Church Patronage Trust

St Peter’s Church, An old church with a modern attitude

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BISHOP’S INTRODUCTION

What a wonderful description; “An old church with a modern attitude to worshipping God.” People have been worshipping God, making new disciples and transforming the local community for centuries in this place

This is a deeply Anglican approach to ministry, receiving and valuing that

which has gone before, our “tradition”, and building on it to enable

congregation and community alike to experience the transforming love of God in Jesus Christ. It provides an excellent opportunity for a priest with a vision for the flourishing of congregation and local community together.

Mancetter is a village proud of its Roman heritage set in rural North

Warwickshire. Like much of the region it has yet to fully recover from the

loss of coal-mining and so is relatively deprived, a fact that does not hamper the enthusiastic worshipping life of St Peter’s.

The Diocese of Coventry 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 parish of Mancetter for a new and fruitful season of ministry and mission.

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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 and Coventry Diocese. The Deanery Chapter has a mixture of stipendiary, self-supporting, male and female, 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 will be subsidised financially to the level of 2.15 full-time posts by other Deaneries and the Diocese in 2019, but we are starting to take up the challenge of supporting each other rather than relying on financial help from outside. We are strategically looking at opportunities for significant growth, and we think that this parish has 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. It is pleasing to note that there has already been some growth during the interregnum.

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. Mancetter has the potential to grow significantly with a lot of community engagement to build on. It is hoped that it may be able to return to a full-time post in the not-too-distant future. We hope and pray that you may be the person to help this church to continue to grow. We look forward to welcoming the new vicar to Mancetter and the Deanery!

Frank Seldon Area Dean

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BACKGROUND TO POST St Peter’s is a rural church set in an ex-mining village location on the outskirts of the deanery. Our previous incumbent was full time and was with us for just over 7 years before moving to another parish. He helped us to build good links in the local community but, sadly, we were a church left feeling we had so much more to give, with a huge potential for growth (especially as our village had grown!). In fact we feel we had stagnated somewhat - we had seen our church, which had previously had a good and strong congregation, become somewhat depleted of members.

In 2017 a ministry review of the deanery was carried out and we were disappointed to learn that we would not be recruiting a full-time minister as this is not deemed to be a large enough post for one. While we accept that as being the current situation, we hope that this is temporary as we feel poised for significant growth. Thanks to the hard work of the leadership team, especially our Churchwardens, many bridges have been built. This has resulted in an increase in church attendance and a renewed excitement for participating in the mission of God. We are a growing church!

We have discovered what a blessing it is to be a part of larger networks and have loved having different ministers visiting to take services during the interregnum. In the past, the idea of change has been met with resistance, but on the whole, this attitude has changed and we are now an old church with a modern attitude to worshipping God.

There is still work to be done, however, as most of the congregation come from outside the village itself. We are not yet seeing an increase in membership from people within the local community and we still have few children and young adults joining with us for worship. We are looking forward to continuing in growth as we adjust to having a half-time minister and our new minister will have the support of a committed and functional leadership team.

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ROLE DESCRIPTION PERSON SPECIFICATION

This is a half-time stipendiary post. We would like to hear from candidates who The successful candidate will be expected to have a good sense of humour and: offer in the region of 20 hours per week ministry, to include a commitment to at least  Are passionate about spreading the good one service on Sundays. news of Jesus Christ to a wide

The role of this post is to lead the churches in demographic of people, especially children and young families. fulfilling the Diocesan Mission Purpose of:

 Worshipping God  Are experienced in team leadership and  Making New Disciples team building, capable of listening to  Transforming Communities. others and promoting harmony while

leading us forward. This will be achieved by developing 8 essential qualities in the life of the church:  Are able to spot the potential in others

Empowering Leadership and help them to release their gifts as we Gift-oriented Ministry become less “clergy dependent” in our Passionate Spirituality common life. Inspiring Worship Holistic Small Groups  Are willing to build on the foundations Need-oriented Outreach laid to develop our pastoral ministry and Loving Relationships to grow the spiritual life of both the Functional Structures church and the parish

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THE DIOCESAN MISSION PURPOSE AND EIGHT ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF HEALTHY CHURCHES

The Mission Purpose of the Diocese of Coventry is:

Worshipping God, Making New Disciples, Transforming Communities.

St Peters, Mancetter is fully committed to fulfilling these three aspects and is enthusiastic and imaginative in the ways that it does do. We believe that we will achieve this Mission Purpose by developing eight Essential Qualities in the life of the church:

Empowering Leadership

The atmosphere here has changed

considerably over the last few months for

the better. People are now more willing to

share responsibilities, without feeling they

would be pushed out of their role. We have

also seen an increase of people stepping

into leadership roles, and people wanting to

be put on various church rotas.

However, our church has a high percentage of older members (47.5% are over 70), which has led to the fact that our current leadership team are all over 40, with all but 5 of them over 70. We would love to see some younger people in leadership roles.

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Gift-Oriented Ministry

Members of the church have always been encouraged to explore their gifts, and to step into roles they wouldn’t normally consider; e.g. leading services/prayers, preaching, standing as church warden etc. Despite not receiving any formal training for these roles, it has had a positive effect on the way we worship in the church. People have called upon previous life experience and infused their ministry with their own personality, creating a diverse form of worship.

Passionate Spirituality

According to the results of a recent survey of our church health, this was one of our weaker areas for the church. All members of the church are very passionate about their beliefs, especially the members of the PCC, which allows for honest exchanges of opinions. At times, however, there can be a lack of clarity about why we do what we do.

The spiritual aspect of the church has sometimes seemed to be pushed to one side, although we are confident that this can be rectified once we have a new incumbent who can encourage us to be more Spirit-led in our common life.

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Inspiring Worship Holistic Small Groups

We are proud to say that this is one area were we At St Peter’s we have a selection of small groups who meet on a scored very highly. We are blessed with some regular basis; apart from the PCC we have a Ladies social and talented and committed musicians who help us in fellowship group called Tuesday Break, plus we have a branch our worship and we have a variety of lay people of the Mothers Union who meet on a monthly basis in church. who lead us in worship, each with a slightly On a Wednesday morning, there is a mid-week prayer group, different style. We are not overly formal and have which offers people a time of quiet prayer and a chance to tried different types of service whilst being in reflect on the love of God. Thursdays, our mens’ group meet for interregnum. On the whole these have worked fellowship, and undertake any maintenance that is required well, with favourable feedback from the within the church. congregation, and requests that these services are used again. Although all these groups are open to anyone, many of them contain members that belong to more than one of the groups. Our evening services tend to be more on the Lastly the editors for the church magazine meet regularly to traditional side which the congregation enjoy, but pray, and to discuss and prepare the Church magazine. To aid those who attend are not totally opposed to with our worship on Sunday we have a very talented and change. dedicated music group who meet to practise before the service.

Loving Relationships

We have been complimented on numerous occasions regarding the warmth of our church, and the welcome people receive when they enter. There is often laughter at our services and a real sense of fellowship in the tea room afterwards. Even visiting ministers have said how much they enjoyed leading our worship, and all of them have offered to come again.

It is safe to say that a lot of past resentments have been ‘laid to rest’ now, with the church having a more forgiving attitude, and any problems or difficulties are brought out into the open, to be discussed and dealt with. We are strengthening our ties with St Mary’s Church , and Holy Trinity Church, which are part of the local “Churches Together”.

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Need-Oriented Outreach Recently, we have attracted more community based events to be held within the church. We are at present in discussion with the local Food Bank to plan an ‘Honesty Shop’, which we hope to run on the same day as the Barnardos Baby weigh clinic and Stay and Play. Currently we have a couple of church members who take home communion to some members of the parish who are unable to get to church.

During our time of interregnum, we have piloted a Service of Memories, which is held just before December. This gives all those in the parish, who have lost a loved one, a chance to come together and remember those who have gone, prior to the Christmas celebrations. We also introduced a crib service, just before Christmas, to try and encourage some of the younger people of the parish into church. Both of these proved to be a success, and are now going to be an annual event.

Every year we welcome Karen, a local Youth and Children’s leader, who with an energetic and enthusiastic group of volunteers from the church, hold a week long “Holiday Club”, using the material from Scripture Union. Every week volunteers from church run ‘Tea & Chat’, a community café held at Mancetter Memorial Hall. Each December, volunteers from church take part in the local Sleigh Run, when Santa and his Sleigh visits all the houses in the village. The nearby town of Atherstone holds a Dickens evening every year at the end of December, when the town is full of visitors, street entertainment, and all sorts of stalls. For the last 7 years, a group from church have worked hard all afternoon and evening serving hot drinks and refreshments in Atherstone Memorial Hall.

Mancetter Matters is our Bi-monthly church and parish magazine, 3 times a year at Easter, Harvest and Christmas we deliver to every house in Mancetter. Many of us feel that outreach work is an important part of growing our church family.

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Functional Structures

The PCC meet monthly where a wide range of topics are discussed and new ideas are put forward. The PCC is able to be open and honest and disagreements are able to be aired in a positive way. The Social Planning team have worked with local community and Historical Groups to help with several community events which celebrate the very varied local history of this area.

Recent events include a Richard III evening, a Family Roman Day, and at present we are working with the Parish Council, Memorial Hall Trustees, the Little Stars Nursery, and a Local Historical Committee to put together ‘Mancetter Remembers’- a tribute to the centenary of the ending of the Great war.

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THE PARISH OF ST PETER’S MANCETTER

Mancetter is about a mile outside the market town of Atherstone, and four miles outside Nuneaton. Thanks to its close proximity to the A5 and M1/M6/M42 motorways, all the major areas of the Midlands are easily accessible, making it an attractive place for commuters. It is a small parish, consisting of around 2,500 people, and is set in attractive countryside.

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History The village of Mancetter dates back to the Roman occupation of England and sits just off the Roman road of . It was also the location of a large Roman fort which was built in around AD50. as it was known then, is widely thought to be the place where Boudicca was finally defeated by the . Dotted around the village, are information boards detailing the Roman history of the area, plus historical walking routes. The parish church itself dates back to the 12th century, and is built on the site of the original Roman fort. We are very proud of our Roman history, and is something we would like to capitalise on as a church. The village is located right next to Mancetter Manor, where the famous Mancetter Martyrs lived.

Population. Data from the 2011 census states that the population of Mancetter is 2,339 The village has a small number of local shops, a small industrial estate, and its own post office. There is one public house, and a large supported living complex. Mancetter also has a Memorial Hall, which is a vibrant community centre, run by a board of trustees. The village’s two main industries, coal mining and hatting, have long since disappeared, making Mancetter quite a deprived area. It consists mainly of social housing and a newly developed complex for senior citizens. Unlike the rest of the village, there is a large, more affluent housing estate just opposite the church, meaning that there is now quite some diversity in terms of the socio-economic background of residents.

Buildings As well as the church, we have a school room attached to the back of the building, which is used to host community groups, and is where we have our refreshments on a Sunday. Attached to the school room, is a fully equipped kitchen, including cooker, microwave and fridge. Within the church building itself, is a rentable space known as the Bracebridge Centre, where we host a wide range of community activities, including historical talks on local history. The church has its own car park, and a small church yard, which has been closed for a number of years. Due to the age of the church, and it being a Grade 1 listed building, maintenance is an issue, but it is an important part of our history.

Vicarage The Vicarage is situated 100 metres from the church and dates from 1980’s. There are 4 large bedrooms, bathroom, a study, cloakroom, dining room, lounge, kitchen, utility and large garage. It has a front garden, and large drive which can park 5 or 6 cars. There is also a very large back garden, which is mostly lawn.

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Services An example of an average monthly service rota is shown below. We are very willing to consider changes to this.

1st Sunday 2nd Sunday 3rd Sunday 4th Sunday 5th Sunday AM AM AM AM AM HOLY BAPTISM/ HOLY ALL AGE WORSHIP FAMILY WORSHIP COMMUNION FAMILY COMMUNION

WORSHIP

PM PM PM PM PM EVENING PRAYER HOLY SONGS OF PRAISE HOLY EVENING

BCP COMMUNION COMMUNION/ WORSHIP EVENING WORSHIP

Services are led by lay people on a rota. Lessons and Prayers are usually led by lay people

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School Links Ecumenical Links

We have no primary school within our parish, but Mancetter is part of Churches together in Atherstone & do have links with Outwoods Primary School, as Mancetter. This group meet every 2 months, and shared this is where Mancetter children attend. services are organised for the Week of prayer for Christian

Jane Bennett, who is a churchwarden, has recently Unity, Good Friday, Pentecost Sunday, Remembrance become a school governor, and attends the school Sunday and an open air carol service in the Town square twice a week to work with children who need extra at Christmas. support with their reading. Every year, the church runs an after school club for the last 6 weeks of the summer term. This is for children aged between 5- 11 years, and focuses on bible stories, related Administration games/quizzes and fun times. It leads on to the Holiday Club which is held in the first week of the There is an office within the church itself, which contains the church safe, a printer/copier and a secure filing Summer Holiday. cabinet. We have telephone/broadband in the office, with We also have links with Little Stars, a private an answer machine. The office is open on Monday, Nursery in the grounds of Mancetter Memorial Wednesday and Friday 10-12 noon, and manned by the wardens, and the schoolroom booking secretary. The hall. We also have in our parish Gramer House, which cares for young people and their families in phone and emails are checked regularly and all need of respite care. Plus Waltham Grange, a calls/enquires are dealt with promptly. school for children with behaviour problems, aged 11-16 years. The church has its own web site and Facebook page, which are updated by Caroline Foster, one of the A page summarising the work of the DBE with churchwardens. We have a church magazine called schools in the wider diocese can be found here: ‘Mancetter Matters’ which is published by monthly. It is http://www.dioceseofcoventry.org/images/documen delivered Parish wide 3 times a year at Easter, Harvest t_library/UDR01414.pdf. and Christmas.

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Finance and Stewardship The table below summarises our financial situation in 2017.

St Peters Church, Mancetter

General Income £64,028 Planned Giving £407 Gift-Aid £7,537 Fundraising (eg fetes) £4,031 Grants General Expenditure £58,428 Parish Share Contribution £40,000 Unrestricted Reserves £6,834 Restricted Reserves £1,264 Any special considerations, future 2018 is the Quinquenial Inspection, so we expenditure etc? anticipate more spending on fabric and repairs. £64,028

We have made a grant application to install new heating and hot water system in the Schoolroom. This was considered important as this room is hired out by community groups and brings in some income to the church. Several groups complained about being cold last winter.

Parish share contributions in Coventry diocese are worked out at a deanery level and reflect the fact that not every parish is able to pay for the full cost of the ministry they receive. We recognise the importance of enabling the Diocese to meet its costs and, while we have been unable to contribute the cost of a full time incumbent, we have become net contributors as we have agreed to a half-time appointment. We are grateful to those churches elsewhere in the Deanery and Diocese who have helped to support our ministry and it is our intention to contribute more ourselves towards these costs as the congregation grows. We long to be able to afford to return to a full-time post in the future and would welcome help with growing financially.

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

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FURTHER DETAILS

For further details and an application form please contact: Joe Grayson, Assistant to the Archdeacons By email to [email protected] or 024 76 521 342

For informal conversations, please contact: Assistant Archdeacon Reverend Clive Hogger on 07377997143 ([email protected]) or Area Dean, Rev Frank Seldon on tel: 02476 346413 ([email protected])

Closing date for applications: 12 noon Friday 16th November Interviews: To be held on 4th and 5th December 2018

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

Enhanced DBS disclosure is required for this post.

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