Team Vicar in the Heavitree Team Ministry with Special Responsibility for the Burnthouse Lane Estate (St Paul’S)

Team Vicar In the Heavitree Team Ministry With special responsibility For the Burnthouse Lane Estate (St Paul’s) A word to potential applicants from the Bishop of Ebbsfleet: From Bishop Jonathan Goodall, Bishop of Ebbsfleet. Dear Father, In my time as Bishop of Ebbsfleet I have come to know the clergy and laity of the Heavitree Team Ministry well and know it to be a healthy and positive team. This opportunity therefore, to serve as Team Vicar, is a very attractive one. The different parts of the team are varied and cover a busy and attractive part of Exeter. At a time when many clergy, including traditional catholic clergy, live with relatively little priestly fellowship in their work, this team under Fr Robin’s guidance is both joyful and purposeful in its work. But work it is; and the parishes are committed to reaching out throughout the Heavitree area with a developing sense of Mission. I hope this profile catches your imagination and encourages you to apply discern with us whether God is calling you to join us in this ministry. + Jonathan The Parish of Heavitree with St Mary Steps, Exeter. There is a vacancy for a Team Vicar with special responsibility for the St Paul’s Area on the Burnthouse Lane Estate. This vacancy has been caused by the retirement of Fr Paul Morrell. Job Description 1. To take responsibility for the pastoral care and evangelism of the people of the Burnthouse Lane estate and to establish and lead worship there 2. To work with clergy and layfolk to develop effective strategies for work on the other estates that fall within the parish 3. To help with the school work throughout the parish 4. To take a share in the funerals, weddings and Baptisms within the parish 5. To work as closely with Andy Shiach, the Children and Community worker in schools and in the St Paul’s area. 6. To attend Morning and Evening prayer and daily Mass. 7. To attend and take whatever services required on Sundays and Holy Days. Person Specification 1. A priest, ideally with experience but certainly with vision, prepared to work in estate ministry 2. A priest willing to put prayer and worship as their greatest priority, including daily offices 3. A priest wishing to work in a Team Ministry which has passed the Resolution under the Bishops’ Declaration and is committed to mutual flourishing. 4. A priest willing to spend much of his time with those outside the Church and with those who have no specific Christian commitment. 5. A priest either experienced in schools’ ministry or willing to learn the skills. 6. A priest willing to work with all age groups. 7. A priest committed to evangelism and willing to learn the skills of this where necessary 8. A priest with a pastoral heart, willing to be with people for much of his ministry. The Parish Heavitree used to be a village about a mile outside Exeter. But as the city grew, so the village became part of the wider city. Even so, Heavitree retains a certain self-identity. Apart from the shops and pubs on Fore Street, it is largely residential, a mix of private and social housing. Though it includes the excellent Heavitree Pleasure Ground and the lovely Ludwell Valley, the impression anyone would get of the area is that it is densely built up. Most of those living in the parish work in the city or in the immediate area. The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital – in the parish – is a major employer, as it the Met Office. Though there is some student accommodation and St Luke’s Campus is just outside the parish, students gravitate into the city and are not very evident in the parish or the church. There are 11 schools in the parish, so school work is an important part of parish life. This includes three church schools – St Nicholas (the local RC Primary), St Peter’s, a Church of England secondary, and St Michael’s Academy, for which we have a large responsibility. Other schools are Ladysmith Infants and Ladysmith Juniors, Woodwater Academy, Isca Academy, Wynstream Primary, Exeter Junior School, Exeter School and Bramdean School (the last three of these are private schools). The Exeter schools and St Peter’s have their own chaplain. There are four large estates within the parish: Burnthouse Lane (which features high on the list of deprived areas in Devon), Rifford Road estate, Thornpark Rise estate and Hamlin Gardens. Though all were originally social housing areas, much of them have become owner occupied. The main road from Exeter out to the M5 dominates the area in some ways and at busy times can make getting around a slow and frustrating business. As well as the RD and E Hospital, the Hospice and the Nuffield Hospital are also in the parish. Fore Street, formerly a thriving shopping area, is now dominated by charity shops and fast food outlets; older residents feel this decline keenly. The Co-op is the main shop that remains, though most people do big shops at the bigger supermarkets; of these, only Lidl is in the parish. There is a fair amount of nursing and residential homes, as well as four warden controlled communities. It is a large area; we think there are about 26,000 residents. The Churches St Michael’s is the old parish church of Heavitree. The first record of a church there is 1156 and the list of Rectors begins in the 13th Century (and begins rather inauspiciously – the first name on the list was a Rector accused of murder in the Cathedral grounds!) By the church is a large yew tree, the original Heavy Tree from which the area gets its name. The present church is largely early Victorian, though it has a few medieval bits. St Michael’s has a place in the hearts of many of the older residents; for some this is because they got married here; for some it is because they have close relatives buried in the churchyard and for some it is because they attended the church school. It is a large church, but from time to time it does get full. It has a tower – built to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee - which houses a renowned set of 8 bells. Though built on the top of the hill to be seen for miles around, St Michael’s has been obscured by buildings in and around Fore Street so that from some directions it cannot be seen 50 yards away! Confusingly there are three St Michael’s churches in Exeter, and it is not unknown for people to turn up at the wrong one for a wedding or a funeral. St Michael’s St Lawrence’s is a dual purpose building at the further edge of the parish. It sits on the edge of the Thornpark Rise estate, and is very close to a large area of new housing – much closer than the church of the parish in which this new development sits. At present St Lawrence’s has its own Team Vicar (Fr Jolyon Seward) but when he leaves it is not in the Diocese’s mind to replace him. St Lawrence’s has some very able lay people and a lively sense of fellowship. St Mary Steps is one of the ancient churches of central Exeter which has become attached to Heavitree for reasons of churchmanship. It is a very atmospheric church in an ancient part of the city. It suffers from the fact that though huge numbers drive past it, few walk past it or live near it. Its parish is tiny and its congregation rarely numbers over 10; however they are very faithful and concerned to keep the worship on a regular basis. St Clare’s is another very ancient building, and was originally built to serve the alms-houses. It is run by a trust whose legal document says that there must be an act of Christian worship every week. Since it ceased to have its own chaplain this has fallen to us to provide worship and a very faithful gathering of about 15 takes place every Thursday. St Paul’s St Paul’s church was built to serve the Burnthouse Road Estate, which was originally social housing built soon after the second world war. For quite a while the church thrived and there are warm memories of a full church, of active children’s work and of a church serving its people. But later its fortunes began to decline. The Vicarage was the subject of an arson attack and its hall became too old to be of use. Its church building, never completed, was subject to a lot of petty vandalism. Eventually the site was flattened and much of it sold off to a housing association for affordable housing. There is a plot near the road reserved for a new church building. An ambitious plan to build a most impressive church and community centre was formulated, but the drawing up of the plans coincided with the financial crash, and hopes of finding charitable funds to pay for it all has proved impossible to fulfil. There has been interest from the local YMCA in partnering with us in building, but this has yet to amount to definite plans and is beginning to look unlikely to come about. A road on the estate However the church is people not a building! The congregation had grown very small, though undoubtedly faithful. It still meets for prayer each Monday and Eucharistic worship has just returned on a weekly basis.

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