St Lawrence and St Paul's Church, Pudsey: Parish Profile
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© Craig Wilkinson Photography St Lawrence and St Paul’s Church, Pudsey: Parish Profile Prepared under the auspices of our churchwardens: Trevor Newbold Christine Robinson Pudsey Parish Church Church Lane LS28 8BE (0113) 257 7843 (0900 - 1300, Mon. - Fri. ) www.pudseyparish.org.uk Contents: p. 1 Our family p. 2 Our faith Our worship p. 3 Our occasional offices p. 4 Our partners p. 5 Our context p. 7 Our vision p. 9 Our building p. 10 Our children p. 13 Our finances p. 14 Our vicarage p. 15 Our new vicar Our family: Pudsey’s parish church is a boisterous, busy place, and well embedded in the town it serves. Many of us walk to worship, and attend more than one service a week. Approximately 170 individuals attend on Sunday, and our core membership consists of a wide range of ages, those who are single, married, widowed and family groups; also through our ministry of infant-baptism, we enjoy regular if transitory fellowship with lots of young couples and their children. Our parish weekend away every other year is a popular event in people’s diaries and allows us to get to know each other better, worshipping together and to spend time learning more about Jesus and the plans he has for us as a church. As a large(r-than-average) congregation (for this region), we divide ourselves into “Cells” to “democratise” and systemise our pastoral care, and to spread an ethos of every-member ministry. These groups( currently 14) meet regularly during the week for prayer, bible study and fellowship. We want someone who is willing to continue and help further develop this work. Over recent years we have sent 2 people forward for lay readership training and 4 people for ordination, as well as providing training for new curates. We prayerfully hope that this tradition will continue. 1 Our faith: We are, broadly-speaking, “Evangelical,” which is to say the following: that we confess the faith uniquely revealed in God’s infallible Word and set forth in the catholic creeds about a crucified, sinless, risen saviour, Jesus. Furthermore, we uphold, adhere and submit to Canon law. Our worship: Is typical for an Anglican church in that Common Worship is our principal resource – albeit with some slight adaptation and contemporisation – and is, in the main, led by clergy in traditional vesture (cassock, surplice, stole). We are not, however, afraid to embrace more expressive forms of worship and our cells have the opportunity to lead services once a month on rota basis. Our music is a mixture of traditional hymns and modern songs with the use of organ, keyboard and other instruments, and singing led by a small worship group. We are blessed by the service of a versatile music director. Among his duties, he arranges seasonal choirs to enrich our Holy Day celebrations. 2 The vicar is supported during the week by a part time paid Administrator and at services by dedicated teams of lay people in welcoming, reading, leading intercessory prayer and in the administration of communion. During the week we have teams supporting those with pastoral care needs, those seeking baptism and for those recently bereaved. We have an active healing prayer team who pray regularly throughout the week for those needing this ministry and they are available in church at the end of services. Each week there is an early morning prayer meeting ( EmpHour) which meets to pray specifically about the work and witness of the church in Pudsey. In addition to a midweek Eucharist, there are three services on Sunday: 09:00 Holy Communion 10:30 Alternately Holy Communion or a Service of the Word ( with baptisms once month) 18:30 A regular sequence of different offerings: meeting at 18:00 for refreshments; plus a monthly café style service. Our occasional offices: We are delighted to regularly baptise children, and the current practice is to do so every month on the third Sunday as part of the 10.30am service. Over the last year we have had 9 candidates for confirmation. Weddings and funerals are also a common occurrence. Our partners: 3 Our Partners: Locally The various denominations in Pudsey enjoy good relations with one another, and a “pulpit exchange” has been a fixture on the C calendar for many years now, as h has a combined “walk of w witness” on Good Friday, with a oup soup lunch in our Narthex. We are part of the Armley Deanery and Leeds Episcopal area, and the vicar would be expected to play a part in this wider work. Internationally Overseas, in Sweden, we support Chris and Lotta Strajnic through Crosslinks. And, in Brazil, Andy and Rose Roberts with CMS. For many years, we have also supported the invaluable work of The Leprosy Mission and CPAS; and, more recently, thanks to the Mothers’ Union, the Episcopal Church in Sudan. ( Our plan each year is to gift 5% of our giving to others). 4 Our context: Pudsey is a large ‘Historic Market Town’ with (at least) medieval roots.*The 2011 census showed c 17400 people in the parish but we believe this has risen recently. Although “sandwiched” between two big cities, Leeds and Bradford, it retains a proud, independent character of its own. The built environment, at its heart, is a pronouncedly 19th century legacy, typical for the region; with a wide post-war periphery, which is rapidly expanding by popular new housing developments on brown-field sites: a trend fuelled by the good reputation of five primary schools with whom we have excellent relations. There are also 2 high schools which we see as a fertile opportunity for mission. There is abundant public transport and our convenient position within a leafy commuter-belt at the heart of the conurbation, and by our proximity to the Dales and an airport make Pudsey a great place to live. 5 PUDSEY DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN Economic Activity: Ethnicity: Age: 6 Our vision: Pudsey strives to be, first and foremost, a missional church: to reach out to all with the message of abundant life through the cross of Christ by repentance; and with this in mind, we have aimed to grow both in spiritual depth and in numbers, seeing these goals as inextricably linked. We endeavour, therefore, to sustain a permanent “bring ‘em in” culture, and to that end we draw extensively on the Leading Your Church Into Growth materials produced by the Rev’d Canon Robin Gamble and regular provision of Alpha courses and the use of the Start course for those unfamiliar with Christianity and the Church of England. Our biggest recent evangelistic initiative in 2015 was ‘Believe in Pudsey’: a week of special events led by Roger Simpson, the Archbishop's Evangelist for the Northern Province, and “headlined” by the Right Rev’d Dr. John Sentamu himself, which led to many new contacts in the community. k Out of this came “The Hub” a – free! – summer kitchen, which has proved successful in attracting new friends. Many come from far and near for conversation and cake. This has given us a great opportunity to build new relationships and is central to our on-going witness. More recently we have established a coffee morning following our Wednesday morning service 7 Each year we also plan outreach activities such as summer and Christmas fayres, which give local businesses the opportunity to showcase their products and services; and offer family-fun activities to the public. Within the church we try to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to use their gifts for ministry and outreach. In the last year we held a “ministry fayre” as part of the morning service as a means of showcasing to everyone what is happening. This gave an opportunity to discuss what was involved and the opportunity to sign up to further explore new areas of ministry that the Lord may have been calling people to. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4: 10) The breadth of our ministry is represented below by some of the regular church work that people are involved with: Church Wardens ABC PCC Bounce Lay readers Friday @ 6 Communion Assistants Sunday school leaders Bible reading in church Mission Matters team Intercessory prayer leaders EmpHour Sidespersons Flower arranging team Worship group Bell ringers Special choirs for Easter and Christmas Mothers’ Union Audio-visual team Contact Group Cell leaders and facilitators Care Home visits team Bereavement team Wedding and Funeral Vergers The Hub Hospitality team 8 Our building: Pudsey St Lawrence is a tall, majestic structure much admired locally and visible from miles around A so-called “Waterloo Church,” it was built in the early 1800s and then incrementally modernised. Under the most recent incumbent, its interior was significantly “re-ordered” so as to create a bright, comfortable space more accommodating of young children and their parents; with greater versatility, adaptable to the needs of Alpha courses, youth clubs, and contemporary, “café-style” services; and incorporating a sophisticated audio and visual system and a well-equipped kitchen. © Craig Wilkinson Photography Our children: 9 According to the church-growth consultant, Bob Jackson, most believers are won for Christ in their early years; and we invest heavily in our programmes for children. Our main development aim is to engage more fully with the youth of the community and we currently have a vacancy for a paid full time youth worker. As well as a crèche, we have three age-specific “Sunday School” streams: Bubbles 3-6yrs. A.S.A – 8 Explorers 6-10yrs.