The Parish of the Icknield Way Villages Profile Welcome to our parish. Thank you for being interested in us. All Together…… God’s work in progress The Parish of the Icknield Way Villages (cont’d) We are praying that God is preparing a new leader for us. We believe that you, too, will be praying about whether that person might be you. Who are we? We are a single rural parish comprising seven villages in north-west Essex. Our last rector consolidated the work of forming us into one parish, and he leaves us as a warm, hospitable Christian community in good heart and harmony. We believe that God is at work here. He has a plan for us and wants us to join him in his work and we have faith in the power of the Holy Spirit to help us. We have seen our congregations expand and we long to see them grow further, spiritually as well as numerically. We feel we must do more to encourage young families, to deepen their faith in the Lord Jesus or to meet him for the first time. We realise we need patience and gentleness as we work together to build a church where God will be very evident. We seek to follow the vision of the Diocese of Chelmsford, to be a Transforming Presence here (www.transformingpresence.org.uk), to be distinctive in our Christian faith and outreach. We aim to be… Christ-centred Prayerful Faithful to scripture Loving Welcoming Accepting all Sharing fellowship together 2 All Together……. God’s work in progress The Parish of the Icknield Way Villages (cont’d) Who are we looking for? Someone who can… ..lead us in our efforts as we focus on these 3 overlapping strands: Evangelism Pastoral care Use/adaptation of our buildings. The goal is increased community use of our buildings, via “stepping-stone” events, to help more people find faith, therefore making each of our churches the heart of the community Is the Lord prompting you to find out more about us and the kind of leader we are seeking? Please read on. We hope that you will be inspired by the things that inspire us! We are praying for someone with vision and enthusiasm. A creative, positive thinker who can guide, inspire and encourage us and the community we serve, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Someone who is… ..an approachable, collaborative leader, who will ably and humbly encourage ministry and nurture growth, enthusiastically embracing both traditional and more contemporary styles of worship. A capable manager and team leader, who will help us move forward in unity, as we pursue our priorities in the areas of evangelism, pastoral care and the use of our buildings ..a good communicator, inspired by faith and adherence to the Anglican creeds, able to relate well to all ages and to worshippers who prefer a range of styles, offering engaging and relevant Bible teaching for spiritual growth, wishing to help us reach those who do not yet know the Lord Jesus ..servant hearted: building us up, helping us to use our gifts to enable us to develop relationships, especially with fringe families; offering loving, empathetic pastoral care; being joyful and with a sense of humour! ..called to rural ministry, with experience and understanding of the opportunities and challenges this poses ..has a functional level of IT literacy! 3 All Together……. God’s work in progress The Parish of the Icknield Way Villages (cont’d) What can we offer you? Willing, actively involved church members with a strong sense of fellowship. You won’t be alone! Strong support team: office administrator with fully equipped office in Chrishall Village Hall, an Authorised Local Preacher, a Children’s and Youth Worker Supportive single PCC and two parish wardens with a deputy, with much of the fabric responsibilities and localised outreach devolved to the 7 dedicated District Church Councils (DCC) Sound finances and effective, straightforward governance Community experienced in supporting ordinands and training curates Modern, warm four-bedroom rectory with fast broadband in Great Chishill Car, if needed Desirable rural location with close links to Cambridge, London and Stansted Airport, and the historic market towns of Saffron Walden and Royston Excellent nurseries, preschools and schools, including our local C of E Aided primary school, with which we have strong links Excellent cultural opportunities. In 2014 we topped the Halifax Rural Areas Quality of Life Survey. www.independent.co.uk/property/where-are-the-best- places-to-live-in-the-countryside-9214202.html Progressive, supportive deanery Normally only 2 Sunday services plus a protected day off! Great hospitality! The Rectory at Great Chishill 4 All Together……. God’s work in progress The Parish of the Icknield Way Villages (cont’d) The Parish is about 12 miles south of Cambridge, set in the hills in the north-west of the Chelmsford Diocese between the market towns of Saffron Walden and Royston. London is around an hour away by train. The population is around 2,300 spread over some 7 villages. A mixed collection of people working locally or in Cambridge or London, many with young families. This is also an attractive area for people who are retired. We are a group of Christians with many different ages, backgrounds, skills and abilities united in one purpose – to spread the love of the Lord Jesus and his message of hope to the people in the communities around us. 5 All Together……. God’s work in progress The Parish of the Icknield Way Villages (cont’d) APPENDICES Confirming our faith 6 All Together……. God’s work in progress The Parish of the Icknield Way Villages (cont’d) Regular Life in our Church Sundays Typically we run 2 services each Sunday, moving between our 7 buildings and a village hall week by week. These are 9.00am BCP Holy Communion Service (usually held in one of our smaller churches) and at 10.40 we have another service designed to appeal to all ages with a more contemporary style of liturgy and music. The less formal 10.40 service takes place in the larger buildings each week, with one service a month in the Village Hall in Chrishall. This is a deliberate attempt to worship in a place which provides a way into the church for people who would not necessarily be comfortable entering the traditional church buildings (one of our “stepping-stones”). The larger buildings allow for accommodating the Sunday Clubs. Together they attract routine attendances of between 60 and 80 people, with much greater numbers on the major festivals. Currently we have this pattern of two services each Sunday, (with evening prayer services occasionally), because we see the benefits of congregations mixing across what is a large parish, with its seven villages. There is a growing sense of togetherness in our worship. It also means that our rector is not completely worn out at the end of each Sunday! Faithful, expositional bible teaching has always been a central feature in all services, with the aim to help our faith grow individually and as the body of Christ, being relevant to day-to-day life. Most members of our congregation travel from building to building around the parish, Sunday by Sunday. There are some who prefer just to worship in their particular village, but we encourage them to move – if necessary by offering lifts. Sharing fellowship and refreshments after the services (or in some cases before) is also a means of building bridges. The PCC has adopted the “five minute” rule whereby the congregations are encouraged to approach people they might not normally talk to after each occasion. Once a month in Chrishall Church we start a service “Chrishall @ Ten” with coffee and pastries, followed by a much briefer service with themed activities for the young people. There are hearing loops and PA systems in some of our churches. Music We embrace all styles of music from traditional NEH to Sing Glory. The Icknield Way Parish Choir performs for special occasions, which include concerts during the year and carols at Christmas. An outdoor Songs of Praise was very popular and made good use of many instrumentalists in the parish. There is a band/music group to support worship at our less formal services. There is also a dedicated group of tower bell ringers. 7 All Together……. God’s work in progress The Parish of the Icknield Way Villages (cont’d) Festivals We enjoy the major Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter, when many of our community attend church for traditional reasons. We welcome them and this provides an opportunity for outreach. Christmas starts with a Christingle service with much involvement from our school. Then continues with a crib service, carol services and a midnight service on Christmas Eve. We have also persuaded one of our local farmers (who is also a district warden) to provide tractors and trailers to carry carol singers round our 3 local pubs in the run-up to Christmas. Before Easter we run a Lent course and Good Friday “workshops” for young families. At harvest, as you might expect in a relatively rural part of the country, we always give special thanks for God’s provision. Harvest suppers take place in most of our communities and attract substantial numbers. We have services at war memorials on Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday (run jointly with the local United Reformed Church). Chaplaincy work There are three bedside communion givers from within the parish serving on the Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge chaplaincy team, and each DCC has at least one communion helper.