THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST BEN RHYDDING In the Diocese of

St John’s, Ben Rhydding Parish Profile

Introduction

St John’s is the Parish Church of Ben Rhydding and is part of the Otley Deanery in the Diocese of Bradford. It is the only Church of church in Ben Rhydding. The churchmanship is open evangelical with a welcoming atmosphere and a broad based spirituality. The church is diverse in nature, offering a wide range of activities that enable members to experience Jesus and grow spiritually in a way that is meaningful for them personally. The congregation is drawn largely from the middle class community of the parish itself, with approximately 25% of the congregation coming from outside the parish.

At the AGM in March 2006, there were 162 members on the Electoral Roll, of whom two- thirds were women of various ages. There are also a significant number of families in their 30’s. We have very few members in the age range 18-30, young single people or people from the ‘social housing’ area of the parish.

St John's recently enjoyed a year of Centenary Celebrations, the foundation stone having been laid in October 1905.

Besides the church building itself there is now a large hall, a parish lounge and a meeting room, all of which are in excellent condition.

The Parish of Ben Rhydding

Ben Rhydding is a very pleasant residential area situated at the eastern fringe of Ilkley, between the moors and the A65. Ilkley itself is a small resort town on the edge of the Dales with a good range of local amenities.

At the 2001 census, the parish population was 3,550. It is a settled community with a large proportion of professional people. Ben Rhydding has a Post Office, baker, butcher, deli and various other trade premises. Up until recently Ben Rhydding also had a public house, which served as a hub of community life. Unfortunately, this was lost four years ago. Since then, much community spirit has been shown in trying to reinstate it, with many church members involved in the campaign.

Ben Rhydding is popular with young families as well as being within easy commuting distance of the cities of and Bradford. 80% of homes in Ben Rhydding are owner occupied and there is little unemployment. We do not share the ethnic diversity of local cities such as Bradford and Leeds.

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There are two primary schools within the parish – Ben Rhydding Primary and Moorfield Preparatory School for Girls. Although St John’s does not have official links with either school, a great many informal links have been developed over the years and both schools use the church for their own Harvest, Christmas and Easter services.

Ilkley itself is a thriving spa town, set in the Wharfe valley and with the stunning backdrop of and the famous Cow and Calf rocks. There are a number of excellent primary schools in Ilkley and the older children have the benefit of Ilkley Grammar School, which continues to achieve outstanding exam results. Ilkley is culturally rich, hosting the Ilkley Literature Festival once a year, which draws in many famous speakers such as Jeremy Paxman, Andrew Motion, Melvyn Bragg, and Kate Adie. The town boasts a thriving theatre, live concert venue, a number of choirs and many other performing arts related activities. There is also the Moor Music festival, Ilkley Summer Festival, May Day Carnival, annual French market and frequent Good Food and Organic produce fairs. Ilkley has been designated a Fairtrade town and this is fully supported within St John’s.

Churchmanship

St John’s is a welcoming and friendly church that accepts people wherever they are on their journey of faith. St John's has many members of the congregation coming from backgrounds other than Church of England and indeed a variety of backgrounds within the Church of England. This can make for an exciting and diverse spiritual mix. We range in age from 0-90+ with all age groups mixing well. There are currently several styles of service through the month and there is a lot of potential for development in this area. Some church members prefer liturgical based worship, whilst others prefer more informal services that allow for the opportunity to exercise charismatic gifts. Others again simply enjoy the variety that is provided! However, the congregation as a whole appreciates and enjoys spiritual growth through biblical teaching and responds positively to special services of prayer, fasting and healing.

Worship The present Sunday worship pattern is as follows:

8am – Holy Communion service following 1662 BCP, except the fifth Sunday

10am – this service varies throughout the month as follows:

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• on the first, third and any fifth Sunday - Holy Communion (Common Worship), plus crèche, Sunday School and Pathfinders

• on the second Sunday - Service of the Word and TRY Church, plus Sunday School and Pathfinders

• on the fourth Sunday - Celebration Service, plus crèche

Church Attendance 25 180 160 20 140 120 15 100 80 10 60 40 5 20 0 0 0 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 1 1991 1 1 1 1995 1 1 1 199 2 2 2 2 marriages baptisms 8 a.m. 10 a.m. Electoral Roll confirmation funerals

Except for the Celebration, the music group leads all 10am services using a variety of piano and organ based music, together with occasional guitar, flute and clarinet accompaniment. A contemporary worship team leads the Celebration Service, lending a more informal atmosphere to this service.

Hymns and songs of worship are printed each week from a variety of sources and are available in large print. The church also has a hearing loop. A number of the congregation take part in reading the lesson and leading intercessions. The president and assistant usually wear scarves, but not vestments or coloured stoles.

There are also a variety of special services interspersed throughout the church calendar. For example, we hold a day of prayer and fasting twice a year, with all members of the community welcome to visit the church for prayer and spiritual guidance. We also hold a healing service around three times a year, which many members of the congregation find to be extremely beneficial and comforting. A Gift Day service takes place once a year to highlight the work that is done by the congregation through the Diocesan Share and our Mission partners. In July, we held our first ever Environment service, focusing on the wonderful gift of Creation and challenging the congregation to be better custodians of God’s great gift to us.

There are no evening or, despite the strong children’s work, family services at present.

TRY Church (The Really Young Church) is a monthly short service that runs concurrently with the main service for the under-5s and their parents, whether regular or non-church going. Image removed for child protection reasons

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We are seeking to develop “Fresh Expressions” of church through what we call the ‘Café evenings, mentioned in greater detail under the Creative Arts section.

Though numbers tend to be higher in winter, about 50% of regular worshippers attend on any given Sunday.

Short communion services are also taken monthly in the parish's “When I enter two residential homes, Kirkwood and Rosegarth, while four Lay St John’s I feel Eucharistic Attendants take communion to the sick and God’s housebound. presence”

Though St John's has no formal covenant with any other denomination, there are several informal contacts through the year. These include an exchange of pulpits with the local Methodists, Lenten House Groups, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an Easter Day Sunrise service at the Cow and Calf Rocks and singing in the centre of Ilkley at Christmas and Easter. More work is possible with the Methodist Church that is situated just around the corner from St John’s and this is an area that we could develop further in the future.

Small Groups

We provide a number of small groups within the church, which provide a place where people can explore their relationship with Jesus and get to know each other better in a setting less formal than the Sunday Service. Each of the groups provides its own unique experience.

Discipleship Groups Discipleship Groups meet fortnightly for worship, study and prayer. The studies have been wide and varied, sometimes focussing on a book of The Bible. On other occasions, groups look at contemporary issues such as the Environment, Euthanasia, gay rights and war, considering what our Christian response to such issues should be, and study books such as The Screwtape Letters.

Spiritual Growth Groups We have Spiritual Growth Groups that follow Richard Foster’s Renovaré model. Over the years, there have been a number of Renovaré Conferences held at St John’s for the region and beyond.

Transitions This group meets monthly and arose from a series of Myers Briggs seminars. Members seek to bring change to their patterns of behaviour and hence their lives so that they might enjoy more fully the richness of life that Jesus offered us. They do this through creative experience, such as art, painting, dance, bible sculpt, pictures, poetry, stories and through individual reflection. Transitions use books by authors such as Gerard Hughes, Margaret Silf and Anthony de Mello for guidance. The objective of the group is to pursue a major theme of the church: being yourself with God for others.

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Women’s Morning Group The women’s morning group meets weekly and includes a number of members who attend church infrequently or not at all. The main focus of the group is to explore our inner selves and discover the real person within. Books by Clarissa Pinkola Estés and Marian Woodman have been used as the basis for our discussions but the group also uses artwork and creative writing to further our exploration. The group has an annual weekend retreat with an external facilitator.

Mothers Union Ben Rhydding Mothers' Union branch has around 60 members, including the current diocesan MU president and other diocesan trustees. The branch seeks to enhance the life of the church and works closely alongside the incumbent. They meet monthly in the afternoons, but attempts to reach younger people by holding evening meetings and social get-togethers.

The branch undertakes fundraising each year for various MU projects, for example, overseas literacy and development programmes, the Away From It All holiday scheme and the relief fund. Over recent years annual quiz nights and children's music afternoons have attempted to bring the church family closer together socially, whilst also raising funds. A children's fun afternoon is held each August to provide a school holiday activity. Members provide the refreshments for Friday Morning Coffee Break (see Children’ and Youth Work below), and the branch will soon increase its number of nationally accredited parenting facilitators from 1 to 4. An ecumenical breakfast is organised each year and the branch is invited to events organised by other local churches. There are usually 3 communion services with the vicar, who also chairs the AGM.

Alpha Over the last ten years, St John’s has run several Alpha courses. These have been reasonably successful in bringing people into the church that would otherwise not regularly attend and have helped to develop the faith of a great many members of the congregation. However, there has also been feedback that those attendees that are essentially ‘starting from scratch’ felt that the courses assumed a level of faith that was quite beyond them. There is a desire that future Alpha courses address this.

Children and Youth Work

Children and young people at St John’s are loved and welcomed members of the church family. Leaders strive to provide good links as the children move through the different church groups and are open to Image removed for child new initiatives being developed in the future. protection reasons The number of children and young people at St John's is usually around 50. We provide crèche, Sunday School and Pathfinders for children during the majority of church services.

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Sunday School and Pathfinders

On Sundays, there is a dedicated group of teachers, some of whom have been taking Sunday School and Pathfinder classes at St John's for many years. Image removed for child Church members also run a crèche for the pre-school protection reasons children, which enables parents to enjoy the occasional service without their children, secure in the knowledge that the children are being safely cared for.

The Pathfinders (9-13) are particularly good at contributing to church services, regularly providing readings, prayers, music, drama and other creative arts contributions. The Pathfinders also organise a stall at the back of church each week selling cakes and other confectionery to raise funds for our Matugga mission partnership (see Mission below).

CYFA On Sunday evenings, CYFA meets with an average attendance of 10 teenagers. The programme includes Bible study, discussion of topical issues, occasional worship evenings and social times. The group gets involved in larger local events and often meets up with the youth groups at the other churches in the Ilkley cluster. The group’s last major event was a sponsored 24 hour fast in aid of WaterAid. They hope to repeat this again soon.

Other activities “I feel secure at Our young people have an enthusiastic involvement in CPAS camps, St John’s” with groups from the church attending both Pathfinder and CYFA Ventures, and indeed some attend as Junior Leaders. They are much encouraged to do so by church members, not only by way of practical support, but in prayer. The church continues to offer loving support to our young people as they move on to University. We have been thrilled to see many of our young people involve themselves in Christian projects both at home and abroad, such as Latin Link, Oasis, Tear Fund, plus independent visits to Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.

Over the last few years, the church has run Holiday Clubs, Christmas productions, Light Parties, Easter activity mornings, family outings and Music Afternoons.

Links to local schools We have a Schools Links Officer who visits the two schools in the parish, assisting with assemblies, helping with RE and bringing the children into church for various activities. We have mentioned already (see The Parish of Ben Rhydding above) the links that the church has with the schools in the parish.

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Toddler Groups “St John’s is a Members of the church run two toddler groups during the week in welcoming, term time - See & Know and Coffee Break . friendly church with a real See & Know meets on Wednesday morning and allows time for family the children to play with toys, whilst parents or carers share a atmosphere” chat and cup of coffee. The morning includes a short element of religious teaching to the children by way of biblical stories, music and dance.

Coffee Break meets on Friday morning, providing play and craft activities for the children and an opportunity for parents and carers to meet up. There is a time of singing of a non-religious nature at the end of the session.

Both groups are attended by many members of the larger community that do not come to St John’s on Sundays.

Child Protection St John’s has a detailed Child Protection Policy and a dedicated Child Protection Officer. Leaders of children’s work attend update courses regularly and the PCC review and approve the Policy on an annual basis.

Creative Arts

One aspect key to the unique identity of St John’s is the high profile given to the creative arts. We are fortunate to have amongst the congregation those gifted in drama, dance, music, creative writing and visual arts. These gifts are spread across a wide age range and find the following outlets:

Children’s work

In both Sunday School and Pathfinder groups the children are encouraged to use the arts as a response to their growing faith. Pathfinders often contribute to celebration services with dance and drama and Image removed for child frequently use the visual arts as a spontaneous protection reasons response to a service. A highlight of the church year is the young people’s Christmas service. Particularly memorable was last year’s line dancing sheep! An annual holiday club also provides an outlet for drama, set building and script writing. The results are enjoyed enthusiastically by approximately 100 children.

Café Evenings These are informal evening presentations where a theme such as ‘journeys and journeying’ is explored through live music, words, images and dance. The setting is informal with wine etc and often involves an interactive element such as a painting wall. A particularly positive aspect of the cafes is their potential to forge links with the wider community. Previous cafes have involved local schools, the Bangladeshi community in nearby , and members of . The broad based (but God centred) spirituality also make them accessible for those less comfortable with a traditional church context. Currently there are approximately four café events during a year, but there is much interest in developing more regular events.

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TranscenDance St John’s is home to local Christian dance company TranscenDance, a group of five professional dancers and teachers who have worked with Spring Harvest, Graham Kendrick and most recently at the BBC Easter Praise Service at Leeds Town Hall. Their dance ministry has a number of strands including dance as worship, dance as performance and dance in education. In 2004 they were awarded a grant from the Greenbelt Communion Fund for a dance and arts project in a school in Leeds. At St John’s TranscenDance frequently contribute to the celebration services and the café events and often provide dance at Easter and Christmas time.

In addition to the above, a diverse range of arts activity is an ongoing part of the fabric of St John’s. Dramas are often included in the Environment, Gift Day and similar services. Banners, both traditional and non-traditional, add a visual layer to our worship. Workshop days frequently use the arts as a tool for considering and developing our relationship with God.

In short, at St John’s we believe that the buzz of creativity is a direct reflection of our creator God, making the arts such an apt way to communicate and express our faith.

Mission

Mission within the parish The majority of non-members encounter St John’s through “We aim to build involvement with Alpha groups, toddler groups, schools work, the community, as café evenings and TRY church. This represents the frontline of well as the mission within the parish. The church is one of the main focal Church” points for the community. In addition, other events that take place that allow us to reach out to the community at large. For example, in the recent centenary year we held many events that sought to reach out to the parish, keeping everybody informed by means of a calendar/programme.

Twice a year the church runs a Children’s Nearly New Clothes Sale, which draws people into St John’s that would not otherwise ever come into the church. It also raises significant amounts for children’s charities at home and abroad.

This year, a member of St John’s initiated the very successful inaugural Ben Rhydding Community Fete. This was a great success, drawing in many members of the local community. There was active participation from many members of St John’s, the local playgroup, SUP (the group campaigning for the re-opening of The Wheatley public house), local youth and sports groups and many other local organisations.

We hold an annual memorial service for those who have been bereaved that year plus anyone else who would like to attend.

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Mission in Ilkley St John's is active in Churches Together in Ilkley (CTI), initiating the CTI 2000 project to provide housing for three adults with learning difficulties and an educational partnership with . Several times a week, parts of the church buildings are used by a college group of young adults with learning disabilities who tend some allotments alongside the church.

St John’s currently has representatives on three new initiatives concerning a town wide provision for Teenagers, Mission and the Sharing of Resources. The first group has recently opened a Youth Café in the town providing a place for teenagers to meet. The missions group have recently started a Lost For Words Course with two of the leaders coming from St John’s congregation. This group has proposed a mission in Ilkley for 2007/8 which is currently under consideration.

Ministers from the CTI churches meet together for lunch and prayer every week.

Mission in the Diocese Outside the parish, mission starts with our Diocesan Share, which we see as a key way in which we provide mission to those churches within the Diocese that would otherwise founder.

A number of church members contribute to the Diocese and wider church activities by holding the following posts:

• Disability Officer for the Diocese • CTI Deputy Moderator • Diocesan President of the Mothers Union • Diocesan Treasurer of the Mothers Union • Otley Deanery treasurer

Mission further afield In relation to nationwide mission work, seven members of St John’s have supported national mission initiatives over the past few years as members of ‘Through Faith Missions’. These initiatives, which operate under the banner of ‘The Walk of a Thousand Men’, have involved door to door evangelism, work in schools and talking to Christian and non-Christian groups in areas as diverse geographically, and in many ways socially, as urban and rural Lancashire, Shropshire, Devon, Hampshire and Kent. Those involved in Through Faith Missions are supported in prayer by the rest of the congregation.

St John’s is a nurturing parish: we have seen several of our members entering into ministry to become full-time Vicars.

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The congregation’s support of mission has risen significantly over the last 10 years and now stands at £15K per annum. A Mission Support Group meets regularly to maintain active links with all our partners.

Various missions are supported financially and through prayer, but with three in particular, the links are much closer.

Another close link is with a charity in Matugga, Uganda. The initial contact with the charity came from a retired clergyman in our parish. The purpose of the mission is to support a Christian orphanage and to help fund the building of the orphanage school and the teaching staff. A gospel group called ABO came from Uganda for our Centenary Celebrations – a visit that many will not forget - and the CTI has now endorsed this work for all the churches in Ilkley.

The Friendship Foundation is a charity that works in Arad, Romania. There, we support the Christian leadership who are working with street children, disabled children and the elderly. We have been pleased to see their work recognised by the state authorities, enabling some projects to be run on a joint basis with them.

We support a member of our congregation who is a bible translator “We care for with Wycliffe Bible Translators. He works in Turkic languages and is each other” supported financially and in prayer.

We also have links with:

• the Church of Christ the Saviour in La Paz, Bolivia though the South American Mission Society • Youth with a Mission’s Derek and Trich Dodd in Ireland • the northern diocese of Sudan to support a school project in Port Sudan • Michael and Kathryn Cole, Mission Aviation Fellowship in Tanzania, and • the Pettinger family, Trans World Radio in Altrincham, England

Finance

Share We paid in full the 2006 Diocesan Share request of £88,762, resulting in a small deficit for the year. The 2007 Share is also £88,762 and again full payment is expected, but this will require giving to increase by about 5% to avoid a further deficit. We expect that in future years the Share will increase by a minimum of 5%.

A team of volunteers administers the finances, hall hire and Free Will Offering.

We have met, and expect to continue to meet, the vicar's working expenses in full.

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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2005 2005 2004 Incoming Resources Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Total Funds Funds Funds £ £ £ £ Direct Giving 93,465 11,441 104,906 107,141 Other Voluntary Income 13,237 13,237 26,183 Gross Income from Events 11,934 11,934 6,554 Bank Interest 356 1,000 1,356 509

Total Incoming resources 105,755 25,678 131,433 140,387

Resources Used

Grants and Mission Giving 18,478 18,478 21,608 Support Costs 1,708 1,708 2,130 Parish Share to Diocese 81,377 81,377 70,762 Directly relating to the work 17,926 21,650 39,576 13,801 of the Church Church management and 7,376 120 7,496 9,088 administration

Total Resources Used 108,387 40,248 148,635 117,389

Net (outgoing) incoming (2,632) (14,570) (17,202) 22,998 resources

Balance brought forward 23,538 22,133 45,671 22,673

Balance carried forward 20,906 7,563 28,469 45,671

Buildings, Equipment and Administration St John’s is blessed with excellent facilities that are in good order. We have a large hall, which is used for many church events and by the wider community. We also have a parish lounge and a meeting room. The kitchen is brand new and fully equipped, having been installed during the Centenary year. All parts of the church building provide wheelchair access.

The present vicarage lies adjacent to the church itself and is set in a quiet residential area on Wheatley Avenue. The plans – for which planning permission is being sought - are to replace the present property with a new purpose built vicarage which will have a smaller carbon footprint and lower running and maintenance costs. The new priest-in- charge would be asked to begin in the present vicarage and then move into the new vicarage which will be built on part of the substantial vicarage garden.

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We have a paid part-time administrator who works four half days per week and a part- time hall bookings secretary. There is good lay involvement in church decoration (eg flowers and banners), cleaning, care of the grounds and maintenance of buildings, thus reducing the financial burden on the church.

We have one Reader.

The Future

We are constantly encouraged by and thank God for the many wonderful things that are happening at St John’s. However, we are not complacent and accept that there are opportunities for change and development in a number of areas. In particular, we would look to focus on the following areas over the next five years:

Development of Talents within the Church We have the benefit of many members of the congregation with great faith and ability yet we have only one lay reader and no non-stipendiary ministers or readers in training at the moment. If we wish to grow as a church we must seek to encourage some of these members into lay readership roles. Other talents within the congregation could be further encouraged so as to ensure that all are using their God-given gifts in a way that is pleasing to God and which serves the church.

Worship There may be a need to consider in detail the whole pattern of worship within St John’s. With so much competition for Sunday morning activities, attendance at church gets squeezed out of Reader Jan Copsey many people’s lives, particularly families with children. One way of bringing those families back to the church might be to provide a service at a different time of day, for example at 4pm. There is also a great need to develop a Family service.

Mission – Growth We need to reach those members of the community that are not represented within our current congregation – for example, those that live in ‘social housing’ and young people in the age range 18-30.

Whilst we have some very good links with the local schools, more still could be achieved in this area. One suggestion is the setting up some kind of after school Christian club in conjunction with the schools.

Mission – Giving We mentioned earlier the financial situation as regards the Share - encouraging greater giving from the congregation must be an important objective for the immediate future.

We see these as exciting challenges for the future and we pray for God’s guidance as we seek to address these issues.

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The post itself The new post will be as Priest-in-Charge and you would spend three-quarters of your time on parish duties. The other quarter could be filled in a number of ways, for example, you may:

• have a part-time job • wish to work only 4½ days a week Are you the new Priest in Charge? There are a number of key goals that we hope to achieve over the next few years and the new Priest in Charge will be key to how successful we are in this. You will need

• vision and creativity • to be a good organiser and coordinator • excellent interpersonal skills • to recognise gifts in others • to motivate, encourage and equip them for service in the church and beyond

Such qualities, together with the skills and enthusiasm to lead the church forward in the goals set out above, are what we are looking for in appointing the next Priest in Charge at St John's.

On a more spiritual level, the prayer life of the church is something that is valued highly by the congregation and we would hope that you would seek to continue to encourage us all through prayer and in prayer. Many of the congregation say that they felt called by God to St John’s - we hope this will be true of you too. You will need to be an enthusiastic exponent of the Scripture, providing sermons that are clear and relevant to the lives of the congregation, but which also seek to challenge us. You should be willing and able to use both old and new liturgies and music and fully accept the varied forms of worship that we have here at St John’s.

In summary, we need someone with “A heart for God and a heart for people.”

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