THE PARISH of CROSBY ST GEORGE's CHURCH PROFILE 2019 St George's Church, Crosby Digby Street, Scunthorpe, DN15 7LU
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THE PARISH OF CROSBY ST GEORGE'S CHURCH PROFILE 2019 St George's Church, Crosby Digby Street, Scunthorpe, DN15 7LU Telephone 01724 857639 st .georgecrosby@gm ail.com w w w.crosby-saint george.uk w w w.facebook.com / St George.Crosby @St George_Crosby Table of Cont ent s Page WELCOME 1 OUR NEW PRIEST 2 PARISH & AREA 4 TRANSPORT 5 CULTURE & LEISURE 6 PRIMARY EDUCATION 8 SECONDARY & HIGHER EDUCATION 9 ST GEORGE'S CHURCH AND COMMUNITY 10 TRIBUTE 11 ST GEORGE'S : NORTH SCUNTHORPE GROUP 13 ST GEORGE'S: SOCIAL ACTION 14 CHURCH FINANCES 16 CROSBY VICARAGE 17 CROSBY ONE 18 DATA & STATISTICS 20 STRENGTHS & OPPORTUNITIES 21 1 WELCOME Crosby is an urban parish in the town of Scunthorpe. Home to around 15,000 people, it represents one fifth of the towns population. The Parish Church of St George is situated at the heart of the community on the corner of Digby Street and Frodingham Road. Built in 1924 the church has been adapted to serve the community as a place of worship and Christian witness through positive social action and a firm commitment to inclusivity through our membership of Inclusive Church. We are seeking to appoint a new Vicar following the retirement of Reverend Jonathan Thacker after 22 years of loyal and dedicated service to the parish and community. Thank you for your interest in the position of Vicar of our parish and for taking time to look at our parish profile. Thank you for taking time to look at this particular post within the Diocese of Lincoln, As one of the largest diocese in the country stretching from the Humber estuary in the North to the Wash in the South we are home to a population of just over 1,000,000 people living a variety of different settings from the urban centres of Grimsby and Cleethorpes and Scunthorpe, the City of Lincoln, the market towns, the coastal strip, the new housing developments and the many, many small villages which mark our landscape. All are equally important to us, and all we are seeking to serve in making known the good news of Jesus that has been entrusted to us. In preparation for our recent ‘Peer Review’ we put together our diocesan mission and vision statements and summarised our intention as follows ‘Our aim then is to grow the Church, in both numbers and depth, through attention to what we see as our core tasks of faithful worship, confident discipleship and joyful service with the vision of being a healthy, vibrant, sustainable church which leads to transformed lives and communities across greater Lincolnshire making a difference in God’s world. To that end as a diocese we shall support, encourage and enable local parishes, benefices and mission communities to fulfil, within this framework, their own unique calling to serve in mission the community or communities in which they are set’. In short we don’t believe in a big top down diocesan master plan. We do believe in supporting and encouraging our parishes to develop their own plans which we will then seek to support and encourage using central diocesan resources as we are able. To that end we have begun an ambitious programme to try and increase the number of good quality, creative stipendiary clergy in the diocese by almost 50%, and have established a regular pattern of episcopal visitations and MDR to show our support and commitment to those working in parish ministry. We have established the principle that we are a ‘learning diocese’ and are actively creating and investing in ‘learning communities’ according to the different ‘character areas’ we operate in so that we can learn from and support each other. We are committed to the principle of mission action planning and have a small team who can assist parishes with that, and have released some of our historic resources to enable parishes to apply for funding to help them in making those plans a reality, in addition to also using some of those resources to invest in good quality CMD and clergy well- being. We are not unaware of the challenges we face. The deanery of Manlake, of which this particular benefice is a part, on an average Sunday connects with 0.6% of its total population, but we are committed to ‘having a go’, to sharing what we know to be the good news of Jesus to the different communities we are here to serve, and if that resonates with you, then please read on with all that 2 OUR NEW PRIEST We are looking for a Vicar who is rooted in prayer and personal faith; to be a foundation of our church and parish community; innovatively leading us forward in faith: - Open hearted and open minded - Actively and consciously inclusive - Visible and fully involved with the wider multi faith community - Desiring the opportunity to further develop our understanding of scripture, spiritually through prayer, preaching and teaching, helping us to grow in faith and in our relationship with God - Embracing our liberal Catholic tradition style of worship, whilst moving it forward to ensure it is relevant today and for the future - With the courage to be radical and challenging; bringing new and innovative channels of communication, collaboration and technology to welcome, engage and grow our congregation - Preaching from the heart to deliver challenging and inspirational sermons; exploring theological ideas and meaning behind scripture, and what they mean in modern day, empowering us as a congregation and as individuals on our spiritual journey - With a strong desire to further develop and build fruitful relationships with local schools; nurturing more people into the life of the church - With a collaborative leadership style which enables the involvement of others in church life; including the PCC, committees and sub groups and to foster vocations - With a global vision; looking for peace and justice in the world and a concern about climatic changes and the environment 3 INCLUSIVE WELCOMING "God is love, and those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them." 1 REACHING OUT John 4:16 To our new Vicar, we can offer: CARING - A congregation which is unassuming, but with a tenacious approach to NON-JUDGEMENTAL living our faith - Inclusive and welcoming, offering a safe and non-judgemental place for SOCIAL JUSTICE worship - Eager to embrace change whilst continuing to honour the familiar COMMUNITY MINDED - Seeking to reach out further into our community - Rich with ideas and skills LOVING - Committed to the pastoral care of clergy; recognising it is important to maintain a healthy work-life balance by setting aside time for family, rest, SUPPORTIVE recreation, retreat and study in accord with the report by the College of Bishops "Clergy Wellbeing". FAITHFUL A church which has: UNASSUMING - A history that demonstrates the social justice theme with outreach to the local community throughout its life, currently through Crosby Together and COMPASSIONATE Scunthorpe Foodbank - A supportive congregation OPEN MINDED - A general love of varied styles of music as part of worship - A Parish Office closely allied with Crosby One Centre 4 PARISH AND AREA Crosby is a diverse, multicultural parish on the northern edge of Scunthorpe. Originally a small village, Crosby was incorporated into the growing town of Scunthorpe in the early 20th century, during a time of growth in the steel making industry. This relative late development as an urban area was accompanied by foresight in planning, with the result that the town is attractive in layout, with many open spaces, green areas and a low population density. North Lincolnshire is geographically large, covering some 85,000 hectares south of the Humber estuary. Scunthorpe is the main population centre, where some 79,977 people live (2011 census). The whole area includes many interesting towns and villages, including the historic town of Brigg, which has 150 specialist shops centred around a large pedestrianised area, with a twice weekly market and monthly farmers' market. To the west of Scunthorpe is the small town of Epworth, birthplace of John and Charles Wesley. 5 TRANSPORT The M180 motorway fringes Scunthorpe and joins up with the M18, M1 and M62. The cities of Leeds, Sheffield and York can be reached by car in little over an hour. Grimsby, Lincoln and Hull can be reached in around 40 minutes. Scunthorpe Railway Station is a 5 minute drive from the Vicarage. Served by Transpennine Express and Northern Rail, train services run at regular intervals throughout the week to Grimsby and Cleethorpes to the East and Doncaster, Sheffield and Manchester to the West. Doncaster is a 30 minute train journey from Scunthorpe, with regular East Coast connections to London Kings Cross, York, the North East and Scotland and Cross Country services to the South and South West. Stagecoach, Megabus and Hornsby Buses run throughout the district. The 350 bus service passes St George's Church every 30 minutes en route to Hull. Humberside Airport and Doncaster Sheffield Airport can be reached by car in around 30 minutes, offering UK and European flights and connections. 6 CULTURE AND LEISURE Scunthorpe houses the regional museum for North Lincolnshire, with its archaeology and geology collection of national significance; exhibits and a range of events. The former St John's Church, near Scunthorpe Town Centre has been developed into the 2021 Arts Centre, which holds changing exhibitions throughout the year and includes a cafe which is open to the public. Normanby Hall, run by North Lincolnshire Council is a short drive from the parish. Once the home of Sir Reginald Sheffield (St George's Church Patron) the Hall and Gardens are now open to the public throughout the year.