The Ham Hill Villages the Parishes of Chiselborough, Middle Chinnock, Montacute, Norton Sub Hamdon, Odcombe, Stoke Sub Hamdon and West Chinnock
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Ham Hill Villages Benefice Profile 2020 Page 1 The Ham Hill Villages The Parishes of Chiselborough, Middle Chinnock, Montacute, Norton sub Hamdon, Odcombe, Stoke sub Hamdon and West Chinnock ‘To know God and to make Him known’ Ham Hill Villages Benefice Profile 2020 Welcome Page 2 Welcome Contents Welcome 2 Our Vision 3 Looking to the future 4 Our Offer 5 Our Benefice 6 Worship 7 Prayer & Discipleship 8 Youth 9 Ministry to Children 9 Outreach 10 Finance 11 Our Team 12-13 Our parishes Chiselborough 14 Middle Chinnock 15 Montacute 16 Loving Father, You made the hills, Norton sub Hamdon 17 And the people who live in their shadow and shelter are yours, Odcombe 18 Grant to us in our seven villages A priest who will reflect your love for us, Stoke sub Hamdon 19 Who will seek your will for us, West Chinnock 20 And who will serve us knowing that in serving your people, Deanery and Diocese 21 they are serving you. We ask this in the name of your son Jesus Christ Who lived among us as a servant And who is our Saviour and Lord. Ham Hill Villages Benefice Profile 2020 Our Vision Page 3 An open gathering was held early in the vacancy to explain the pro- Our vision is to be a united benefice, supporting each cess, discern a vision and discuss our requirements for a new incum- other in worshipping God and making new disciples. bent. The results of that meeting have informed this profile. Those present were asked to write down two qualities they would like in a new rector. This word cloud gives a flavour of the responses: What we are looking for in our new Rector We recognise our need to change and grow as a benefice and are seeking direction and leadership to achieve this. Key Tasks: (These are expanded on page 4) Discipleship - To encourage and enable God’s people to grow and develop their spiritual lives. Outreach - To help us share the Gospel and grow our congre- gations. Worship - To assist us in making our church services welcom- ing and inspiring. Pastoral Care - To help us display Christ’s love and care in our communities. Children & Young People - To share the Christian story and The school children were also asked what they wanted in a new vicar: plant seeds of faith. Skills Needed: Ability to inspire through biblical teaching and preaching Leadership - Able to direct, delegate and manage. Good at listening both to God, and to God’s people Resilience – Able to enjoy the challenge of ministering to our seven parishes Qualities we are looking for: Someone who: Has the vision and faith to see what could be and the strength and enthusiasm to lead us forward. Has a love and respect for God’s Word and can share the Gos- pel message in ways appropriate to the context. Can recognise and work with the differences within our churches and villages, helping us to achieve our common goals. Is a “people person” - accepting and approachable. Ham Hill Villages Benefice Profile 2020 The Future Page 4 Looking to the Future Since the formation of the Benefice a couple of years ago, we have Worship made a start on working together and developing a shared vision, Rebalance the range of services. but there is much still to do to enable the Benefice to function as it Explore midweek worship for those unable to meet on Sundays should and become the church for all of the 5000 or so souls in its Develop ecumenical partnerships for more non-traditional worship care. The Key Tasks on page 3 are seen as priority. Current minis- Encourage more musicians to participate in leading worship. try in these areas is described on pages 7 to 10. Some of the ideas for developing these are as follows: Pastoral care Discipleship Become more outward looking and aware of the needs around us. Encourage and enable lay involvement at every level. Build on the success of the current team. The group would welcome Work to improve Bible knowledge of all church members. others willing to be trained to take part in this rewarding ministry. Encourage opportunities for fellowship. Publicise this ministry more widely to ensure that help is given to those Stress the importance of prayer to the life of the Church. who need it. Extend and publicise prayer chains. Allow more time for the clergy to visit those who would prefer an or- Encourage Prayer Walking. dained minister. Outreach and Mission .Children & Young people We need to rediscover our call to make disciples in these villages Midweek Teenage service is and demonstrate the relevance of the Church today. being mooted. Make the most of the opportunities at the five schools and the 70 Build on Assemblies and Open or so occasional offices. The Book. Encourage individual prayer for family and friends e.g. the “Thy Grow the All-age worship and Kingdom Come” initiative. Family Services by developing Be more involved in community life and visible at village events. links with young families. Equip every Christian to know and share their faith. Organise more outreach events. Ecumenical Links Trust in the Lord with all your Hold regular Guest Services. There are many Christians living in the Benefice who worship elsewhere, heart and lean not on your the most popular churches being Martock Christian Fellowship and Yeovil Build on the pub ministry of “Rethink”. own understanding; in all your Community Church. Families with children are particularly drawn to their ways submit to him, and he More publicity for Alpha; encourage lively youth programmes. Many of these do support ecumenical activities will make your paths straight. church members to bring a friend. Proverbs 3:5 in the Benefice and would like to be more involved in the local church giv- en the right opportunities. Ham Hill Villages Benefice Profile 2020 Our Offer Page 5 What we can offer our Rector The Rectory A warm welcome into the village communities, to Situated in Castle Street in the cen- help you settle and make friends and contacts; tre of Stoke sub Hamdon, this is a friendship and hospitality; care and support for you four-bedroomed Edwardian detached and your family. house with adjoining modern exten- sion housing the study, cloakroom Prayer support, co-operation and encouragement. and separate office (with its own en- trance) where currently the Benefice A half stipend Associate Vicar. Administrator works. An experienced ministry team including an Associ- The accommodation comprises en- ate Priest (SSM) and five Readers (see page 12). trance hall, dining room, living room, kitchen, utility room and cloakroom Committed lay involvement in all aspects of church on the ground floor, plus four bed- life – leading and supporting worship, house- rooms and a family bathroom up- groups, children’s and youth work, pastoral care stairs. There is a double garage and and administration. ample off-road parking at the front with large enclosed and private rear Full working expenses and congregations that re- garden at the back with views to spect clergy time-off and holidays. open countryside. Four bedroom rectory in the heart of a thriving, Plan for indication only - Not to scale friendly community. Benefice Council of two representatives from each PCC. Church buildings in good condition. Pastoral care team of 5 (see page 13). A Benefice administrator (see page 13). Beautiful rural setting. Ham Hill Villages Benefice Profile 2020 Our Benefice Page 6 Benefice Overview Where we are The Ham Hill Villages Benefice comprises sev- The Benefice takes its name from Ham Hill, the largest Iron Age en parishes. It was formed in December 2017 Hill Fort in the country, situated in the beautiful countryside of when Odcombe and Montacute having been South Somerset. It lies five miles west of Yeovil and just south of split from their previous benefice (and Dean- the A303, the main road from London to the West Country. ery), joined the long established benefice com- prising Norton sub Hamdon, Chiselborough, The M5 at Taunton is 25 West and Middle Chinnock, together with minutes away by car, Stoke sub Hamdon, which until 2013 had been Heathrow is two hours and a single parish benefice. The new Benefice is Bristol and Exeter airports thus still learning to live and work together. an hour. Trains run to Lon- The Benefice population is just over 5000 with about 150 regu- don Waterloo from lar worshippers across our seven churches. The Electoral Roll Crewkerne (5 miles) or (ER) and Worshipping Community (WC) figures for 2019 are Yeovil Junction (8 miles) shown for each parish on their individual pages. Usual Sun- and to London Paddington day Attendance figures are not used because there is no from Castle Cary (18 miles). “usual” Sunday, so figures were inconsistent. Stoke and Montacute are the largest villages with a good range of facilities; Norton has a community shop and all the villages except Middle Chinnock have a pub. The villages are all rural in character surrounded by working farms. There have been some housing developments in recent years, including low cost housing and there are three developments currently under construction in Stoke and Norton which will increase their populations by over 100. There are five schools in the Benefice, a primary and secondary in Stoke and church primary schools in Montacute, Norton and West Chinnock. Engagement with the prima- ry schools plays an important part in the life of the Benefice. All the villages have a strong sense of community with many respondents referring in the recent survey to the friendliness and support which they received from the communi- ty.