Profile: with Besthorpe

Introduction

Full benefice name: Benefice of Attleborough with Besthorpe

Deanery: and Rockland

Location: South

Type of area: Attleborough is a rapidly expanding market town on the A11 corridor between Thetford and , with a population of 12,000. The Benefice also includes the village of Besthorpe situated approximately a mile away from the town centre.

Tradition: Worship is centred around the Eucharist. The tradition of the Churches could be described as broadly liberal catholic towards the upper end of the central Anglicanism. Besthorpe is slightly ‘lower’ than Attleborough. The worship in both churches has an air of relaxed formality.

Who the role is for: A title post for a male or female deacon who expects to be ordained priest

Incumbent: Revd Matthew Jackson The Rectory, Surrogate Street Attleborough, NR17 2AW

01953 453185 [email protected]

Website: www.attleboroughchurch.org.uk www.besthorpechurch.org.uk

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Our setting and the context

Situated on the edge of the area of Norfolk, Attleborough is approximately 15 miles south west of Norwich and serviced by good road, bus and rail links to Norwich, and .

There is an hourly train to Norwich and Cambridge and the East Midlands Train from Norwich to Liverpool (which calls amongst other places at Ely, Peterborough and Manchester) stops in Attleborough. Connection to the Motorway system takes approximately one hour’s travel by road.

Attleborough is a lively market town. Historically and to the present day its commercial and business life has been associated with the county's agricultural heritage. A major industry in previous times was cider making and, until the early 1990s, Attleborough was the base for Gaymer's Cider. Poultry processing is a major local industry with attractive industrial estates situated around the town providing other local employment. The town centre is well served with local shops including two in-town supermarkets and a small market is held in the town centre on a Thursday morning,

The town has two Primary Schools and an . The Academy has an established sixth form. There are a number of playgroups and nursery schools. Though none of the schools is a church school, strong links exist between them and the church. The church also has links with a school for children with special needs which was located in the town until 2017 before relocating three miles away to Old .

The 2011 census reported that the population of the benefice was

3 Profile: Attleborough with Besthorpe approximately 11,000. Attleborough has grown rapidly over the last few years with the building of several large and small housing developments. Much of the incoming population has tended to be either young families or retired couples. The town is well served with two large medical centres and numerous care homes.

Besthorpe is a widely spread agricultural village approximately one mile from Attleborough. It is divided into three main areas: Mill Lane (which could be described as a suburb of Attleborough) Black Carr and Norwich Road. The population is approximately 600.

Attleborough, in keeping with many market towns in the county, is designated for major growth over the next two decades which will see the town double in size. This inevitably raises issues and concerns with regard to strain on the local infrastructure and services but there is a general acceptance that the growth is welcome.

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The Churches

There are two Anglican Churches in the Benefice. Christians have worshipped on the site where St Mary’s now stands in Attleborough since Saxon Times. The origins of the current building are 11th Century with later additions. The furnishings are mostly portable and can be moved or removed relatively easily to give the church a true medieval feel as an open space with benches around the wall. The church has the capacity to seat up to 200 people. The two most notable features of historic interest in the church are the rood screen and the medieval wall paintings.

The most recent major development was the construction of a new church hall connected to the church which is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year. The complex offers a large hall, a small meeting room, a modern well-equipped parish office, a kitchen of commercial standard and a bathroom for the use of elderly people with impaired mobility. This facilitates the use of the hall as an independent day care centre for the elderly three days a week, which is supported by Social Services.

Besthorpe Church (dedicated to All Saints’) is approximately one mile from St Mary’s. Its origins are in the 14th Century. The building has recently been redecorated and in recent years has benefitted from the inclusion of a new vestry, meeting room and toilet.

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Pattern of Services

Attleborough: 8am Holy Communion CW Order 1 (Contemporary) on 1st and 3rd Sunday 1662 on 2nd and 4th Sunday 10am Parish Eucharist with good choir and, on alternate Sundays, ‘Sunday Club’ and ‘Sunday Club Plus’ 6.30pm Evening Prayer (BCP) Cathedral style Choral Evensong on the last Sunday of the month

• Vestments are worn and incense used at major festivals • Baptisms are held in the afternoon on the first Sunday of the month • The usual Sunday attendance is 100 adults plus 12 children

Weekday services: There is a Service of Holy Communion every Thursday at 10am with a congregation of between 10 and 15. On ‘Red Letter Days’ a Eucharist is held at 5pm. On major Festivals which fall during the week a Choral Eucharist takes place at 7.30pm.

Morning Prayer is said daily at 8.45am and Evening Prayer at 5pm. Clergy are usually joined by a Reader and often one or two other members of the congregation.

Besthorpe: 11.30am Holy Communion on 1st and 3rd Sunday CW Order 1 (Contemporary) Lay led Service on 5th Sundays

• The usual Sunday attendance is 15

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Occasional Offices

Occasional Offices are taken seriously as a means of outreach. A high priority is given to serving the benefice through Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals and in the follow up to these services.

In 2018 there were:

Baptisms: 23 Weddings: 13 Funerals: 45

Ecumenical Relationships

Apart from St. Mary's there are Methodist and Baptist Churches, and Christ Community Church in the town. The Roman Catholic Church uses the Baptist Church for its worship. There has not been a formal Churches Together for many years however in recent years the ministers have started meeting together regularly and occasional ecumenical services are held, most notably during Christian Aid Week.

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The Incumbent and Ministry Team

The ministry team includes the stipendiary clergy, a self-supporting minister, one active Reader and currently two retired clergy.

There is a paid administrator, hall caretaker and church cleaner as well as a paid organist and assistant organist.

Lay involvement: Lay people read, lead intercessions and assist in administering the chalice. There are also robed servers at the Parish Eucharist. There is a team of pastoral visitors and a team which takes communion to the elderly and housebound, and to the residential and nursing homes.

The Revd Matthew Jackson - Rector

Matthew Jackson is Rector of Attleborough with Besthorpe. Following training at Ripon College Cuddesdon, he was ordained Deacon in 2001 and Priest in 2002. He served his curacy in the Benefice of St Margaret with St Nicholas, King’s Lynn in Norwich Diocese. His first Incumbency was the Parish of Pembury in Rochester Diocese and he became Rector of Attleborough with Besthorpe in May 2010. He is also Rural Dean of Thetford and Rockland, a surrogate for marriages and serves on Diocesan Synod. Matthew is married to Emma, a physiotherapist, and has two children aged 7 and 9. He enjoys reading, cinema going and exploring the country in ‘Daisy’ the campervan.

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The role of the Training Incumbent

Matthew, the Rector says, “I believe that the curate is placed to grow in his or her ministry so that they may come to the end of their time in the Benefice ready to minister to their own parish(es). As such I prefer to work as colleagues and to encourage a curate to explore areas of ministry which fit with their skills and gifts whilst covering all the necessary elements of priestly formation. Richard (our last curate) arranged a flower festival as part of his ministry but another curate would be encouraged to explore their own ministry.”

The role of the Curate

You would be expected to take a full and active part in the life of the parishes, participating in long establish parish activities while developing your own areas of ministry; to be active in the community and in pastoral care. You would be a full member of the ministry team and involved in all decisions made.

Areas of particular responsibility would be decided by a process of discussion and discernment with the incumbent.

You would be offered: • a real ministry in a joyful benefice • the opportunity to work as part of a team with other clergy, readers and lay people; key relationships being with the incumbent and parish administrator • the privilege of engaging with the community through occasional offices and their preparation and follow-up • the opportunity to minister in a relatively large church at the centre of the community • the possibility of being part of a Church in a growing town, discovering how to 'be Church' in a quickly expanding community • the opportunity to engage with the wider community • the possibility of following interests in the wider diocese and church • the prayerful and practical support of the congregations

All working expenses are met in full.

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Parochial Organisations

Children and Young People are served by the Sunday Club (providing activities in the Hall) or Sunday Club Plus (crafts at the back of Church) which meet during the 10am Parish Eucharist on alternate Sundays. These attract around 12 children. There is also a growing youth group for children in year 3 or above, ‘Friday Fun Club’, which meets once a month.

Messy Church session are run six times a year jointly between St Mary’s and the Methodist Church.

‘Drop-in and Play’ which started in 2018 offers a ‘Place of Welcome’ for people of all ages on Thursday mornings. There are toys for pre-school children and refreshments, including coffee after the 10am Eucharist. The aim is to be a place for old and young to get together as a hub in the community.

The elderly. Coffee and Chat is a coffee morning every Saturday which attracts a good number of regular customers as well as occasional visitors. On most Saturdays the morning has raffles and stalls for local charities who raise money for good causes. The Community Lunch offers a hot meal to about 25 people fortnightly who would otherwise be eating alone.

Music in the liturgy is one of the strong points of the Benefice. Attleborough has a well established choral tradition and a good choir who in recent years have sung evensongs at Norwich and St Edmundsbury Cathedrals as well as taking music to other local Churches. There is a monthly ‘cathedral style’ choral evensong at St Mary’s.

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Mothers’ Union is active in the Benefice with the group meeting monthly for a speaker, meeting and refreshments.

Christian Aid. St Mary’s has historically had an extremely active Christian Aid Committee working tirelessly to encourage the parish to support this charity. In recent years the group has been strengthened by the addition of new members from the other churches of the town.

Open the Book is run by a group of volunteers in partnership with Attleborough Primary School, as part of this national initiative to take Bible stories into schools.

Foodbank. In 2013 a Foodbank opened in Attleborough which is a satellite of Thetford Foodbank. Run by an ecumenical team of volunteers the Foodbank is open for clients on Saturday mornings.

House, study and prayer groups: There is a regular book group (which explores spirituality through novels) and a Bible Study Group in the Benefice in addition to the annual Lent course.

Local Charities. The Friends of St Mary’s Attleborough is looking into ways to raise additional money from the people of the town to secure the long term future of the building. The incumbent is ex-officio a trustee of Attleborough Town Charities which has a substantial amount of money which it can distribute to the needy of the town or to organisations in the town.

In addition to these groups the Benefice has the usual groups of flower arrangers and those who organise social and fundraising activities. A large number of the congregation are involved in local charity and community groups including providing support for users of the Hall at St Mary’s - several of the Day Centre Trustees are regular worshippers.

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Our vision and priorities

The churches see the need to be active in their community. To maintain the buildings for future generations and as a symbol of God’s presence in the community whilst actively caring for those communities and showing the love of God in action.

The focus of our mission and ministry is the ‘ministry of presence’ - that the Church should be a real focus for the community and make a discernible difference in people’s lives. Therefore the aim is for the clergy and the whole body of Christ to be active in every part of community life, supporting and leading as appropriate. As an example of this one of the Churchwardens is currently the deputy mayor.

The buildings are generally in good order but there is always work to be done. St Mary’s is currently installing new boilers and is at the beginning of exploring a project to restore the organ, install new choir stalls and vestries as well as outreach into the wider community through music.

The vision of the PCC and incumbent is that mission and ministry is best achieved by engaging with those around us to build up the Body of Christ. The key to this is spotting opportunities and deciding which ones to ‘run with’. Thankfully there are a trickle of new faces into the worshipping community. With God’s Grace we pray that we may make further steps in making Him known and singing His praises.

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General Information

Schools in the area

Rosecroft Primary School London Road, Attleborough, NR17 1BE 01953 453127 www.rosecroft.school

Attleborough Primary School Besthorpe Road, Attleborough, NR17 2NA 01953 453491 www.attleborough-pri.norfolk.sch.uk

Attleborough Academy 9 Norwich Road, Attleborough, NR17 2AJ 01953 452335 www.aan.norfolk.sch.uk

Wymondham College College, Wymondham, NR18 9SZ 01953 609000 www.wymondhamcollege.org

Accommodation

The curate’s house is a modern four bedroom detached house with a ground floor study, approximately a mile from St Mary’s. It has a garage and an enclosed garden.

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