PROFILE the PARISH of LANGLEY MARISH
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PROFILE THE PARISH of LANGLEY MARISH One Parish One Mission Three Churches PROFILE | LANGLEY MARISH 2 PROFILE | LANGLEY MARISH Langley Marish is a large, suburban multi-cultural parish on the eastern edge of Slough. The main parish church, St Mary’s, planted two smaller churches, St Francis and Christ the Worker, in the 1960s, and all three churches continue to work closely together to be a Christian presence, engaging with the whole of its multi faith community of Langley. For many years the parish supported 3 full time clergy, each church having its own ‘vicar’ who worked as part of a team. Following the moves of both Team Vicars in 2017, it was decided to appoint a single Team Vicar who would share ministry with the Team Rector and have particular oversight of the congregations of St Francis and Christ the Worker. Foreword The parish has also been a training parish for a full-time stipendiary curate for the last 4 years. With the appointment of a new Team Rector, the parish will begin an important new phase in its life. Over the next 5-10 years, the churches will need to adjust to less clerical leadership and build their capacity of their existing committed lay leadership teams. The churches will look to the Team Rector to lead them in developing plans to realise their vision to be a Christ-like presence for the whole community, across cultural and faith boundaries. The parish has a stable financial position, but recognises that stewardship will also need to be addressed in the coming years if it is to fulfil its vision. These are exciting times for the deanery too. Several new appointments have been made in neighbouring benefices and the post of full time InterimArea Dean is also currently being advertised. So there is an opportunity here to be involved in reshaping mission and ministry in both a large parish and a deanery. The role calls for a priest with experience of ministry in a large, multi-ethnic context who can offer clear leadership, enable growth and equip the laity for mission and ministry in a changing context. The new Team Rector will be committed to the diocesan vision of becoming a more Christ-like Church for the sake of God’s World – contemplative, compassionate and courageous – and to model and enable a flourishing ministry for all, in line with the diocesan work in this area. I commend this profile to you and I would welcome conversations about the role with interested candidates. If you’d like a conversation, please contact me on 07525 655756. Rt Revd Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham 3 PROFILE | LANGLEY MARISH Contents Page Introduction 5 Our Vision 5 Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Reality 6 The Team Rector we are Searching for 7 Overview of the Parish 8 Parish Map 8 Normal Patterns of Worship 9 Parish Dashboard 10 The Church of England in Langley 11 The Church and its People 11 The People 11 Worship 11 Worship Under Lockdown 12 In Numbers 12 Governance 12 Our Finances 12 Our Mission 13 Forming and Sending Disciples 13 • Lay Involvement 13 • Ecumenical Working 14 • Interfaith Involvement 14 Making a Bigger Difference in the World 14 • Parish Giving 14 • Fair Trade 14 • Parish Initiatives 14 • Team Rector's Ex-Officio Involvement 15 • Individual Initiatives 15 Growing New Congregations 15 Serving our Schools, Children and Young People 16 • Local Schools 16 • Outreach to schools 16 • Lighthouse Langley 16 • Children in Church 16 Our Buildings 17 • The Church and its Buildings 17 • St Mary 17 • St Francis 18 • Christ the Worker 18 • The Churchyard at St Mary 18 The Rectory 19 Local Amenities 19 The Challenges for us in the Near Future 20 Responding to the Pandemic and its aftermath 20 Responding to changes in demography 20 Responding to changes in the congregation 20 Responding to possible changes in patterns of Ministry 20 The Deanery of Burnham and Slough 21 The Diocese of Oxford 22 APPENDIX A Provisonal Role Description 24 APPENDIX B List of Education Centres in the Parish 29 APPENDIX C Latest Audited Accounts & Draft Budget 30 4 PROFILE | LANGLEY MARISH Introduction To be a Christ-like Church that is contemplative, compassionate and courageous for the sake of God’s world, and to provide a Christian presence in Langley, engaging with the whole community, in the context of being a multi-faith Parish. Our Vision We are delighted that you have chosen to look at our Parish Profile and hope that you will find it interesting and help you discern whether Langley is a place where you might wish to consider serving God for the next few years. This profile is a thumbnail sketch of who we are with an indication of what we see as some of our strengths as well as some of the challenges we face. Many more details of the three churches of our Parish can be found on the Parish website and Facebook pages. langleymarish.com/ and www.facebook.com/ParishofLangley St Mary the Virgin St Mary’s Road, Slough SL3 7EL St Francis of Assisi Upton Court Road, Langley, Slough SL3 7NE Christ the Worker Parlaunt Road, Slough SL3 8BB 5 PROFILE | LANGLEY MARISH SOAR Type Diagram | Our Parish STRENGTHS Friendly, warm, caring and talented congregation from a wide variety of backgrounds. OPPORTUNITIES The three congregations working as one Parish, with Scope to enhance and extend our existing links one PCC. with local schools, the majority of which are receptive to church involvement. Members willing to work hard and pitch in as necessary. Exploring further ways of enhancing the ecumenical collaboration that exists in Langley Active in pastoral care including: as well as churches working with community Prayer for Healing Group, a phone network for organisations. pastoral care during the pandemic. Working with agencies like A ring-fenced legacy for the upkeep of our Grade 1 Christians Against Poverty (CAP) in Slough. listed building. Working with secular agencies in Slough on welfare A strong choral music tradition in and social justice issues associated with local, St Mary’s, with an organist and robed choir. national and international remits: for example in refugee support. Annual Festival services and activities, such as the Crib Service, All Souls Service and Easter Garden Participating more enthusiastically in multifaith activity attended from a wide selection of the local organisations and events in Slough. community. Actively involved with local events, including the REALITY Langley Carnival, Langley Lighthouse, Harvest in the O Park and Community Coffee Shop. The electoral roll numbers, and more importantly the number of active church members, is declining. During the pandemic: A group of tech-savvy people supporting effective Current financial strengths and Stewardship levels and impactful Zoom services. may become weakened by a fall in numbers from older members of the congregation who currently Participation in services by those without internet provide the bulk of the Stewardship income. connection facilitated by weekly hand delivered printed material. The majority of younger members are of Primary School age. A recent large cohort of teenagers have moved on to Higher Education and/or employment ASPIRATIONS opportunities outside the parish. Finding ways to broaden, encourage and strengthen our existing talent pool and community whilst In the next few years, we could become a single- acknowledging everyday lives, welfare and income priest parish with a three-church legacy. have been affected by the pandemic. Recently we were a training parish for a curate. Encouraging and supporting younger cohorts to join She left in the New Year to begin her new post. the church and help run it. Revitalising youth work, maybe in collaboration with the Deanery. Our regular choir has recently diminished in size and we need more voices, especially ‘male’ voices to Having holiday activities for school children, such as a sustain our choral musical heritage. music club, maybe even leading to a performance of a musical. 6 PROFILE | LANGLEY MARISH The Team Rector We Are Searching For We look to our Team Rector to take the lead in further developing our vision, and directing and guiding the Parish, in being a Christian presence in Langley. We would want the Team Rector to be our spiritual guide: Be comfortable leading different styles of worship. Encourage and teach individuals and groups to be prayerful in their lives through, for example, Bible Study and prayer groups. We would want our Team Rector to be an effective leader: Be an inclusive and collaborative team leader, working with the team vicar and lay leaders, empathetic with our diverse congregations and able to provide pastoral care for people in their disparate situations. Be able to inspire good stewardship habits among the congregations, for the financial viability of the parish and to enable us to participate in world mission. Develop sustainable communities of families, who will grow in faith and become full and active members of the church. We would want our Team Rector to be outward looking and encouraging a wider vision in the church: Support lay members in their daily work as well as in their charitable activities. Continue to maintain and build upon existing good relationships with our schools. Nurture, and where desirable initiate, joint activities with outside bodies. 7 PROFILE | LANGLEY MARISH Overview of the Parish Parish Map Parish 8 PROFILE | LANGLEY MARISH We are a single Parish with three churches in Langley, that lies east of Slough, and Christians have been worshipping in the Langley Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin since the 12th Century. The population of Langley is about 30,000, hugely diverse, and is now a multifaith parish, with 43% of the population being Christian and other faiths being 39% (Census 2011) and expected to grow.