Associate Priest – House for Duty with Army Chaplaincy in The Hermitage Team Ministry

serving the Parishes of , Compton, , , Hermitage and &

March 2014

Introduction

Applications are invited for the post of Associate Priest, House for Duty, in the Hermitage Team Ministry, the parishes of Cold Ash, Compton, East Ilsley, Hampstead Norreys, Hermitage and Yattendon & Frilsham within the ; combined with a role as part-time Chaplain to Denison Barracks, paid on a sessional basis

The Hermitage Team is located in West , close to Newbury, Reading and Oxford.

This Profile describes the Team and each parish in some detail.

Applications:

Applications should be made on the standard form (www.oxford.anglican.org) and sent to: Venerable Olivia Graham, Archdeacon of Berkshire, Foxglove House, Love Lane, Newbury, RG14 2JG email: [email protected] Applications sent by email should be followed up by a signed paper copy as soon as possible. The closing date for applications is 25th April 2014 and shortlisting will take place on 1st May. Potential applicants are welcome to make contact with the Team Rector, the Reverend Canon Rita Ball, and to visit for further information, and to assist the process of discernment. Email [email protected] or phone 01635 202967

Interviews will be held on 15th May 2014 Applicants are advised to keep this day available until informed of the result of the short listing.

The appointment will be made by the Team Ministry Patronage Board for the Benefice which consists of

The Bishop of Reading/Archdeacon of Berkshire Oxford Diocesan Board of Patronage The Rector of Revd Mark Bennet Four representatives of the Team Council who are also Parish representatives A senior Army Chaplain will act as an advisor to the panel for this appointment

The appointment is subject to satisfactory disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau.

Normal travelling expenses will be reimbursed.

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Setting

The Hermitage Team Ministry is within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It lies on the southern flanks of the to the north of Newbury and Thatcham, in beautiful rolling countryside of fields and woods. It is in the Newbury Deanery in the Episcopal Area of Reading, Diocese of Oxford.

The area served is in , close to junction 13 of the M4 and mostly to the east of the A34, roads which provide easy access to Oxford, Reading, London and the West country. It stretches from Cold Ash just north east of Newbury to the increasingly rural villages in the Berkshire Downs about ten miles away.

Travel to and from the area is convenient either by car, coach or train. Within the area use of a car is really the only option. Commuters use main roads and principal train stations at Didcot, Newbury, Goring, , and Reading.

Population

Across the Team there is a mixture of housing, varying from housing association stock (mostly ex-council housing) through small modern private estates to isolated farm cottages and listed buildings. The working population mostly travel to larger centres for employment. Vodafone, with its world headquarters in Newbury, is a major employer. Whilst most of the area covered by the Team can be described as rural or semi-rural, it has proved increasingly attractive as a home for those wishing to commute to work.

The total population is 10,400. Approximate figures, taken from the 2011 census, are:

Cold Ash (and ) 3500 Hermitage (with Curridge) 3300 Compton 1600 East Ilsley 500 Hampstead Norreys 800 Yattendon (with Frilsham) 700

Schools

There are Church Primary Schools at Cold Ash (VC), Hampstead Norreys (VC) and Yattendon (VA) and County Primary Schools at Curridge, Hermitage and East Ilsley. Team clergy visit these schools on a regular basis and are members of the governing bodies of church schools.

The Downs School in Compton, an 11 to 18 school, is federated with Compton Primary [VC]. Other secondary schools, with sixth form facilities, are located in Newbury and Thatcham and there is a college of further education in Newbury. There are several independent schools in the area and Downe House, an independent boarding school for girls, is situated in Cold Ash.

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Churches and Church Life

The seven churches in the Team have their own individual character with church buildings ranging in age from the 11th to the 19th century. The churches are in good repair and the local communities are highly supportive of fund raising to improve and maintain the church buildings.

Church Services The PCCs of the Team churches are currently considering the Sunday service pattern and a revised pattern will be in place from the beginning of May 2014. All churches will continue to offer eucharistic and non-eucharistic worship using Common Worship, BCP and informal liturgies.

Team Activities Many church members play a positive role in the numerous activities centred on the individual parishes and those arranged for the whole Team. Currently a Meditation Group, a Prayer Group and a House Group meet weekly and members of all Team churches are welcome to attend; in Lent there are Team-wide study groups and other groups come together for study on an occasional basis.

Occasional Offices In 2013 there were 43 baptisms, 9 weddings and 24 funerals.

Electoral Roll The 2013 Electoral Roll for the Team is 289. Individual church Electoral Roll numbers are:

Cold Ash 59 Hermitage 71 Compton 44 East Ilsley 20 Hampstead Norreys 51 Yattendon & Frilsham 44

Organisation

Team Council/PCCs The Council meets three times a year. Each parish sends a churchwarden and one other elected representative to the Council. There are six PCCs, each with an elected Lay Chair. Team clergy attend PCC meetings whenever possible and have the opportunity of chairmanship by agreement.

Finance Each parish produces separate financial accounts; the Team Treasurer maintains the accounts of the Team’s working expenses and the Team Parish Share, which are apportioned to each parish on an agreed formula. Each parish supports a variety of local and overseas charities and together the Team usually holds a special collection for a chosen charity during Advent. The Parish Share has been paid in full in recent years.

Communication There is a ‘Team Messenger’ published each week for distribution in each church. It deals with church affairs, such as services and reminders of group meetings and suggestions for prayer. There are also monthly or bi- monthly Parish Magazines of a more general nature, with church sections. Web communication is increasingly important and some churches have pages on their local village website, others have individual websites.

The Deanery The Hermitage Team is part of Newbury Deanery; each parish elects Deanery Synod representatives. The Deanery has recently formulated a Mission Action Plan which is available on request. It is hoped that all clergy will be actively involved in the on-going mission of the Deanery and there are many opportunities to pursue areas of special interest and to develop expertise in areas of church life. 4

Team Colleagues

All clergy and Licensed Lay Ministers (Readers) are licensed to the Team and work in all the parishes. The staff team is made up of the Team Rector, Revd Canon Rita Ball living in Hermitage, who is currently also Area Dean of Newbury, and the Team Vicar, Revd Luci Heyn who lives in Compton; the person appointed to the House for Duty post will live in Yattendon. There are three Licensed Lay Ministers, Wendy Willoughby-Paul, Cathy Hawkins and Margaret Fisher, an active retired priest Revd Clive Jones, and the Chaplain to , the Revd. Dr. Simon Thorn. Mrs Liz Crew provides part-time administrative assistance, having responsibility for the weekly Team Messenger, cards for team wide distribution at Easter and Christmas and requested photocopying.

This group of ministers exercise a shared and collaborative leadership for the Team and are ably supported by churchwardens and dedicated laity in every church. Full working and travelling expenses are payable to all Team ministers.

As a team of churches we work well together, although serving very individual communities which have strong loyalties to each local parish church, reflected in good attendance at major festivals and special events and sustained support for fundraising. The many and varied community events, social, fundraising or interest-based, provide important points of contact between churches and local residents; these strengthen relationships and support our practice of being open and welcoming churches.

Although there is a broad spread of inherited churchmanship, neither the Team nor individual churches are split on theological issues.

There are some new initiatives to attract young families and there is a close working relationship with the VC and VA primary schools and a desire to spread that good practice into all schools in the Team area.

The village communities provide a high level of pastoral care, and there is positive feedback from non-church goers about the care they experience from the clergy and church members, especially in times of need.

Church members are well represented in voluntary groups and activities in their local communities.

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Job description This is an unusual post which combines being a house for duty priest in the parishes of the Hermitage Team with the role of part-time Chaplain to Denison Barracks in Hermitage. Within the Team you will be working across a range of seven lovely rural churches for Sunday worship and occasional offices, and have a particular pastoral attachment to the communities of Yattendon and Frilsham; the housing is a substantial rectory in Yattendon. At Denison Barracks there will be one session per week of approximately 4 hours which is paid by the Army at an agreed session rate. This is largely a ministry of presence and pastoral care and includes provision of occasional offices for army personnel and families. A small office is provided at the army base but there is no chapel; Holy Trinity Hermitage is the parish church for baptisms, marriages and banns.

Person description:  excellent proven pastoral skills, able to form good relationships with colleagues and communities.  prayerful with a mature spirituality and personality  committed to working collaboratively within the wider Team  comfortable with a broad range of worship styles  enthusiastic about village life with its delights and challenges  bringing a particular skill in eg adult training, administration, small group development, church buildings, with which to enrich the local parishes and which you might also exercise across the Newbury Deanery.  diligent in taking good care of your own physical, emotional and spiritual health through adequate rest, recreation and outside interests  the owner of a car or motorcycle and holder of a driving licence  competent with using IT

Accommodation

The Rectory in Yattendon is a large brick built house with three reception rooms, a large kitchen and cloakroom downstairs and five bedrooms, a box room and a bathroom upstairs. The house is fully double glazed and has oil- fired central heating. There is a single garage and outside storage area and parking for several cars. The garden is grassed with a number of mature trees. The property is a short walk from the church and village amenities.

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The Parishes of the Hermitage Team

HERMITAGE and CURRIDGE are largely a ribbon development along the B4009. Hermitage has a village hall and primary school, together with a post office/general store, a butcher, and three pubs; Curridge has a primary school and a W.I meeting room and a pub. Two large sites have recently been developed with 280 new homes. The Army’s 42 Survey Engineer Group is currently based in the village, but is due to relocate in 2014; various specialist army units will continue to be based at Denison Barracks and a significant number of military and civilian staff live in the parish. The chaplaincy to the Army base has been provided by a priest living in another parish of the Newbury Deanery in recent years; it is now hoped to integrate this chaplaincy work more closely with the life of the Hermitage Team by linking it to the house for duty post. The attractive white painted Holy Trinity church is central to the village. It was built in 1835, and extended in the 1960’s; it has a good vestry, a toilet and small integral parish room. There is an area reserved for the burial of ashes in the churchyard, and a civic cemetery at a short distance from the church. A new village hall, centre for many local activities, is due to be built at the north end of the village and the Adelaide Room of the church will then have an increasingly important role as a public meeting space serving the southern end of this spread out development. There are plans to improve the kitchen facilities and to increase the community use of this room. Tiddlywinks for pre-school children and carers meets weekly in term time under lay leadership and quarterly Messy Church sessions are held in Curridge W.I. room. The church has a strong musical tradition with an occasional choir, and good links with local Scouting groups. The home of the Team Rector is adjacent to the church.

COMPTON is situated on the edge of the Downs in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of the village has a core of older properties surrounded by a mixture of more recent Housing Association and private developments. The Institute for Animal Health situated in the village is closing and the land is to be developed for housing and business units. This will bring a considerable increase in the village population. The local VC Compton primary school, recently awarded "outstanding" OFSTED status, is federated with The Downs School, a large and successful 11 to 18 school also newly graded "outstanding", which attracts pupils from a wide area. There is a Post Office within a large village shop, a pub and a doctor’s surgery.

Sunday worship is supported musically by both an adult and a junior choir; there is a regular Sunday school, a well-established weekly house group, a new fortnightly meeting for the 10+ age group and a monthly Pram Service. Members of the Compton congregation have been closely involved with the establishment of the new Downland Filling Station, an ecumenical outreach particularly designed for rural areas. There is a small parish room attached to the church and plans are being developed to refurbish and modernise this facility as well as to decorate the main church building. A typical Sunday congregation is 30-35.

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COLD ASH parish is spread out on the wooded ridge north of Thatcham and Newbury. It has grown rapidly in the last half century, mainly as a series of small infill developments, and has a range of dwellings from Housing Association houses and flats to large houses with equally large gardens. The church primary school is central to the village, and uses the church regularly. There is also a Roman Catholic primary school and an independent girls’ boarding school, Downe House, which has its own Chaplain who is also a member of the Team leadership. The well-used village hall is next to a well appointed and refurbished recreation ground. Thirtover, the Berkshire Guiding county centre and campsite is situated in Cold Ash. There is a busy post office/general stores and three pubs.

The brick church, built in 1865, has a simple chancel and nave, a good organ and is carpeted throughout. At the millennium a lovely new hall was built on the side of the church, now called the ‘Fisher Room’ after the main benefactor. It has the most spectacular view from its south window, which offers great inspiration. In addition to the regular Sunday services the church has a monthly midweek Eucharist: a monthly lunch club for the village raising money for charities and providing a meeting place for villagers. The men have a meeting of their own, with puddings and port to enliven the discussions, and there is a popular group called Cameo, Come And Meet Each Other, which has speakers to talk on interesting topics. The church hosts the local brass band concerts.

EAST ILSLEY is about two and a half miles from Compton, close to the A34. It is a small picturesque village with a pond at its centre. There are two village pubs. Post war development included a Housing Association estate, and, more recently, a courtyard development for older people, and other private family houses. The Parish Church of St Mary dates from the 11th Century and has a fine peal of bells. There is also a Roman Catholic Church in the village and the primary school for both East and is in East Ilsley.

FRILSHAM is divided from Yattendon by the M4. The well- loved, little, old 12th century church is in the valley rather separate from the majority of the population who live round the woods on the hill above, where there is a clubroom, football pitch and new playground.

There is a small active church congregation who keep the Christian presence alive, combining with Yattendon in community service. The average attendance at Sunday services in Frilsham is 17, and the church is filled for special occasions.

One of the Team’s licensed lay ministers lives in Frilsham and runs a house group in her home.

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YATTENDON, despite being one of the smallest villages in the Team, has several shops and a restaurant/hotel round a small village square, as well as a village hall, social club, tennis courts and cricket pitch. The Yattendon Estates sponsor two small industrial estates in old farm buildings, as well as owning many of the houses and much of the surrounding farmland, giving an architectural unity to the village and a sense of community. The VA primary school has good relationships with the church community and makes regular use of the building.

For the past six years an ambitious programme of re- ordering and restoring the Grade I fifteenth century church has been under way. In 2012 the roof was renewed. Now we are fundraising for the re- decoration of the inside. This has been a major challenge for the small, largely elderly, congregation, in a village with a population under 400.

Regular Sunday congregations average 23, with many more for festivals and special occasions. The church is also used by the primary school and for concerts.

There is a small Methodist church in the outlying hamlet of Burnt Hill.

HAMPSTEAD NORREYS is a thriving rural village made up of an agricultural, commuter and a home-worker population which is beginning to develop a strong community spirit. In the village there is a friendly pub with restaurant, a two year old Community Shop and the church which has an excellent relationship with the Voluntary Controlled primary school.

Church life is active with a range of services including a well-attended monthly Parish Communion. The attendance age includes elderly, middle aged to younger children and their families. There is a monthly mid-week ‘pram service’ for under 5’s led by an LLM.

During 2009-2011 a fundraising process to strengthen the tower was completed and following its success, in January 2013 the PCC and Building Committee invited every household and other local church attendees to join together and discuss the future of the church. The four meetings followed the outline as described in the ‘Healthy Churches Handbook’ by Robert Warren. Two main areas were identified for growth: sharing faith and vocation; welcome and inclusive. The PCC is now taking forward Faith in Action to further the worship, mission and community engagement of the church. A group meets weekly to pray for the process. A bi-monthly Men’s Breakfast, which was originated 16 years ago by the vicar and church members, is popular and well attended.

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