Parish Profile & Statement of Needs

St Mary the Virgin Parish Church Woodkirk, West Yorkshire

December 2015

Engaging with God

Engaging with Each Other

Engaging with the

Community

1 Contents Contents 2 Introduction - “What St Mary’s Means to Me” 4 The Parish of Woodkirk 6 The Church and Churchyard 10 Churchyard 13 The Parish Centre 14 The Vicarage 15 Regular Services 16 Our Worship Style 17 Leadership and Church Groups 18 Churchwardens and the Parochial Church Council 18 Lay Pastoral Minister 19 Encouraging Ministries 19 Core Group 19 Finance 21 Fundraising and projects 21 Charitable Giving 22 Leeds South Foodbank 22 Spirituality and Growth 23 Lay led services – All-Age worship 23 Christmas – Posada 23 Special services 24 Small Group Study and Worship 24 Social and Community Outreach – All Ages 25 Communication 25 Hope 2014 26 Lydgate Lodge 27 Uniformed organisations 27 Schools – assemblies & services in church 27 Link parish - Ikizu in the Diocese of Mara, Tanzania 28 Childrens’ Ministry – Activity Mornings 28 Social events 28

2 Mission Statement and Future Vision 30 Our New Vicar 32 Appendix 1: Facts and Figures 33 Appendix 2: 2014 Accounts 34

3 Introduction - “What St Mary’s Means to Me”

St Mary’s is a vibrant and wide-reaching church. The PCC asked members of the church of all ages: What does St Mary’s mean to you?.

St Mary ’s means many tings t me, but mainly it is St Mary’s t me is a peacefl, welcoming, fiendly te place I atend for regular worship tgeter wit place where families are made t feel a part of te oter like-minded people. We appreciat te opportunit church. Wit a busy life & a growing family- 3

children under 9 years old. I do not get t church as for atending te weekly celebraton of Holy Communion and al tat tis means. much as I would like t. When I do I am always met wit familiar, welcoming faces and wel wishes.

As an older member of te congregaton, I have seen many changes in te liturgy over te years. In spit We are fortunat in having a great feeling of of te church adoptng some of te modern optons felowship witin members of te church. One for services, te words stl have a familiar ring, meets wit care and understanding in tmes of which is appreciatd in tese tmes of change. ilness and oter diﬃcultes.

It has always been a loving welcoming Felowship, welcoming. Always tere for us church caring for al ages. feels like a family. You never feel alone. It is wonderfl tat St Mary’s reaches out t various parts of te communit 4 Friendliness, care and concern for Newcomers t te church are given a great welcome, people. Wednesday 10.00am service which is essental if te church is t grow. partcularly valued.

Te heart of te local A welcoming place for my family. communit An extnded support for Communit, prayer and uniformed organisatons. worship, family spirit. St Mary’s is te heart of te communit. It enables my fait t grow. Home, contntment, family, fiendship, stabilit, contnuaton. A place of worship

It has been a family church for many years. I and welcome. have been coming for 21 years on/oﬀ troughout Togeterness, belonging, te years and always feel welcome. Al my Communit support. family have been christned here and also my children so tis church is special t us. A place for our family t reﬂect on life and receive support if we need it. Also for us t come My spiritual home. Friendship. A place of along and meet fiendly people. We were married worship and contntment. here and our children were christned also.

A communit which supports guides and A place t share God’s love wit celebrats te role of its young people, Contnuit and hope for te our fiends & communit especialy in te uniformed organisatons. fture in te communit

A beacon of te light of Christ in te Being part of te church family. Joy, A place of caring not just a communit … happiness, sharing, kindness, fiendship, place of worship. felowship wit God.

Peaceflness, comfort, communit, prayer, A place t worship God in a beautfl histric fiendship, communicaton, happiness, charit, building wit a peacefl atmosphere. Also I take laughtr, tars, music, toughtflness, caring, an intrest in te communit trough many taching, learning, helping. organisatons.

5 The Parish of Woodkirk The Parish of Woodkirk (West Ardsley) is in the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, in the Episcopal area of Leeds, in the Deanery of Armley.

The Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales (http://westyorkshiredales.anglican.org) was formed on Easter Sunday 2014 from the historical Dioceses of Ripon & Leeds, Wakeﬁeld and Bradford. It is served by 656 churches, three cathedrals (Wakeﬁeld, Bradford and Ripon) - and 45,000 worshippers!

"Our vision is to equip conﬁdent clergy to enable conﬁdent Christians to live and tell the good news of Jesus Christ in West Yorkshire & the Dales.” The Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds

Conﬁdent Christians . . Growing churches . . Changing communities

6 The Parish of Woodkirk covers a large area with a boundary of approximately 15 miles in circumference. It straddles parts of Morley in the Leeds Council area, and Batley in the Kirklees Council area.

The Parish is very diverse and covers a wide range of habitats and uses for the land. As well as extensive housing, there are commercial, industrial, and agricultural land areas. A stone quarry has been at Woodkirk for centuries and is still in operation.

Parish Boundary

Woodkirk is in an ideal location for three major towns/cities (Dewsbury, Wakeﬁeld and Leeds) with all the amenities that go alongside. Just outside the parish is the White Rose Shopping Centre.

Education in the parish is served by three primary schools, Westerton, Hill Top and Blackgates Primary School (1 Outstanding and 2 Good by Ofsted). The latter has a Surestart centre attached to it. In terms of Secondary, Woodkirk Academy is rated Good by Ofsted.

7 The church itself is home to St Mary’s Playgroup. This is an early years provider and is based in the Parish Centre. As part of the latest Ofsted, outdoor play was referred to and so work has started in renovating outside the parish centre to provide this.

Parish Boundary

The deprivation guide above shows that the parish’s demographics are very diverse. One area in particular is in the highest 30% of deprived areas in the country. Whilst the majority of the housing is fairly new and is part of a commuter belt along the M62 linking most municipal areas in West Yorkshire - extending to Huddersﬁeld and Bradford to the west and Pontefract and Castleford and links to the A1 to the east. There are local plans to develop the southern part of the parish. The development would grow the parish but has had opposition.

The church, Vicarage, and Parish Centre are next to one another on a single site on the east of the A653 Dewsbury to Leeds road. The churchyard is still in use and covers 11.5 acres. Both burials and internment of ashes take place regularly.

Other churches in the area work closely together as ‘Churches Together’, including other Church of England and Methodist churches. Ecumenical services and events take place during the year.

8 East Ardsley Reservoir A653 Dewsbury Road bisects the Parish

Parish Centre, Vicarage and church taken from the church car park

Woodkirk Beck

9 The Church and Churchyard

The church has been a place of worship since 976AD and became a monastic cell of the Black Canons of Nostell Priory from 1074 to the Dissolution. It is Grade II* listed.

The church has a capacity of about 200 with a new social area at the back built in 2015 which houses a semi-circular seating area, a kitchenette (tastefully hidden from view), and disabled ramp leading to toilets in the tower base.

The church has been extremely well looked after over the years and has a new heating system (modiﬁed with the community space project), alarm system, full sound system with loop. The ﬂoor and ceiling were completely replaced in 2007 and the most historic window still made of medieval glass was recently renovated thanks to grant funding. As with any building of this age, challenges remain and the East window is due for attention in the coming years. Investigations into grants have already taken place.

In 1831, an overnight storm caused major damage to the roof of St. Mary’s church. Robert Chantrell was charged with overseeing the work of restoring the church. This is his architect’s drawing, detailing the

10 discovery, behind plain plaster panels ﬁxed to the wall with wooden batons, of medieval wall paintings. These had been hidden for centuries following the requirement for plainer church furnishings after the Reformation. The only evidence of this now are signs of the places where batons had been inserted in the stonework.

The existence of this painting came to light in May 2013 when it was revealed in an edition of ‘The Oldie’. Enquiries led us to ﬁnd it for sale in a London gallery. St. Mary’s Church Council made the decision to purchase the watercolour for display in its original setting.

Woodkirk War Memorial

Each year we welcome members of the Royal British Legion and people from of the community who have links to the armed forces to join us in our acts of Remembrance each year. The church becomes the focal point in the parish and this and the 10 war graves provide a link to the wider population.

St Mary’s welcomed its ﬁrst female incumbent in 2004.

Disabled ramp through to toilets in tower base

New font bowl A new social/community area dedicated in 2015 for all ages!

12 Churchyard

St Mary’s Churchyard is extensive covering 11.5 acres. It consists of three main areas. The area near to the church does not take any more burials but there are three cremation plots with space and a faculty already granted for a fourth. The middle section of the churchyard is intentionally left to nature. This was part of a project early in the century, at a time when the whole area was becoming impossible to maintain. An award from the Living Churchyards organisation was won in 2003 for the work on this.

The far area is where the new burials take place and it looks over a lovely peaceful vista.

A small group of volunteers from the church maintain the churchyard and we are fortunate to have the services of the local Community Payback team who are helping us tremendously to keep it looking good today for the community who value it so much.

13 The Parish Centre

The Parish Centre is a large multi-use building located next to the Vicarage.

The building is used by the church for social events, meetings and fairs. St Mary’s Playgroup and uniformed organisations use the building throughout the week. The Parish Centre is well equipped with a new toilet block (2008) and new kitchen (2009), is well decorated and has upvc double-glazed windows. A cleaner is employed for 2.5 hours a week to clean the Centre in term time. Whilst the parish has grown over the past 30 years, no new community space has been provided and this has led to the Parish Centre being the only community building in the parish.

A number of external groups hire the centre on a weekly basis both during the day and in the evening and the centre is also available as a function room for parties etc. With the creation of the space at the back of church, we are able to provide much more ﬂexible lettings for community use.

14 The Vicarage The vicarage is stone built of modern design and is about 40 years old. It has a good-sized single garage and ample parking space. The property has a generous kitchen with adjoining utility room, downstairs cloakroom, dining and living room, a Vicar’s study, main bathroom, and four bedrooms (one en-suite).

The gardens to the side and rear are generous St Mary’s Vicarage without being over large. They are currently lawned with dividing borders and ﬂower-beds. The church currently holds the garden party in the grounds each year.

There is a handy path to the rear of the property which leads to the back door of the church (which due to the alarm panel is the priority entrance to the building).

15 Regular Services The main Sunday worship is at 10.30am. The majority of services follow the Common Worship contemporary language settings. The current pattern of services is as follows:

1st Sunday 10.30am Holy Communion 12.30pm Baptisms (sung) 2nd Sunday 10.30am All-Age worship 12.00pm Holy Communion (said) 3rd Sunday 10.30am Holy Communion (sung) 4th Sunday 10.30am Holy Communion 12.30pm Thanksgiving for the (sung) Gift of a Child (by request) 5th Sunday 10.30am All-Age Holy Communion

In order to bring variety to the regular services, alternative liturgy is used during seasons.

The All-Age Communion is a special service with it being on a 5th Sunday, and the Communion liturgy is an approved Common Worship one more appropriate for a more varied congregation. We welcome young people, the parade service for our uniformed organisations and includes a mix of musical styles and engaging activities - including puppetry!

Each Wednesday there has been a well attended 10.00am Holy Communion service which rotates through Common Worship, BCP, and an Iona setting. During the vacancy, the Communion is taking place each fortnight, with a Morning Praise service being lay-led on the alternate Wednesday.

Services are followed by refreshments which we are now able to serve within church. This is an excellent opportunity, not only for socialising and fellowship, but also for further prayer and reﬂection as necessary. The Lay Pastoral Minister is available to talk to or pray with people after services.

Baptism services are held on the 1st Sunday, with members of the regular congregation able to take part in these. Families are then invited back the following Sunday

16 to the All-Age service to be welcomed in to the family of the Church, and receive their Baptism certiﬁcate and Toddler Bible (donated by members of the church).

Before the vacancy an 8am said Holy Communion took place on the 1st Sunday of the month, this was attended by a small but regular congregation. A number of the 10.30 congregation also attended this for a quieter and more reﬂective service, and it was valued highly.

The majority of the congregation live within the Parish, and the childrens’ organisations draw the vast majority of their members from it as well.

Our Worship Style

We embrace a breadth of traditions at St Mary’s, with all being equally important. Our 10.30 Eucharist uses a sung setting for elements of the service and the hymns are usually traditional. However, we do embrace new hymns and have a number of favourite ones which are used regularly. The music is provided on an organ and there is also a piano to use when appropriate. We frequently use CDs to enhance the quiet period of reﬂection after communion or before the service. These go alongside communion hymns.

At the All-Age service, and other special services where a broader congregation are present, we use CDs for singing, multi-media visuals, and guitar leads.

We own our own laptop and digital projector which we started using around 4 years ago. Multi-media has been used regularly but not too often to ensure it is used when appropriate and not for the sake of it; the congregation have commented this makes the use of it more powerful. For example we use it for images during the Carol Service and during the Foot of the Cross reﬂection on Good Friday.

We have a congregation which embraces a wide age range, although we recognise the importance of encouraging new worshippers and more families into the building, those who have worshipped in a more traditional manner over many years still ﬁnd a place of welcome and tradition here as well as being able to experience new ideas.

17 Leadership and Church Groups

Churchwardens and the Parochial Church Council

St Mary’s has two Churchwardens and 3 Assistant Churchwardens. The leadership roles were reviewed in 2015 to ensure that the weight of responsibility and workload did not We currently have a landvacancy unduly for onour the Vicar. Churchwardens Who and that’s there Who is a shared at leadership St amongstMary the ’laity.s The Assistant Churchwardens have their own speciﬁc responsibilities, and are on a rota to However, during this takeinterregnum, on the ‘Warden’please role onIf youa Sunday would morning. like somebody to pray with you, please contact one of the Churchwardens, leave a see the Lay Pastoral Minister. messageThe at Parochial Church Council is made up of a further 5 people, who again take a lead in(01924) various 472375 areas or of email church management.If there are The any PCC issues meets everyyou would2nd Monday like eveningto discuss, of the [email protected] please see the Churchwardens or Lay Pastoral month.g Minister.

Brian Gledhill Neal Pinder-Packard Gary Mortimer Barbara Tate Churchwarden Churchwarden PCC Chair PCC Treasurer Assistant Churchwarden

Dawn Tattersfield Glyn Jennings Gail Townsend Dave Townsend PCC Secretary Assistant Churchwarden Lay Pastoral Minister Assistant Churchwarden Child Protection Officer Deanery Synod Representative Verger

Keep in Touch

@stmarywoodkir k

facebook.com/stmarywoodkir k Julie Hyde Liz Aveyard PCC Vice-Chair

www.stmarywoodkirk.or g

Don’t forget to pick up a 'Parish News’! 18

Lay Pastoral Minister

The Lay Pastoral Minister visits the sick and those who live alone not only ministering home communion when requested and providing a listening ear and comfort to those in need. This includes a communion service at the local Care Home Lydgate Lodge once a month and visiting bereaved families after funerals to provide support. She is also very much involved with the pastoral ministry within the church helping with services and the planning of all age services. During the vacancy, she is leading the Morning Praise Wednesday morning services as well as co-ordinating Weddings and Funerals.

Encouraging Ministries

During the last incumbency the church family welcomed trainees from the Wakeﬁeld School of Ministry for placements during their lay reader and ordination training. We currently have a Reader in Training ourselves whom we support and encourage and we look forward to her being licensed in 2016.

Core Group

Members of the St Mary’s took part in the three year Wakeﬁeld Diocesan Ministry Scheme programme. As part of this a Core Group was established which meets regularly to discuss matters of mission and church development and bring recommendations to the PCC. At present this consists of 5 people including the Lay Pastoral Minister and Reader in Training.

Playgroup started in 2000. It is a registered charity which is on the Ofsted Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. It is led by a committee of volunteers and a fantastic staff team. The playgroup serves the local community and is accessible to all preschool age children. The playgroup opens on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday during term time from 9.30am until 12pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. The playgroup provides funded early education for three- and four-year- old children, supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Mums and Tots meet on a Wednesday morning in the parish centre, providing a very welcome meeting place for parents, carers and their children. The children play, mark-make and share toys and activities. The adults make friends and create a support network over a cup of tea and a nursery rhyme. Many of the children then go to playgroup before joining a local primary school.

Over 50s meet weekly and is a great opportunity for fellowship and friendship.

19 Mothers’ Union The current membership of our branch is seventeen. During 2014 we met on ten occasions and had some very interesting speakers as well as a Summer Outing to Chester, a Beetle Drive, a Fashion Show and our Christmas Lunch at Heath Cottage. Charitable donations were made as usual during the year to the Overseas Fund and the Away From It All Holiday Fund. Other donations have been deferred until policy changes arising from our switch of Deaneries have been established.

Keep Fit Group meets each Thursday evening. Currently there are nine regular mature members who perform light exercises to music and still have enough energy to laugh, chatter and enjoy refreshments.

St Mary’s Guild support the work of the church, ensuring that the chancel area, brasses and linen is kept clean and ﬁt for worship.

20 Finance

• A copy of the accounts as at 31st December 2014 is included within the proﬁle in Appendix 2.

• Income for year was £105,148, however leaving out grant income and restricted income the ﬁgure was £64,273

• Operational expenditure for the year was £55,630

• During the course of 2014 we paid £20,000 towards our Common Fund requirement of £30,421 which is 65.74% of the total amount. We fully intend and expect to pay the full Common Fund amount for Renovated ‘Monk’s Window’ 2015.

• As at 31st December 2014 we held cash totalling £50,944. This is held in both a current account and in CBF accounts. At the end of November 2015, we held approx £23,600.

• Planned Giving is encouraged and is either by weekly envelope or monthly standing order.

• Gift aid is claimed where applicable.

• The accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis.

Fundraising and projects

The church family support St Mary’s ﬁnancially through their regular giving with the community also supporting social events for example the Christmas Fair. In addition both church family and wider community have responded most generously for speciﬁc fundraising projects. We were able to raise New organ dedication service with £20,000 within 2 weeks to buy a new organ. Mayor of Leeds More recently, the church and community

21 responded to our appeal for pledges to help with the reordering of the west end of the church which enabled St Mary’s Church to secure other funding from community grants. Church members and the community have also responded to our request to ‘Sponsor a chair’ for new foldaway chairs for use at the back of church.

Whilst the west end of church work is now complete, there will be a need for further fundraising for the upkeep of the east window as well as for ‘phase 2’ of the redevelopment of the church by the addition of a screen.

Charitable Giving

It is a policy of the PCC to donate to charity. In recent years we have supported:

• Christian Aid - Each year our Harvest Festival celebrates and educates the church and community about the work of Christian Aid and a collection is taken which goes directly to the charity. Christian Aid week is marked and volunteers join in the Christian Aid walk and undertake house-to-house collections.

• Childrens’ Society - the church is packed to bursting for 2 Christingle Services on Christmas Eve every year and the collections from these services go to the Childrens’ Society.

St Mary’s Church, as part of its own mission supports charitable giving throughout the year. The PCC took a decision in 2013 to donate 1% of its unrestricted income to a local charity, the beneﬁciaries have included Mysotis Research, Leeds Faith in Schools and Bethany House. The congregation are asked to nominate the charity.

Following the installation of toilets as part of the redevelopment of the west end of church, these toilets were ‘twinned’ with toilets in Africa. We support Fair Trade Fortnight with a coffee morning and also have a Fair Trade stall at the Summer and Christmas Fairs. Refreshments served are Fairtrade.

Leeds South Foodbank

We have been involved with the South Leeds Food Bank since its inception. Our congregation support it by bringing bags of food to church. It is then taken to a distribution centre by one of our congregation who volunteers at the Food Bank. Rarely a week goes by without someone bringing a donation. Our recent Harvest Festival collection was donated, it reached a magniﬁcent total of 115 kilos.

22 Spirituality and Growth

One of the core achievements of St Mary’s over the past few years has been the growth of many people within the congregation to take on much broader roles. Conﬁdence, increased faith, and a desire for growth has taken place. This means that now many more people are involved in the life of St Mary’s, and the church has a good basis for further growth in the future.

Lay led services – All-Age worship

Over the past few years the laity have taken a small role in the All-Age services which are held on the 2nd Sunday of the month. This has always been put together by a team of people which including the incumbent.

During the previous incumbent's sabbatical in 2014, the lay team took it upon themselves to not only be part of planning, but to take on the planning and lay leading of the All-Age services. This time stood the group in good stead for George and Jemima - resident puppets for the vacancy where this service is All-Age services now planned with growing conﬁdence.

Christmas – Posada

During Advent, Mary, Joseph and the donkey travel on a rota basis visiting a different house within the parish every night, with a ﬁnal stop at St Mary's, on Christmas Eve. The congregation of St Mary's embrace the Posada year upon year and spaces on the rota are quickly ﬁlled with people young and old, families and those living on their own. On the night Mary & Joseph stay not only does it provides a great opportunity for the giver and the receiver to share a prayer and maybe a mince pie or two, but also brings the local community together in remembering the true meaning of Christmas.

23 Special services

There are a wide variety of special services at St Easter Eve Mary’s which allow the congregation and wider community to share, celebrate and grow in fellowship Vigil and faith throughout the year.

Good Friday At the Foot of the Cross Rededication Service 2015

All-Age Nativity

Small Group Study and Worship

We run a Lent course annually with two sessions, one in an afternoon and one in an evening with a good number of participants in each group. The previous incumbent also offered exploratory courses initially the Alpha course but more recently a course entitled ‘Beyond Ourselves’ which whilst it wasn’t attended by large numbers was supported with between 4 and 10 people attending throughout the 10 week course.

24 Social and Community Outreach – All Ages

In 2014 we re-created the ‘Mystery Plays’ - some say for the ﬁrst time in 500 years. Many of these were written by our very own Black Canons, here at St. Mary’s.

As part of the Medieval Festival, organised by The JORVIK Group, creators of the famous JORVIK Viking Festival, The Yorkshire Medieval Festival brought the St. Andrews Bruntcliffe drama group to our Church to perform Noah’s Flood. The performances were loved by the audience as the cast from young to old re-told the story of Noah - in costume and fully enacted, including a feisty Noah’s wife whose husband felt the full force (literally) of her fury.

Medieval Festival

Communication

Each month a 40+ page magazine is produced, with articles from PCC and other congregation members. Each month 300 copies are printed by a local print company, with the costs being covered by advertising and magazine sales at 50p per copy. The magazine is uploaded onto our own website (stmarywoodkirk.org) and distributed locally.

25 As well as the magazine, a weekly news sheet provides details of up-coming services and events and other local happenings. News sheets are distributed to all attendees to Sunday morning services.

Social Media The church has had its own web site for many years. This is a key portal to people living further aﬁeld, abroad, and of course closer to home to keeping up-to-date with what is happening at St Mary’s

To enhance the use of social media, the church also has a Facebook page and Twitter accounts, these have both been used to communicate with people further aﬁeld, and have actually brought people closer to St Mary’s. Web site: www.stmarywoodkirk.org Facebook: facebook.com/stmarywoodkirk Twitter: twitter.com/

stmarywoodkirk

Hope 2014

Just before the Diocese of Wakeﬁeld

(which we were a part of) was dissolved, we took up the Bishop of Wakeﬁeld’s initiative of turning £100 into a larger amount for the beneﬁt of the Community. Ten intrepid fund raisers took £10 each and held Coffee Mornings and cooked Curry Lunches for workmates and grew it to over £850.

It was decided to hold a social afternoon out for those who live alone and the elderly of the Parish

26 and one afternoon in October we entertained 35 people to a lunch of Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding and Fruit Crumble washed down with beer or wine. There was bingo, and musical entertainment. This event was a great success with all attending saying how much they had enjoyed it.

Thanks to the hard work and generosity of the church family cooking the meal and the hard work of the Guides who served the meal and the Brownies and Rainbows who had made small gifts to distribute, there was still quite an amount of money left, so we decided to do something for the young of the Parish. Every child who attended our two Christingle services in 2014 was given a gift wrapped Selection Box.

Even after this we still had some funds left, so for Easter 2015 we used the remaining money to give a gift to the Residents of our local care home, Lydgate Lodge.

Lydgate Lodge

Lydgate Lodge is a local Care Home on Soothill Lane. The Lay Pastoral Minister administers Communion once a month with support from a lay team, the residents enjoy our visits and especially the singing. In December we join them in the singing of carols.

Uniformed organisations

At St. Mary’s we have thriving Uniformed Organisations:

Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Beavers, Cubs, Scout/Ventures, Explorer Scouts, with a total of over 150 children.

Due to popularity of our organisations we have healthy waiting lists. The organisations parade at the All-Age Worship on the second Sunday and provide a vital community service for youngsters around the Parish.

Schools – assemblies & services in church

27 The previous incumbent had built good links with the three local primary schools within the parish and the PCC and church family wanted to ensure that these links remained during the vacancy. The Trainee Lay Reader has continued the links with two of the schools by visiting the schools to lead whole school assembly on a regular basis, members of the PCC have also offered their help with these. It is hoped to re-establish the links with the 3rd Primary school as soon as possible and also to try and build a stronger link with the Secondary School which is also in the parish.

Two of the schools hold Christmas Services in Church and also come to church for Easter. One of the schools attends church for a celebration of Harvest.

Link parish - Ikizu in the Diocese of Mara, Tanzania

We have been involved with Mara at St. Mary’s over many years, with the previous incumbent making a visit there in 2012.

In 2010, we were linked with the Parish of Ikizu, and communication has taken place (though difﬁcult at times!) between the parishes. We were humbled to receive a gift of friendship from them of an altar cloth which is used during Ordinary time.

Childrens’ Ministry – Activity Mornings

St Mary’s holds a number of activity mornings for children throughout the year which are well supported. Members of the church family gather to plan these events providing crafts and other activities as well as a Christian message around the season of the event. George and Jemima our resident puppets always put in an appearance.

Social events

During the church's year we endeavour to put on as

28 many social events as possible. Over the past eighteen months we have held a broad spectrum of events, from quizzes to snail racing, from lunches for the elderly and those living alone, to the Vicarage Garden Party and Christmas Fair, from Organ Recitals to Art Exhibitions. We have a fantastic group of like-minded people who help make every event a great success, in not only helping to widen the Church community, but also in helping raise much needed funds.

We have fantastic facilities within our Church and Parish Centre that enable us to stage these events in a friendly and comfortable environment.

Garden Party

Christmas Fair

Always friendly faces for refreshments! Christmas Fair

Christmas Fair

29 Mission Statement and Future Vision Engaging with God

Engaging with Each Other

Engaging with the Community

This Mission Statement was developed while writing the Transformational Plan in 2009. It was chosen as a way of ensuring we are an outward facing church, looking to engage the community. We recognised the importance of not just sitting back and thinking that we had ﬁnished, but that we needed to look forward and develop a new vision for the coming years.

Photo Board. The creation of a photo board in the church porch identifying key people to enable visitors or new members to know who to approach. Achieved!

Communication. Core group to commission a forum to look at improving our ‘road- side appeal’ by more effective use of notice-boards and banners. Achieved!

Engagement with children and young families. To seek Diocesan expertise to build on links already established as well as creating new ones. Achieved!

To explore the possibility of developing the West end of the church. A longer-term plan, to look at feasibility of toilet and kitchenette in the tower base, and the possibility of creating an area which would allow the church to be used for other purposes. The aim would allow, for example, midweek social use – coffee mornings etc., an educational & heritage base beneﬁtting schools and others, greater Sunday ﬂexibility with Team trained to offer Prayer Ministry for those in need; a Fair-Trade stall; and a Christian book/magazine/card stall. Achieved!

Welcome Pack. To design and produce, in conjunction with other local businesses, a pack which can be delivered to homes when people move in. Achieved!

The PCC completed this transformational plan in 2009, we reviewed this prior to the departure of the incumbent and were really pleased with the progress we had made.

In 2015 the PCC worked together on a new vision, which is summarised as follows.

30 Engaging with God Engaging with Each Other

✤ Encouragement of faith outside ✤ Nurturing and encouraging the the Sunday worship gifts and talents we all have ✤ Communication of Faith from ✤ Befriending and encouraging sharing personal experience everyone- ✤ Maturing of Faith through ✤ Ensure we ‘think outside the smaller groups and outreach box’

Engaging with the Community

✤ Outreach into schools ✤ Engagement with young people using the Church facilities ✤ Every decision to be based on how it can engage others outside the congregation

31 Our New Vicar We are praying for a Vicar who will help us to achieve our vision of engagement across the whole community, and encourage the congregation to use their talents to this end, and to help us to work with us on reﬁning our next mission plan. We are ready to launch into the next stage of community outreach. Having gained funding for the community space, the next phase is to get people engaged and using the facilities, realising that St Mary’s does not just exist for the congregation of St Mary’s, but for the community. We introduced the HOPE project in 2014 and with the Greater Love Initiative with the World War commemoration, a continuation of this would beneﬁt the community.

We don’t expect our new Vicar to do everything themselves but to enable the ministry of others. We are therefore looking for a naturally collaborative person who is a good team leader who will help us grow spiritually and numerically, and to help us with our stewardship. We offer a warm welcome, a proven willingness to change, and excellent and committed lay support. Our buildings are well maintained.

If we are to engage with the community we know we have to grow in faith and in conﬁdence to use our gifts. During the last two incumbencies we have begun to do this but we know that we have further to go. The last Vicar’s sabbatical gave people opportunities to try new things and this is being built on during the vacancy with lots of people doing things they would never have dreamt of doing a few years ago. We would like our new Vicar to continue to build us up in the faith and empower people to take on new tasks and responsibilities under God. If they are to do this they must be passionate about God and keen to help grow the church in this parish; a natural collaborative and prayerful leader.

We are fortunate to have good links to the Primary schools, but only very limited access to the Secondary school; new opportunities are possible and we would like our new Vicar to engage with them.

We need a Vicar who is experienced and conﬁdent in engaging with children. Our childrens’ ministry is largely mid-week, but with the very large footfall of children through our parish centre, there is an opportunity to engage many sections of the community both children and adults through those links. We pray that our new Vicar would be ready to embrace and enjoy the different forms of worship on offer at St Mary’s, leading us to encounter God in different styles and traditions.

Finally, we hope that our new Vicar will be able to laugh at themselves and laugh with us!

32 Appendix 1: Facts and Figures

St Mary’s Electoral Roll: 99

Average Service Attendance:

Holy Communion (10.30): 1-2 under 16, 35-40 adults All-Age Worship (10.30 2nd Sunday): 23 under 16, 50 adults Baptism Services (depends on number of Baptisms): 150-250 Christingles (Christmas Eve): 120 under 16, 230 adults First Communion of Christmas: 50-60 Easter Day: 15 under 16, 65 adults Easter Eve Vigil: 18 Good Friday Hour at the Cross: 25 Wednesday morning Communion: 10-12 Holy Communion (1st Sunday 8am): 12

Funerals/Cremations/Internment of Ashes 39 Oct 2014 - Oct 2015

Weddings 2015 6

Baptisms Between 3-4 each month

We have had 5 conﬁrmations in the past 2 years

Population of the Parish: 12800

33 Appendix 2: 2014 Accounts

Report for the month of Dec 14

Receipts £ Cash Received

Wks 49-52 £15,290.18

Interest 0.00

Cash payments 249.00

15539.18

0.00

Total Monthly Income 15539.18

Payments

Cash Payments 249.00

Cheques Issued 32117.36

Direct Debits 715.49

Adjustment 0.00

Total Monthly 33081.85 Payments

Net Movement -17542.67

Account Balances 30.12.14 31.11.14 Movement

Current Account 39696.21 57238.88 -17542.67

Renewal Account 106.27 106.27 0.00

CBFFunds 0 0

640051001D - 5698.64 5698.64 0.00 Investment A/c

640051002D - Trust 5407.22 5407.22 0.00 A/c

640051003d - Parish 36.33 36.33 0.00 Centre Mod

Total Balance £50,944.67 £68,487.34 -17542.67