Contents - Welcome - an overview A Message - from the Bishop of Truro Philip Mounstephen The Place - the Callington Cluster in Cornwall What we’ve been doing - where we are as a Cluster Our churches - photographs of the buildings Our Vision - where we would like to be in 5 and 10 years time Our ministries - families - caring in the community - discipleship Our new Rector - what is the Cluster looking for in a new leader Deanery and direction - message from the Rural Dean Chris Painter The Churches - Callington - Stoke Climsland - South Hill - Linkinhorne - Upton Cross The Rectory - with photographs and a floor plan Worship - what a normal month of services looks like The facts - a pen picture of each church in figures Welcome Welcome to the Callington Cluster and the exciting opportunity to work with us to serve God and our communities. Who are we? Made up of 5 churches within four Parishes, we are warm and welcoming congregations, situated across an area of stunningly beautiful countryside, but close to the facilities of thriving cities. We offer a unique opportunity to lead well established and thriving teams, who seek to bring God’s love to everyone in our community and to support those in need. Predominantly we are people with a passion for God. As the Body of Christ, we recognise the need to enable local teams to be His hands and feet within our communities. We are missional and seek to come alongside those struggling in our Parishes and bring to them the love of God. Our churches are very different, with different worship styles and characteristics, but each is seeking to bring themselves and those around them, closer to Jesus. During the past 7 years, we have continued to grow in discipleship and our eyes have increasingly been opened to the power of the Holy Spirit, seeking all the gifting the Spirit has to offer. We see ourselves as a garden and here you will find a people of God, growing as disciples. The soil is prepared. Branches are growing out into the community and producing fruit. We believe God has already called the person He wants to help us in our journey, and we pray that someone reading this document will realise by the end of it, that person is them. Message from the Bishop In this Diocese of Truro we are deeply committed to ‘Discovering God’s Kingdom: Growing the Church’. Ordained ministers are crucial to this task, so I sketch out here the kind of priests we are eager to come and work with us. First and foremost, we are looking for joyful and hopeful disciples and ambassadors of Christ: people who share the Gospel with energy and commitment, in word and deed - and above all with love. We are not looking for people who see themselves as omni-competent, but who are rather committed to setting the whole people of God free in mission, ministry, and in loving service. Further, we are looking for people who, on this journey, are imaginative and realistic, creative and determined and are hopeful of a better future. But we also want to work with those who recognise that they are not perfect and will sometimes fail, who learn from their mistakes and will take the initiative in seeking reconciliation with others. We are convinced that all ministers need the support and companionship of others and we help priests in a number of ways so that they never work alone. In this spirit, we encourage priests who can forge good relations with others and actively collaborate with them for the sake of the Kingdom to join us here in the Diocese of Truro. Finally we are looking for people who will love, value and serve Cornwall: a wonderful place with its own very distinctive identity and Christian heritage. I pray that as you consider this opportunity you might discern God’s calling and purpose for you in this next chapter of your own discipleship and service. + Philip The Place The Benefice is situated just over the Devon/Cornwall border, with all the benefits this stunning area has to offer, yet only 2 hours by car from Bristol and an hour from the M5 The Cluster extends from Stoke Climsland Parish bordering the river Tamar in the East, to Linkinhorne Parish adjoining Bodmin Moor in the West. Callington and South Hill are located between. There are good schools at Primary level in Callington, Stoke Climsland & Upton Cross and at Secondary level in Callington. The Duchy College is situated in the Stoke Climsland Parish and the Rector is the Chaplain of the College. The Benefice itself is a beautiful place in which to live, with all the benefits of the South West, its beaches and its moors. But this area is without the huge influx of tourists in the summer months which makes for a peaceful rural idyll. Yet, if you like the pretty Cornish fishing villages and the Moors they are never far away. However, the Cluster is not without it’s challenges, containing both a town church, and four very rural churches, across 4 different parishes spread across a relatively large geographical area (Stoke Climsland church to Upton Cross church is 7 miles). Links for further information: www.cornwall.gov.uk duchy.ac.uk callingtoncluster.org.uk callington-tc.gov.uk www.linkinhorneparish.co.uk stokeclimslandparish.org linkinhorneparishhall.org.uk princes-foundation.org>practice>stoke-climsland-parish-hall Social media links: www.facebook.com/CallingtonCluster/ www.instagram.com/callingtoncluster www.twitter.com/callingtonclust What we’ve been doing Our aim is to ‘Live to love God, live to bring others to God, love and laugh’. We seek to be authentic to our faith, focusing on discipleship, reaching out with good hospitality and engaging socially with those around us. We are seeking to steward the presence of God in our hearts, to understand and demonstrate His Kingdom and create a hunger for Jesus in our communities. We seek to identify the hardships in our communities and to come alongside those in need. As churches we came together as a Cluster for the first time seven years ago and during these years we have been on a journey. We have learned much about the depth of God’s love for us, the person of Jesus, and the ministry the Holy Spirit brings. We are better at discerning God’s will for our churches and walking in His strength. We are learning about the value and power of working together and sharing our resources. We know we still have a long way to go and look forward to a new leader who can walk with us. Support in the Cluster: 1 full time Families Leader 3 retired Clergy 6 Readers 17 Service Leaders 1 local Methodist Minister & 1 Assistant Preacher Several volunteers assisting with admin Our churches Our Vision Whilst recognising our responsibility to maintain existing expressions of Church for as long as they are valued and supported, we acknowledge that these are not necessarily suitable for meeting the spiritual needs and aspirations of the society around us. We believe that in 5/10 years we should have at least one, hopefully more, fully developed fresh expressions of Church. We would expect these to grow out of existing outreach endeavours such as Friday Night Church, St Sampson’s Unlocked, Beer and God, Cafés and Messy Church. Secondly we look forward to a much greater proportion of our congregations engaging in Christian ministry outside the Church buildings – being the body of Jesus in the community. This will mean getting alongside those who are in physical, emotional, mental and spiritual need with the express purpose of being Jesus to them and for them. Offers of physical and emotional support should always be accompanied by spiritual support given through silent and, wherever possible, vocal prayer. Thirdly some churches are better equipped to carry out some ministries than others. We seek to encourage a greater willingness to share resources (manpower, finance, prayer support, etc.) between Churches, to travel between Churches and to offer transport to both the providers and users of our joint activities. Such a vision will require prayer, careful thought and management. Our Ministries - Families: As church, we are Jesus’ hands and feet in the community and bring His love to God’s people, and in 2017 we recruited our Families Leader, Amy Wheeler, to set a Families strategy and lead our work with Families across the Cluster. She reports directly to the Rector and is supported by a pastoral and spiritual advisor. She leads many groups of volunteers and oversees many Leaders of well established groups and ministries. She has also been working with the Bishop and the Rural Dean on an overarching families strategy for the Deanery and Diocese. Family Worship: Services specifically aimed at young families run at three out of the five churches. Whilst they are at different stages, all have begun to attract new families and the service is particularly thriving at Stoke Climsland, where it is supported by Messy Church. There is plenty of potential growth in the area of Family services which we would like to explore. Primary Schools: Whilst they are not church schools, the relationship between our churches and their Primary Schools is extremely good with Open the Book sessions happening weekly in Stoke Climsland and Callington (jointly with Churches Together), and fortnightly in Upton Cross. Stoke Primary uses the church for their Carol Services and 2019 saw the whole school experience prayer stations in church. The Primary School choir joined the Stoke Church Community Choir for a summer concert and barbecue.