D) Role Description Template

Interim Minister for St John the Evangelist, Bierley (Vicar) and St Chad’s Toller Lane (Priest-in-charge)

ROLE DESCRIPTION

Role description signed off by Ven Andy Jolley, Archdeacon of Bradford

Date: 8th February 2017

To be reviewed 6 months from appointment and 3 yearly thereafter

1 Details of post

Role title (as on licence): Interim Incumbent of St John the Evangelist, Bierley and Interim Priest-in-Charge of St Chad’s Toller Lane

Name of benefices: Benefice of St John the Evangelist, Bierley and Benefice of St Chad’s Toller Lane, Bradford

Episcopal area: The Episcopal Area of Bradford

Archdeaconry: Archdeaconry of Bradford

Deanery: Outer Bradford & Inner Bradford

Initial point of contact on terms of service: Archdeacon of Bradford

2 Role Purpose

General

To build up the Kingdom of God in Bierley and Toller Lane parishes by  building up the existing congregation through the ministry of word and sacrament;  helping to lead the congregation into growth in depth of discipleship, in numbers and in service to their local communities  creatively developing links with local communities so that the church becomes increasingly a sign of God’s love to all those who live in the parish;  leading in ministry and mission to the wider community, developing outreach strategies to create opportunities for individuals to discover God’s love for them and choose to become followers of Jesus Christ;  discovering opportunities to work with the people of Bierley, of any faith and none, for the ‘common good’ of the local neighbourhood as a whole.  undertaking parish priest duties including conducting funerals, weddings, baptisms and other occasional offices.  leading in pastoral care, teaching, nurturing faith and the planning and leading of worship and preaching.  leading in ministry to all, from the elderly to young families and children.  encouraging lay ministry and the participation of our congregation in leading elements of worship and service.  leading the administration of the parish and undertaking any other reasonable duties as appropriate.

Specific

St John’s Bierley and St Chad’s Toller Lane are churches in good heart which wish to both honour the tradition in which they stand and welcome new people into the Christian community.

1. There are few churches within the Bradford Episcopal Area which see themselves within the modern catholic tradition, and fewer still passed Resolutions A and B. Bierley and Toller Lane are the only parishes in the Bradford Episcopal Area to have passed the House of Bishops Resolution. In St John’s case, the PCC, whose members are reflective of the wider congregation holding wide ranging opinions, discussed the issue at length. As an act of generosity and respect for all they unanimously decided to ask the Diocesan Bishop to provide for Extended Episcopal oversight. The Diocese is very supportive of St John’s and St Chad’s retaining their theological positions and looks to them to continue to play a full part within the rhythm of Diocesan life.

2. St John’s has a good reputation for serving the wider community and has grown gently until recently. The last incumbent reflected on the ebb and flow of young families coming to church and noted that some have stopped coming in the last year or so. The next priest and PCC will need to look at this change in trend and discern ways forward. How significant is the school’s change of admissions policy? How does Messy Church contribute to the future? A priority is to start up Messy Church again.

3. St Chad’s is a largely gathered church with a strong traditional Anglo-Catholic heritage. It is set in an inner city parish with a predominantly Asian Muslim population, and 85% of it eclectic congregation live outside the parish. The church was served faithfully for some 47 years by its previous vicar and now therefore faces the challenges associated with a new season of ministry, as well as working out how to share a priest.

4. Many of the other local churches around St Chad’s are small and struggling. Within the Church of England, three of the nearby parishes (St Paul’s Manningham, St Barnabas Heaton and St Martin Heaton) are exploring how they can support each other and will be developing plans for possible pastoral reorganisation.

5. There are other churches near to St John’s who are committed to mission in this area. In addition there is a small independent church (Bethel Community Church) within Bierley which is now led by a group which came from St John’s, Bowling - the next door parish, which is evangelical. Bethel looks forward to seeing what can be done together. 6. St John’s parish has grown in recent years as more residential building has taken place. This provides more opportunities for the church and challenge of where to focus in mission?

7. Depending upon the manager in post, the local Asda supermarket has welcomed the priest at Bierley to be a light touch part-time chaplain at the supermarket. This may or not may open up again.

3 Key Working Relationships

Generic Churchwardens and PCC of each church 3 Readers at St John’s and 1 Reader at St Chad’s Clergy and Laity in the Deaneries of Inner and Outer Bradford

Specific Ministers of churches in each area Head teacher of St John’s School, Bierley

Future Local councillors

Supportive The Area Dean of Inner Bradford The Area Dean of Outer Bradford The Archdeacon of Bradford The Bishop of Bradford The Bishop of Wakefield The Diocesan CME officer The Bishop’s Advisers in Evangelism Leading your Church into Growth (the course and mentoring) Human Resources Manager, Diocesan Office Clergy Counselling Support

4 Archdeacon’s Comments

Our vision as the Diocese is about confident clergy equipping confident Christians to live and tell the good news of Jesus Christ. For all of our appointments we are seeking clergy who have a joyful and confident faith which has inspired a track record of church growth.

We are looking to make a three year interim appointment to a shared role between St Chad’s Toller Lane and St John’s Bierley. The purpose of this being an interim appointment is to see whether combining a priest for both parishes can:  Enable both churches to flourish, with there being growth and sustainability in both parish contexts;  See the best provision within the City of Bradford for worship and pastoral provision with Extended Episcopal Oversight for Anglicans who are not persuaded by the Church of England’s decision to ordain women;  Lead to both parishes playing an appropriately full part in the life of their respective deaneries, the Episcopal Area and the Diocese;  Be a sustainable and manageable post for the priest concerned in terms of workload. A monitoring process will be put in place, with a review point at the end of two years at the latest, enabling a decision to be taken as to whether the arrangement should be extended, made permanent or the appointment reviewed and changed. This will allow the decision to be implemented during the third year of the interim post. The criteria for the review would be based on the four bullet points above.

There is a need to help people from the two congregations in two parishes to form good and trusting relationships. A start has been made on this as part of preparing for the new shared post. The respective PCCs have agreed to alter the time of the Sunday services to enable the priest to lead worship in both churches and be able to spend time with the congregations before or after the services. Many feast days are marked on the appointed day at St Chad’s in the evening, and either in the morning at St John’s or transferred to Sunday.

There is a great perceived opportunity for sharing worship together on most special days (eg Maundy Thursday at one church and Holy Saturday at the other, reversing which church hosts the following year). It is proposed that this is the default when both churches would both mark a special day at the same time. There are a number of days through the year which are just marked at St Chad’s. The current Christmas Eve pattern could be continued: 7 pm at St Chad’s and 11.30 pm at St John’s

St Chad’s and St John’s are located in the new Deaneries of Inner and Outer Bradford respectively. These Deaneries are comprised of parishes similar in demographic context to St Chad’s and St John’s, many of whom are experimenting with mixing new approaches to worship and mission alongside inherited patterns. The new incumbent will therefore find a group of creative and supportive colleagues in Deanery chapter, all of whom will be deeply familiar with the joys and challenges that each other faces. The new post holder will therefore be expected to work with a spirit of generosity in sharing wisdom and insights about ministry within Deanery colleagues and across the Episcopal Area. As part of making the post workable, it may be necessary for the priest to give priority to one Deanery Chapter over the other. The community ministry opportunities of Bierley may suggest that priority be given to the Outer Bradford Deanery. Nevertheless, given the shared other faith majority context of Toller Lane, the priest will be expected to encourage the laity of both churches to play a full part in their respective Deanery Synods.

Leading your Church into Growth (LYGiG) and Jesus Shaped People (JSP) are two excellent initiatives born in the Bradford Episcopal Area and now adopted in other Dioceses. They have enabled church growth and developed confidence in congregations. Experienced mentors and training are available to new incumbents to make the most of LYCiG and JSP.