A profile for the parishes of Writtle, Highwood and Roxwell All Saints St Paul Writtle Highwood St Michael and All Angels Roxwell THE CHALLENGES AHEAD Welcome to the Benefices of Writtle with Highwood, and Roxwell Our three worshipping communities have been through sad times occasioned by the death of our SSM priest and the early retirement of our incumbent. We have continued to serve God faithfully in our three lovely churches, ably led by visiting clergy and retired clergy. The Diocese also provided nine months of Turnaround support. We asked our congregations and the wider community what they saw as the key tasks for our churches when our new vicar arrives. Nearly 100 survey forms were completed by congregation members and other local supporters. There was an overwhelming agreement between the churches on the following: Current Challenges and Opportunities We are looking for someone to work with us who: • We have strong lay leadership who would like help in • Through confident, sensitive and mindful leadership can build developing and communicating a vision for the future. relationships and engage with the community. • We have good links with local schools and uniformed organisations, we would like to build on this to encourage • Has experience and enjoys the challenges of working across more young families to worship with us. benefices. • We value the individual traditions of each of our churches, but recognise the need to work together. All three • Can inspire and encourage us in our discipleship by preaching, churches have a strong Eucharistic focus. teaching and living out the gospel. • We have a strong musical tradition in all three churches. • Will support the variety of groups and lay leaders working within our churches and help us to develop even further. THE DIOCESE: A MESSAGE FROM BISHOP STEPHEN In the Chelmsford Diocese we believe that God is calling his church to be a transforming presence. Our vision is that the church - that is the people of God here in Essex and East London - should be a transforming presence in every one of our parishes. These are our priorities – To inhabit the world distinctively To evangelise effectively To hold ourselves accountable to one another and to God for the stewardship of the gospel To re imagine the way we minister so that each ordained minister and each individual Christian discovers their part in God’s ministry and so that each church flourishes. To this end we are looking for priests who are excited by this vision of becoming a church which is itself transformed, and which is becoming a more visible and effective presence in the huge diversity of communities that make up this most exciting and energetic part of England. There are many challenges ahead of us. We are a diocese generously subsidised by the national church. We need to become financially self-sufficient. Leadership often seems distant. We are creating patterns of leadership that are closer to the parishes. And we are looking to develop missionary leadership at all levels of church life. Nearly half our clergy will retire in the next ten years. We need to find out how to minister with fewer stipendiary clergy and with a re-imagining of how stipendiary ministry works. We need to re-organise the way parishes relate to each other in what we are calling Mission and Ministry Units. Some of our congregations still think ministry is what Vicars do. We have a vision of ministry where the whole people of God are involved in the whole of God’s ministry. We are also experimenting with new forms of authorised lay ministry. Church must be a safe place. All those in ministry will be expected to undergo training that will equip them to respond well in situations associated with safeguarding. Levels of church going are below the national average. We need to get evangelism on to the agenda and into the lifeblood of every church. We encourage and train churches to put on weekends of mission and outreach. One of our aspirations is that every benefice should have a trained lay evangelism enabler. We are developing missionary discipleship, so that every church in the diocese is a place where Christians are formed in order to be sent out in witness and service. Despite planning for a future with fewer stipendiary clergy, we remain as committed as ever to the local church. And what is the local church, but that community of men and women gathered around Christ, and living and sharing the gospel in the networks and neighbourhoods of their lives? But we need priests to lead and to serve. We know we need to change. We can only be a transforming presence when we have allowed God to transform us. Therefore at the heart of all we do is a longing for intimacy with God and a renewed life of prayer. First and foremost a priest is a minister of the word and sacrament. All ministry flows from this. But a priest shares the ministry of the bishop, therefore presbyteral ministry will increasingly be a ministry of oversight, guiding, nurturing and directing the mission of God’s church in the communities we serve. It is an exciting time to be part of God’s missionary movement for the world, and the Diocese of Chelmsford is an exciting place to serve. We have a clear vision and we are looking to appoint clergy who will share this with us. In every parish we long to see each person and each community grow in faithfulness and ministry so that together we may serve in the world and Christ may be made known. +Stephen THE DEANERY The Deanery of North Chelmsford consists of 16 Parishes. There is a good mixture of church styles and despite some varied theological positions the parish clergy work well together and enjoy cordial relationships. The Deanery is currently looking to update its plan regarding the number and placement of clergy and lay resources, in order to make our mission to Chelmsford as effective as possible. We are actively pursuing the setting up of Ministry and Mission Partnerships (MMP’s), where groups of parishes work closely together, sharing resources and skills, pooling talents and seeking, through a shared vision of ministry, to make the most of what they have. We already have one such partnership licensed and running very well. It is our expectation that Writtle, Roxwell and Highwood will be part of the next MMP along with Ascension with All Saints and S. Andrew’s Melbourne. We look forward to welcoming a new member to our Deanery Chapter. Fr Tom Page, Area Dean ROXWELL WRITTLE HIGHWOOD The maps show the three parishes. The benefices sit on the south west corner of the deanery. To the north and east are the other parishes of Chelmsford North Deanery. Margaretting in Brentwood Deanery lies to the south, while the area to the west is in the Barking episcopal area. PATTERN OF WORSHIP SUNDAY Week 1 Week2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 All Saints 8 am BCP Holy 8 am BCP Holy 8 am BCP Holy 8 am BCP Holy 8 am BCP Holy Writtle Communion Communion Communion Communion Communion 9.30 am All Age Worship 10.45 Parish 10.45 Parish 11.00 am BCP 10.45 Parish 10.45 Parish Eucharist Eucharist Mattins Eucharist Eucharist including prayers for healing St Paul’s 9.30 am Family 9.30 am CW 9.30 am Family 9.30 am CW 9.30 am CW Highwood Service Holy Service Holy Holy Communion Communion Communion St Michael’s 8 am BCP Holy 8 am BCP Holy Roxwell Communion Communion 10 am CW Holy 10 am CW Holy 10 am Service of 10 am CW Holy 10 am CW Holy Communion Communion the Word Communion Communion MID-WEEK Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at 9am Morning Prayer at All Saints Monday 12 noon Prayers for Peace and Healing at All Saints First Wednesday in the month at 10 am BCP Holy Communion at All Saints Monthly Taize service Saturday morning at 8am at All Saints Thursday 9.30am Morning Prayer at St Michael’s JOINT WORSHIP In an All Saints Parish questionnaire of 2014 several people remarked on the importance of sustaining the ecumenical connections in the village. Christians Together provides this opportunity, and has been meeting regularly for several decades now, providing an opportunity for people to hear speakers on a variety of topics in an informal open fellowship on certain 2nd Sundays in the URC church. To bring our Benefice together, and to strengthen Ecumenical Links we hold some services together: Candlemas is hosted by St Michael’s Church Trinity Sunday is hosted by St Paul’s Church Christ the King is hosted by All Saints Church. The Ecumenical United Services (between Cooksmill Green Congregational, Highwood, Roxwell, Writtle and Writtle United Reform) are held on a fifth Sunday in the month. There are strong links between St Michael’s and Cooksmill Green Congregational Church, some services are shared. Lay leaders from St Michael’s are invited to lead services at Cooksmill Green. OUR CHURCHES: NOT JUST FOR SUNDAY There are a number of activities that operate during the week. These include: Healing Ministry Lay Eucharistic Team Christian Healing Ministry is on offer in a variety of On request, an established team of six lay ways, whether through prayer ministry at the 4th administrants take Home Communion to those Sunday Eucharist; prayers for peace and healing on unable to attend church. This service has been Mondays at 12 noon; or aids to its practice such as welcomed and demand is increasing.