 17

SERVICES …… 20

ECUMENICAL LINKS …… 21

MINISTRY TEAM …… 22

ADMINISTRATION …… 23

FINANCE AND STEWARDSHIP …… 24

FURTHER DETAILS …… 25

2 VICAR’S INTRODUCTION TO THE PARISH

Holy Trinity is a remarkable parish church for a wide variety of reasons: a thriving town centre civic parish church with a large congregation as well as a major international tourist attraction; a traditional Parish Eucharist with fine choral music happening at the same time as a cafe-style informal service for young families taking place in a community centre with music led by a band; a large team of paid staff working alongside numerous teams of active volunteers to lead, deliver and sustain ministry across the parish.

We are seeking to live out our vision - lives changed through God’s love - in many different ways both at Holy Trinity and in the villages of Luddington and Clifford Chambers. This means engaging with all ages, and we have recently appointed a full-time Children and Families Minister who will lead our growing ministry in this area. We have a good reputation for welcome and hospitality, and the recent completion of an extension to the church with much needed toilets (and a new vestry) is helping us to develop this. There is a real thirst for growth and learning amongst the congregations, as well as a willingness to embrace change which will help us to grow.

The post of Associate Vicar is well established and plays a vital role, alongside the Vicar, in leading us forwards in our purpose of worshipping God, making disciples and transforming communities. The Leadership Team, consisting of Vicar, Associate Vicar, Curate, Children and Families Minster and Reader, work in a collaborative and supportive way to lead the parish and are supported by a wider Ministry Team which includes a number of retired clergy. The lay staff team, which has recently seen a number of new appointments, works together very effectively, and is led by the Parish Manager (who oversees office staff and Parish Centre operations), the Head Verger (who is responsible for the vergers and operation of the church building) and the Director of Music. A strong team of church wardens and many different expressions of ministry amongst the laity make this a parish with a strong sense of collegiality.

The PCC recently agreed that our goals for the next five years will be to focus on Contact, Nurture and Commitment. The Associate Vicar will play a key role in enabling us to develop appropriate strategies for making contact with new people (especially in areas of the parish where we have previously had a low profile), providing opportunities for lasting nurture and prompting deeper commitment to following the way of Jesus Christ.

It’s a challenging but exciting journey and we look forward to sharing it with our new Associate Vicar!

The Revd Patrick Taylor, Vicar of Stratford-upon Avon

3 DEANERY SUMMARY

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Stratford-upon-Avon is the major population centre in the otherwise largely rural Fosse Deanery. There are currently 9.5 stipendiary clergy posts, several self-supporting and retired clergy and curates serving 8 benefices containing 25 parishes:

The Deanery has great potential for mission, both in Stratford-upon-Avon and in the eastern rural benefices, with significant new housing developments coming across the deanery.

We have a vision of the love of God sweeping across the Deanery, transforming lives and communities. We are fully committed to the Diocesan Mission Purpose of Worshipping God, Making New Disciples and Transforming Communities.

Belonging to Fosse Deanery strengthens our churches partly because of the genuine depth of friendship among the clergy. We prioritise  prayer together: many clergy meet together weekly for quiet prayer  co-operation and generosity in sharing resources, including via our website www.fossedeanery.co.uk  trying new ways of doing things as we re-imagine rural and town ministry for today

In this appointment we hope for a priest who will join us in discovering God’s good purposes for our diverse Deanery, contributing according to their particular gifts.

The Revd Kate Mier, Area Dean of Fosse

4 INTRODUCTION TO THE POST OF ASSOCIATE VICAR - ROLE and RESPONSIBILITIES DESCRIPTION

Location: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire This an ordained Associate Minister post. Stipend at Associate Minister level Salary level: (£25,170). Accommodation provided. Priests in the Church of England work a 6-day week. Evening and weekend Hours: work will be required.

The Deanery Plan allocates two full time stipendiary clergy to Holy Trinity Stratford due to its population (officially 14,326 but possibly now as high as 17,000+), electoral roll (400+), average Sunday attendance (300+) and strategic position (highest parish share in the diocese).

Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon, is a large and vibrant parish and civic church. The Associate Vicar shares leadership of the parish with the Vicar, in a cohesive and creative working partnership.

The role of parish priests in the Diocese of Coventry is to deliver the Diocesan Mission Purpose of Worshipping God, Making New Disciples, and Transforming Communities, via the delivery of 8 Essential Qualities in the life of the church:

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

More on these qualities can be found at www.healthychurches.org.uk. Holy Trinity is committed to fulfilling these qualities within its mission and ministry. The role of Associate Vicar of Holy Trinity will also include specifically:

 Parish Leadership. o The post-holder will share in the overall leadership and development of parish strategy in a creative and cohesive relationship with the vicar. o Leadership of ministry in the village of Luddington.

 Worship. Leading Eucharistic worship in a large civic church with ‘presence’, passion and creativity, for all ages, and outward looking.

 Nurture and Discipleship. Responsibility for the development of: o Enquirers’ courses o Home groups o Development of lay ministry and leadership.

5  Pastoral Care. Responsibility for the various pastoral care teams such as Welcoming, Bereavement and Lay Chaplains.

Given the nature of Holy Trinity’s worship and tradition, the post would be most suited to a priest from an open catholic or open evangelical background.

Main Activities and Responsibilities:

 Shared leadership of the Parish with the vicar, in line with our recently formed Parish Vision, Purpose and Goals (see Parish Profile). This will include regular team and other leadership meetings.  Primary leadership of ministry within All Saints and the small village of Luddington.  Assist the implementation of the 8 Essential Qualities throughout the life of the churches, but especially in the areas of nurture, discipleship, and pastoral care as outlined under Role Profile above.  Leading ‘Inspiring’ worship.

PERSON SPECIFICATION n

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We seek an ordained priest with a commitment to the Diocesan Mission Purpose of Worshipping God, Making New Disciples, and Transforming Communities, via delivery of the 8 Essential Qualities for healthy growing churches, and who is:

 Capable of significant leadership responsibilities in a large parish and civic church.

 A gifted leader of inspiring Eucharistic worship.

 Experienced in delivering enquirers’ courses and helping people become disciples of Jesus Christ.

 Experienced in developing the health and life of small groups in the life of a church.

 Pastorally motivated and who can both offer pastoral care personally as well as creating pastoral teams.

 Self-motivated with the ability to work on their own initiative, as well as collegially as part of a team. Good time management skills.

6 THE PARISH OF STRATFORD-UPON-AVON AND THE DIOCESAN MISSION PURPOSE

The Mission Purpose of the Diocese of Coventry is:

o Worshipping God o Making New Disciples o Transforming Communities

The Parish of Stratford-upon-Avon is fully committed to fulfilling these three aspects. As a parish during 2015, we have reviewed and restated our Parish Vision to be:

Lives changed through God’s love

Our parish vision statement responds to the question: “What are we here for?” It is intended to help us create a common identity and clear direction as a church and parish. This will help us to play our part in God’s mission to the world more effectively.

Lives changed…

Our vision is to see a real difference in people’s lives. Change is the work of the Holy Spirit which is both personal and communal. We see this in the sacramental life of the Church where the ordinary is changed into something holy.

…through God’s love

The Bible tells us that because of God’s love Jesus came into the world. When we journey with Jesus we find amazing things happen!

We have defined Our PURPOSE as:

To play our part…

In order to achieve our vision, we need to work together. Like the different roles in a play, each of us has a different part, but we are all telling the same story together!

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…in worshipping God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)

Worship lies at the heart of who we are. We worship one God, in three Persons. This unity with diversity should also be reflected in the different types of worship we offer as part of a single community, from midweek Morning Prayer to BCP Choral Evensong; from a village Communion with 12 people to a regular Sunday morning of 200+ at Holy Trinity; from a Choral Parish Eucharist to cafe style services in the Parish Centre and on a new housing development. We look to provide different ‘ways in’ through worship which is eucharistically centred.

…making disciples of Jesus Christ

Jesus tells us to make new disciples, and our calling to evangelism is vital. We also need renewal for existing disciples, bringing depth to our faith and new life into our church. It’s an area that needs further work! We have an established Welcome Team and process of welcome for new people. As a congregation we aim to bring our vision to life through all our activities: liturgical, educational and social. We have in the past run regular enquirers courses such as Start! and are currently hosting Alpha and Pilgrim Courses. We also aim to make disciples through other spiritual and formational programmes.

…and transforming communities

The Gospel challenges us to be outward looking and to seek new ways to make a difference in our communities. We are sent out to be the presence of Christ beyond the walls of our church. Members of Holy Trinity, Luddington and Clifford Chambers play key roles in the life of the town and villages and we have active engagement with many local institutions within the parish, including seven schools (especially The Willows

C of E Primary School where the vicar is a Foundation Governor), the District and Town Councils, The Royal Shakespeare Company, shops, pubs and clubs. We do not have such a high profile in the most deprived parts of the parish, an area of weakness identified by the PCC as a priority. We are addressing this in a number of ways as outlined below in the section on need-orientated outreach.

8 THE PARISH OF STRATFORD-UPON-AVON IN RELATION TO THE 8 QUALITIES OF HEALTHY GROWING CHURCHES

Empowering Leadership

The PCC identified this as one of our strengths with lay leaders responsible for significant areas of church life, e.g. Lay Chaplains, Pastoral Contact Teams, Bereavement Team.

The administrative functions of the parish are largely lay-led, with volunteer and paid individuals taking responsibilities overseen and encouraged by the clergy. The Vicar and Associate Vicar co-ordinate and direct the various groups and assist in the identification and recruitment of new leaders.

Reference is made later in this profile to aspects of the complex structures which support the church’s core activities. The very high level of competence and commitment in and on the edges of the congregation means that there is rarely any great difficulty in filling leadership and support roles in any of these. However, the groups from which such people are drawn are ageing. A particular challenge is to identify leadership gifts amongst newer and (not least) younger members of the congregation and to empower them to exercise those gifts.

Gift-Orientated Ministry

We actively seek to recognise people’s passions and gifting and release them into ministry. There are many gifted individuals in the 400+ congregation and we could be more proactive in the way we recognise their gifts and enable them to fulfil them within the life of the church and beyond. This presents quite a challenge in such a large congregation!

9 Passionate Spirituality

Being built on the site of a former Benedictine monastery, we are naturally enthusiastic about the integration of prayer, study and work! There are opportunities for deepening spiritual life, including Quiet Days, and retreats; also pilgrimages, which seem to draw people together across an unusually wide spectrum. We do host a broad range of spiritualities – catholic, liberal and evangelical, traditional and charismatic.

One Sunday a month, the ministry of prayer for healing with the laying-on-of-hands is offered in a side chapel during the Eucharist; and on other Sundays, prayer ministry led by the Lay Chaplains Team is available at the end of the service.

A contemplative prayer group has recently been formed.

Following a recent decision by the PCC, we admitted 16 children to receive Communion before Confirmation.

Inspiring Worship

When we are at our best, worship at Holy Trinity is engaging and reflective, profound and joyous. The 10:00am Parish Eucharist (Common Worship Contemporary Rite) is led by our excellent robed choir and at the same time FAB (Faith At Breakfast) takes place in the Parish Centre. This is designed for families with children and starts with breakfast served from 9:30am. They then join the rest of the congregation at the distribution of Holy Communion.

On the first Sunday in the month GoodNews@10 takes place in the Parish Centre instead of FAB. It's an all-age, café-style eucharist held in parallel with the Parish Eucharist. On the fourth Sunday each month the morning eucharist in church (Food4thought) takes a less traditional form with a music group and talk. The 6:00pm service takes various forms (see below). The 8:00am Holy Communion follows the Common Worship Traditional Rite and includes a short sermon. Midweek and village Communions are normally Common Worship Contemporary Rite, with sermon. Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer is said daily Monday to Friday, and a few members of the congregation often join the clergy for this.

We have a full-time Director of Music (jointly with King Edward VI School).

The music group is much appreciated, and there is real potential for a wider range of musical instruments than at other services. 10

There are daily Bible readings in the Church from the King James Bible which demonstrate that this is a “living church and not just a museum”.

In October 2012, we introduced “Holy Trinity at Rosebird”. This monthly café-style fifty- minute outreach service takes place in a community hall close to a largely unchurched modern housing estate called “Trinity Mead”. Breakfast precedes a 9.30am start. This has proved extremely popular with families attracted by the informality of the worship, and the child-friendly atmosphere.

We also hold a contemporary worship service “Open to God” one Sunday evening per month.

Holistic Small Groups

We have six regular home groups. We know there could be many more! We run a Growing Together programme with varying opportunities for encouragement of ongoing discipleship, e.g. Exploring Scripture, Faith in Film, and Novel Theology. We have identified the need for greater co-ordination of this nurture programme, with more training and direction given to the leaders. This is a key role of the new Associate Vicar. Around 15% of the Electoral Roll is in ongoing small groups, while a much higher proportion takes part in some small group activity each year.

Children and young people are welcomed through various groups such as FAB (Faith at Breakfast) altar servers, and the choir and music groups. While the lack of children and young families was recently a major concern, we are pleased to see that numbers are growing and the initiatives we have put in place over the last 2 years are now rapidly gaining momentum. We have recently appointed a full time Children and Families Minister to further this mission. We still recognise that we have a gap in teenagers wanting to worship and we have plans to address this.

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In addition to the more structured ‘group life’ illustrated above, there are within the congregation (and often involving some who are on the fringes) a number of activity groups which draw people together in a more formal and less ‘specifically spiritual’ way. One such is the Trinity Players, whose aim is to help make Holy Trinity a place where those for whom the performing arts are important can find a spiritual home. Around 30-40 people are involved in presenting usually two or three plays a year and often making dramatic contributions to worship at the major festivals.

Need-Orientated Outreach

As part of our needs based outreach, the PCC instituted ‘Holy Trinity in the Community’ – a parish group formed to provide charitable giving and support in Stratford. This has been funded using a percentage profit from the church’s shop and has helped a number of people referred to us by social organisations over the last 3 years.

A quite different form of outreach is represented in our monthly HolyTrinity@Rosebird service, and associated ministry on the Trinity Mead estate, a large new housing area south of the river where there is a variety of housing/socio- economic groups - from 5-bed townhouses to social housing.

Within the town, working with Stratford Churches Together, we sponsored the introduction of Street Pastors to Stratford and supported this group through our Christmas collections. We were also instrumental in organising a Food Bank for the needy.

While recognising ministry to the poor as a high priority, we also acknowledge that Jesus’ commission to his followers was to take the Gospel to everyone, including the ‘rich’. Many of these flock in huge numbers to our Christmas and other special services, and we face the challenge of helping them to take the next steps to faith and commitment, confirmation and active church membership.

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Other examples of outreach include the following:

A parent and toddler group (Trinity Tots) is currently run weekly by volunteer helpers.

Lay Chaplains are available, in church, three sessions weekly, offering a welcome and confidential listening service or prayer to anyone on request.

Loving Relationships

We endeavour to live out our core values of ‘Holiness, Humility & Hospitality’ and this has been identified by the PCC as an area of strength. Within the many activities detailed elsewhere in this profile, strong friendship networks have evolved, and these overlap widely. People of very different personality types, views and convictions generally work harmoniously together. Visitors and newcomers frequently comment on the warm and friendly welcome they receive. Welcome Lunches and Evenings for new worshippers are well established and successful, involving several members of the existing congregation. The same has been true of the Hospitality Teas aimed at visitors, which in recent years have been organised in the church on summer weekends, and have been widely appreciated. Other social activities are organised and the support they receive varies. In a church the size of Holy Trinity, there are inevitably some who are less well integrated into the community than others, but very few who do not appear to “belong” at some level.

Functional Structures

Registered with the Charities Commission on 19 March 2009, our key management body, the PCC, has 23 members. Currently, 10 are male, 13 female. Despite our best efforts, there is work to be done to attract younger blood.

The full PCC meets eight times during the year with an average attendance of 80%. Given its wide responsibilities, the PCC has a number of committees or teams, each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These teams include Holy Trinity in the Community, Liturgy and Worship, Children and Families, Nurture and Discipleship and Buildings – the two village churches have their own teams. They are all responsible to the PCC and report back regularly, with minutes or reports of their deliberations being received by the PCC, as appropriate, and discussed as necessary.

13 Day to day operational issues are delegated from the PCC to the Standing Committee. This body comprises the Vicar, Associate Vicar and the 4 churchwardens, together with the honorary treasurer and secretary. This body meets at least monthly.

In addition to the PCC teams there are some organisations which are part of the Holy Trinity family but have their own leadership, bank accounts, and, in some cases, charitable status - for example, The Friends of Shakespeare’s Church, which has raised over £1m for restoration. The PCC is well represented on its board of trustees, and working relationships between its officers and the Vicar, wardens and PCC treasurer are very

good.

The Friends of the Music, exists to support the musical life of the church, and has in the recent past raised about £20,000 for a grand piano and chamber organ which are now well used. The choir itself has its own bank account, as do the bell-ringers and the Friends of the Music.

14 THE PARISH: HISTORY, LOCATION AND POPULATION

Stratford-upon-Avon is an attractive small market town on the banks of the River Avon in South Warwickshire, famous as the birthplace of William Shakespeare. The town contains the three theatres of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Shops and social life are much livelier than would be the case in most towns of a similar size. Schools are very good. Both Birmingham and the Cotswolds are within easy reach, and it is a very pleasant place to live and work.

Transport links: Junction 15 on the M40 is within easy reach. There is an excellent mainline service from Warwick Parkway Station, nine miles away.

The Parish has been expanding continuously in recent years and may well now contain upwards of 17,000 people, and is exceptionally varied in social make up. Ethnic diversity (not-white British) is low at 6% and 23% of the population is over 65. There is 12% child poverty, 10% pensioner poverty and 9% working age poverty with 22% of people without any qualification. However house prices are high for the West Midlands and while there is a predominant sense of comfortable affluence, the parish does contain areas of considerable need, and a not insignificant drugs problem.

There are three churches in the parish. At Holy Trinity congregations vary from about 30 at 8:00am Holy Communion and 70 at Choral Evensong, to 250+ at the 10:00am Parish Communion. Major festivals and civic services see congregations of 650+. Vestments are worn and the sacrament reserved in a church encompassing a broad range of Christian traditions.

All Saints’ Luddington has been a daughter church for many years, with the present church dating from the 19th century. It is a thriving church with a congregation which totals over 30 people. A small and friendly weekly congregation of between 15 – 25 people attends each Sunday. The church has a capacity for about 90 people in the nave and during the festivals at Christmas, Easter and Harvest the church is full. The church has good regular support for flower arranging, church cleaning and help in the

15 churchyard from the community of Luddington. Visitors and congregation alike feel warmly welcomed and find that it is a peaceful and tranquil location.

The population of this small village almost doubles in the summer when about 500 young adults from Eastern Europe, and beyond, come to work in the fields.

St Helen’s Clifford Chambers was part of Welford parish in the diocese of Gloucester until 2001 when it joined Stratford. It is a village of great charm and interest, as is the church, with Saxon and Norman features. The church has grown over the years as successive generations have extended and improved it. It has historic connections with the family of William Shakespeare. Legend has it that his mother lived in Clifford Chambers for a while to escape the Plague and to keep her young family safe. A funeral bier was presented to the church by John Shakespeare in 1608. St Helen’s owns the second oldest surviving chalice in the country dating from the 1490s. It survived the Reformation when most church silver was melted down and re-modelled.

16 THE BUILDINGS

Holy Trinity

With its attractive riverside setting, iconic spire, spectacular 15th century perpendicular clerestories, magnificent chancel, and early 13th century transepts, our cathedral-like church (Stratford’s oldest building) is a priceless asset, an inspiring setting for worship, and – a challenge. A challenge to our finances (it costs over £0.25 million per annum to maintain), and to our ingenuity, flexibility, administration, and patience. We wrestle with how to provide the thousands of tourists who visit annually to see Shakespeare’s tomb with a good cultural and historical experience while helping them to recognise that “Someone greater than Shakespeare is here”. How can we more creatively use the space available for displays to show the relevance of Christianity to contemporary life, and the Christian Church’s crucial role in the life of the nation and worldwide?

While the primary function of the church is as a place of worship and mission, it is also a significant place of pilgrimage for the many thousands of people who come in search of Shakespeare. It can also claim to be one of the finest parish churches in the country. It is open to the public seven days a week and is reputedly England’s most visited parish church.

Considerable renovation has already been achieved within the church, including renovations to the tower and clerestory and installing new heating. Since 2003, over £2.0 million has been raised and spent on urgent and essential high level repairs and improvements, including tower, clerestory renovations, the Clopton Chapel, toilet facilities, a new vestry and a new heating system. The last quinquennial in 2015 showed that the urgent remedial work has now been successfully completed allowing attention to move to the less urgent but important works that will further the mission and ministry of the church.

The parish centre is located in Old Town, directly opposite the lime tree avenue leading to the north door of the church. Built in the 1960s, it contains the parish offices, a kitchen and a lounge, in addition to a large hall and stage. It also provides necessary car-parking for about 20 cars for staff and visitors and the meeting room facilities available to the church.

17 The hall is used for coffee on a Sunday following the 10:00am service and on a daily basis for a multitude of parish and community events – including Guides and Brownies, theatre groups, keep fit, children’s play groups and Tai-Chi. The size of the hall means that it is ideal for large parish gatherings including Annual Meetings, Harvest Suppers and dances etc. In recent years we have upgraded the heating and toilet facilities for which we have received grants from the community.

All Saints’ Luddington

The church is listed Grade II and stands within a conservation area. The building is brick and tile construction with the outer walls encased in local lias limestone. A feature of the building is a small turret with three bells, surmounted on a tiled spire. The church building is well maintained and cared for but has no toilet facility, nor mains water. The church is generally in good repair.

St Helen’s Clifford Chambers A Quinquennial Inspection during 2007 highlighted serious erosion to the tower and east end of the chancel. The cost of the restoration was approximately £140,000, most of which was funded from the St Helen’s fabric account. However generous donations were received from some of the villagers. Contributions also came from various fund-raising activities.

18 3 Coopers Close The Associate Vicar currently lives in a four- bedroomed house, 3 Coopers Close, built in 2005, with a double garage and manageable garden. This property is owned by St James Trust and is administered by the PCC.

While this is an attractive house in a pleasant location, traffic congestion between the house and the church can be a problem

2 St Johns Close The PCC owns a four-bedroom semi-detached house which in the past has been used to house curates. The house is let on a 6 monthly commercial lease and is 5 minutes walk from the church.

19 SERVICES

Sunday Services An example of an average monthly service rota is shown below. This pattern of worship has evolved over several years.

1st Sunday 2nd Sunday 3rd Sunday 4th Sunday 5th Sunday Holy 8:00am 8:00am 8:00am 8:00am 8:00am Trinity Holy Holy Holy Holy Holy Communion Communion Communion Communion Communion

9:30am Holy Trinity @Rosebird

10:00am 10:00am 10:00am 10:00am 10:00am Good FAB(Faith at FAB(Faith at FAB(Faith at FAB(Faith at News@10 Breakfast) Breakfast) Breakfast) Breakfast)

10:00am 10:00am 10:00am 10:00am 10:00am Parish Parish Parish Food4 Combined Eucharist Eucharist Eucharist Thought Parish with robed with robed (with healing Communion Eucharist choir, and choir, and prayer) with with with robed crèche. crèche. robed choir, extended choir, and and crèche. teaching crèche.

6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm 6:00pm Evensong Choral Evensong Sung BCP Healing Evensong Communion Service

7:30pm Open to God All Saints’ 9:15am 9:15am 9:15am 9:15am 10:00am Luddington Holy Holy Holy Holy As Above Communion Communion Communion Communion BCP St Helen’s 9:15am 9:15am 9:15am 9:15am 10:00am Clifford Family Holy Morning Holy As Above Chambers Service Communion Praise Communion BCP

Occasional Offices Baptisms: 45 Baptism ministry is seen as a very important activity involving several members of the Ministry Team and others. For pastoral reasons we conduct the majority in a separate service, normally at 12:00noon on 20 occasions in the year. The families are then encouraged to come subsequently to a 10:00am service to be Weddings: 26 welcomed into the Church where they are presented with their baptism candles. They are also invited to join the weekly parent- Funerals: 82 and plus-toddler 10 ash club burials Trinity Tots. 20

Midweek Services

Morning Prayer is said daily on Monday - Friday at 9:15am. On Saints’ Days, if there is no other celebration of communion in the parish, the communion is celebrated in place of Morning Prayer. Evening Prayer is said daily on Monday - Thursday at 4:15pm and 3:30pm on Friday. There are no Public Offices on Saturdays.

Holy Communion is celebrated at 10:00am every Tuesday in Holy Trinity, and also at 10:00am every Wednesday in the Guild Chapel which is attached to King Edward VI School and owned by Stratford Town Trust. The latter celebration in particular attracts congregations of up to 30, not all of whom by any means are regular Sunday worshippers at Holy Trinity. Retired clergy take some though not all of these services.

Weekday services are normally held in St Peter’s Chapel (south transept), and the rest of the church, including the chancel, remains open for visitors. The chancel is used for the 10:00am Tuesday celebration and is of course closed to visitors for a period of about an hour.

ECUMENICAL LINKS

Relationships between the ministers of the town’s churches are good, and we regularly meet in the church.

Partnerships in mission

Our generous contribution to the diocese through parish share (See Finance and Stewardship) means that indirectly we are supporting less well-off parishes in the wider Anglican Church family. We raise funds for other charities through collections at Christmas and at special services throughout the year.

21 MINISTRY TEAM

The Revd Patrick Taylor – Vicar of Stratford upon Avon

Patrick joined the Parish as Vicar in January 2014, having previously been a Team Vicar in Solihull. He is married to Laura (a teacher) and they have two children (twins aged 8). He maintains an interest in his previous career as an engineer by driving a 1970 Morris Minor. Theological interests include the relationship between worship, discipleship and mission.

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The Revd Nicki Chatterton – Curate

Nicki, who was previously a nurse and manager in the NHS, joined the Parish after her ordination in June 2014. Until recently she has concentrated her time in developing F.A.B. - Faith at Breakfast and introducing GoodNews@10, a monthly, informal, all-age, child friendly service, both of which are held in the Parish hall. Now that these are established she is turning her energies to outreach in the community through leading a new ecumenical Town Centre Chaplaincy called 'Friendship & Faith', a christian presence and a listening ear, available for all people, those of faith and no faith.

Phil Harper – Children and Families Minister & Reader

Phil joined the Holy Trinity team in July 2016. Before this, for the last ten years, he did a similar job in the parishes of St Nicholas, Codsall and St John’s, Essington, just outside Wolverhampton. His particular ministry at Holy Trinity is focussed upon children from birth to the end of primary school and supporting their families. He has a keen interest in children’s spirituality and ways for them to connect with God and to be welcomed into the church family. Phil is also a licensed lay Reader and was involved in aspects of Reader training in the Lichfield Diocese.

Mike Milburn - Reader

Mike is from a military (RAF) background, having retired in 2007. Since moving to Stratford and joining Holy Trinity in 2008 he has completed Reader training and was licensed in September 2015. He is involved in a number of ministries including Holy Trinity in the Community (the charitable arm of HT) and delivering marriage preparation courses.

22 ADMINISTRATION

As William Shakespeare was baptised and is buried in Holy Trinity Church we welcome 200,000+ worshippers, pilgrims, seekers and visitors a year, and this generates a significant degree of extra work and administration. Because of its huge visitor potential, our church is kept open on a daily basis, with minor exceptions, with paid staff supported by volunteers.

We currently employ 13 staff on a full, part-time or seasonal basis accountable to the Parish Manager and Head Verger, providing the running of the Parish Office, enabling the church to be open for services and visitors alike and staffing the gift shop.

Within the Parish Centre (Hall, Lounge and Kitchen) we have the Parish Office, open 10:00am-1:00pm Monday to Friday, staffed by the manager, two part-time secretaries and a bookkeeper. They handle all routine enquiries, wedding administration and so on. There is an excellent photocopier. The clergy also share an office in the Parish Centre with internet access and a wireless printer, and another room for small meetings and interviews.

Internal communications, with 400+ on the electoral roll and a large fringe membership spread across seven congregations, is vital. The website is kept updated through the office: www.stratford-upon-avon.org. while updating the Facebook page (“Shakespeare’s Church”) needs some work and is under review.

There is a popular, well-illustrated magazine ‘Trinity Times’ with a monthly circulation of 450+ which is also widely read across the Diocese and the town.

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FINANCE AND STEWARDSHIP

The Associate Vicar will be paid an incumbent’s stipend and normal parish expenses are met in full.

From 2011 parishes have been expected to fund the costs of their own ordained ministry. This in effect means paying the full cost of all clergy. Currently a Vicar or Associate costs approximately £56,000 per annum. Our parish share covers the full costs of a Vicar and Associate, and we also (with some assistance from a separate trust) provide the house for the Associate Vicar and Curate when we have one. In addition, in accordance with Deanery policy, we tithe our unrestricted income to support ministry in parts of the diocese unable to fully fund their own. Parish Share as a result is just over £131,000 in 2016. In addition the PCC pays the cost of the Children and Families Minister (from 1 July 2016), on a two year contract at £23,500 per annum.

FINANCE AND STEWARDSHIP (2015) Holy Trinity All Saints St Helen’s Total General Income 574,056 8,906 8,054 591,016 Planned Giving 104,861 3,921 4,008 112,790 Gift Aid 24,925 1,179 1,002 27,106 Fundraising 3,329 595 76 4,000 Grants 26,814 0 0 26,814 General Expenditure 899,572 10,779 10,724 921,075 Parish Share 111,391 6,870 6,448 124,709

Unrestricted 236,111 45,795 8,040 289,946 Reserves

Future Expenditure 200k

The above table is a simple presentation of a complex picture, in which Holy Trinity expenditure is inflated by major building works which have continued beyond the end of 2015. If such works are excluded, normal income is broadly sufficient to meet normal expenditure, though the salary of the Children and Families Minister is expected to put some strain on the budget. The village churches, especially St Helen's Clifford Chambers, are clearly in a very different position, with expenditure now exceeding income on a regular basis, and the PCC hopes to address this over the next few months.

A separate charity, Friends of Shakespeare’s Church, was formed in 2003 to raise money from a wider pool of supporters. This organisation has raised over £1m+ to date, sufficient for repairs to the chancel roof and a number of other projects. At present we are working together with the DAC and other bodies to reorder the church, improving facilities for both visitors and congregation, equipping Holy Trinity for the 21stCentury. The substantial income from visitors (up to £300,000 expected this year), including most of that from the shop, is also devoted to the maintenance and restoration of the building as well as covering most of the day-to-day staffing, heating and lighting costs.

24 FURTHER DETAILS

For further information about the post please contact:

The Vicar (Revd Patrick Taylor) on 01789 508155 ([email protected]) The Area Dean (Revd Kate Mier) on 01789 840262 ([email protected]) The Archdeacon Missioner (The Venerable Morris Rodham) on 07506 731892 ([email protected]).

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

The deadline for applications is noon Friday 23rd September. Interviews will be held on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th October

Parish Website is www.stratford-upon-avon.org or search on Facebook for Shakespeare’s Church

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