Parish Profile 2014
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2 INTRODUCTION & HISTORY Warfield Church charts its origins back to 1016AD when Queen Emma granted permission for a chapel to be built on the site of the present Michael the Archangel Parish church. But the fact that the church is dedicated to Michael the Archangel is a strong indicator that the church was built on the site of previous pagan worship – it would have been built to proclaim God’s victory over paganism – built to lift up the name of Jesus. Today Warfield Church continues to meet at the parish church, but it has retained its militant roots. The church is passionately committed to the communication of the Jesus story and the re-evangelisation of the United Kingdom and the world. Due to growth in numbers, and our desire to ensure that all our communities have the opportunity to connect to Jesus, Warfield Church has congregations meeting in Bullbrook, Priestwood, Warfield and Whitegrove as well as supporting mission partners all over the world. The successful candidate will have a particular focus on our North Bracknell Communities and congregations of Priestwood and Bullbrook: Priestwood: The area of Priestwood (circa 7000 people) is subject to a recent Pastoral Order making Priestwood and the Church building of St Andrews part of the Warfield Parish on April 1st 2014. Twenty people from the Warfield Church relocated to St Andrews and one family sold their house and moved into Priestwood to begin our engagement with the community there. Bullbrook: The area of Bullbrook (circa 9000 people) is officially part of a neighbouring parish (Bracknell Team Ministry1) but has been home to a Warfield congregation for over a decade, although it has been in the last 2 to 3 years that it has begun to make significant inroads into the community – primarily through the addition of our Community Pastor, but also through the strategic coffee mornings, toddlers groups and breakfast clubs that we now run there. We have baptised several adults and babies in Bullbrook over the last six months. 1 Who maintain responsibility for occasional offices in that area. 3 Over the next five years Warfield Church will continue to grow. The new development at Cabbage Hill presents us with a range of possibilities, but there is also opportunity to build a community church in Bullbrook. We will continue to expand the scope and reach of our youth and children’s work, launching new youth and children’s initiatives and continuing our contact with large numbers of primary and secondary schools through assemblies and lessons. We will also build on our experience of communi-tea coffee mornings and our various parent and toddler groups to further bless our community. We will also continue to see our congregations grow, both in terms of numbers and depth of relationship with God. The new openings at St Andrew’s Priestwood will also give us opportunity to work with the existing congregation to see the good news that Jesus brings presented to the 7,000 people who live in that area and our renovated St Michael’s church will give us opportunity for even more community engagement. One Church with many congregations bound together with a common commitment to communicating the Jesus story. There are various differences in each of our congregations and therefore people often have a preference for a certain congregation, however, all our services provide a warm welcome, great worship, and relevant talks. There is no children’s provision at the 9:15am and the evening services, but excellent provision at all other services. Below is a list of our current congregations, and those who are leading them: 4 Fig.1 9:15am St Michael’s, Church Lane, Warfield, RG42 6EG 10:00am St Andrew’s, Priestwood Court Road, Priestwood, RG42 1TU 10:30am Holly Spring Junior School, Bullbrook, RG12 2SW 10:30am Whitegrove School, Westmorland Drive, Warfield, RG42 3QS 10:30am Warfield School, All Saints Rise, Warfield RG42 3SS 11:00am St Michael’s, Church Lane, Warfield, RG42 6EG 6:00pm St Michael’s, Church Lane, Warfield, RG42 6EG 6:30pm St Andrew’s, Priestwood Court Road, Priestwood, RG42 1TU 5 GEOGRAPHY & LOCATION Being situated in the Thames Valley, a large proportion of the residents of Warfield and Bracknell hold professional positions, often working in the Information and Technology industries, either locally in business parks or commuting into London. Bracknell is situated within 5 miles of both the M3 (Jn.3) and M4 (Jn.10) motorways, and is on the mainline Reading to Waterloo train line, with a typical train journey into London taking just over 1 hour. The Parish Church and Church Office is situated 2 ½ miles from Bracknell town centre and station. FAMILY LIFE IN WARFIELD Schools & Education Warfield is serviced by two main primary schools (one CofE aided), both of which provide homes for our congregations on Sundays. Bracknell has four main secondary schools. The two closest to Warfield are Garth Hill College and Ranelagh (CofE) School, both in the neighbouring parish of Bracknell. For post 16 and mature students, Bracknell also boasts the newly developed Bracknell and Wokingham College. Ranelagh School Local Amenities Warfield’s primary supermarket is Tesco. Neighbouring Bracknell also offers Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s and a brand new Waitrose. Bracknell town centre provides a ‘medium size’ shopping centre, which is due to be regenerated into a larger scale development, with a large Mark & Spencer’s and new multi-screen cinema already agreed. Building work has already begun. Many residents currently choose to travel to Reading (15 miles), Camberley (10 miles) or Windsor (10 miles) for a greater choice of shops. 6 THE BRACKNELL DEANERY The deanery covers the Bracknell and Ascot areas, and holds a broad range of Church traditions over a mix of urban, suburban and rural parishes. The clergy chapter is well supported and meets monthly for worship, breakfast and ‘business’, with guest speakers. Our current deanery plan envisages a review of the Bracknell area parishes, including Warfield, to see how we can best facilitate growth in the Churches ministry in a growing new town. Area Dean of Bracknell Revd. David Uffindell The Bracknell Deanery - Deanery Electoral Roll: approx. 2400 Northern Parishes Ascot Heath: Revd Dr Darrell Hannah Binfield: Revd Luke Taylor South Ascot with Sunninghill: Revd. Stephen Johnson Sunningdale: Revd David Uffindell Winkfield with Cranbourne: Revd Catherine Blundell Greater Bracknell Bracknell Team Ministry: Revd Canon Nick Parish Easthampstead: Revd Guy Cole Warfield: Revd Dr Mark Griffiths 7 ABOUT THE OXFORD DIOCESE The Vision of the Oxford Diocese is the transformation of all human life under God. What is Living Faith? Living Faith for the Future is a vision for the Diocese of Oxford. It came out of a series of conversations all around the diocese in 2008 on a paper produced by the Bishop of Oxford in the light of his first impressions in office. The Living Faith vision offers a strategic framework for the life and work of the Church of England in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire over the five years 2009/14. In essence, it’s about sustaining spirituality and holistic mission. Why Do We Need It? It’s not about rejecting the past and starting all over again. Nor is it a heavy handed ‘strategy’. But it is about resetting the compass, and offering fresh direction. What Living Faith offers is a touchstone to remind us all of the values we try to live by and the directions we need to take if we are to be faithful to Jesus Christ in the 21st century. It’s rather like a palette of colours which each parish, deanery and board can use in their own way to create that work of distinctive beauty which is their particular response to God’s mission. What we end up with then is a gallery full not of lookalike paintings, but of vibrant, colourful, and unique works of art. The values of living faith that you will hear much of in the Oxford Diocese are: Sustaining the Sacred Centre Making Disciples Making a Difference in the World Creating Vibrant Christian Communities Shaping Confident, Collaborative Leadership 8 PERSONAL SPECIFICATION & ROLE DESCRIPTION Associate Minister – Evangelism and Initiation Courses The role description should be read alongside the initial Advert, Parish Profile and the Warfield Handbook. 1. TITLE: Associate Minister (Evangelism & Outreach) 2. LOCATION: Warfield Church, Warfield, Berkshire. 3. DATE OF APPOINTMENT: The appointment will start from July 2014. 4. ACCOUNTABILITY: The Associate will be under the oversight of the Vicar of Warfield. The Associate will become part of the overall Warfield Leadership Team 5. OBJECTIVES & KEY TASKS: Personal As a committed Christian, to reflect Christ’s love in a broken and hurting world, devoting time to personal prayer, study and worship. Have a passion to connect people to Jesus and see them incorporated into small groups for purposeful discipleship. Be committed to the local church as the hope of the world. Be able to work effectively as part of a large clergy/lay leadership team. Direct Involvement In line with the mission of Warfield Church the main priority is connecting people to Jesus. Work and minister across the Warfield Church with specific oversight of our two North Bracknell congregations in Priestwood and Bullbrook. These are congregational plants, one meeting in a local school, the other in a church building that the Diocese have recently given to us. Bullbrook has a congregation of 80 people and Priestwood 50 people. Both congregations have excellent lay leadership teams. Lead and develop evangelistic initiatives, including Alpha, across Warfield and North Bracknell. This part of the role is to be out worked through the whole 9 Warfield Church.