Parish Profile for the joint benefice of Christ Church, Warley http://christchurchwarley.wordpress.com/ St Mary the Virgin, Great Warley https://stmarygreatwarley.weebly.com/ Parish Profile for Christ Church, Warley & St Mary the Virgin Church, Great Warley Page: 1 A well established benefice with two friendly and welcoming Churches. Servant hearted congregations ready for deeper Christian teaching and godly leadership. Attractive and well maintained Churches. Refurbished and well used community facilities. A spacious and comfortable Vicarage about a mile from Christ Church and two miles from St. Mary’s Church. Two parishes located in the attractive town of Brentwood with good links to London and the surrounding countryside Contents Introduction 3 The Parish Settings Who we are 3 Brentwood 11 Christ Church 11 What we have to offer 5 St Mary the Virgin 13 Reimagining Ministry 5 Sunday service pattern 14 Where we are now Church Buildings 16 Christ Church 7 Finance 18 St Mary the Virgin 10 The Vicarage 19 Parish Profile for Christ Church, Warley & St Mary the Virgin Church, Great Warley Page: 2 Introduction There has been a Christian presence in the benefice of Christ Church Warley and St Mary’ the Virgin, Great Warley since the 13th Century. The parishes border the town of Brentwood, now a growing suburban town but a historic settlement since Saxon times on the route between London and Colchester. Our parishes have formed a joint benefice for the last 17 years and we are now looking for our next incumbent to lead us in our pilgrimage of faith in Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Christ Church has a long evangelical tradition with around 100 on the electoral roll and worshippers of all ages from diverse backgrounds. St Mary’s, with a central Anglican tradition, has a smaller congregation, closely integrated with its village community, worship is in a small but nationally renowned Grade 1 listed Arts and Crafts/Art Nouveau Church in the Village. The benefice, despite its lengthy history, offers a pioneering opportunity to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in a largely post-Christian community of around 8000 people. We have spent time talking, praying and consulting within the congregation, young people’s groups and community and we hope that the rest of this profile will give the reader a sense of who we are and where we are hoping to go. Who we are Both Churches are marked by their friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Prayer is central to our life and worship. At Christ Church we have a monthly prayer breakfast and items for prayer are updated in the weekly news sheet. However home prayer and bible study groups have become more irregular and have reduced in recent years. There is an active pastoral team with an authorised Diocesan Pastoral Assistant. KidZone meets twice a month during the morning services at Christ Church and provides a space for our youngsters to worship and grow spiritually. With more helpers this frequency might be increased. At Easter 2018 some of our children were prepared to receive Holy Communion in advance of full confirmation. The pattern of worship between the Churches has been extensively reviewed and we believe that it is on a sustainable footing for one priest with lay help to lead. Parish Profile for Christ Church, Warley & St Mary the Virgin Church, Great Warley Page: 3 Communication between Christ Church and St Mary’s is growing and we share celebration events and festival services. St Mary’s links with the community, including the Great Warley Conservation Society, are strong. Under the previous vicar St Mary’s Parish Hall has been fully refurbished and is used by a variety of community groups during the week. St Mary’s with its excellent acoustics, holds concerts during the year, and also welcomes visiting parties from all over the country to view its distinctive architecture. Over 500 people from outside the congregation pass through the Christ Church Centre each week. Boys Brigade, Guides, Brownies and Rainbows are run in the Centre by Church members and take part in a monthly parade service. Christ Church has good links, with Warley County Primary School and both Churches have good links with Woodlands Prep School, both independently and in association with the Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust. There are also links with other groups such as the scouts, a local centre for adults with learning difficulties, a community print centre and the businesses on the adjoining business park. Developing our Christian community is a priority and we hold regular social events including a book club. Toddler Time on a Friday morning is well established and has the potential to introduce new families with children to the Christ Church fellowship. Where we are hoping to go Under the overall theme of building our faith community we are hoping to renew a shared spirit of mission within our churches; strengthen work with families with young children and teenagers; revitalise mid-week worship, prayer and teaching activity through study groups and new initiatives; reinforce Church members approach to financial stewardship; help those of all ages to discover and use their gifts and talents and understand their calling in the service of our Lord. Parish Profile for Christ Church, Warley & St Mary the Virgin Church, Great Warley Page: 4 What we have to offer † Incumbent (Vacancy) † 1 Associate Minister † 4 Wardens, 4 Deputy wardens across both churches † 2 Authorised Local Preachers † 1 Pastoral Assistant (with a team of 5+) in Christ Church also training for Spiritual Direction at Pleshey with completion scheduled for March 2019 and holds the Evangelism Enabling Certificate. † 1 Part time Church Administrator † 1 Part time Christ Church Centre manager (Vacancy) † Professionally qualified Hon Treasurer at each church † 1 Safeguarding Representative covering both churches † Children’s work: leaders & assistants of 3 church groups and 4 uniformed groups † There are also a number of other dependable, proactive leaders across the whole of the life of both Churches Reimagining Ministry As a worshipping community we are willing and ready to be led to a deeper understanding of our faith. The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt. Rev. Stephen Cottrell writes The Diocese: A message from Bishop Stephen In the Chelmsford Diocese we believe that God is calling his church to be a transforming presence. Our vision is that the church - that is the people of God here in Essex and East London - should be a transforming presence in every one of our parishes. These are our priorities – To inhabit the world distinctively To evangelise effectively To hold ourselves accountable to one another and to God for the stewardship of the gospel To re imagine the way we minister so that each ordained minister and each individual Christian discovers their part in God’s ministry and so that each church flourishes. To this end we are looking for priests who are excited by this vision of becoming a church which is Parish Profile for Christ Church, Warley & St Mary the Virgin Church, Great Warley Page: 5 itself transformed, and which is becoming a more visible and effective presence in the huge diversity of communities that make up this most exciting and energetic part of England. There are many challenges ahead of us. We are a diocese generously subsidised by the national church. We need to become financially self-sufficient. Leadership often seems distant. We are creating patterns of leadership that are closer to the parishes. And we are looking to develop missionary leadership at all levels of church life. Nearly half our clergy will retire in the next ten years. We need to find out how to minister with fewer stipendiary clergy and with a re-imagining of how stipendiary ministry works. We need to re-organise the way parishes relate to each other in what we are calling Mission and Ministry Units. Some of our congregations still think ministry is what Vicars do. We have a vision of ministry where the whole people of God are involved in the whole of God’s ministry. We are also experimenting with new forms of authorised lay ministry. Church must be a safe place. All those in ministry will be expected to undergo training that will equip them to respond well in situations associated with safeguarding. Levels of church going are below the national average. We need to get evangelism on to the agenda and into the lifeblood of every church. We encourage and train churches to put on weekends of mission and outreach. One of our aspirations is that every benefice should have a trained lay evangelism enabler. We are developing missionary discipleship, so that every church in the diocese is a place where Christians are formed in order to be sent out in witness and service. Despite planning for a future with fewer stipendiary clergy, we remain as committed as ever to the local church. And what is the local church, but that community of men and women gathered around Christ, and living and sharing the gospel in the networks and neighbourhoods of their lives? But we need priests to lead and to serve. We know we need to change. We can only be a transforming presence when we have allowed God to transform us. Therefore at the heart of all we do is a longing for intimacy with God and a renewed life of prayer. First and foremost a priest is a minister of the word and sacrament. All ministry flows from this. But a priest shares the ministry of the bishop, therefore presbyteral ministry will increasingly be a ministry of oversight, guiding, nurturing and directing the mission of God’s church in the communities we serve.