Parish Profile of St. Augustine of Canterbury Luton
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Sharing God’s Love with you! Parish Profile of St. Augustine of Canterbury Luton A parish in Luton Deanery, St Albans Diocese staugustineslimbury.org – Parish Profile We are St. Augustine’s Church in Limbury, North Luton, and in recent years we have adopted the mission statement Sharing God’s Love with you! What does this mean to us? It means offering a warm welcome to everyone who enters our doors, sharing in worship in the moderate catholic tradition, which is enhanced by a high standard of music. Others support outreach activities such as our Open Days or by delivering a seasonal magazine to every household in the parish. Many members share it through supporting Messy Church, with the joy and fellowship reaching many families each month. Others see Sharing God’s Love in action through the prayer chain, or pastoral visitors reaching out to the troubled, sick and bereaved, or maybe the fortnightly coffee mornings aimed at reducing isolation and building relationships. We have an active branch of the Mothers’ Union and also a wide variety of groups attended by church members and the wider community. We enjoy widespread support for fundraising activities, with last year over £5,000 supplementing regular giving for church funds, over 100 shoe-boxes sent to Operation Christmas Child, the Food Bank supported weekly, as well as collections for nominated charities through the year. We have also started looking at how we can address the needs of people in poverty through a discretionary Parish fund. Much to celebrate, and yet… We know we need help in a number of areas: We need to explore more ways of Going Deeper into God – providing more prayer/bible study opportunities for more people. We would like to attract more families and young people into the church. We cannot afford any paid administrative support and are currently diminishing reserves to fully pay our Parish Share. We know we need to improve our discipleship and have started conversations about progression beyond Messy Church. We recognise the need to review the times and forms of our services, but want to maintain our present quality of worship. staugustineslimbury.org – Parish Profile What are we looking for? We need someone who:- • displays enthusiasm, self-awareness and openness • is a ready listener as well as an effective communicator • will encourage and increase the spiritual growth and commitment of our congregations • will help us reach out to the parish, whilst maintaining the nurture of our existing church family • has an appreciation of music, both organ and choral • will maintain our present high standard of worship, whilst reviewing the times and forms of our services • will maintain our good relationships with the school and care homes in our parish In return we offer our friendship, cooperation and encouragement, looking forward to a long, happy and fruitful partnership. If you are interested in becoming a part of this community, journeying with us for a while, and Sharing God’s Love with us then please read on for more details. staugustineslimbury.org – Parish Profile Parish Profile ____________________________ Diocese of St Albans - Luton Deanery Patron - The Bishop The Benefice 1. Location Luton is a vibrant, multi-cultural town with strong community spirit; guided by faith leaders. Good communication links by road, rail and air help make it an enviable place to live and work. St Augustine’s is situated in the Limbury ward in the north of Luton within the unitary authority of Luton Borough. The parish is in an attractive part of suburban north Luton, bounded on the south by the River Lea Riverside Walk, on the north by Bramingham Road and on the east by Laburnum Grove and the Runfold estate. It had a population of 7900 at the 2011 census and is approximately 4 miles from the town centre. It is a residential area, consisting in the main of two estates: the Limbury Mead estate, owner occupied, dating from the early 1960s, and the Runfold estate, low rise, low density council housing, dating from the late 1950s. In addition the parish includes a section of an owner occupied development known as Barton Hills. Playing fields and public open space leading to the riverside adjoin the Vicarage and the Church. 2. Community Luton has changed considerably during recent years. Although there are still many people in the parish in the lower employment levels, there has been a growth of people in the service industries; technical and computing work; education and other professional occupations. The number of people who commute into London and elsewhere is substantial. There has also been some considerable population movement and there is a rise in multi-ethnic diversity in the parish. The population covers a wide age range, with no one section predominating. There is a small staugustineslimbury.org – Parish Profile residential home with attached sheltered bungalows at Barton Hills and Little Bramingham Farm Residential Care Home for elderly people. There is also another residential home, Mulberry Court, on the Limbury Mead estate. There are three small shopping parades in the parish, one on Limbury Mead and two on the Runfold Estate. 3. Education The Church has a close link with The Meads Primary School and regular assemblies take place there. Schools and other organisations are encouraged and welcomed to guided tours of the Church, giving children ‘hands on’ experience. 4. Leisure and Recreation The Church hall provides a venue for many local activities ranging from Sea Scouts, Line Dancing, Yoga, Budgerigar Society, a U3A group, children’s parties, jumble sales and other occasional local events. The Church building hosts concerts and recitals on a regular basis, mostly at weekends. The annual Patronal Festival weekend in May is usually celebrated with a concert. There is one public house and adjacent to the Church is a local authority maintained sports field with football pitches in the winter and a cricket table in the summer months. The Scout hut is adjacent to the Church grounds. The Limbury Community Centre is situated near the Church and is used for various functions. 5. Buildings St. Augustine’s Church was built in 1965 (celebrations were held to commemorate our 50th Anniversary last year). It is a pleasant, spacious building with very good acoustics; it has a very elegant interior and is conducive to worship. staugustineslimbury.org – Parish Profile Integral to the whole complex are two vestries, toilets (including a toilet for the disabled), kitchen and an average sized hall which is fully used and provides a good income. The kitchen has recently been refurbished. There are rotas for Church cleaning, grass and hedge cutting. The Vicarage is a detached, spacious, 1970s four bedroom house adjacent to the Church with good gardens backing onto open playing fields. There is gated access into the Church grounds from the Vicarage. There is access by the drive to a detached garage. 6. Worship Regular services at St. Augustine’s are held on Sundays. In addition, Said Eucharist is held on Tuesdays at 9.30 a.m. following Morning Prayer. The Sunday services are shown below: Sunday Services: 1st Sunday in the month. 9.15 a.m. Sung Eucharist. 11 00 a.m. Service of the Word. 6.30 p.m. Choral Evensong (BCP) staugustineslimbury.org – Parish Profile 2nd Sunday in the month. 9.15 a.m. Sung Eucharist. 11 00 a.m. Family Communion 3.30 to 5 p.m. Messy Church. 3rd Sunday in the month. 9.15 a.m. Sung Eucharist. 11 00 a.m. Family and Parade Service 4th Sunday in the month. 9.15 a.m. Sung Eucharist 11 00 a.m. Service of the Word 5th Sunday in the month. 9.15 a.m. Sung Eucharist. 11 00 a.m. Service of the Word. The average attendance at the 9.15 a.m. Sunday Sung Eucharist in 2015 was 73 and the average number of communicants 66. Eucharistic vestments are worn, liturgical colours utilised and the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. As a Church we worship in the moderate catholic liturgical tradition and across our services we offer a range of formal and less formal worship, aiming to be accessible to those from a variety of backgrounds and at different stages in their faith journey. The 11 a.m. service lasts about 30-40 minutes and is designed for those who prefer a less formal service; the average attendance in 2015 was 25 and the average number of communicants at the once monthly Family Communion was 15. On the first Sunday in the month the Choir presents Choral Evensong in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer. This service has an average attendance of 10 –15, including the choir. All our main services are choral. The music is provided by an excellent Norman & Beard 3 manual organ, (originally from Luton Hoo) and our worship is led by an adult male and female choir. We also have another small electronic organ which is used occasionally. The Musical Director is a well renowned and accomplished organist, who is in regular demand as a recitalist, both here in the UK and abroad. He is also in great demand at other churches in the area. The choir visit other churches for Carol staugustineslimbury.org – Parish Profile Services and residential homes in the area, singing carols during the Christmas season. Lay members of the congregation assist in leading the services. These involve Servers, Chalice Assistants, Sidespersons, Readers, Intercessors and taking the Offertory. All these duties are arranged on a rota basis. For the Family and Parade Service the Ministry Team is assisted by members of the congregation in the preparation and leading of the services.