Are you the person to become part of our family, to encourage us to fulfil our mission and ministry and guide us in spiritual growth, prayer and discipleship?

We ask you to prayerfully consider coming to serve with us in our Benefice and to become an increasing blessing to our community.

The Benefice is comprised of the Parish of with and the adjacent smaller parishes of Leeming and . Surrounded by stunning countryside, we have good schools and amenities and beautiful historic churches.

St. Gregory’s Church

You can find out more about us by visiting our website: www.bedale.church

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The Benefice

We are in the Deanery of Wensley in the Episcopal Area of in the Diocese of .

A Benefice of four churches: Bedale with Burrill, Leeming, and Thornton Watlass, each having their own PCCs.

Our patrons are: The Bishop of Leeds Sir Henry Njers de la Poer Beresford-Pierse Sir David Smith-Dodsworth The Incumbent of the Benefice of Kirklington with and Wath and Pickhill.

Gridlines are 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) apart

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps” Proverbs 16:9

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Socio-Economics and Worship in the Benefice

Employment and prosperity Worship in the Benefice Because of the close proximity to the A1, people in We offer a range of services across the Benefice to the Benefice find employment largely in nearby appeal to a wide variety of worshippers. We want towns and cities although there is significant rural people of all ages and traditions to be able to find employment. There is an expanding industrial services that are meaningful and helpful for them. estate at . Each Sunday, in at least one of the churches in the Though many of the population are reasonably Benefice, we hold a Eucharistic service. prosperous, there are areas where unemployment and food poverty are a problem and the Food Bank has been a valuable support.

All the churches in the Benefice contribute to the Food Bank operated by Hambleton Foodshare

Schools These include:  Bedale C of E Primary School On the second Sunday of the month in Bedale we  , Leeming Bar C of E Primary School have our all-age Worship at Ten which is a non-  Thornton Watlass C of E Primary School Eucharistic service designed to encourage families  Several independent nursery schools and day and first-time churchgoers. On the first three care centres Sundays of the month there is an evening service  Mowbray School, a co-educational special and on the first Sunday in the month there is an 8 needs school a.m. Holy Communion. Services are also held  Leeming and Londonderry Community Primary during the week on Monday and Thursday School mornings.  Bedale High School On the second Saturday, usually to coincide with The churches in the Benefice have good Worship at Ten, we have L.I.G.H.T. (Life in God, relationships with all the church schools. The clergy team lead Collective Worship in schools and host Hope in Tomorrow) Church held in our Chantry special school occasions in church. The Family Hall and designed for families with children. This Worker is developing positive relationships with the comprises of arts, crafts, baking, singing and schools, offering activities to support the children's stories from the Bible. For many families this is spiritual development. This has been received ‘their church’, especially for those who are positively by both staff and children. reluctant to make it through the church doors. Healthcare Thornton Watlass holds a service every Sunday, As well as a General Practice and a Health Centre, Leeming on two Sundays a month and Burrill on there are several residential homes, one adjacent the fourth Sunday of the month. Whenever there to the church, retirement homes and sheltered is a fifth Sunday in the month, there is a United accommodation in the Benefice. There are two Benefice Service held in one of the churches when dental practices, one optician and two pharmacies we endeavour to bring all of the congregations in Bedale and the nearest hospital is in together. This is something we would wish to . develop. See page 4 for a list of our services.

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Our Services

United Benefice Service at Burrill Mission Church

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Bedale

Bedale forms the heart of the Benefice and is where the largest concentration of people is found. The twelfth century church of St. Gregory is It is a thriving Georgian at the located at the northern end of the market gateway to the beautiful Dales with a history that stretches back to before the Domesday place and is one of the finest examples of a Book. It is a vibrant community with unique shops, fortified tower in the north of . scenic local walks, attractions for all the family and many amenities and opportunities for contributing to the life of the town. It attracts a lot of tourists and visitors. It has a railway station on the preserved Railway which was re-opened in 2003 as a heritage railway between Leeming Bar and , a Golf Club founded in 1892 with a course played over a challenging 18 holes set in wooded parkland, and a Brass Band with a 25-year history of providing musical education and entertainment for the local community. It holds a market every Tuesday on the cobbles that line the market place and has a leisure centre with full gym, swimming pool and astro-turf sports pitches. Bedale Athletic Sports Association provides football, cricket, hockey, squash and Clubs, Societies and Organisations in Bedale include: tennis. The Big Sheep Little Cow farm, a petting Bedale Leisure Centre, Bedale Athletic Sports zoo, is adjacent to the local railway line and Bedale Association, Bedale Bowling Green Society, . Town Association Football Club, Bedale Junior Junction 51 of the A1(M) is just over a mile away Football Club, Bedale Golf Club, Bedale and Aiskew giving easy access to Durham, Newcastle and Runners, Bedale Cricket Club, The Bedale Hunt, to the North and East, and Ripon, Bedale Allotment Society, Bedale Archaeology and , and Leeds to the South. History Society, Bedale Scouts and Guides, Bedale The nearest mainline railway station is at Brass Band. Northallerton.

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The Benefice Churches

St. Gregory’s Church, Bedale

The church of St. Gregory is the main church in the Benefice of Bedale. A Grade I Listed Building, the present structure dates back to the latter part of the twelfth century with further restoration work having taken place over the last 800 years. Located at the northern end of the Market Place it is a prominent feature of the town and the main tourist attraction. The fortified tower was built as a place of refuge against the Scots in 1330 to protect the townsfolk from marauding forces and is a rare example of one built for defence rather than for decorative purpose. The Lady Chapel, used regularly for our shorter said BCP services, has a beautiful east window that is believed to have been transported from after the dissolution. The Reredos located in St. George’s Chapel is elaborately carved with figures of the six saints (Paulinus, Aidan, Wilfred, Gregory, Oswald and Cuthbert) who were specifically connected with the spread of Christianity in the North. Close by is the richly carved pulpit, dedicated in 1908, depicting scenes from the life of St. Gregory. Robert Thompson of Kilburn made the Choir Stalls in 1948 and these are decorated with his well-known mouse.

In 1926 extensive repair and restoration exposed some medieval wall paintings, the most notable being the image of a left-handed St. George fighting the dragon. This was repainted in 1931 by a restorer as a reproduction of the original.

Just inside the churchyard gates is a small Grade II Listed cottage building dating from 1674 that was originally used as a free grammar school. In 1888 a new grammar school was built in the town and so this building fell into disuse. It now houses the Parish Office run by the Benefice Administrator. Open between 9 a.m. and 12 noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays, administrative tasks such as all the necessary paperwork and liaison for baptisms, weddings and funerals are carried out here as well as rota management, answering general enquiries and printing and distribution of the weekly Bulletin and quarterly magazine.

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The Benefice Churches

St. Gregory’s Church, Bedale (continued) We have an annual Civic Remembrance Service when we gather together at the Grade II listed War Memorial within the church grounds. Erected in 1920, this bears the names of 46 men who died in the First World War and 21 from the Second. Frank Hall, son of the Bedale stonemason who did the engravings on it, is one of those listed from the Second World War.

The closed churchyard has been administered since the early 1980s by Bedale, Aiskew, Leeming Bar and Burrill Joint Burial The War Memorial in front of St. Gregory’s Church Authority.

St. Gregory’s receives over 10,000 visitors per year through its church and grounds with many of them participating in our Teddy Bear Trail. Led by Gregory Bear, this team of bears all have very important jobs around the church and children follow their trail by answering specific questions about them in our Trail Booklet.

The members of our Teddy Bear Trail taking some time off from their church chores to soak up the sunshine

St. Gregory’s hosts a variety of concerts, including the Swaledale Festival and Civic Services.

There is a children’s corner at the back of church. The area is available to be used any time of day, particularly during services, and has proved to be a valuable space for those families with younger children coming into church.

The much-utilised Children’s Corner in St. Gregory’s Church

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The Benefice Churches

Burrill Mission Church The of Burrill is just under 2 miles west of Bedale. The village was home to Robert Swan the explorer for several years. Agriculture is the main industry of the area. Burrill Mission Church (a Chapel of Ease built within the bounds of the parish for those who could not readily attend St. Gregory’s Church) was built in 1856 under the guidance of , probably whilst he was working on the restoration of St. Gregory’s. Holy Communion is held on the fourth Sunday of each month and the summer United Benefice Service is always held at Burrill.

St. John the Baptist, Leeming, Grade II Listed Building The village of Leeming lies just to the east of the A1(M). It is south of the larger village of Leeming Bar and lies close to RAF Leeming which has been redeveloped as a communications station. The churchyard contains 38 war graves including the burial place of Flt Lt John Quinton GC DFC, who sacrificed himself to save an air cadet by providing the cadet with the only available parachute after a mid-air collision. Frank Atkinson, the founder of Beamish , lived here for several years and is also buried in the churchyard. A faculty has been approved for repairs to the north side of the church, vestry and chancel and repairs to the roof and renewal of slates. We aim to complete this work by September 2018.

St. Mary the Virgin, Thornton Watlass, Grade II Listed Building Thornton Watlass is a small picturesque village that is located north of and south of Bedale. At the centre is the triangular village green with its trees, cricket pitch and a nearby children’s playground which is surrounded by houses, some of which were built from local stone. The church, dating from the 11th century, stands a little way outside the village to the south-east. Thornton Watlass has been featured as a location for several TV series, the most famous of which is ITV’s ‘Heartbeat’. The village forms part of the Thornton Watlass estate. Thornton Watlass Hall, an ancient two-storey gabled stone house, lies just to the north of the village and has been home to the Dodsworth family since 1415. The school is federated with Snape Community School and there is a village hall overlooking the green where many church events are held.

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Governance

The parishes are committed to working closely together as a Benefice. As part of this the PCCs have agreed, during the vacancy, to trial a new model of meetings to ensure that they are more efficient and effective whilst also recognising the need to reduce the number of meetings required of our Incumbent. There will now be 6 PCC meetings a year across the Benefice. Each PCC meeting will start with a joint discussion so that Benefice-wide matters can be discussed and agreed. This will be followed by the individual PCCs addressing parish-specific matters. The meeting will draw to a close with all the PCCs Bedale PCC joining together in prayer.

The PCC of St. Gregory’s operates through a number Fellowship Group of working groups which meet from time to time This group has four broad areas of the life of the between full meetings of the PCC and work within church for which they are responsible: worship, agreed terms of reference. pastoral care, hospitality and learning and teaching. The role of this group is to strengthen relationships within the church, implement learning courses, develop worship life and generate welcoming hospitality throughout the church family.

Partnership Group This Group seeks to bring church into the wider community, develop new links and relationships outside of the church family, improve the visitor experience of St. Gregory’s, consider new ways of using resources to involve a wider cross-section of the community in the life of the church and investigate and initiate means of caring for those in the wider community who are in need of our support.

Leadership Group (Standing Committee) Stewardship Group The Rector and Churchwardens work together with This Group is comprised of the Finance Committee the Treasurer, PCC Secretary and Chairs of the and the Fabric Committee working alongside each Fellowship, Stewardship and Partnership Groups other to manage the income and expenditure of the under the umbrella of the Standing Committee. This church as well as the care and upkeep of the church is the only committee required by law. It has powers buildings. The Group also considers the best way of to transact the business of the PCC between acquiring and using funds to accomplish the overall meetings, subject to any directions given by the PCC. vision of the parish.

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Benefice Activities

 Home, hospital & care home visiting St. Gregory’s Church Choir  Home Communion St. Gregory's has a long and distinguished choral tradition. Over the years our young choristers have  Bereavement Befriending Group grown up, moved away and proved difficult to  Mothers’ Union replace; many of our long standing adult members  Regular Craft & Gift Fairs in the Chantry Hall are also no longer with us. We have a mixed adult  Pilgrim Courses choir, a small but very enthusiastic and loyal group of singers, continuing the tradition of leading the congregation in the singing of God's praises during our weekly acts of worship. We are presently exploring ways of stimulating more interest in our church choir with the specific aim of attracting new members.

Bellringing The tower houses a ring of eight bells, with a fourteenth-century tenor of approx. 20cwt. There  Flower arrangers are currently ten ringers, who are a very friendly  Receiving and circulating requests for prayer group. Although the majority are not members of  Summer & Christmas luncheon at Burrill the congregation, they are committed to ringing for Sunday services, for weddings as requested, and for  Prayer Trios civic occasions, with the encouragement and  Participation in Christian Aid week appreciation of the Town Council.  Church coffee mornings in the Chantry Hall raise There is a regular practice on Wednesday evenings funds and increase awareness of the churches in and a good relationship with the ringers at Masham. the Benefice With the approval of the families concerned, a  Christingle, Crib and Carol services passing bell is rung to mark the death of a member of  Harvest Service the congregation or of a prominent local citizen.  United Benefice Services There is a separate group of tune ringers on  Songs of Praise handbells, the church possessing 27 bells.

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Events

Some ways in which the churches in the Benefice and their communities come together:

Community Events  Royal Air Forces Association  Annual Civic Service at St. Gregory’s  Scouts and Guides

 Baptism Sheep Knitters

 All Souls service Ecumenical Events  Remembrance Day services at Bedale, Leeming and Thornton Watlass  Good Friday Walk of Witness

 Public concerts in St. Gregory’s  Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child

 Chantry Hall: used by private individuals,  Carol singing in the market place organisations and local businesses.

 Women’s World Day of Prayer

 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

 Churches Together in Bedale  Supporting the Food Bank  Prayer and Praise (service of contemporary  Outreach with RAF Leeming worship)  ‘Bedale & Beyond’, a quarterly magazine with  Joint Anglican / Methodist service at Leeming contributions from the community  Lent Lunches  Christmas Cards

 Collective Worship in schools

 Royal British Legion

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Chantry Hall

Chantry Hall is a church-owned facility that provides a link between the town and the wider community. Originally built in the 1960s, the recently refurbished hall is used on a regular basis by private individuals, organisations and local businesses. With its 1,620 square foot hall and fully-fitted kitchen and toilet facilities, it is always in great demand and has become the perfect local venue for such diverse events as music and comedy evenings, Diocesan training sessions and private birthday parties. It also hosts Craft and Gift Fairs and coffee mornings. Here is an example week in the life of the Hall:

Gift & Craft Fairs Wedding Receptions

Music Events Children’s Parties

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Money Matters

All the churches in the Benefice are deeply held in the hearts of the community when it comes to regular giving, capital projects, mission, charitable giving and times of need. This was expressed very clearly back in 2016 when lead was stolen from the roof of St. Gregory’s. Our local Co-op invited us to set up a display board showing images of the vandalised roof. The response to this by the community touched us deeply and raised almost a thousand pounds towards the repairs. All churches pay their Parish Share Request in full, monthly and on time, there is also no outstanding historic debt with regard to the Share. Clergy expenses are paid in full. We are intending to run a stewardship campaign in Spring 2019 across the Benefice to help us address our current monthly deficit. A regular annual fund-raising event is the Car Boot Sale held in the grounds of nearby Bedale Hall. St. Gregory’s income is supplemented by the hire fees for Chantry Hall and church hire for concerts and other events. Each of the churches has a dedicated Gift-Aid secretary who claims Gift-Aid on a regular basis to help with their cash flow. Each year the churches in the Benefice make donations to different charities as designated by their PCCs. For example: The Children’s Society; Royal British Legion; The Church Army; The Church Mission Society; St. George’s Crypt, Leeds; Marrick Priory; The Dales Centre; and Hambleton Foodshare.

Re-Ordering of St. Gregory’s, Bedale It is nearly three years since Bedale PCC started thinking about whether and how we might re-order the lovely and historically important St. Gregory’s. The PCC drew up a set of requirements and invited volunteers from our congregation to form a team to take things forward. Architects were chosen to turn our ideas and thoughts into something practical. During the summer of 2017 their draft proposals were published and as many people as possible both inside our church family and in the wider community were invited to view the proposals and comment anonymously upon them. Whilst some concerns were raised there was on the whole a positive response, particularly from members of our own congregation. The project has been split into four phases with the work to be carried out over a five-year period. Phase 1 will be external works to replace the floodlighting and light the north side of the church and improve the safety and security of the building. The PCC have allocated £600,000 to the re-ordering project which has a total cost of between £1.3 and 1.5 million pounds so fundraising and the application of grants will be fundamental to the completion of the scheme. We are also hoping to renovate and upgrade The Old Grammar School, our Parish Office, as it currently does not meet the needs of a modern workplace.

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Statistics

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The Rectory

The Rectory is a well-appointed 4-bedroomed house in its own grounds with lovely views across the Rectory Woodland. The house has its own private gardens to front and rear which have been used for outdoor services including the Easter Sunrise Service.

Close to the church, it is a short walking distance to the centre of the market place and local amenities and within easy reach of our Church of England schools and High School. There is a Rector’s study with shelving units and cupboards. It has good parking.

There are no outstanding structural problems.

The Rectory—north elevation The Rectory—south elevation

The Rectory Woodland The Rectory Woodland

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The Role of the Rector

We are seeking a Rector who has strong leadership skills to guide and enable us to recognise the talents and gifts within us, both as individuals and as churches to take us into the future.

We are looking for a person of God who will:

 help us identify what God is calling us to be and  show that they are willing to continue to forge develop our prayer and spiritual growth ecumenical links with other churches in the  inspire growth in others through learning and by Benefice example, acting as a model of the love of God in  continue the work of developing attractive action meetings, services and events for all  develop new and existing relations with the  exercise good leadership and will work collegially wider community and external organisations to with our retired clergy and readers to ensure promote positive links with the churches ministry and mission throughout the Benefice  plan, organise and conduct programmes of  show that they are at home with a variety of teaching which support, develop and enable the approaches to churchmanship and worship discipleship of our congregations styles  offer worship and teaching appropriate for  have good interpersonal skills that develop and people of different ages and stages in faith maintain effective working relationships,  be a spiritual leader who by prayer and teaching ensuring that structures and resources for parish can grow both new and existing congregations in organisation are appropriate, including clear their faith boundaries and accountability of roles  have a commitment to initiate and promote  be supportive of the development of music in work with children, young people and families order to enhance our worship  move the relationships with our local schools  help us to deepen the discipleship of those who forward making them feel a valued part of the come to church parish and church communities  be disciplined about their wellbeing and  have a passion for sharing in pastoral care giving balancing work, home life, recreation and support to those in need as appropriate retreats including baptism and marriage preparation, care for the sick and dying, bereavement, individual support and visiting We will welcome you, support you, co-operate  have a track record of imaginative development with you and trust your leadership. of lay ministry and working collaboratively with lay people  be a visible presence of the churches across the Benefice, taking our faith beyond the church Third Year Curate, Stephen Hanscombe doors and out into the community We have an excellent SSM curate in his third year of  be excited about developing the opportunities to curacy. You will be taking on the continued nurture play our part in making the Benefice a better and training of Stephen and will be supported in this place for all and working for social justice by the IME Department, and the Bishop of Ripon.

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Supporting Roles

You will be supported by lots of people in the Family Worker Benefice: In January 2018 we appointed our Family Worker  Churchwardens: Bedale, George Bushby & Mal (20 hours per week). Her primary role is to take the Rowland; Burrill, Chris Griffiths; Leeming, mission and ministry of St Gregory’s out into the Elizabeth Pratt; Thornton Watlass, Chris community through the forging of links with local Carruthers schools, nurseries and other similar partnership  Deputy Churchwarden: Bedale, Linda organisations as well as raising the profile of the Collingwood church within the community as a whole.  Curate: Revd Stephen Hanscombe  Readers: Sandra Lowe, Michelle Dearlove, Dave Collingwood and Steve Madsen  Lay Worship leaders: Chris Carruthers, Linda Collingwood and Mike Lowe  Benefice Administrator: Jan Carnell

 Family Worker: Michelle Dearlove Mission, the Team God puppy, on a visit to Scargill House.  Retired clergy who help with services, baptisms, weddings and funerals in the Benefice Our Family Worker has an active participation in our  Organist and Director of Music at Bedale: all-age worship service. Richard Boyton The number of young people from the schools and  Organists: Burrill, Keith Johnson; Leeming, Joan nurseries coming into church are noticeably Lyon; Thornton Watlass, Christine Carruthers increasing as part of our initiative to showcase what  Treasurers: Bedale, Paul Carnell; Burrill, Keith the church and the Family Worker can offer. Johnson and Angela Gill; Leeming, Alf Chatham; The role is in its infancy but clear positive steps have Thornton Watlass, Margaret Hartley been made including working ecumenically with  Gift Aid Secretaries: Bedale with Burrill, and other denominations in the locality, and we hope Leeming, Linda Collingwood; Thornton Watlass, we will continue to grow through this valuable work Margaret Hartley in our community.  PCC Secretaries: Bedale, Jan Carnell; Burrill, Elaine Averis and Margaret Griffiths; Leeming, Alf Chatham; Thornton Watlass, Margaret Mortimer  St. Gregory’s Bell Tower Captain: Revd Robin Brown  Safeguarding and Electoral Roll Officers of the PCCs Many members of the church volunteer in a variety of ways.

L.I.G.H.T. Church

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Are you the one God is calling to guide, lead and enable us all to recognise the skills and gifts within us, both as individuals and as churches, that will take us into the future?

We will welcome you, support you, co-operate with you and trust your leadership. Just remember to have a sense of humour… and bring your own wellies!

Designed, edited and compiled by Jan and Paul Carnell

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