THE CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS BIRCHWOOD AVENUE HATFIELD AL10 0PS www.stmichaelandallangels-hatfield.org

BISHOP’S HATFIELD TEAM MINISTRY WITH LEMSFORD AND NORTH MYMMS

TEAM VICAR FOR ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS

The Person

We are looking for a person of prayer, open to discerning God’s will for our church and neighbourhood. He or she will help us deepen our spirituality and go on growing in the Christian faith.

The new Team Vicar will both identify strongly with St. Michael’s and St John’s Lemsford and be a good team colleague

We envisage someone with a heart for reaching out and working in the local community and with the capacity to lead St. Michael’s into a new period of growth.

Such a person will have energy, sparkle, a sense of humour and will not be afraid of responsibility.

He or She will seek to draw out the gifts already shown among members of the congregation and be ready to introduce new ideas whilst valuing the good work already happening.

The successful candidate will enjoy the support of a PCC and congregation encouraged by the change of status of the Parish within the team, as they seek new ways of furthering God’s work within the parish.

The Parish

The Parish of St Michael and All Angels, in Hatfield is part of the Bishop’s Hatfield Team which comprises four churches in Hatfield (St Michael and All Angels; St John, South Hatfield and St Etheldreda with St Luke) together with St John, Lemsford and St Mary, North Mymms.

St Michael and All Angels lies to the north end Hatfield, primarily within the Hatfield North ward of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council district, but also encompasses part of Hatfield Central and Hatfield East Wards.

The St Michael’s parish, shaded blue, comprises the area once being the extent of the original Birchwood Farm; the original part of the area known as Hatfield Garden Village and the site of the De Havilland Aircraft airfield together with an extensive rural area beyond.

The church is situated in a small, district, shopping area including a post office, a baker’s and a Co-op. There is also a local playing field and leisure centre where the Town Council has its offices

Schools within the parish. There are three primary schools with which the church has links. In addition members of the Team share the leading of assemblies and the hosting of worship for the Church of England primary school. A Children’s ‘Sure Start’ Centre is located next to the church. Other children’s provision is to be found at the local Guide hut where Rainbows, Brownies, and Guides meet. There is also a Senior Section Unit for girls aged from 14 to 25 years. According to the census, just under 20% of the population is under 14 years. There is opportunity for increased involvement in all these children’s activities both from clergy and lay members of the congregation.

Provision for seniors. At the other end of the age range there are three large care homes in the parish, which clergy visit monthly, as well as smaller homes. A group for older people meet in the church hall every Thursday for a social gathering. Friendship House lies within the parish and is open most days for a wide range of provision for senior citizens. St, Michael’s has started to build links with these organisations but there is room for more contact.

Worship

The focus of our worship at St. Michael and All Angels is the Eucharist (Common Worship). The churchmanship is broadly liberal catholic, which is embraced in a way which we hope will be welcoming and open to all. Vestments (cassock alb and stole) are worn at the Eucharist and the sacrament is reserved. We are fortunate in having a robed choir and a regular organist. The choir is affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music and follows the Voice for Life training programme for junior singers. Lay participation is encouraged in reading the lesson, leading intercessions and administering the chalice.

The usual Sunday attendance is about 60 adults and 12 children and this can rise substantially at festivals. Many of the congregation have worshipped at the church for a long time, but there are also a number of new families. Sunday Club has grown substantially in recent times with most children 8 years old and under. The children attend a Sunday Club during the service, returning to church with their leaders for a blessing during communion. They then show the congregation what they have been learning and pray with us.

There is an emphasis on reverence and prayerfulness at St. Michael’s, combined with a sense of mutual support and good humour. We extend a warm welcome to newcomers who are encouraged to feel part of the worshipping community.

Pattern of Services

Sunday 9.30 a.m. Sung Eucharist Average Communicants 60 Tuesday 10.00 a.m. Said Eucharist 3

‘Messy Church’ takes place once a month in church and includes a short and simple act of worship for children and adults. This normally attracts 35 to 45 people but has reached 70.

Special Services

Services at Christmas include Nine Lessons and Carols and an ever growing Crib Service. There is also carol singing, with mulled wine and mince pies in the church in the week before Christmas. Money collected from this and that taken at the Crib Service on Christmas Eve is sent to The Children’s Society

Services in Holy Week include a service on Maundy Thursday, which includes a simple meal and also the washing of feet. This service is shared with many of our friends from Lemsford Parish. This service is followed by a vigil maintained through the night.

On Good Friday evening there is a devotional service led by the choir and on Easter Eve there is the traditional service of first light and of course on Easter Day we have our family Eucharist with Easter Egg hunt for the children. On Easter Monday there is a pilgrimage to the Abbey Church at St Albans. This follows the Alban Way footpath, an old railway line converted.

Easter Monday Pilgrimage All Souls Day when we remember our departed loved ones

Special Sundays – e.g. Mothering Sunday, Harvest – are celebrated at the Eucharist.

Occasional Offices

In 2014 there were

18 Baptisms 2 Funerals held in church 16 Funerals at the crematorium conducted by clergy from the church

Structure of the Parish

St. Michael and All angels has been a parish since the beginning of 2013. Before this it was part of the Parish of Bishop’s Hatfield, which also included St. Etheldreda with St. Luke, and St. John, South Hatfield. The church has an electoral roll of 117 members.

The management of the parish is by two elected church wardens and a Parochial Church Council (PCC). There are two deputy church wardens, as well as a Secretary and a Treasurer. The PCC meets every other month and, in between, a number of Action Groups have responsibility for planning and carrying out tasks in their specific areas. The Action Groups are composed of members of the congregation not necessarily on the PCC, though the convener gives a report and seeks approval for actions where necessary. The Action Groups cover the following areas:

Children and Young People Communications Fund-raising Mission Action Planning Pastoral Care Planning and Property Social Activities

Financially the church is not wealthy, having a share factor of 0.85. However it has fairly comfortably achieved its Parish Share both as part of Bishops Hatfield Parish and as a Parish in its own right.

ST MICHAEL’S MINISTRY TEAM

Roger Fisher Churchwarden Kate Wright Churchwarden Dave Gunn Reader Kim Banham Deputy Churchwarden Nikki Spencer Deputy Churchwarden

Mission Action Plan

Our three priorities for the next five years are:

1. To provide opportunities for people to deepen their faith 2. To improve communication with people in the locality 3. To build on the church’s involvement with local people

Our five specific goals for the next year or more are:

1. To maintain and improve the church premises, in particular the repair of the church roof 2. To seek ways of extending our connections with those living on the British Aerospace site and reaching out to those living in the relatively new housing on the Hatfield Garden Village extension, working with St. John ’s Lemsford if this is appropriate. 3. To encourage people to assist with the services and visits to Care Homes and to support those called to be Pastoral Visitors 4. To continue working on the use of email and other electronic communication and notice-boards for sharing information 5. To continue with the donations to Food Bank

Children in Church

Children are made welcome at St. Michael’s, where there is a Sunday Club during the Eucharist. A lively team of helpers lead the Club with helpers and parents of the youngest taking part. We have updated the CRB checks on all our leaders. There is a ‘children’s corner’ in church and children’s pack of activities for those who decide to stay in during the service. The congregation are welcoming and warm towards young people. Children over 7 can be members of the choir and we are hoping to increase the numbers of child singers.

Messy Church

Messy church meets once a month in the church for messy activities on a bible theme. The activities are shared by parents and carers and church members who explain the stories. There is a short participatory act of worship with singing and this is followed by a meal in the church hall

Schools

There is a Church of England Primary School in the parish and members of the team visit the school weekly to take assemblies. Services for Easter, Harvest and Christmas rotate around the churches in the team. At St. Michael’s we also have contact with other Primary School, in particular the neighbouring Birchwood Primary School where we take an assembly once per month Some of the schools come for services in the church, but clergy visit for assemblies and visits in the classroom. The schools bring individual classes into St. Michael’s as part of their National Curriculum studies.

Teenagers

Sadly there are few teenagers at St. Michael’s at the present time. We support the other churches in the team with their work with teenagers particularly with confirmation preparation.

Social Activities

St Michael’s has a very active social side with a number of varied and diverse activities taking place throughout the year.

St. Michael’s Rambling Group has now become a team wide fellowship which meets every 1st Saturday in the month for a walk of about 5 to 7 miles in the Hertfordshire and surrounding counties countryside. The highlight of the ramble is the pub lunch where quite a large number of non walkers also gather to

socialise.

St. Michael’s Cinema Club agrees on a film at Campus West Cinema and book to see it together. The aim is to see one film a month, people meet before the film for a cup of tea and a chat; numbers have increased to twenty people but are restricted because of transport.

Quiz Nights are held during the year, the event involves a fish and chip supper. The event is well supported and is highly contested.

Church Away Day. This usually takes place in September and involves a day visit to various attractions, having included Beaulieu and The Black Country Living Museum at Dudley and more recently Maple Durham house and gardens near Reading. The trip is also open to people who are not connected with the Church.

A Lenten Lunch has been introduced during the period of Lent and is proving to be popular as have our long running Harvest Lunches; a meal at lunch time during October which has a large

uptake. BBQ’s. The Church organises a BBQ during the summer months open to all members of the congregation and friends. This takes place, at lunch time, in the church grounds adjacent to the church hall

Summer Fete and Christmas Fayre are the two major fund raising events during the year. Both are important; not only as fund raisers but also involving the community at large. They are a valuable part of the Church’s outreach in the community.

There are other small fund raising activities on Sunday mornings after church including

sale of cakes and ‘bacon butties’ for lunch. These are normally held monthly

Church of England Children Society and Christian Aid are the two main Charities supported by St. Michael’s. We have 36 box holders and money raised from Community Carols and the Crib Service is also donated to the Society. In May, we also have a street collection for Christian Aid.

At Easter we have an Easter Egg Hunt in the church grounds and on the Sunday nearest to Shrove Tuesday we have pancakes in the hall. In the past we have also had pancake tossing and egg-and- spoon races. A tradition waiting to be revived

Sunday Morning Coffee is served in the Church Hall after the 9.30am Holy Communion Service. There is a monthly rota for those who make and serve the coffee.

The Traidcraft Stall is present in the Church Hall after the morning service on various Sundays during the month; the stall also features at the Summer Fete and Christmas Fayre.

The Parish

The Parish lies, primarily, within the Hatfield North ward of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council district, but also encompasses part of Hatfield Central and Hatfield East Wards. The Indices of Deprivation 2000 (with rank 1 being the most deprived) gave Hatfield North the rank of 4,422 out of a total of 8,414 English wards. This will undoubtedly have changed as a result of the new development on the airfield site

The Town, in its current form, developed largely as a result of being designated a New Town in 1948. Much of the original New Town development, however, took place to the south of the town and lies in the district of St John’s Hilltop. Birchwood estate was developed on the on the site of the old Birchwood Farm in the 1930’s. The development was made necessary by the relocation, to Hatfield, of the De Havilland Aircraft Company in 1933. Most private development was completed just post war and the rest of the estate completed by the local authority. Much of this housing, however, is now owner occupied having been purchased under the right to buy scheme. Recent development on the old airfield site is mostly business development with some residential areas. Due to that expansion the parish of St Michael and all Angels has now grown to a population of 11,800 according to the 2011 census. Further building in that area is planned.

The Location

 Hatfield lies on the A1(M) approximately 20 miles north of the centre of London. Much of the motorway, however, runs through the ‘Hatfield Tunnel’ beneath The Galleria shopping centre. This centre also houses a seven screen cinema and a number of cafes and restaurants.  The A1(M) intersects with the M25 some 5 miles south of the town.  The M1 is within 20 minutes by car  Central London is 22 minutes from Hatfield by rail on the Edinburgh/Kings Cross line  The railway station is approximately 20 minutes walking distance from the vicarage

The area encompasses some 4,000 dwellings with approximately 11,800 residents. The majority of the dwellings are privately owned with some residual Borough Council housing.

Local amenities include a large retail area; two small district retail areas; one LEA Children’s Centre and three primary schools. Countess Anne Primary School, a church school, falls just outside the district.

The current Town Centre complex, which is being progressively closed down in preparation for complete redevelopment, has a large Asda supermarket, Iceland and Boots the Chemist.

To complement the twice weekly market there is a monthly Farmer’s Market

The Galleria is a superb outlet shopping centre with a multi-screen cinema and a good selection of restaurants

Retail area including Tesco (24hr), Next, and Homebase

Green Lanes Primary School

District centre including a Post Office, a Bakers shop and a Co-op Mini-market, a public house and a Gentlemen’s Hairdresser

St Michael’s Church, Hall and Vicarage

Birchwood Primary School

Birchwood Children’s Centre

Countess Anne CE Primary School

District centre including a Launderette, a Ladies Hairdresser and a Newsagent

The Buildings

The Church

The church is a basilica style building consecrated in 1955 to replace a ‘Nissan Hut’ erected to serve the growing community in the war years. The tower roof was replaced some 15 years ago and substantial repairs were carried out to the nave roof in 2008. The church grounds do not contain a graveyard but do offer splendid facilities for events such as garden fetes. There are some residual roof problems which are in hand

It is a light, and airy, building with a small side chapel.

The Vicarage

The Vicarage, built in 1945, is a three, double, bedroom house standing alongside the church and hall buildings. The garden is mostly to grass and is not overlooked. It is ideally suited to young children if necessary. Plans are in hand to add an additional bedroom and study/office accommodation

The Church Hall, built in 1962

The hall is adjacent to the church. It comprises the main hall, which can seat 100 people, a large modern kitchen, and a recently refurbished committee room..

Bookings for the hall are restricted to those functions that will not disturb near neighbours.

The hall is regularly used by Slimming World, an old people’s club and other local organisations.

Basic maintenance to the church and hall is carried out by volunteer work groups, but all specialist work is carried out by approved contractors.

We are due a quinquennial inspection and are currently seeking an architect to replace our last who has recently retired.