Parish Profile for the United Benefice of St Mary the Virgin Theydon Bois
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Parish Profile for the United Benefice of St Mary the Virgin Theydon Bois & All Saints Theydon Garnon and the Parish of St Michael’s Theydon Mount with St Mary’s Stapleford Tawney Contents Overview of Parishes and Clergy Profile 3 St Mary’s Church, Theydon Bois 5 All Saints’ Church, Theydon Garnon 11 St Michael’s Church, Theydon Mount with St Mary’s Church, Stapleford Tawney 16 The Deanery of Epping Forest and Ongar 18 Accounts: St Mary’s Church, Theydon Bois 20 All Saints’ Church, Theydon Garnon 23 St Michael’s Church, Theydon Mount with St Mary’s Church, Stapleford Tawney 27 2 Overview of Parishes and Clergy Profile Introduction tions are committed to developing their churches and reaching out to their communi- Our new incumbent will be taking re- ties in mission and ministry. We are excited sponsibility for the Joint Benefice of All by what lies ahead for our churches and hope Saints Theydon Garnon and St Mary the Vir- to build on the good work already being un- gin Theydon Bois, and will also be leading dertaken in support of our mission state- the joint parish of St Michael’s Theydon ments. We face different challenges in our Mount and St Mary the Virgin Stapleford quest to serve God in each community, whilst Tawney. This joint parish has a single con- promoting the Christian faith. gregation which worships alternate weeks at the two churches and is currently in a differ- ent Benefice. It sounds complicated but it is Overall Aims not! In short: The overall future aims of the group one Benefice, can be summarised as follows: three Parishes, Taking forward the goals of Transform- three congregations, ing Presence, the Diocesan strategy. four Churches, Developing our depth of Christian com- with variety in abundance. The long term mitment as well as the numerical plan is to link all four churches. growth of our parishes. The three Parishes are situated to the Facilitating spiritual growth within the north east of London in the western part of church family and surrounding commu- the county of Essex. They cover a mixture of nities. rural Essex and suburbia. Theydon Bois is a Exploring ways of growing together to become one in our love and worship of God our Father. Developing pastoral care support to provide comfort to those in need. Characteristics Required There will be slightly different de- mands made on the incumbent by the differ- ent worshipping patterns of each church, but any candidate would be generally required to display the following characteristics: large village and St Mary’s has a substantial Excellent leadership skills that can thriving congregation. The other three build on the good work that has gone churches are in more rural locations but All on already and help us face the chal- Saints parish includes part of the neighbour- lenges of mission. ing town of Epping. Their congregations are To be able to lead imaginatively and smaller, but they are loyal and committed, with a common purpose and vision, and are predominately from outside their par- thereby encouraging both children and ishes. adults to join our loving and receptive We are three active parishes that pro- congregations. vide the opportunity to deliver a range of Dedication. We would like to think that styles of worship from the Book of Common this incumbency will not be a short Prayer to All Age Worship. Our congrega- term commitment. To provide leader- 3 ship to the four churches with the resul- Continuing the program of lay training. tant worshipping patterns will require Encouraging and enabling lay leader- great patience, flexibility and stamina. ship of worship. Provide an example of faith at all times, Developing and nurturing faith of especially when new challenges emerge adults. or change is necessary, and thereby re- Supporting and sustaining laity in min- ignite our trust in, and love of, God our istering to others. Father. Developing Pastoral Care Teams to provide comfort and support for those Support who are ill or suffering bereavement. In return, the new incumbent can ex- Developing further use of Church pect strong support from across all age buildings and assets for the good of our groups of the new enlarged congregation in congregations, the local community and terms of: wider church. Enthusiasm - the three congregations Reaching out to the urban parts of the are brimming with a variety of skills Parishes to encourage greater involve- that can be shared across the group of ment with their churches. churches. Encouraging and enabling fresh expres- Dedication - the respective congrega- sions of ministry and mission where the tions are committed members of the opportunity arises. church family and can be relied upon Encouraging more creativity in worship for a long term commitment. e.g. drama and expansion of music groups. Developing ministry with 11-16 year olds through schools and other youth groups. Attributes and Qualifications Particular personal attributes and quali- fications needed: A developer and enabler of laity (and also of SSMs). An ability to enthuse young people. We would expect to give full support to A good communicator who can develop the new incumbent in all aspects of our and maintain good relations between all church life. three parishes. Within the following document you will find an individual section dedicated to each of the Key tasks three parishes, a deanery profile and full ac- Key tasks for our new incumbent will counts for each of the three parishes. include: 4 St Mary’s Church, Theydon Bois Introduction St Mary’s is a happy, flourishing hand in hand with a drive to “hold on to” church family. We hold a variety of services members of our Junior Church as they ap- that meet a wide spectrum of needs and have proach the mid-teens. We would like to con- a thriving Junior Church. We are able to call tinue to encourage more worshippers to offer on many different talents, both spiritual and their gifts and talents for the work of St practical, amongst the worshippers. Steward- Mary’s, however large or small, spiritual or ship at St. Mary’s is well developed and we practical. At the same time we want to grow have an effective level of planned giving. together in our love of God and our experi- Worshippers enjoy lovely church buildings ence of Him so that we are better able to and grounds as well as a nearby church hall, share our faith with others in the community. which together provide ample space for every To this end we want to encourage more peo- kind of church activity. ple to attend study groups and to participate in other devotional and learning opportunities. We look forward to welcoming a new priest to work with our church within the community to encourage spiritual growth for the benefit of all. The purpose of this profile is to provide an open and honest insight into our church life, both “inside” St Mary’s and within the village, and to share our plans and hopes for the future. In this way we hope to attract a candidate who feels called to meet these chal- lenges with us, and who would be willing and Our vision for the future is to build on able to channel our energies and work with us what is already effective and develop those to grow the Church within the community. areas where we feel we could do more. We have recently established two youth groups which we are keen to develop. This goes Church Life Current Patterns of Sunday Worship Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 8.00 am HC (BCP) HC (BCP) HC (BCP) HC (BCP) HC (BCP) Family Family Morning Morning All Age 10.30 am Communion Communion Worship Worship Worship (CW) (CW) (CW) (CW) Sung Sung Evensong or Sung 6.00 pm Communion Evensong “Special” Evensong United Service (CW) (BCP) e.g. Taizé (BCP) Current Regular weekday duties 10.00 am (Week 1: Mothers’ Union Morning Prayer said Monday and Communion) Thursday at 9.30 am Around ten visits per month to take Holy Communion on Wednesdays at Communion to people at home. 5 Church Membership 13 who lead intercessions Number on electoral roll: 191. The average The PCC meets eight times a year. attendance at services is: There is a flourishing branch of the 8.00 a.m. - 20, Mothers’ Union attached to St Mary’s 10.00 a.m. - 65, plus 25 children, Church with over 39 members, who are in- 6.00 p.m. - 20. volved in many activities from spiritual to practical including leading intercessions. An In 2015 there were: afternoon meeting with various speakers is 9 baptisms held each month and on the first Wednesday of the month members are invited to the 10 20 confirmed a.m. Holy Communion Service. The MU are 4 marriages involved with the Pram Group serving re- 7 funerals freshments and also providing and serving 9 funeral services at a crematorium. refreshments for Messy Church held twice a year. The church enjoys good representation There are full and thriving units for across the age range. There is a thriving Jun- Rainbows, Brownies and Guides at St ior Church attended by children between the Mary’s. The units are open but closely linked ages of three and fourteen. At the other end to the Church and all the leaders are members of the age range, there are a number of retired of the congregation. The girls are encouraged people, many of whom have worshipped at St to attend Church Parade at some of the All Mary’s for a large part of their lives and con- Age Worship services.