Parish Profile for the Parishes of St Margaret, Woodham Mortimer with Hazeleigh and St Michael the Archangel, Woodham Walter
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Parish Profile for the Parishes of St Margaret, Woodham Mortimer with Hazeleigh and St Michael the Archangel, Woodham Walter St Margaret’s has the following Parish Church prayer: Loving Lord God, enable this church to do your will Make us vulnerable that we may speak with calm humility Make us outward looking, that we may care deeply Make us a community of peacemakers and bridge builders In the midst of turbulence let the church make space For the hearing of your still small voice Amen 1. Summary of the Churches and District: The benefice comprises the rural villages of Woodham Mortimer with Hazeleigh and Woodham Walter, near Maldon in Essex. Both St Margaret’s and St Michael’s churches follow varied “middle of the road” traditions, and are working towards being part of the Diocesan Vision “Transforming Presence”. The congregation of St Margaret’s is on average 25 and St Michael’s has an average congregation of 24. We are looking for a priest to work on a House for Duty basis which we have found works well. We would like the new priest to have a visible presence within the parishes, particularly in association with the Church School in Woodham Walter. 2. Gifts/Skills/Experience: Ideally the new priest will have the skills to merge the traditional values of the church with modern approaches, while taking into account the age profile of our congregation. The new priest should have the ability to lead and teach our current members, and work to attract new and younger members of the non church-going community into our congregation. The new priest should be comfortable being a visible presence within our parishes, not only in terms of marriage, baptism and funeral arrangements, but also being part of community events. We would want the new priest to encourage, teach and guide our lay members within services and other church-related activities. We trust that the new priest would actively encourage, by example, closer links with the Deanery and the future re-structuring within it. 3. Strengths and weaknesses: After consultation with our congregations, we established each parish’s strengths and weaknesses, which are detailed under the Appendix. 1 4. Our joint future priorities: We have developed these priorities in conjunction with our PCCs, the congregations and the wider communities, and they were based on our analysis of our strengths and weaknesses, which are identified in the Appendix. A key priority is to help our churches grow in the villages of Woodham Mortimer with Hazeleigh and Woodham Walter, and that we fulfil our commitment to all age groups living in our parishes, although we do understand the time constraints under which the new priest will work. We would wish to strengthen the bonds with and learn from other churches, and form links with other organisations within our communities. St Michael’s has a visible presence within the church primary school, but it is a priority to encourage greater participation from the school into the church. Another priority is for us to have increased church involvement in the pre- schools in each parish, as they are the seed corn of the future church. Both parishes need greater leadership with their Sunday school activities, St Margaret’s in terms of growing it, and St Michael’s in terms of establishing one. 5. Wider Context: From the Rev’d Sandra Manley, Rural Dean: “In common with most dioceses, the Diocese of Chelmsford is undergoing considerable reorganisation and rationalisation of ministry, both ordained and lay. This arises partly because of the predicted national shortage of clergy in the next decade. Under the Re-imagining Ministry section of the Diocesan ‘Transforming Presence’ strategy, the Deanery of Maldon and Dengie will have two areas, provisionally termed Mission and Ministry Units (MMUs). The Western MMU of the Deanery is expected to have up to four stipendiary priests, based mainly in the Maldon area but with at least one based in the rural parishes. Parishes in this MMU will have a variety of ministry including House-for-Duty, SSM, Readers, and Lay focal ministers, but it is planned that the smaller parishes will have an appropriate level of support from one of the stipendiary priests. These plans continue to be discussed and are of course subject to any future moves of clergy currently in post.” The parishes are willing to undertake measured change in regard to the new Deanery Plan when it is published. We are already exploring closer ties between our two churches, and with All Saints’ Church, Maldon. 6. What goes on in our churches: Services: Sunday St Margaret’s St Michael’s First 11.15am Family Service 9.30am Holy Communion Second 11.15am Holy Communion 9.30am Morning Prayer Third 11.15am Morning Prayer 9.30am Holy Communion Fourth 11.15am Holy Communion 9.30am Family Service Fifth 10.30am Joint Parishes Holy Communion, alternating venue 2 The two Churches share a Parish News magazine which contains useful contact names and telephone numbers for the villages, as well as a duty rota for sidespersons, readers, flower arrangers and daily church opening, and a full diary of village events. St Margaret’s: Very occasionally we have a BCP 1662 Holy Communion, when requested. Services are Common Worship and we use Hymns Old and New. We hold a Remembrance Service on Remembrance Sunday and place wreaths on the War Memorial situated outside the church. In most recent years we have held a Rogation Service in the Church followed by a shared meal or barbeque at the home of PCC members. Weather permitting some parishioners take a walk in nearby woodland. Ash Wednesday and All Souls are commemorated with services. There is an annual Service held in Hazeleigh Churchyard followed by light refreshments which is always well attended. In recent years we have also held a Maundy Thursday Service which has included a supper in the Rectory; a Good Friday meditation, traditional Harvest Festival, Pre- school Harvest Service and a Memorial Service for people who have died in the previous year. At Christmas our services have included a Toy Service, Nine Lessons and Carols, Christingle for the Pre-school, Pre-school Nativity Service and Midnight Mass. The Pre-school services have been very popular and well attended. In 2014 we held a Rededication Service followed by a reception in the Rectory garden. In 2015 an outstanding success was our Concert held at Woodham Mortimer Hall, bringing together our communities and congregations, and was well supported by many local businesses. In 2014 a Confirmation Service was conducted by Bishop John. In 2015 there was one Baptism, one Renewal of marriage vows and 3 Memorial services. Our Electoral Roll at present stands at 28. Of these 19 are resident in the parish with 9 non-resident. St Michael’s: The Church of St Michael plays an active part in village life, either through the annual Flower Festival in July, at Bell Meadow Day, and as a venue for Art Lectures, Concerts or Talks; also via church member contact with other village groups. The PCC organise social evenings on a regular basis. The Laity have organised a Study Group during Lent attended by about one third of our congregation. Members of the congregation have attended study courses on Pastoral Care. In September 2013 we celebrated our 450th Anniversary, which included a concert on the Saturday and a professionally catered meal for ourselves and our visitors following the Celebration Service on the Sunday. Pastoral care is carried out by a small team, which includes Home Communion which is taken to a disabled person. In the past year we have had 3 Baptisms of children and 3 of adults, 4 Marriages, 1 Funeral and 3 Burials of Ashes. Our nearest Crematorium is in Chelmsford. 3 The Church Electoral Roll currently stands at 44, 15 of whom are non-resident. The two Churches are served by an organist who also runs a small choir for special occasions and Festivals. We support various charities including Wateraid, Children's Society, Royal British Legion, Farleigh Hospice and Maldon Food Bank. 7. A description of our Parishes: These picturesque villages are situated in the countryside between Danbury and Maldon. There are good transport links to the City of Chelmsford, to London and also to the coast. There are many theatres in the area, and frequent local concerts ranging from Classical through to folk and rock. Family activities include roller skating, ten-pin bowling and ice skating. Other leisure activities include golf, sailing, fishing, countryside walks and shooting. Thames Barge and canal-boat trips form a large part of summer outings. The area is blessed with many historical sites, such as the Battle of Maldon marked by a statue of Brithnoth at the Promenade Park, Beeleigh Abbey and the unique Plume Library. The first recorded town of Colchester is nearby with many museums and art galleries, and an outstanding zoo. The Parish of Woodham Mortimer Historically Woodham Mortimer Village has gradually moved away from the church and grown around what is now called Post Office Road which is about ½ a mile on the Chelmsford road. The Post Office and shop closed some years ago after around 140 years. The population of Woodham Mortimer with Hazeleigh is 641. The villages are mostly made up of active people either retired or working away from the village. There are a few families with young children who go to school by car or school bus to the neighbouring village of Danbury or to the nearest town of Maldon. The Comprehensive schools are in Maldon, Sandon and Chelmsford.