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The Profile of the Parish of St Thomas of Canterbury Brentwood Diocese of Chelmsford

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The Profile of the Parish of St Thomas of Canterbury Brentwood Diocese of Chelmsford The Profile of the Parish of St Thomas of Canterbury Brentwood Diocese of Chelmsford 1 This page is intentionally blank 2 A new priest for the Parish of St Thomas of Canterbury, Brentwood, Diocese of Chelmsford The parish is a member of 'The Society' under the patronage of St Wilfrid and St Hilda. We seek to continue episcopal pastoral and sacramental ministry under the Bishop of Richborough who is also an assistant bishop in the diocese. The parish is committed to appoint an Anglican priest in the catholic tradition manifested in orthodox teaching. (Refer to Appendix B) If you are a priest with the vision and energy to lead our parish into the next stage of its journey, and the conviction to teach the catholic faith and proclaim the gospel of Christ in our local community, then you may be the man God is calling to be our new Vicar. Following the retirement of our Vicar after 8 years’ service in this parish, the appointment of his successor represents an exciting opportunity to build on the great work that has already been done. The appointment is subject to a satisfactory enhanced DBS disclosure. Contents Overview 4 What we seek in a Parish Priest 5 Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford 6 Rt Revd Norman Banks, Bishop of Richborough 7 The Revd Canon Paul Hamilton, Area Dean 8 Church Life — Worship 9 Church Life — Music 10 Sacraments & Funerals. Charitable Giving 12 St Thomas’ Infant and Junior Schools 13 Becket Keys Secondary School 15 Home Groups, Ministry Team, Ecumenical & Community links 17 Work amongst Children 18 “61 Club”, Church Centre, Friends of St Thomas’ 19 PCC and our church buildings 20 Organ and Bells 21 Vicarage 22 About Brentwood 23 Financial overview 26 Appendices: A. Summary of Parish Financials 27 B. House of Bishops’ Declaration 29 C. 2017 Donations 30 D. Summary of Parish Survey 31 3 Overview The church of St Thomas of Canterbury occupies a prominent position in the town of Brentwood. It is 18 miles east of London and situated just off the High Street in the centre of town. Not only is it physically imposing, but through its mission and outreach the church plays an integral part in the local community and the life of the Borough. We are currently at the beginning of a journey, working with the diocese to explore the extent to which we and neighbouring parishes may be able to help one another and move forward towards a framework that might lead to the formation of a Mission and Ministry Unit. (See Bishop Stephen’s letter on page 6). Teddy Bear parachute jumping from the tower The impressive Victorian church building provides a fitting setting for our worship. We are blessed with a peal of eight bells, rung every Sunday, and a magnificent pipe organ. Approximately 100 people are involved with music in our parish, from choristers, A view of the west end of St Thomas’ instrumentalists and organ scholars. The adjoining church centre has a hall and kitchen, sacristy, choir vestry, church office and several meeting rooms. Mass is celebrated 5 days per week, and a team of enthusiastic volunteers enable the church and church centre to be kept open most days of the year, serving refreshments for visitors. The church centre also houses a pre-school, whilst about half a mile away stand our Infant and Junior schools with which the Church maintains extremely close links. In addition to the parish priest, the ministry team consists of a retired Priest (The Very Revd. Ossie Trellis SSC), an experienced Licensed Lay Minister, (Lesley Lynn), Authorised Local Preacher, (Carolyn Robertson) and the Director of Music. The electoral roll of 175 represents a cross section of the community from young families to retirees. Parish groups range from the “61 Club” for the older members of the congregation to the toddler group for the youngest. Rooted in prayer, in scripture and in the catholic tradition of the Church of England, we are called in faith by our Lord Jesus Christ to proclaim his gospel message in word and sacrament and through dignified liturgy and music. We aim to nurture and support each other in our faith and to offer pastoral help to those in need. We aim to make our church a place of welcome to all and a space for prayer and reflection. Vision Statement adopted by the PCC, Autumn 2006 4 What we seek in a Parish Priest Within the three areas of Tradition, Mission and Youth and Creative Outreach, we believe our new priest needs to be a man who: Tradition • believes, lives out and teaches the faith of the church, rooted and grounded in scripture as expressed in the creeds and for whom the Eucharist lies at the heart of his priestly life, bearing witness in the world to Christ’s healing and reconciling love. • is respectful, understanding and will celebrate the comprehensive nature of the Church of England while maintaining a true vocation within his own personal and spiritual beliefs. • appreciates the importance of maintaining and developing the excellent musical tradition of St. Thomas' within the broad framework of liturgy and worship and understands its potential for mission and outreach. Mission • has a mission not only to enable us to grow in our own life of prayer and understanding of the faith but also to reach out to the local community to work with us and actively to welcome, support and encourage others on their journey towards God. • understands that mission can only be successful with the active involvement of the laity to discover and develop their ministry within the framework of clear and firm leadership. • will work collaboratively and innovatively within the framework of our ongoing mission with the many civic, secular and ecumenical organisations throughout the town with vision, energy and imagination. • Is committed to engaging with neighbouring Anglican churches and the deanery in order to develop supportive relationships that enable a coordinated approach to mission in the town centre. Youth and Creative Outreach • will be expected to maintain and develop close links with St. Thomas's infant and junior CofE primary schools and Becket Keys secondary CofE free school trust as an integral part of the life of the parish. • will wish to encourage and extend work with children and young people with the appointment of a youth worker, giving them confidence to extend their rôle and influence within our congregation of wide-ranging ages, skills and interests. • will have good personal communication skills and will be collaborative and open to the development of appropriate innovative technology in the pursuit of missionary objectives. Parish Survey Results for use in the Parish Profile Following discussions with Archdeacon Elizabeth in relation to these objectives, it was agreed that we should seek the present views of the congregation by conducting a short survey as part of our search for a new parish priest. Three priorities were selected, the quantified data results of which are displayed (see Appendix D) It was felt by the PCC the quantified data should be placed in the public domain with copies available to the whole congregation. However, it was agreed by the PCC that it would not be appropriate, for a number of reasons, to publish the comments made by parishioners. The data and comments will be passed to our new parish priest to consider the ways in which they might be used as together we focus on the journey ahead. 5 The Diocese: A message from Bishop Stephen St Thomas' Brentwood is a thriving church in the catholic tradition of the Church of England. It has one of the largest congregations in the Chelmsford diocese. Through its commitment to musical, liturgical and pastoral excellence, and particularly its strong ministry and relationship with local schools, the church has flourished. Whoever comes as the new vicar of Saint Thomas’ needs to build on these good foundations. But the current vacancy also provides a great opportunity for further development and growth. Brentwood town centre is served by St Thomas’ along with other Anglican churches and Anglican church schools including Becket Keys, the relatively new Church of England Secondary School. Conversations have begun in the Deanery about the provision for mission. The new vicar of Saint Thomas' has the opportunity to be in on the ground floor of exciting collaborative ministry as the deanery plan in Brentwood begins to envisage town centre churches and local schools working together for mission. The diocese of Chelmsford is committed to churches working together in what we call Mission and Ministry Units. The independence of each parish is maintained, but energy and resources are pooled for new initiatives and for mutual support. This is not simply amalgamating parishes together. St Thomas' will still have a full-time priest. But it is a way of providing support for each other and for sharing good practice; and it is a way of developing new initiatives, not least planting new churches. No compromise of tradition is required from any church. But what is needed is a desire to share the gospel and grow the church, recognising that no one church and no one tradition can ever win everyone for Christ. We need each other. I long for St Thomas' to be part of this exciting new growth. It has so much to offer the whole of Brentwood. It is one of the strongest churches in the town. In due course I hope it may also be a training parish once again. We are therefore looking for a mission minded, servant hearted priest who loves the catholic tradition so much he wants to share it with others; for to love the catholic tradition is to love Christ who comes to us in word and sacrament and who asks us to go into Brentwood and make disciples.
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