Welcome to the Wickwar Benefice The United Benefice of WICKWAR, CHARFIELD, KINGSWOOD, RANGEWORTHY, and HILLESLEY, in the DIOCESE OF GLOUCESTER Thank you for your interest in the role of Associate Priest, House for Duty in the Wickwar Benefice. We hope you find this profile helpful in your enquiry. Introduction We are five lively churches in five active rural communities, each with its own character and story to tell. The following profile will look at aspects of ministry and how they play out in each village rather than analyse each separate location. It is hoped that the reader will get an impression of mission and ministry across the united benefice and how that differs and compliments in each of our worshipping communities. Geography

The Benefice spans the counties of Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire (formerly Avon), and is adjacent to the Cotswold hills and close to the market towns of Chipping Sodbury and Wotton under Edge. The M5 and M4 motorways give easy access to many major routes with the closest railway sta- tions being at Yate and Bristol Parkway. There are approximately 10,000 people living in the Benefice with Charfield’s population being around 2500 and soon to grow, whilst Wickwar’s is about 3000. Statis- tics available from South Gloucestershire Council’s 2001 census show 98.8% of the population are White with 75.3% per cent of them declaring themselves to be Christian. In the 16-74 ages group 53% of the population declare that they are economically active with just 1% being unemployed. Wider Church

The Benefice is part of the Wotton Deanery which is in turn part of the Gloucester Diocese. There is a very friendly and supportive clergy chapter that meets regularly for worship, conversation and themed presentations. There is a strong desire to continue to develop supportive and collegiate practices amongst neighbouring benefices, joining for events like wedding preparation days or training sessions. Benefice Ministry

You will be part of a team that currently includes the Rector, David, the Curate, Peter and the licensed Reader Tricia. We meet weekly for morning prayer and a staff meeting where we share pastoral issues, discuss aspects of our ministry and exchange information and plans. We have recently increased the incidents of morning prayer on weekdays in different churches and have one weekday Eucharist based at Charfield. You will also be part of a Benefice Ministry Team that meets monthly and comprises of lay people from two previous local ministry teams. It came together on the merger of the Benefices, some four years ago, and promotes lay ministry in both worship and pastoral activities. You will be based in Charfield Rectory and will naturally become involved in the pastoral ministry of that village and the neighbouring Kingswood. But we all operate across the five parishes, and the Sunday ro- ta will reflect that collaborative and flexible ministry. Charfield Rectory….. …is the accommodation for the house for duty post. It is a four bedroomed detached house set in a large, well-kept plot next door to Charfield church. Built around 1957 it has been upgraded to have gas fired central heating and cavity wall in- sulation, although there are open fires in the lounge and din- ing room. There is a family bathroom with separate shower cubicle: en suite bath room to the master bedroom and two additional toilets one being downstairs. There is a large lounge, a dining room, study, kitchen and a utility room with access to the garage, together with a productive vegetable patch and fruit cage. The house has an easily accessible driveway and is close to the church.

A brief history

The five church Benefice was established in August 2011, under the incumbency of Rev’d David Russell who has been Rector of Wickwar & Rangeworthy since 1998. Hillesley was added in 2000 and Charfield and Kingswood in 2011. There is a Benefice administrator who works four mornings a week to support David in his role as incumbent and also Area Dean of the Wotton Deanery. Pattern and style of Worship Each church gets at least one act of worship each Sunday and when there is a fifth Sunday in the month we join together for a benefice service in one church. At festival times such as Christmas and Easter, as full a program as possible is provided to give occasional and regular wor- shippers the chance to attend the church in their community. This listing is a typical month but our pattern and frequency of worship is always under review. Our congregations are open to tradi- tional and innovative worship alike and alongside the Book of Common Prayer and Common Worship there is some very imaginative family and all age worship. There are groups of lay people who can lead and assist in family worship and non Eucharistic services and there are monthly family services in most of the churches. Ecumenical Partnerships Kingswood Open Air Service Ecumenism is realised in all five parishes. Kingswood has a well developed Churches to- gether with the local congregational chapel. This relationship is being renewed and re- freshed in September 2016 with a facilitated open day for all to attend. Kingswood has expe- rienced an increase in housing in recent years and we are beginning to see new individuals and families attending our places of worship. It is hoped that this occasion will brief newcomers of the purpose and existence of churches together, and also invite all to contribute to its future. Charfield Good Friday Charfield has evolved a new Churches together with its Walk of witness neighbouring congregational chapel. This was fostered under the direction of our previous associate priest. This is a new and healthy forum which has seen many acts of joint worship; the sharing of each other’s facilities, and a constructive appreciation of each other’s worship styles and approach to faith.

Rangeworthy had a long friendship with the local Methodist chapel which is now closed, but members of that congregation continued to worship with Holy Trinity and a monthly service of morning prayer was specially devised for that joint congregation, originally led by a Methodist minister and now lay led from within our congregation.

Hillesley village contains a number of residents who worship elsewhere as Baptists, Roman Catholics and in free evangelical churches. But there is a great desire to come together for events such as Lent groups, bible study evenings and in one case an Alpha Course. Although the Anglican congregation is small, other Christians often support church led events and seasonal and civic worship.

Wickwar has a long standing association with its congregational chapel. Although this has never been formalised in any way there is a sharing of facilities, common congregational members (including an or- ganist) and a collegiate friendship between ministers. In all these instances there is much room for evolution, improvement and innovation, and the new asso- ciate priest would be more than welcome to contribute with their experience and wisdom, with particu- lar focus on the Charfield situation.

Schools

There are two church primary schools in the benefice, at Rangeworthy and Hillesley. The Rector being the foun- dation governor on both and the Curate having a similar Lenten Crosses at association with Hillesley. Both schools have had out- Rangeworthy School standing SIAMS results and have recently developed ethos committees to ensure the church status is firmly on the governors’ agenda. Regular worship, RE support and other activities are undertaken by clergy and lay people. There are strong long standing relationships with the three state primary schools elsewhere in the bene- fice. Open the Book teams operate in Kingswood, Wickwar and Charfield, and prayer space events have been held in Charfield and Hillesley recently. All our schools use the various churches at key festal times and as part of their curriculum, illustrating places of worship. The associate priest would have a particu- lar task in liaising with Charfield and Kingswood for collective worship and seasonal events, and would work across the other schools as needed. Although in the neighbouring parish our local secondary school, Kathe- rine Lady Berkeley School, associates itself with Kingswood Church. We have had church visits from years 7 & 8, and attracted a full church of students and parents to a talk from a Holocaust survivor prior to them visiting a concentration camp in Germany.

Outreach

Three of our parishes, Charfield, Kingswood and Rangeworthy, have outreach groups that work alongside the PCC’s to provide outreach and mission initiatives. These groups have the time to think about where God is Garden Party worship to celebrate Trinity tide calling us as a church, and have recently been occupied at Holy Trinity Rangeworthy. with our Diocese VISION2016 ques- tions to establish some vision headlines for the Diocese and in turn our parishes. The outreach groups will discuss the results of this initiative later in the year. We don’t have similar groups in Wickwar and Hillesley and are considering how to de- velop and resource this across the benefice. At Kingswood and Rangeworthy we have developed styles of worship that draw upon fresh expressions and messy church material. Sunday@Six happens at King- swood once a month and is an open occasion for experiential worship, and the use of creative stations. The alternative Remembrance Sunday service was particularly Hillesley noteworthy involving a candle lit procession to the war memorial. Rangeworthy Celebrates has a monthly family service which includes a breakfast bar and innovative worship Queen’s 90th is often enjoyed from the members of the outreach group, together with a monthly Birthday film club which often involves science fiction films followed by discussions about values and faith. Pre-School Ministry

Four of our parishes have a monthly weekday session for pre-school chil- dren and their parent or carer. Mini Praise and Toddler’s Praise comprises of songs, a big picture story, a related activity or handicraft and refreshments for all. It is, at the moment, the most active part of our outreach ministry and often results in families either attending other services or coming back for baptisms and other occasions. It also supplements the children's experience when they start school and encounter clergy or laity in collective worship.

Communication All five parishes have their own separate Facebook pages which are man- aged chiefly by our benefice administrator who ensures up and coming events and services are advertised. The clergy are able to post material as well. We are working on restoring and improving an existing website. A member of one of our congregations has recently come forward with skills to help us do this. We are also reviewing how well and effectively our notice boards are being used. Because of the way the benefice has evolved we have inherited a number of different newsletters and magazines, as follows:  Parish News: covers Wickwar & Rangeworthy, Church produced with community content.  Chadra: Covers Charfield. Community produced with Church contributions  Grape Vine: Covers Kingswood. Community produced with Church contributions  Hillesley Happenings: Covers Hillesley, Community produced with Church contributions  Pew News: Sunday news sheet to all churches. Church produced.

Each has a clergy article with other advertising material on church events.

The Benefice

What follows next is a thumbnail sketch of each parish followed by a diagram representing how the benefice networks together with its various groups. Following our first Benefice PCC away day last year the emphasis was very definitely on sharing resources, insights, gifts and fellowship, whilst main- taining and affirming our distinctive communities. To that end we have been having Benefice house groups and benefice level training sessions and are keen to develop this further. We all look forward to the successful applicant being a part of this fellowship, sharing his of her faith, ministry and insight and being a part of the team on all levels.

Thumbnail Sketches

Wickwar is a growing busy community with its roots and wealth in the weav- ing trade. The church is located on a hill to the north as that is where the orig- inal settlement was. The church is very much part of the network of the community and sought out frequently for occasional offices and pastoral support. Regular churchgoing has gently declined in recent years along with our ability to muster those of a younger age group, but the recent resurgence of interest in uniformed groups using our facilities has given us an instant set of connections and relationships which looks promising in that respect. We have four new strong PCC mem- bers, including a new warden, who have brought new insight and energy to the PCC and a willingness to look at new ways of developing our mission and the use of our church building.

Rangeworthy church is a friendly comfortable Norman church at the end of a lane and very much em- bedded in the farming community that surrounds the village. It is cared for by a small group of very ac- tive and committed folk who not only uphold its heritage but activate lay ministry in a befriending man- ner. It is the home of some very imaginative worship which has included a beach service, requiring two tons of sand, a construction of a small shanty town in church as a backdrop to harvest and a Christian aid event, and an Easter garden that occupied a third of the North aisle. A film group, born out of a fresh ex- pressions idea, meets regularly. Again we have seen a decline in our work amongst children but there is a strong active relationship with the nearby church primary school.

Hillesley is the smallest of our communities and the smallest of our congrega- tions. It is a village packed with goodwill, neighbourliness and a strong empathy towards the values and ethos of the church. And example of this is tremendous support for events like the Church Summer fete. The human fruit machine (right) was a high point! There is a faithful few fulfilling the functional roles of church office. The Curate has special responsibilities here and we are developing an outreach ministry.

Charfield church has a strong well motivated PCC with some gifted and driven members, not least our treasurer and churchwardens. They have recently achieved a re-ordering project that has given them a space in church for hospitality, and an area for small children to use, together with a dedicated prayer space for occasional visitors during the week. People find the congregation very welcoming and the church is well used and supported for events such as concerts, flower festivals and similar events. Fund raising is their strong suit as well.

Kingswood has a congregation made up mostly of active retired folk, although an influx of families from new housing is becoming significant. A recent ambitious reordering, redecorating project with a new lighting scheme has completely regenerated the building and is commented upon by many. There is strong community support for the friends of St Mary’s, the majority of which are not regular church goers. This church has a traditional choir and a recently formed music group that work together really well and ena- ble the worship to span matins and evensong alongside family worship and songs of praise style services. Worship at Kingswood has its roots in an ancient abbey. Only the gatehouse survives and it contains an upper room which is used for prayer meetings during Lent and Advent.