WELCOME TO ST MARY THE VIRGIN,

Our mission statement: To know God, to show God, to share God ... … and spread the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

St Mary’s, Garforth? Where on earth is that?

It’s in West .

Oh, that’s the place where t h e y a l l d r i n k t e a , e a t p u d s , w e a r f l a t c a p s a n d s p e a k funny?

Well it may be, but just wait until

you see everything our wonderful parish has to offer. Besides, when it

comes to God, we all speak the same language anyway.

How very true. I’m

intrigued. Tell me more...

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 1 of 19

Where...? Garforth is a small on the edge of , with a bustling Main Street and excellent transport links.

There's lots happening here for all We have outstanding schools,

ages, from the very young to the lovely parks, independent coffee young at heart! shops ... and even a micro brewery.

Who...? We are a warm, welcoming congregation who get involved at St Mary's in a variety of ways.

Our experienced and friendly team We are all ages from 0 up to 90+, includes three Readers, two with everyone being valued and Churchwardens, a Verger, a playing an important role in our Director of Music and full church. complement of PCC officers.

St Mary's is well attended, with 70 Why...? - 80 worshippers at 10am services, but we've got plenty of space to welcome newcomers into the fold. We’d love you to help us grow.

We have strong traditions and St Mary's is a beautiful, lovingly plenty of new ideas for the future cared for building. You won't need ... and we're very open to your to worry too much about leaking vision too. roofs or broken boilers here!

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 2 of 19

Could I be the right

priest for you?

We are looking for a new priest who will help and encourage us to grow as disciples of Jesus, reach out to all the people within our community, and lead our church into growth by:

 Working collaboratively within the church and with Churches Together in Garforth, and being a visible presence in the community life of Garforth.  Continuing the excellent work and traditions of St Mary’s, whilst being willing to develop and encourage new initiatives and styles of worship.  Committing to pastoral care both within the church and our local community.  Building on all the good work already taking place at St Mary’s as well as moving forward to meet the future challenges.  Effective preaching, teaching and leading that encourages, challenges and inspires us.  Supporting the use of our website and social media to spread the good news of Jesus Christ within our community.

... and would I be able to serve God effectively here?

Yes! St Mary’s offers:

 A well-maintained and re-ordered church, with an excellent, well-used Parish Centre.  A strong team of three Readers and skilled lay support staff committed to the church’s mission and aims for the future.  A dedicated team of volunteers working in all areas of church life.  A warm and welcoming church community who are looking forward to greeting their new priest.  A friendly and popular place to live and work that has very good schools, shopping facilities and excellent road and rail links.  A large 1960s four bedroomed detached Rectory that provides excellent accommodation set within large gardens, mainly laid to lawn.  Undisturbed days off and holidays!  Payment of reasonable monthly expenses in full.

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 3 of 19

Tell me more about

your Parish.

Parish boundaries map.

Garforth is a small town on the outskirts of Leeds, with a population of 16,000 and rising. It’s a relatively affluent area with 80% of residents owning their own home.

COMMUNITY

Garforth has a real sense of community, with lots of popular events (such as the annual Lions Gala in the summer and the Christmas lights switch-on) – and a warm and friendly welcome for newcomers.

Residents are of all ages: there are plenty of families with children, working couples, and also quite a number of older people, with several nursing homes, sheltered accommodation, and a retirement park on Garforth Cliff.

We have a wide variety of clubs, groups and organisations. There is Garforth Town AFC, two cricket clubs, a bowling club, and a Badminton centre. In addition, there are numerous amateur sports teams for children and adults.

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 4 of 19

TRANSPORT

Garforth is very well connected by both road and rail. We have two train stations (Garforth and East Garforth), with half-hourly trains to Leeds and , as well as direct rail links to , Newcastle, and .

It’s just a few minutes’ drive to the A1(M) and M1, and the M62 is only a little further. Buses run frequently into Leeds, and to nearby villages.

CHURCHES

Garforth has six churches: St Mary’s and Garforth Methodist are on Church Lane; Garforth Evangelical is at the top of Main Street and St Benedict’s Roman Catholic Church is by Garforth Train Station. Dayspring Baptist Church meet in the library and Shekinah Glory Ministries meet at the Holiday Inn Hotel.

SCHOOLS AND CHILDREN

Garforth is a great place for families. All five primary schools in Garforth are Ofsted-rated Good or Outstanding; the secondary school, , is also rated Outstanding. There is also SLP College of Dance, a further education college.

There are three parks/playgrounds in Garforth – Glebelands, Firthfields and Barley Hill. Glebelands has a skateboard park and outdoor public exercise equipment, and Barley Hill has tennis courts and bowling greens. All three have excellent, modern playgrounds suitable for children aged 0 -12.

Garforth also has two soft play centres: Megaplay and Monkey Maze.

INDUSTRY AND SHOPS

Ginetta Cars is based in Garforth, at the industrial park on Isabella Road, along with a range of other light industry.

Our thriving Main Street has a wide range of shops – including bakeries, two greengrocers, a butchers, a DIY store (Pease of Garforth), and a cobbler’s – plus some lovely independent cafes. Like most and villages, we also have a number of chain shops, including a large near Garforth’s main Train Station. Further out from the centre of Garforth, we have Dumouchel’s patisserie, which is very popular … and within easy walking distance of the Rectory!

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 5 of 19

What do I need to know

about St Mary’s?

THE CHURCH AND ITS PEOPLE

We have a friendly and welcoming congregation at both our 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. services. St Mary’s three Readers and two Church Wardens are assisted by Deputy Wardens and a committed team of dedicated volunteers in all areas of church life. As you might well imagine, there are lots of rotas! Our Verger manages all the bookings for our Parish Centre which is very well used by the church and by the community.

St Mary’s PCC is quite large with a membership of 21 people who meet six times a year. There are smaller “Task Groups” who meet to consider issues of Fabric & Maintenance, Finance, and to organise Social and Fundraising events, reporting back to the main PCC. We have a full complement of PCC officers.

We also have a talented team of Flower Arrangers who work hard to ensure that there are lovely displays of flowers in church each week. They excel themselves at Easter, Harvest and Christmas, and of course at weddings.

We have a strong Mothers’ Union branch which holds both afternoon and evening meetings so that people who are working during the daytime can still be active members and enjoy the friendship and fellowship MU offers.

The Electoral Roll, as of April 2017, numbers 94 people, 12 of whom live outside the parish (but still like to worship at St Mary’s and who can blame them)!

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 6 of 19

WORSHIP PATTERNS

Weekly Services

Sundays:

8.00am: Communion Service (said) with a sermon. Average attendance about 12 people.

10.00am: Communion Service with hymns, choir anthem, and parts of the Eucharist sung: Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei. Average attendance is 70 to 80 people. There is a four bell peal beforehand.

Wednesdays:

9.30am: Communion Service (said)

Other Regular Services

Sundays:

3.00pm (every 2 months): Stepping Stones, with Café style worship lead by Readers and supported by Music Group

3.00pm (every 4 months): Memorial Service

3.00pm (every 3 months): Messy Church (with Churches Together in Garforth, hosting rotating monthly); held at St Mary’s 4 times a year.

Thursdays:

1.30pm (fortnightly): Play and Pray, for pre-school children and parents/carers

The churchmanship at St Mary’s is central. We have a robed choir and full Eucharistic Vestments worn.

Annual Services

Easter: Stations of the Cross

Harvest: Family Communion

Remembrance Sunday (the war memorial is currently situated inside the church)

Advent/Christmas: Christingle; Carols by Candlelight; Crib Service 4pm Christmas Eve; Christmas Day services at 8am and 10am.

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 7 of 19

The Christingle Service and Crib Service

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 8 of 19

MUSIC

At St Mary’s, we are proud of our strong musical tradition and realise the fundamental importance of music in worship.

Our Director of Music/Organist is a highly qualified professional musician and leads our excellent robed 21 strong SATB choir. We have a large, enthusiastic Junior Choir (age 6+) who rehearse weekly and sing at significant services, promoting strong links with our Primary schools from where the children are recruited. One young Junior Choir member wrote that, “You inspire me to sing clearly and loudly ... best choir teacher ever.”

We use the Patrick Appleford Communion setting and hymns from Common Praise. In addition we have a Song Book, with songs/hymns from various sources: this is used at Stepping Stones services and occasional Eucharist services.

We also have an enthusiastic music group (above) who play and sing during our “Stepping Stones” café style services and other events.

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 9 of 19

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

As well as Junior Choir, we have “Sunday Club” for age 3+ and a crèche area in church for 0 – 3s, both during the 10am service. There are regularly about 8 children in Sunday Club and 2 or 3 children in the crèche. Sunday Club normally have a craft activity and a Bible story, and sometimes do other activities such as baking.

Play & Pray, for under 5s and their parents/carers, meets fortnightly on Thursday afternoons at 1.30pm. It includes a short child-focused service followed by colouring, playing and refreshments, and brings in several families who do not otherwise attend St Mary’s.

Our pamphlet Children at St Mary’s gives details about the activities on offer and what we do to safeguard children at church.

SAFEGUARDING

We have embraced the Church of ideal that ‘safeguarding is everyone’s business’, and ensure that all people from St Mary’s who work with children, or adults who may be vulnerable, have a current DBS check.

We have also completed risk assessments for our work with both children and adults and introduced “Safe Recruitment”.

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 10 of 19

DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES AT ST MARY’S

We have a variety of social groups, including:

 Mothers Union (twice a month)  Craft Group (fortnightly)  Drop in for a cuppa (weekly)

Our other social activities include quiz nights, murder mystery evenings, music concerts, and the Autumn and Spring Fayres.

Kippax Brass Band

Other groups that use the Parish Centre include Yoga, Line Dancing, NET Extend classes, Children’s Drama Groups, Baby Ballet, Lace making.

We have weekly evening Bible Study groups led by Readers; in Advent and Lent, we hold additional Bible Studies, including both afternoon and evening sessions.

THE SPIRE MAGAZINE

We produce a free quarterly magazine, The Spire. (We welcome donations to cover the cost of printing.) Copies are available all around Garforth – in the library, some schools, care homes, estate agents, coffee shops, and indoor play facilities. Some local businesses advertise in the magazine. Charlie the Church Mouse normally makes an appearance too!

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 11 of 19

THE CHURCH AND ITS FINANCES

We have been able to pay our parish share in full for the period 2009 – 2016 and still managed to re-order the church and maintain the fabric of the buildings; quite an achievement! Of course, each year is a challenge but income from fees for occasional offices, parish centre lettings and fund-raising all help.

2017 proved to be especially challenging with an increase in share of £10,000 over 2016 to £78,570. We made great efforts to pay as much of the 2017 share as we could and committed to paying £70,000 of the £78,570 requested; and we have managed to pay the £70,000. Our parish share for 2018 has decreased slightly to £76,563.

We have an annual review of stewardship giving every July, involving a sermon on reviewing our giving and a leaflet that uses the financial information for the first six months of the year.

The church is a registered charity and all members of the PCC are trustees. Our charity number is 1130765.

THE CHURCH AND ITS BUILDINGS

Our church is a beautiful and striking building, and the Early Gothic architecture is unusual in this district – our church was built in the cruciform style with a 120ft spire that is visible for

miles around, and which can be floodlit for special occasions and anniversaries.

A substantial re-ordering of the church took place in the early part of 2014. Improvements were made to the heating and sound systems, and the introduction of a dais and ramp greatly increased the sight lines and disabled access. A new central heating boiler was installed in 2017. Both the church and the Parish Centre are very well cared for and are a valuable resource for the parish.

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 12 of 19

The present parish church is possibly the fourth to be built here, and evidence exists of a church on the present site from the 12th century. Most of the cost for building was paid by the Gascoigne family of Parlington Hall, who were Lords of the Manor, and there are references to the Gascoigne’s within the stained glass windows. The church was consecrated on November 14th 1845 by the first Bishop of Ripon, Dr. Charles Thomas Longley, and has several examples of “Mouseman” furniture.

The Church is currently open Monday to Thursday from 9am to 3pm and Fridays 9am to 12noon for anyone wishing to pray or light a candle.

OUR HISTORIC ORGAN

We were delighted when our Isaac Abbott two manual Pipe organ, built in 1873, was recently identified as an important example of our organ heritage and was awarded an Historic Organ Certificate Grade 2*. The organ has been well maintained over the years – and if funds are needed for future work, its new status means it could be eligible for special grants.

OUR SPECIAL BELLS

Our four bells are housed at the top of the spire with a ringing chamber positioned underneath.

Rather than the ropes being attached to the actual bells, they are attached to the clapper, with the ropes feeding down into the ringing chamber and being held in a frame mechanism. This enables all the bells to be rung by a single bell ringer!

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 13 of 19

OUR PARISH CENTRE

The Parish Centre is connected to the church through a link into the crèche area, and is an excellent resource for the whole parish. It was consecrated by the Bishop of Ripon at a special service on the 23rd November 1997.

The Parish Centre is well used by various groups – Sunday Club, Lace Makers, Yoga, Line Dancing, Drama and Ballet – and is an excellent resource for St Mary’s.

THE RECTORY

The Rectory is situated to the rear of the Parish Centre and is accessed via Croft Foulds Court which runs to the west of the Church. It is a large four bedroomed house with an enclosed private rear garden, mainly laid to lawn, and patio area. The house is well- maintained with good carpets throughout and provides excellent accommodation.

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 14 of 19

How do you get involved in the local community?

SCHOOLS

We have established good relationships with all the primary schools in Garforth by attending assemblies and holding Harvest and Nativity services in church for the schools to bring their pupils to during the week. We are also in contact with the local high school and, until recently, helped support a Faith in Schools worker.

CARING FOR THE SICK AND ELDERLY

We hold services each month at the six Residential Care/Nursing homes in the parish and also at local sheltered housing complexes. We also have a Pastoral team whose members visit people who are long-term sick and particularly those who are housebound and no longer able to come to church. The team will also visit anyone who is newly bereaved and has been referred to them by the clergy.

WEEKDAY CHURCH GROUPS

Children:

We have a fortnightly Play and Pray group for pre-school children and their carers. This has been running for many years and has brought several families into church during that time.

Junior Choir currently has over 40 members who meet weekly to practice after school on Wednesday afternoons during term time. They are also an important part of our outreach, singing at schools and care homes. For some of the children it is their first experience of church, and when they sing at services their parents come to hear them, and it is often the only contact they too have had with church.

Adults:

We have an active Mothers Union and there are two groups – they both meet monthly, one in an afternoon and one in an evening.

There is a fortnightly Craft Group – who craft and chat!

“Drop in for Cuppa” on Friday mornings started as a fundraising event but has become part of our outreach as it is attended by adults with learning disabilities from a local day centre.

We hold fundraising and social events in our Parish Centre and it is also very well used by lots of other local groups.

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 15 of 19

OCCASIONAL OFFICES AT ST MARY’S

Occasional offices are an important part of mission within our community. Many local people still think of St. Mary’s as their church even though they don’t attend Sunday services.

Baptisms: are held on the second and fourth Sundays of the month at 12.15, and occasionally within the 10am service. There are regularly two infants at each service. It can be quieter around Christmas and the New Year. We have a rota for the organist/keyboard player and there are always at least two members of the congregation on hand to welcome parents and visitors into church. We have a team of people who visit the family on behalf of the church prior to the Baptism.

Funerals: St Mary’s is a busy church as far as funerals are concerned. We pride ourselves on doing the very best we can as a last act for the departed. Last year, we had 57 services in church and 39 at Crematoria. In Church, the organ is always available and we have a Verger who will get the church ready and see to the music if CDs are to be played.

Weddings: These can vary in number from year to year. In a really good year we have had as many as twenty two, but generally it is about five or six. Couples are provided with the option of having the choir, bells and flowers arranged by our Flower Arranging team. We always go out of our way to make the Church warm and welcoming on what is a very special day in every couple’s life.

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 16 of 19

What about the wider context – the Diocese and other local churches?

The Diocese of Leeds is very large and has five episcopal areas. St Mary’s Church, Garforth is in the Deanery which is part of the Leeds episcopal area.

The diocesan vision and mission is “to equip confident clergy to enable confident Christians to tell the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the diocese – Loving, Living and Learning”. We at St Mary’s communicate this mission as: to know God, to show God, to share God … and to spread the good news about our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have been signatories to the Anglican / Methodist Covenant since 2012.

CHURCHES TOGETHER IN GARFORTH (CTIG)

We are active participants and supporters of Churches Together in Garforth (CTIG) which also includes St Benedict’s RC Church, Dayspring Baptist Church, Garforth Evangelical Church and Garforth Methodist Church.

The ministers/leaders at St. Mary’s, St Benedict’s, Dayspring and the Methodist Church regularly meet to pray, discuss issues affecting our community and plan future ecumenical events such as Lent Study Groups, Lent Lunches and Good Friday Walk of Witness. We also hold some joint services – e.g. One World Week and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Messy Church is an ecumenical “fresh expression” of church which is part of CTIG and is actively supported by all the Garforth churches except St Benedict’s. We have a monthly Messy Church event with between 40 and 60 people attending – children and their careers. It is held at a different church each month and working together as a team has helped us to get to know each other better and enabled us to form new friendships.

CTIG hold monthly faith lunches at St Benedict’s with prayers and perhaps a short talk or Bible reading. We also send a joint Christmas card to every home in Garforth detailing the Christmas services and events being held at each church. We have a CTIG Messy Church stand at the Garforth Gala and Christmas Lights switch-on event.

CTIG is a very important part of Christian ministry in our community and holds a party in January each year for elderly people within our community. CTIG also actively support the Methodist Church, which provides a night shelter for one week for destitute asylum seekers within the Leeds area.

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 17 of 19

Appendix

St Mary’s Garforth Statistical information for 2016

Attendance at worship in each church

Service Time No of Adult Attendance Under 16 Communicants

Sunday Said 08.00hrs 12 12 0 Communion

Sunday Sung 10.00hrs 90 95 13 Communion

Wednesday Said 09.30hrs 11 11 0 Communion

Occasional Offices (2016 figures)

Baptisms Confirmees Weddings Funerals held in Funerals taken church by clergy not in church

31 0 * 8 57 39

* Confirmations typically take place every two years. Nine members of St Mary’s were confirmed in 2017.

Worshipping Community

Adults (Age 70+) 46

Adults (Age 18-69) 49

Young People (Age 11-17) 3

Children (Age 0-10) 10

Total 108

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 18 of 19

Maps of the Diocese

St Mary’s, Garforth: Parish Brochure Page 19 of 19