St Mary the Virgin Parish Church Woodkirk, West Yorkshire Parish Profile & Statement of Needs December 2015 Engaging with God Engaging with Each Other Engaging with the Community !1 Contents Contents 2 Introduction - “What St Mary’s Means to Me” 4 The Parish of Woodkirk 6 The Church and Churchyard 10 Churchyard 13 The Parish Centre 14 The Vicarage 15 Regular Services 16 Our Worship Style 17 Leadership and Church Groups 18 Churchwardens and the Parochial Church Council 18 Lay Pastoral Minister 19 Encouraging Ministries 19 Core Group 19 Finance 21 Fundraising and projects 21 Charitable Giving 22 Leeds South Foodbank 22 Spirituality and Growth 23 Lay led services – All-Age worship 23 Christmas – Posada 23 Special services 24 Small Group Study and Worship 24 Social and Community Outreach – All Ages 25 Communication 25 Hope 2014 26 Lydgate Lodge 27 Uniformed organisations 27 Schools – assemblies & services in church 27 Link parish - Ikizu in the Diocese of Mara, Tanzania 28 Childrens’ Ministry – Activity Mornings 28 Social events 28 !2 Mission Statement and Future Vision 30 Our New Vicar 32 Appendix 1: Facts and Figures 33 Appendix 2: 2014 Accounts 34 !3 Introduction - “What St Mary’s Means to Me” St Mary’s is a vibrant and wide-reaching church. The PCC asked members of the church of all ages: What does St Mary’s mean to you?. St Mary ’s means many tings t me, but mainly it is St Mary’s t me is a peacefl, welcoming, fiendly te place I atend for regular worship tgeter wit place where families are made t feel a part of te oter like-minded people. We appreciat te opportunit church. Wit a busy life & a growing family- 3 children under 9 years old. I do not get t church as for atending te weekly celebraton of Holy Communion and al tat tis means. much as I would like t. When I do I am always met wit familiar, welcoming faces and wel wishes. As an older member of te congregaton, I have seen many changes in te liturgy over te years. In spit We are fortunat in having a great feeling of of te church adoptng some of te modern optons felowship witin members of te church. One for services, te words stl have a familiar ring, meets wit care and understanding in tmes of which is appreciatd in tese tmes of change. ilness and oter difficultes. It has always been a loving welcoming Felowship, welcoming. Always tere for us church caring for al ages. feels like a family. You never feel alone. It is wonderfl tat St Mary’s reaches out t various parts of te communit !4 Friendliness, care and concern for Newcomers t te church are given a great welcome, people. Wednesday 10.00am service which is essental if te church is t grow. partcularly valued. Te heart of te local A welcoming place for my family. communit An extnded support for Communit, prayer and uniformed organisatons. worship, family spirit. St Mary’s is te heart of te communit. It enables my fait t grow. Home, contntment, family, fiendship, stabilit, contnuaton. A place of worship It has been a family church for many years. I and welcome. have been coming for 21 years on/off troughout Togeterness, belonging, te years and always feel welcome. Al my Communit support. family have been christned here and also my children so tis church is special t us. A place for our family t reflect on life and receive support if we need it. Also for us t come My spiritual home. Friendship. A place of along and meet fiendly people. We were married worship and contntment. here and our children were christned also. A communit which supports guides and A place t share God’s love wit celebrats te role of its young people, Contnuit and hope for te our fiends & communit especialy in te uniformed organisatons. fture in te communit A beacon of te light of Christ in te Being part of te church family. Joy, A place of caring not just a communit … happiness, sharing, kindness, fiendship, place of worship. felowship wit God. Peaceflness, comfort, communit, prayer, A place t worship God in a beautfl histric fiendship, communicaton, happiness, charit, building wit a peacefl atmosphere. Also I take laughtr, tars, music, toughtflness, caring, an intrest in te communit trough many taching, learning, helping. organisatons. !5 The Parish of Woodkirk The Parish of Woodkirk (West Ardsley) is in the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, in the Episcopal area of Leeds, in the Deanery of Armley. The Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales (http://westyorkshiredales.anglican.org) was formed on Easter Sunday 2014 from the historical Dioceses of Ripon & Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford. It is served by 656 churches, three cathedrals (Wakefield, Bradford and Ripon) - and 45,000 worshippers! "Our vision is to equip confident clergy to enable confident Christians to live and tell the good news of Jesus Christ in West Yorkshire & the Dales.” The Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds Confident Christians . Growing churches . Changing communities !6 The Parish of Woodkirk covers a large area with a boundary of approximately 15 miles in circumference. It straddles parts of Morley in the Leeds Council area, and Batley in the Kirklees Council area. The Parish is very diverse and covers a wide range of habitats and uses for the land. As well as extensive housing, there are commercial, industrial, and agricultural land areas. A stone quarry has been at Woodkirk for centuries and is still in operation. Parish Boundary Woodkirk is in an ideal location for three major towns/cities (Dewsbury, Wakefield and Leeds) with all the amenities that go alongside. Just outside the parish is the White Rose Shopping Centre. Education in the parish is served by three primary schools, Westerton, Hill Top and Blackgates Primary School (1 Outstanding and 2 Good by Ofsted). The latter has a Surestart centre attached to it. In terms of Secondary, Woodkirk Academy is rated Good by Ofsted. !7 The church itself is home to St Mary’s Playgroup. This is an early years provider and is based in the Parish Centre. As part of the latest Ofsted, outdoor play was referred to and so work has started in renovating outside the parish centre to provide this. Parish Boundary The deprivation guide above shows that the parish’s demographics are very diverse. One area in particular is in the highest 30% of deprived areas in the country. Whilst the majority of the housing is fairly new and is part of a commuter belt along the M62 linking most municipal areas in West Yorkshire - extending to Huddersfield and Bradford to the west and Pontefract and Castleford and links to the A1 to the east. There are local plans to develop the southern part of the parish. The development would grow the parish but has had opposition. The church, Vicarage, and Parish Centre are next to one another on a single site on the east of the A653 Dewsbury to Leeds road. The churchyard is still in use and covers 11.5 acres. Both burials and internment of ashes take place regularly. Other churches in the area work closely together as ‘Churches Together’, including other Church of England and Methodist churches. Ecumenical services and events take place during the year. !8 East Ardsley Reservoir A653 Dewsbury Road bisects" the Parish Parish Centre, Vicarage and church taken from the church car park Woodkirk Beck !9 The Church and Churchyard The church has been a place of worship since 976AD and became a monastic cell of the Black Canons of Nostell Priory from 1074 to the Dissolution. It is Grade II* listed. The church has a capacity of about 200 with a new social area at the back built in 2015 which houses a semi-circular seating area, a kitchenette (tastefully hidden from view), and disabled ramp leading to toilets in the tower base. The church has been extremely well looked after over the years and has a new heating system (modified with the community space project), alarm system, full sound system with loop. The floor and ceiling were completely replaced in 2007 and the most historic window still made of medieval glass was recently renovated thanks to grant funding. As with any building of this age, challenges remain and the East window is due for attention in the coming years. Investigations into grants have already taken place. In 1831, an overnight storm caused major damage to the roof of St. Mary’s church. Robert Chantrell was charged with overseeing the work of restoring the church. This is his architect’s drawing, detailing the !10 discovery, behind plain plaster panels fixed to the wall with wooden batons, of medieval wall paintings. These had been hidden for centuries following the requirement for plainer church furnishings after the Reformation. The only evidence of this now are signs of the places where batons had been inserted in the stonework. The existence of this painting came to light in May 2013 when it was revealed in an edition of ‘The Oldie’. Enquiries led us to find it for sale in a London gallery. St. Mary’s Church Council made the decision to purchase the watercolour for display in its original setting. Woodkirk War Memorial Each year we welcome members of the Royal British Legion and people from of the community who have links to the armed forces to join us in our acts of Remembrance each year. The church becomes the focal point in the parish and this and the 10 war graves provide a link to the wider population.