Benefice of Langelei St Benedict’s Church Bennetts End – Hemel Hempstead Parish Profile for Team Vicar Contents About St.B’s ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Strengths ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Weakness ................................................................................................................................................ 3 What we are looking for in a new team vicar ......................................................................................... 4 Living God’s Love..................................................................................................................................... 5 Our Vision:........................................................................................................................................... 5 Our Priorities ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Our Goals ............................................................................................................................................ 5 The Benefice ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Location ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Community .............................................................................................................................................. 7 Census Data............................................................................................................................................8 Education .............................................................................................................................................. 10 Leisure and Recreation ......................................................................................................................... 10 Worship ................................................................................................................................................. 11 Pastoral and Ecumenical ....................................................................................................................... 12 Leadership ............................................................................................................................................. 12 Ministerial Team ................................................................................................................................... 13 Electoral Roll ......................................................................................................................................... 13 Organisations ........................................................................................................................................ 13 Buildings ................................................................................................................................................ 14 Finance .................................................................................................................................................. 15 Communications ................................................................................................................................... 16 ‘Come join the hive at St B’s.................................................................................................................16 Page | 2 About St.B’s St Benedict’s is a wonderful church based on a united fellowship of young and old who love and support one and other. We are there for each other when times are tough and we rally together when we need to achieve. Strengths At St B’s we have a warm, close, family congregation that care deeply for each other. We always pull together and work well as a team which is very important with such a small congregation. We not only worship together but also spend much time socialising together as well. We organise regular events with lots of laughter and fun. We are capable of achieving great things when we put our minds to something. Two years ago we took on the mammoth challenge of raising £25,000 for a disabled toilet after we realised that the lack of facilities was impacting on some of our members and visitors. We also raised the funds to re‐ carpet the church floor. We have fulfilled much of our MAP together, such as increasing the regular Junior Church sessions we offer on Sundays and hosting study groups at key times such as Advent and Lent. Weakness St B’s has a small congregation and many of the members are older in age. This means that physical work (setting up Church Fayres, etc) is left to just a few people and this can prove difficult to organise at times. We have struggled with finances for many years and although we generally manage to balance our books we are reliant on a pastoral grant of £10,000, without which St Benedict’s would struggle to survive. Although St B’s is centred in the middle of Bennetts End, our visibility within the community is not as we would like it to be. Many local people are unaware that there is even a church within the parish. Page | 3 What we are looking for in a new team vicar The new Team Vicar of St B’s will need to be vibrant and outgoing, capable of encouraging fun, laughter and worship within the church. We have a relaxed style of worship at St B’s and wish for this to continue. However, we are open to trying new styles of worship. We are proud to host a real mix of congregants with different views and values and the new vicar will need to be able to unify us through a mix of prayer, song and worship. It would also be great if the new vicar would be willing to pick up some of our instruments and lead us in song. (tambourine/triangle will suffice!!) The new vicar must be a good preacher, able to deliver engaging and interesting sermons and must be able to speak on many levels to keep the congregation focused on their spiritual growth. It will be important for the vicar to be involved with the pastoral care of both young and old, as well as to be seen out and about in the local community. They need to be a good listener and having a sense of humour is also hugely important. Interest in primary education, and experience in working closely with a local school, are highly desirable. This is an appointment within a team, and will involve taking services and other participation in the work of the other parishes in the benefice. There is a strong feeling within the parish and benefice that members of the team must take their day off each week and take all their holiday entitlement each year to allow them to benefit from a time of relaxation and renewal. This is an attractive, well‐supported and rewarding job. Page | 4 Living God’s Love Our Vision: We fully support the Benefice of Langelei’s mission statement: To bring Christ to the community and the community to Christ. Stemming from this our own mission statement is: To grow in Christian faith, our witness and our service to this community. In five years’ time we want to be described as a friendly, welcoming and generous community who have a vibrant faith that is expressed in serving and supporting our neighbourhood, the Benefice and the town. Our Priorities Our three key priorities for the next five years are: 1. To continue to grow in faith, numbers, witness and service. 2. To offer good quality opportunities for children to develop their faith and sense of belonging. 3. To develop our existing outreach and support to the local and wider community. Our Goals In light of these priorities, our five SMART goals for the next years are: 1. Continue to provide opportunities for faith to grow and develop through a variety of groups and activities. 2. Provide a consistent Junior Church on at least two Sundays per month, more if helpers are available 3. Offer attractive and appropriate activities for our older children; link with Benefice and Diocesan activities. 4. Continue to send anniversary cards to all children baptised at St. Benedict’s in the past three years. 5. Improve communication: a. Address signage at the front of the church b. Design a welcoming and warm logo for the church c. Collect email addresses from baptism families to increase contact opportunities Page | 5 The Benefice (www.beneficeoflangelei.org.uk) The Benefice of Langelei was formed in the autumn of 2009 and was created out of the enlargement of the former Parish of Chambersbury (St Mary's, Apsley End, St Benedict's, Bennetts End and Holy Trinity, Leverstock Green) to include All Saints, Kings Langley. The benefice is multi parish, each church having its own distinctive ethos and each PCC driving mission and ministry across the parish. A Team Council was formed in 2010 with representatives from each parish, the Council's business being matters which the four PCCs delegate to it. Consequently, the Council has assumed responsibility for the administration of certain financial matters that affect all the parishes. The Council has also a communications group which produce the benefice newsletter. There is an openness and willingness to collaborate across the benefice where that seems appropriate and helpful. Currently St Mary's and