Vicar Parish Profiles
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VICAR St Mary Magdalene Lillington and St James Old Milverton Leamington Spa PARISH PROFILES Page 1 of 36 Contents BISHOP’S INTRODUCTIONS ......................................................................................... 3 DEANERY SUMMARY ................................................................................................... 4 BACKGROUND TO JOINT POST .................................................................................... 5 ROLE SPECIFICATION ................................................................................................... 6 PERSON SPECIFICATION .............................................................................................. 6 ST MARY MAGDALENE, LILLINGTON ........................................................................... 7 Context ................................................................................................................ 7 St Mary Magdalene and the 8 Essential Qualities .............................................. 8 The Parish .......................................................................................................... 15 History ............................................................................................................... 15 Population ......................................................................................................... 16 Schools .............................................................................................................. 17 Buildings ............................................................................................................ 18 Vicarage ............................................................................................................. 19 Services ............................................................................................................. 20 School Links ....................................................................................................... 20 Ecumenical Links ............................................................................................... 21 Administration .................................................................................................. 21 Finance and Stewardship .................................................................................. 22 St Mary Magdalene’s Parish Information ......................................................... 22 ST JAMES OLD MILVERTON ....................................................................................... 23 Context .............................................................................................................. 23 St James and the 8 Essential Qualities: ............................................................. 26 The Parish .......................................................................................................... 31 History ............................................................................................................... 31 Location ............................................................................................................. 32 Population ......................................................................................................... 32 Buildings: ........................................................................................................... 33 Services ............................................................................................................. 33 School Links ....................................................................................................... 34 Ecumenical Links ............................................................................................... 35 Administration .................................................................................................. 35 Finance and Stewardship .................................................................................. 35 St James Parish Information ............................................................................. 36 FURTHER DETAILS ..................................................................................................... 36 Page 2 of 36 BISHOP’S INTRODUCTION St Mary Magdalen Lillington and St James Old Milverton provide an excellent opportunity for a priest with a commitment to the flourishing of the central churchmanship tradition, and developing and valuing lay ministry in both a suburban and small rural setting. These two parish churches are in good health. St Mary Magdalen is in many senses an ideal, forward thinking Central Church of England parish. It embraces a ministry committed to a large parish which geographically incorporates a wide range of social contexts, and is in a good position to develop this even further, with some very encouraging indicators of health which you can read about in the Parish Profile. St James Old Milverton is a small rural parish, with an eclectic congregation, and with a long history of excellent lay leadership. Again, indicators of health are very good. These two parishes have continued their ministry efficiently, generously and quietly, in the sense that much of their work and generosity is understated. There is an admirable humility in how they go about things, combined with a warmth and openness in their approach, which makes them both appealing and effective. I greatly value the ministry of these two committed church communities in the Diocese and I commend them to you. With my prayers, Page 3 of 36 DEANERY SUMMARY Warwick and Leamington is a Deanery in the heart of the Diocese of Coventry, at the centre of England. It is very much a Deanery of two halves. The two towns are adjoining, but separated by the River Avon. The ancient town of Warwick is small and charming with boutique shops and beautiful views of the castle. The larger and newer Regency town of Royal Leamington Spa is a wonderful place to shop and eat out. Both places are prosperous and popular places to live, though there are clear pockets of deprivation, including parts of Lillington. The Church of England in Warwick comprises four parishes in the Warwick Team plus the neighbouring village of Budbrooke, which now also oversees a large new housing estate, Chase Meadow. Each church currently has a full time stipendiary priest. In the Leamington half of the Deanery there are eleven parishes, serving twelve churches, with nine incumbents. Churches cover the whole spectrum of traditions (about half are evangelical) and members of Chapter get on very well together. The Chapter is very friendly, supportive and open, embracing diversity of opinion. At their meetings there is always plenty of laughter, real sharing, and prayer for one another. Both towns are also blessed with a large number of faithful retired and associate ministers. The Deanery is geographically small and people travel easily from place to place, often choosing the church that best fits their needs. As well as the Anglican churches, there are many other churches in Warwick and Leamington and the ecumenical links are superb. Ministers from the different churches regularly meet together to eat and to pray, and initiatives such as the Food Bank, Street Pastors in Leamington, and Healing in the Streets in Warwick have been envisaged and organised by the different churches working together. The churches are respected by the local councils, and church leaders meet regularly with the local MP. We are a growing Deanery with large amounts of housing being built in the south, presenting exciting challenges for future mission and ministry. As one of the most prosperous Deaneries in Coventry Diocese we try hard to offer financial support to more deprived areas through the parish share system. The Deanery is still in ‘Area Dean vacancy’ at the moment (the previous incumbent was Area Dean), but looks forward to welcoming a new priest at Lillington and Old Milverton and will do all they can to support them in their ministry. Page 4 of 36 BACKGROUND TO JOINT POST St Mary Magdalene, Lillington and St James, Old Milverton formed a joint benefice in 2008. St Mary Magdalene is situated in Lillington, in the north-east of the popular and attractive town of Leamington Spa. Lillington is a large parish with a population of 10,600, with a more affluent section where the church is located, and a less affluent area with more social needs. St Mary Magdalene is in very good health with a very positive congregation. St James, Old Milverton, (population 573) is located about 2.5 miles away and is an eclectic, rural church on the outskirts of Leamington. It is primarily lay-led and has a very positive history of effective lay leadership. It is also in good health. The joint Benefice was established largely as a ‘marriage of convenience’ to ensure St James had a legal priest. As the two churches are so different in character they continued to run independently of each other. The incumbent spends about 90% of their time devoted to Lillington, and about 10% to St James. Both churches think this arrangement has worked well and wish it to continue. The post is therefore entirely ‘manageable’ in terms of time allocation but gives the added bonus of varied contexts for ministry. Both congregations are in good heart and ready to continue their movement forward as indicated by the NCD survey results in relation to the 8 Essential Qualities. The post has become vacant as the previous incumbent felt God’s call to pioneer an exciting new initiative in the city centre of Coventry, linked with