Churches of Arden Group PARISH PROFILE Summer 2020

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Contents

Bishop’s Introduction 3 The role of this post is to lead the churches in fulfilling the Diocesan Deanery Summary 4 Mission Purpose of: Introduction 5 Person Specification & Vision 6 &7  Worshipping God Role Description 8  Making New Disciples Our Covid Experience 9  Transforming Communities Parish Information 10 Parish Information 12 This will be achieved by developing 8 essential qualities in the life of the Wooton Wawen Parish Info 14 church: Vicarage 16 Empowering Leadership Gift-oriented Ministry Services 17 Passionate Spirituality School Links 18 Inspiring Worship Holistic Small Groups Links with other churches 19 Need-oriented Outreach Administration 19 Loving Relationships Functional Structures Finance & Stewardship 20

Further Details 21 Please read the appendix to this document to see how God is guiding us in these areas.

Page 2 of 21 BISHOP’S INTRODUCTION

The parishes of Claverdon, Preston Bagot and have a long history of positive working together and supporting both the wider diocese and the cathedral financially and through the gifts and talents of individuals. They are also pro-active in overseas ministry with many people visiting the work they support.

The three churches are however quite different to each other, and are keen to keep their individual identities, but at the same time have been able to work well together. Their desire to grow together as a wider church community has developed more during the vacancy. The parishes have a sense of being without ordained leadership of a Vicar for some time and need some healing for past difficulties. This work has begun during the vacancy.

The churches are well served by a strong team of lay people capable of leading many ministries, as well as two Readers, active retired clergy, a self-supporting minister, administrative provision, and a full time family pastor. God is at work in these villages. The churches have discovered new momentum during the vacancy and have pressed on with a variety of fresh initiatives that seek to follow their sense of God's will for their work. They have risen to the challenges presented by Covid-19 and demonstrated a fruitful expression of shared mission to their communities which they hope to build on.

We are looking for a high quality leader, a gently charismatic evangelical, who has a passion for the flourishing of other traditions. They would also, in a rural context, be able to further release the missionary energies of the lay people in these villages. I commend this post to you.

With my prayers

Bishop Christopher meeting local school children at St Peters Church

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DEANERY SUMMARY

Alcester Deanery is situated in a very beautiful part of rural . We have a vision for ministry built upon the diocesan priorities to worship God, make new disciples and transform communities. We use the Eight Essential Qualities of Growing Healthy Churches to guide the growth and development of our church communities.

The Deanery has over 20 churches, mostly rural. , Studley, Bidford on Avon and Henley in Arden are the largest population centres. We currently have a planned deployment of 6 full-time clergy, and 3 House for Duty priests, supported by many helpful and valued retired clergy.

We are seeking a creative, collaborative colleague who will join us in developing and re-imagining ministry in new ways across our deanery at a time of significant opportunity and change in personnel. For instance, we are actively exploring joining the small neighbouring village of with the Churches of Arden benefice. Strong links between St John the Baptist Aston Cantlow and the Churches of Arden have been growing and flourishing, especially in recent months.

We can offer you a very warm, supportive Deanery Chapter where we enjoy good relationships, meet regularly for prayer, fellowship and mutual support, and share a common heart for the growth and flourishing of the mission of our churches across our deanery and beyond. This includes exploring how we might share our ministry across ecclesiastical boundaries in order to develop a truly Deanery wide approach.

Reverend Kate Mier Area Dean of Alcester Deanery

Page 4 of 21 Introduction

Thank you for your interest in our vacancy.

Here is a brief background to our group of churches. The group was formed in 2003 when the part time vicar at Wootton Wawen took on ministry to Claverdon and Preston Bagot benefice to form the current full time post. More recently the possibility of incorporating the adjacent village of Aston Cantlow into the group has been mooted. We would welcome exploring this development under the guidance and leadership of our next Priest in Charge. The three churches have different, distinct worship styles which embrace people from the full range of churchmanship – from evangelical to liberal catholic. A variety of services are offered, including BCP, Café church, Common Worship, & more contemporary worship and teaching. Many friends have a free church background and are happy to engage with the mix which is found across the three churches.

There are organs & organists on a rota in all three churches, with keyboard, guitar & drums available in Claverdon as appropriate. Claverdon church and church centre have audio-visual equipment.

Joint ventures include Fifth Sunday worship, Office premises and admin staff, Charity meals, Pre-school ministry, the Churches of Arden website and online services.

We would like to be  Working more closely across the group, towards a united, vibrant church offering love, joy and peace to all.  Having constancy of leadership.  A collaborative ministry working alongside the existing teams.  Encouraging all people to lead Jesus centred lives.  Building on youth and families ministry through our family pastor & developing ministry to older people.  Improving our communication – website, YouTube, Zoom, Facebook, e-mail, pastoral groups.  Exploring ways to meet the needs of our various communities, while continuing to value the diversity of the individual parishes and their style of worship. Each church has their own PCC. Of necessity, all three have been lay led for some time. As in previous years, we would expect our priest to chair these meetings, but we would not expect them to attend every one and to be able to delegate specific responsibilities if appropriate. We are praying for a priest who will lead well with others and steer us gently but firmly towards God’s plan for us, fulfilling their role as overall leader. PCC’s meet every two months on average. There is no joint leadership team or equivalent as yet, but we recognise the need for closer working.

The vicar would be expected, with support to lead one midweek service and one/two on Sunday. We acknowledge that our service schedule could be changed to meet the needs of our community.

PERSON SPECIFICATION / VISION

We are looking for a person who will:

 Be a visible, accessible, committed presence in our historic, rural villages.

 Be a good listener & communicator, bringing people along through consultation.

 Recognize and value the different worship styles of each parish in the benefice.

 Be an emotionally mature person who can encourage those who feel discouraged by the past few years; we are wanting to be healed, to grow, we just need that spark.

 Be nurturing, creative, enabling small group worship, deepening spirituality.

 See the scope for mission to all ages across the group.

We welcome a candidate who is:  Passionate about….. pastoral care  Experienced in…… managing change  Gifted in……leading & enabling others

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PERSON SPECIFICATION & VISION

After a time of uncertainty and lack of continuity, we are seeking an emotionally intelligent priest to restore stability, to help us rebuild confidence and embrace opportunities for closer community. They will:

Inspire, challenge, and encourage people to deepen their own spirituality.

Nurture us and equip us for growth.

Explore the opportunities to share the Christian faith within the community and be willing to be creative and take risks.

Encourage, mentor and direct our family pastor.

Page 7 of 21 ROLE DESCRIPTION

The role is full time, supported by Phil Hanson and James Holden our non- stipendiary clergy. By the time of appointment James will be priested so both will The Mission Purpose of the Diocese of be active self-supporting ministers. James' priority will be Aston Cantlow, Phil's Coventry is: main focus is Claverdon, and Norrie Moore and Judith Cox our two readers jointly support Wootton Wawen and Preston Bagot. Chelsi Argabright is our full time paid  Worshipping God family pastor who is based in Claverdon. We are also blessed with a range of  Making New Disciples voluntary lay people. The ministry team meets weekly to plan upcoming services  Transforming Communities. and to pray together both for each other and for the needs of the parishioners. Please look at our website for more about our team. This will be achieved by developing eight essential qualities in the life of the We also employ two part time administrators working from a well equipped parish church: office. Provision has been made for our priest to use this office for meetings and administration.

Empowering Leadership The office is in our wholly owned Church centre in Claverdon, which is widely used Gift-Oriented Ministry by community groups and “Stepping Stones” - an independent preschool. The Passionate Spirituality church centre is managed by a committee and has a paid administrator. Inspiring Worship We would expect our priest to help us complete the shared vision work that has Holistic Small Groups been started. Need-Oriented Outreach Loving Relationships Functional Structures VISION We are hoping to: Please read the appendix to this  Make more opportunities to work together – reaching all generations. document to see how God is guiding us  Establish Eco church initiatives in all 3 parishes. in these areas.  Grow the next generation of leaders.  Build on 5 yrs investment in youth & families.  Enable personal spiritual growth – go deeper with Jesus.  Have more engagement with “irregular” worshipers.

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Our Covid 19 Experience At first, the imposition of the restrictions of the pandemic combined with being in A message from Claverdon, May 2020 interregnum felt as if it might overwhelm us. The reality has been very different and better than we could ever have imagined. It is, of course difficult, being unable to worship in our church buildings or to meet in person, but there are also many blessings and opportunities for growth both structurally and spiritually.

Moving services online using YouTube and Zoom has brought us together in providing combined worship across the parishes. This has given us the opportunity to think about how we could embrace new forms of worship in the future. We have been given time to reflect and to experience other forms of worship apart and yet together.

Our youth work has continued online and virtual house groups offer new possibilities even when the imposed restrictions have been eased. We are more in contact and less reticent to show that we care.

At the start of the epidemic we delivered a leaflet accompanied by a small Mother’s Day posy to launch a volunteer helpline service. This was very well received, and we have continued to reach out to the entire community shopping, getting prescriptions & befriending. It has helped us to look outward and to show the church in loving action.

We have helped in the village shop which was on the verge of closing and some of our young people back from university have helped to staff it.

The Parish magazine and newsletter, sent by e-mail and available online, has enabled us to keep in touch with the community and to provide information about all the numerous initiatives national and local.

We have launched our new website. www.churchesofarden.org.uk.

We do miss meeting in person, but this experience has shown us that the church really is it’s people and that God will sustain us and bless us in time of difficulty. We look to the future with optimism and excitement for the opportunities to share His love and grace that are yet to come.

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THE PARISHES

Claverdon Church - CV35 8PB Church centre - CV35 8PD From the church tower. History

Claverdon Church building originates from the 14th century but most of the building was reconstructed in the late Victorian era.

Location

Claverdon is situated five miles west of . The village is close to the , Warwick Parkway Station and Airport.

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Population (Population 1300, Electoral Roll 88)

Claverdon is an ideal location for those whose jobs require them to commute. It is probably for this reason that this is best described as a suburban or professional community despite its countryside setting. That said, there are agriculture and other local industries in the area.

There are two pre-schools, a popular primary school, two village halls, a doctor’s surgery, a community shop, two pubs and a wide variety of sports clubs, some with their own facilities.

The area is also blessed with several high quality wedding reception venues.

Buildings

There is an ongoing policy to keep the fabric of the church in excellent order.

No major problems were found in the most recent Quinquennial inspection.

The church has at least one Sunday service every week bar one each month, plus Remembrance, Harvest Festival and Carol Services. The church is open daily to the public.

The graveyard will reach capacity in the next year or two. The process to obtain the necessary permissions to extend the graveyard into glebe land adjacent to the church has begun.

Claverdon also has a separate purpose-built Church Centre which plays an important part in both church and community life. It is a modern facility with a large hall, administrators office, a syndicate room, a kitchen and extensive car parking space. It is the home of Stepping Stones pre-school as well as the rural cinema. It hosts many of the village social clubs. It is used for Sunday worship once a month and is the home of the Parishes office. It is where the Holy Spirit is at work through our Youth club and Messy church teams, bringing Jesus to young people and their families in the local area.

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Preston Bagot Church – B95 5EB

History

Preston Bagot is first mentioned in the .

The church of All Saints was built in the late 11th or 12th century and remained largely untouched till major restoration took place in 1877-79. The interior is stunningly beautiful in its simplicity with a fine 15th century font and enhanced by five William Morris and Burne- Jones stained glass windows taken from the old Meeting House in Birmingham which had been destroyed by bombing in the Second World War.

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Location

All Saints occupies one of the highest points in the locale and commands panoramic southerly views towards the Avon valley and the Cotswold hills beyond. It is situated between Claverdon and Henley-In-Arden on the A4189 in the county of Warwickshire and is part of the Coventry Diocese. The Stratford-Upon-Avon canal passes through the parish and the area is popular with walkers and cyclists.

Population (Population 150, Electoral Roll 23)

Preston Bagot has a population of around 150 and is made up of farms and scattered houses. There are no shops or school in the village but one popular pub – The Crab Mill.

Buildings

The quinquennial inspection was carried out in July last year and there are no major issues.

The church has a Sunday service every week plus our Patronal Festival, Harvest Festival and Carol Service, we also hold fund raising concerts. The church is open daily to the public, it is very popular with walkers and cyclists.

There is a graveyard and it still has spaces for burials.

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Wootton Wawen Church – B95 6BE

History

St. Peter’s is thought to be the oldest church in Warwickshire with a charter from 723AD. The mother or minster church planting 3 chapels and 12 daughter churches. The church is well known for its Saxon Sanctuary –see ‘’s 1000 Best churches’, Simon Jenkins. Being such an historical church, we also minister to tourists and visitors interested in the history.

Location

Prominently located in the Village on the A3400, 9 miles west of Warwick .Wootton Wawen has its own railway station and a regular bus service .

Population (Population 1300, Electoral Roll 36)

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Housing: approx. 700 dwellings of houses, bungalows, flats in converted buildings, and Park Homes at Wootton Hall. In 2018 12 new eco-friendly homes and bungalows were built.

Mixed commerce: Agriculture and rural restructuring, small industries, two public houses and other eateries. Anglo Welsh canal boats and new (2019) ‘The View’, with Canal boat marina. Wootton Park centre for leisure and wedding venue. Yew Tree Farm shopping venue. Campervan sales. Allen’s Caravans sales and two general stores, one with post office. There is no petrol available in the Village – two repair and MOT centre’s-one commercial, also a private Landrover specialist. Other amenities- Allotment gardens, bowling green, two social clubs, good village hall, Methodist Care Home on the parish boundary with a dementia unit. An active Roman and community.

Medical services: Doctors’ surgery in Henley in Arden and Claverdon, pharmacy and dentist. Nearest, limited hospital services in Stratford upon Avon otherwise Warwick, Coventry and . New 2018 Eye and Cancer treatment hospital in Stratford upon Avon.

Social mix: Farmers (horses, sheep, beef cattle) land diversification. Commuters, Artisans. Families, some single parents, high proportion of elderly and widowed. The majority of the population in Wootton are in the older age bracket therefore a key area for our ministry. Village School Church of England Primary, voluntary controlled. Small number of village children with many from across the Redditch border. There is a church governor and the vicar plays a lead role.

Buildings St. Peter’s recent quinquennial gives us a breathing space as the results are good taking account of the grade 1*listing. If there was money available then ancient windows and fading wall paintings would be on our wish list. However, our next concern is to update the Saxon Sanctuary Millennium Exhibition and we are in consultation with a probable designer. We do not have a church hall so many things happen in church and with the new Servery this will give more scope. There is a good Village hall available for hire on other occasions. Claverdon is better placed for community activities with the Church Centre which is often used for joint gatherings.

Graveyard St. Peter’s has an ancient graveyard but still in use for burials. The tableted area for ashes was closed 2 years ago and burial of ashes takes place in the refurbished ‘Garden of Memory’ with the option to have the loved one remembered with an entry in the Memorial Book in church.

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Wootton Wawen vicarage

The vicarage was built in 1960 with four bedrooms, dining room, lounge, kitchen and study, bathroom & downstairs toilet, double glazing took place about 10 years ago, there is an associated garage. Recently changes have been made so that there are now three bedrooms but an additional shower room.

The garden has some prolific producing apples trees. There are parking spaces for visitors. The access is via a private lane off the Stratford Road which leads on into the Wootton Hall Park Homes estate. From the Vicarage to the church is a short walk through the churchyard.

Page 16 of 21 Services An example of an average monthly service rota is shown below. We are willing to consider changes to this.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Claverdon 8:00 11:00 11:00 11:00 Morning Holy All age Worship Holy Joint Prayer/BCP Communion/CW Lay lead in Communion/CW Communion Church centre 16:00 service. 11:00 Evening prayer/ Rotating Family BCP Lay lead between the Service three churches Lay lead Preston Bagot 9:30 9:30 9:30 9:30 Morning Holy Morning Holy Prayer/BCP Communion/BCP Prayer/BCP Communion/BCP

Wootton Wawen 11:00 11:00 11:00 11:00 Café church Morning Holy Morning prayer/CW Communion/CW Prayer/CW

There is also a much valued Communion service at Wootton Wawen at 10:00 every Wednesday. In interregnum this is Communion by extension, led by a reader. Numbers of baptisms, weddings and burials in 2019

Claverdon Preston Bagot Wootton Wawen Baptisms 5 0 4 Weddings 7 2 4 Burials 3 1 6 Burial of Ashes 3 2 5

Page 17 of 21 School Links

The primary school at Wootton Wawen is a voluntary aided church school. Claverdon primary school is not.

Good links exist between both schools and their local churches, the school children come to church for their own special services. We are hoping that planned Eco church initiatives will develop these contacts further.

Our family pastor runs two regular lunchtime Awesome clubs at Claverdon primary school. She also takes assemblies and runs workshops at both primary schools when asked. She is sometimes an invited speaker at Henley in Arden Secondary school. Our “Open the book” group present dramatized Bible stories in both primary schools twice each term.

One of the members of the Wootton Wawen PCC is a governor at Wootton Wawen primary school. One of the roles for the Priest-in-Charge is that they are also ex-officio foundation governors of the school. One of the members of the Claverdon congregation teaches at Claverdon primary school.

A page summarising the work of the DBE with schools can be found here: http://www.dioceseofcoventry.org/images/document_library/UDR01414.pdf.

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Links with other churches

The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and St Benedicts in Wootton Wawen is the main church for the Catholic community in the area. The Wootton Wawen congregation share the ‘Stations of the Cross’, 9 Lessons and Carols services and the World Day of Prayer with the Catholic congregation.

Our group has growing links with the Anglican church at nearby Aston Cantlow which we welcome. Our SSM Curate, Revd James Holden, has been on an extended placement as minister to St John the Baptist Aston Cantlow for two years. Members of their congregation joined us for “The Bible Course” in autumn 2019 and more recently have joined in with receiving and presenting our online services. The deacon (awaiting ordination, planned for September), ministering to them for six months recently is one of the non- stipendiary ministers from the Churches of Arden group.

Administration

The parish office is in the church centre building in Claverdon.

Currently two part time administrative staff and the family pastor work in this office. It is well equipped and large enough to be used for meetings of up to 15 people.

The Churches of Arden web-site has been upgraded recently www.churchesofarden.org.uk The parish secretary is responsible for updating information. Other key people have also been trained. The designer has been retained for 12 months support, which can be extended if necessary.

Other communication tools include a weekly newsletter, weekly e-mails, Facebook pages, https://www.facebook.com/church.claverdon/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/210984720175190/ YouTube videos https://www.youtube.com/user/claverdonchurch and parish/village magazines.

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Finance and Stewardship

The table below summarises our financial situation in 2019.

While this appears healthy, there is room for significant improvement through better stewardship teaching from Scripture, which we would welcome.

Claverdon Preston Wootton Parish/Benefice Total Bagot Wawen £ £ £ General Income 43,023 12,827 46,382 102,232 Planned Giving 50,345 5,696 7,715 63,756 Gift-Aid 13,805 2,393 5,865 22,063 Fundraising (eg fetes) 2,074 1,795 6,696 10,565

Grants 21,000 - 155 21,155 General 88,324 11,811 37,943 138,078 Expenditure Parish Share 35,518 11,290 17,700 64,508 Contribution Unrestricted 151,200 8,133 23,737 183,070 Reserves

Restricted Reserves 192,729 143,676 178,762 515,167

Any special considerations, Graveyard, Servery future expenditure etc? Tower roof

Wootton Wawen church is fundraising for a new servery, which is almost complete. Repairs to the Claverdon church tower roof are imminent. Archaeological surveys and other expenses for Claverdon graveyard extension are ongoing. Clergy expenses are met in full. In recognition of the contribution to mission which other churches in the Deanery and Diocese make who are not able to pay their way, The Churches of Arden benefice has continued to pay the parish share in full when we had a vicar and when we did not. A copy of our accounts for the last 3 years is available on request.

FURTHER DETAILS

For further details and an application form please contact: Matt Robinson, Assistant to the Archdeacons by email to [email protected] or 024 76 521 342

For informal conversations, please contact: Archdeacon Missioner, Barry Dugmore, on tel: 07487 578311 ([email protected])

Area Dean, Kate Mier, on tel: 01527 852 830 ([email protected])

Closing date for applications: Noon, Friday 28th August Interviews: To be held on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th September

An application form can be downloaded from the Diocesan Website: http://www.dioceseofcoventry.org/vacancies/current_vacancies

Enhanced DBS disclosure is required for this post. The welcomes applications from candidates from a BAME background.

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