Parish Profile for the rôle of Associate Priest (House for Duty) in The Theydon Parishes: St Mary the Virgin Theydon Bois, All Saints Theydon Garnon and the Parish of St Michael’s Theydon Mount with St Mary’s Stapleford Tawney Contents Overview of Parishes and Clergy Profile 3 St Mary’s Church, Theydon Bois 6 All Saints’ Church, Theydon Garnon 11 St Michael’s Church, Theydon Mount with St Mary’s Church, Stapleford Tawney 15 The Deanery of Epping Forest and Ongar 17 The Vicarage 19 2 Overview of Parishes and Clergy Profile Introduction Overall Vision A new associate priest is sought to The guiding principles of the Churches in the share responsibility for the Joint Benefice of Theydon Benefice: St Mary the Virgin Theydon Bois and All To be loving, caring and welcoming Saints Theydon Garnon, and the parish of St congregations who nurture each other to Michael’s Theydon Mount and St Mary the grow in faith together through quality wor- Virgin Stapleford Tawney. In short: ship, Bible teaching and prayer, sharing the • one Benefice, love of God in Christ with others by example • three Parishes, and our activities in the community and wider world. • three congregations, In To be loving, caring and welcoming • four worship centres, congregations who nurture each other to with variety in abundance. grow in faith together The three Parishes are situated to the Up Delivering a variety of quality worship, north east of London in the western part of Bible teaching and prayer to share the love of the county of Essex. They cover a mixture of God in Christ. rural Essex and suburbia. Theydon Bois is a Out Showing our faith to others by example and our activities in the community and wider world Rôle Description The following description and specifi- cation set out requirements that are specific to this post. It is already assumed that the person appointed would be a priest who takes their calling seriously, and would have regard to the general responsibilities of the clergy. We are seeking someone who is willing to share in the priestly ministry throughout The Theydon Parishes. Specific duties would large village and St Mary’s has a substantial include: thriving congregation. The other three • Leading and/or preaching at two Sun- churches are in more rural locations but All day morning services per week in the Saints parish includes part of the neighbour- Benefice and at least one evening Sun- ing town of Epping. Their congregations are day service per month. smaller, but they are loyal and committed, and are predominately from outside their par- • Sharing in preaching and leading of ser- ishes. vices, on a rota basis – to include the We are an active Benefice that provide full range of forms of worship offered the opportunity to deliver a range of styles of across the Benefice. worship from the Book of Common Prayer to • Sharing in presiding at midweek Com- All Age Worship. Our congregations are munion services on a rota basis. committed to developing their churches and • Attending Morning Prayer when “on reaching out to their communities in mission duty” in the Benefice. and ministry. We are excited by what lies • Providing preparation for, and leading, ahead for our churches and hope to build on Occasional Offices, in collaboration the good work already being undertaken in with the Vicar. support of our mission statements. We face • Leading pastoral care in the Benefice, different challenges in our quest to serve God with a specific focus on the parish of in each community, whilst promoting the Christian faith. 3 Theydon Garnon (within which the As- expect strong support from the incumbent sociate Priest will reside), discerning and across all age groups of the new enlarged and training a team of authorised Pasto- congregation in terms of: ral Assistants who could be deployed • Enthusiasm - the three congregations across the Benefice. are brimming with a variety of skills • Attendance at at least two PCC meet- that can be shared across the group of ings per church per year and other rele- churches. vant meetings, as agreed with the Vicar. • Dedication - the respective congrega- • Involvement in other projects and min- tions are committed members of the istries as seems appropriate (for exam- church family and can be relied upon ple future Mission events, school as- for a long term commitment. semblies) according to experience, • We would expect to give full support to skills and gifts of the successful candi- the new associate priest in all aspects of date. our church life, and full expenses of office will be paid using an agreed for- mula across the Benefice. • The associate priest would join a sup- portive local ministry team (two Read- ers/LLMs with PTO, two Authorised Local Preachers, part-time youth work- er shared across MMU) and in addition the clergy of the MMU say the Morn- ing Office together weekly. Key priorities Within the next two to three years these • Providing a degree of general cover, are the key priorities for our Benefice: within the time commitment of this • Connecting people and building posi- post, when the Vicar is on leave or is tive relationships in the new Benefice. absent from the parish. • Encouraging and enabling lay leader- There is no stipend for this post but remuner- ship of worship. ation consists of the provision of rent-free • Developing and nurturing faith of accommodation in the Theydon Garnon Vic- adults through small groups. arage (see p19). Council tax, water bills and • Developing Pastoral Care Teams to reasonable working expenses will be paid. provide comfort and support for those The priest appointed will be able to access who are ill or suffering bereavement. (and in some cases required to make use of) • Developing further use of Church training and support provided by the Diocese buildings and assets for the good of our of Chelmsford. congregations, the local community and The time commitment would be Sun- wider church. days plus two days or equivalent during the week, with specifics to be negotiated accord- • Reaching out to the urban parts of the ing to circumstances. Parishes to encourage greater involve- The person appointed is required to ment with their churches. work in collaboration with and under the • Encouraging and enabling fresh expres- oversight of the Vicar of the United Benefice. sions of ministry and mission where the opportunity arises. Support • Encouraging more creativity in worship e.g. drama and expansion of music In return, the new associate priest can groups. 4 • Developing ministry with children and • An engaging preacher who can com- young people. municate theological ideas in an under- standable way. Person Specification • An ability to help others to explore the Essential Christian faith. • Experience of parish ministry • Administratively competent and with the ability to use computers for word • Comfortable within a central Anglican processing, email and internet access. tradition; open to new moves of the Spirit whilst respecting the traditions of • A full UK driving licence. the church. Desirable: • A proven ability to minister collabora- tively, supportively and enthusiastically • Comfortable and confident in ministry with and alongside others. in schools. • Recognition of the value of pastoral • Entrepreneurial. care. • A good sense of humour. • Experience of ministering to people of all ages. Services (TB: St Mary’s Theydon Bois, TG: All Saints Theydon Garnon, TM: St Michael’s Theydon Mount, ST: St Mary’s Stapleford Tawney) Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 8.00am TB HC (BCP) HC (BCP) HC (BCP) HC (BCP) HC (BCP) 8.00am TG HC (BCP) Parish Parish Parish All Age 9.15am TG Communion Communion Communion 10.00am Worship (CW) (CW) (CW) Family Family Morning United Benefice All Age 10.30am TB Communion Communion Worship Communion Worship (CW) (CW) (CW) (CW) Sung Service of the Service of the Sung 10.30am Rotating around Communion Word (CW) Word (CW) Communion TM or ST Churches (CW) at ST at TM at ST (CW) at TM Sung Sung Evensong or Sung 6.00pm TB Communion Evensong “Special” Evensong United Service (CW) (BCP) e.g. Taizé (BCP) Sung 6.00pm TG Evensong (BCP) Current Regular weekday Services • Holy Communion on Wednesdays at • Morning Prayer said publicly on Fri- days at 9.30 am (TB) and Thursdays 10.00 am (TB) (Week 1: Mothers’ by clergy of the MMU at 9.15 am Union Communion). (rotating around MMU). • Evening Prayer said on Tuesdays, • Holy Communion on Tuesdays at Wednesdays and Thursdays at 5.00 pm 10.00 am (TG). (TB). 5 St Mary’s Church, Theydon Bois Introduction St Mary’s is a flourishing church fami- lenges with us, and who would be willing and ly. We hold a variety of services that meet a able to channel our energies and work with us wide spectrum of needs and have a thriving to grow the Church within the community. Junior Church for 3-13 year olds on Sunday mornings. We are able to call on many differ- Church Membership ent talents, both spiritual and practical, Number on electoral roll: 193. The average amongst the worshippers. Stewardship at St. attendance at services is: Mary’s is under review to try to increase the • 8.00 a.m. - 20, level of planned giving. Worshippers enjoy lovely church buildings and grounds as well • 10.30 a.m. - 65, plus 25 children, as a nearby church hall, which together pro- • 6.00 p.m. - 20. vide ample space for every kind of church activity. In 2016 there were: • 16 baptisms • 19 confirmed • 7 marriages • 10 funerals • 9 funeral services at a crematorium. There is a thriving Junior Church at- tended by children between the ages of three and fourteen.