Christ Church Orpington Dedicated to Christ; Devoted to Community Parish Profile Christ Church Orpington Mission Statement Dedicated to Christ; Devoted to Community Contents Introduction 2 The Community & Parish 3 The Church Family 6 Leadership & Support Teams 7 Worship 11 Children’s & Youth Ministry 13 Weekday Activities 17 Creativity 24 Finances 26 Buildings 28 Leadership Challenges we face 30 The Person 31 Other Information 32 General Information 32 Christ Church Orpington Parish Profile 1 Introduction Thank you for showing an interest in Christ Church Orpington by reading this parish profile. We hope that you will be encouraged by what God is doing here. We also hope within this Parish Profile that we have reflected the many good things going on. However, the challenges are ever present and we are far from perfect. We particularly hope that this profile affirms for one special reader that God is calling you to lead us. A lot of prayer has already been offered for this person and we can assure you that this will continue. There are examples of many activities and ministries within this profile. These are not the full list and we are blessed with a wide range of means by which we serve the community, share fellowship and encouragement, pray for many needs, disciple, worship and reach out with God’s message. For each, there is existing leadership in place. We are a fellowship which has enjoyed and grown through empowerment of ministries and the encouragement of individuals to use their talents and gifting. A significant feature of this is that we have many people willing and able to serve and to lead in many ways. The new vicar will benefit from lots of support and encouragement, with a willing number happy to share the burdens. We finalised this profile through an awayday of a combined PCC and Leadership group. We spent the time considering what we were thankful for, especially over the past five years. We also considered where God may be leading us over the next five years, be this in areas of outreach, serving our community, discipleship, worship, prayer, fellowship or anything else. We were willing to listen, to respond and we are ambitious. This is reflected in our approach to our imminent vacancy. We want this to be a time of growth, numerically and spiritually. We will be awaiting our new vicar with a warm and enthusiastic welcome though! We do hope that this profile gives a flavour of what we are all about. We hope that God is calling you to play a leading part in it and may the Lord bless you as you consider this. Dave and Pieter, Church Wardens 2 Christ Church Orpington Parish Profile Community and Parish Orpington is situated on the south-east side of London. It is in the London Borough of Bromley, a large borough with many different demographic areas. Orpington is at the south east of the Borough, close to the Kent countryside and the M25. Christ Church is situated in an area which grew in the 1930s with the advent of the railways. The density of population in the area is average and there are areas of wide-open space. The High Street is Orpington’s most dominant physical landmark and resembles ‘Any Town UK’. Facilities are adequate with many major shops represented, although some street stores are now located in a shopping complex about a mile north of the High Street. The High Street is dominated by a large supermarket and a vast number of restaurants and coffee shops. There is a college alongside the High Street. Recreation facilities in Orpington include a large sports centre with swimming pool, several gyms and a bowling alley. Priory Gardens is the town’s largest park and hosts a number of community events throughout the year. London is only 25 minutes away by train and there is good access to the motorway network from the nearby M25. There is an excellent local bus service. The nature of the area can be gained from a look at the following estimates provided by the Diocese for the parish, based on the 2011 Census: Age 0-19 years old 20-44 years old 45-59 years old Over 60 years old 22% 26% 22% 30% This gives the Parish significantly more people aged over 60 and significantly less aged between 20 and 44 than the national average. Type of family Married, Single (never Single (widowed, registered same- married or been separated, sex civil in registered divorced) partnership or same sex civil co-habiting partnership) 60% 25% 15% So, the Parish has less single people who have never been married (or registered in a same sex civil partnership) and more that are married or co-habiting than the national average. Christ Church Orpington Parish Profile 3 Ethnic groups White Black Asian Mixed Other 92% 2% 3% 2% 1% The Parish is significantly whiter in ethnic origin than the country generally, and certainly much less ethnically diverse than parishes further into London or even other parts of Bromley. The Diocese also estimates: The percentage of children under 16 in the parish who are living in poverty is 8%, The proportion of the working age population in receipt of a key out-of-work benefit is 5%, Lone parent households as a percentage of all households with children is 13%, 97% of the parish have English as their main language and 91% were born in the UK, 30% of households have dependent children. A map of the Parish is below. Christ Church is marked and the Vicarage is next door at 165 Charterhouse Road. The brown line shows the approximate parish boundary. 4 Christ Church Orpington Parish Profile About 6,500 people live in the nearly 2,600 homes in the Parish. About 85% of the housing is owner occupied (including shared ownership), the remainder being a mixture of Housing Association and ex- Council houses. It is estimated that 9% of the households live in social rented accommodation. The Parish is all residential apart from a row of 9 shops, a car retail showroom and a petrol station at the top of Charterhouse Road. There is a café but no pub. There are two schools in the Parish: The Highway Primary School and St Olave’s Grammar School (a Church of England super-selective boys school). There are many other primary and secondary schools in Orpington. As well as Christ Church there is a Methodist Church in the Parish. “We only recently joined Christ Church after 10 years actively involved at another church. The biggest motivation was to find a place where our young son would feel happy to be part of the children’s work and where there are activities available for his childhood and teenage years. The ‘Welcome’ booklet we were given when we first visited, the experience of our first few Sundays and the friendliness of everyone involved has meant we have stayed and even chosen to go on the rota to assist in the crèche. We especially value the recognition of the Holy Spirit in Christ Church through worship, prayer and the sermons.” Newcomers to Christ Church Christ Church Orpington Parish Profile 5 The Church Family Christ Church began in 1938 when a new housing area in the south of Orpington, known unofficially then as Goddington, was the site of a new Evangelical Church. At that time there were some 4,000 people and 900 houses in the area. It started with a church hall in Charterhouse Road, used for worship and Sunday schools, until the church building was completed and consecrated in August 1940. Since then, there have been five incumbents during Christ Church’s 80-year history. During the past three years the electoral roll has stood at about 230 people, with about a 50:50 split between those living in the Parish and those living outside the Parish. In 2017 there were 232 people on the Electoral Roll. In addition, there are 95 young people and children attending our church activities. With three other churches inside or just outside the Parish, we realise that we need to engage more effectively with the local community. The proportion of male & female worshippers has remained consistent for many years at just over one third male and just under two thirds female. The average weekly attendance figures for 2017 were 147 adults and 36 children/young people. We are a worshipping and caring community of people from a mixture of backgrounds, occupations and ages. Our church family has many members who have been attending and serving faithfully at Christ Church for over 15 years. Over recent years we have started to see more people from other ethnic backgrounds attend the church and start serving in a variety of ministries. We are aware that we have a lack of people aged 18-30 in the congregation and this is an age group we would like to attract in the future. Attendance figures over recent years have remained fairly stable despite an increase in the number of those associating themselves with Christ Church. This seems to be the result of some members of the congregation (particularly those with children) choosing to attend church less often in order to accommodate other activities. Children’s and youth work are well supported at Christ Church. A number of young families have joined in recent years because the children’s & young people’s work has been attractive to them. There is also a wider circle of families whose children attend the annual Holiday Club and other special events, or the weekday toddler group.