PARISH OF PENARTH AND LLANDOUGH PARISH PROFILE St Augustine’s St Dochdwy’s Holy Nativity WELCOME Welcome to our Parish Profile. Our aim is to give you an understanding of the parish, an idea of what it might be like to be a part of our community, and what vision we have for the future of the parish. We hope it will enable you prayerfully to consider our vacancy for a new incumbent and we look forward to meeting you should you decide to apply. Church Wardens and PCC www.parishofpenarthandllandough.co.uk CONTENTS Page Page SUMMARY 2 PARISH HALL & OTHER BUILDINGS 7 PERSON SPECIFICATION 2 ADMINISTRATION 7 ABOUT PENARTH & LLANDOUGH 3 FINANCE 7 OUR PARISH PATTERN OF SERVICES 8 • Now and in the future 4 ATTENDANCE FIGURES 8 • Our churches 4 CONTACT DETAILS 8 • Spiritual tradition 5 TERMS AND CONDITIONS 9 • Music 5 PROFILE OF ALL SAINTS, PENARTH 10 • Children’s activities 5 • Lay Ministry 5 • Groups 6 • Friends of St Augustine’s 6 • Community Involvement 6 SUMMARY The Parish is located in the seaside town of Penarth and adjoining areas, five miles south-west of Cardiff. There are three well-maintained churches. The style of worship is varied but traditional, with a strong music base particularly at St Augustine’s. Main needs include developing the lay ministry and re-introducing the children’s ministry, whilst maintaining support for the faithful but largely older congregation. Links with the community and other churches also need to be strengthened. The Parish is likely to join with the adjacent parish of All Saints in the future to form a Ministry Area. PERSON SPECIFICATION We are looking for someone who has: The pastoral gifts and leadership to minister to the current needs of the Parish and who will listen to God’s direction through prayer Vision for the future of the Parish and willingness to work collaboratively towards the formation of a Ministry Area The ability to motivate a dedicated core of people and encourage others to have greater involvement Preaching & teaching skills to build up the spiritual life of the Parish and attract families back to the services The facility to be comfortable with and supportive of our diversity of churchmanship, theology and styles of worship 2 Parish of Penarth & Llandough Reg Charity no. 1130979 ABOUT PENARTH AND LLANDOUGH The Parish of Penarth and Llandough is located approximately five miles to the south west of Cardiff, in the north and eastern part of the beautiful seaside town of Penarth, together with the adjoining community of Cogan and the village of Llandough. The adjacent parish of All Saints covers the remaining part of Penarth. The housing is a mixture of property types, with a new housing development nearing completion in the north of the town and a smaller development in Llandough, bringing new families to live in the Parish. There are a number of retirement homes, residential and nursing homes within the Parish and a limited amount of social housing. The population of the area as a whole is about 27,000. Penarth has a vibrant main shopping area with a good mixture of independent shops, national chains, cafés, charity shops and restaurants. The town has a thriving library, art gallery and many well -kept parks. It is a seaside town with a seafront and an award winning pier that attracts many visitors. There are six primary schools (including a Welsh-medium one) and two secondary schools in Penarth. Children can also travel further afield to secondary schools such as The Bishop of Llandaff School or Bro Morgannwg. The town also has a number of good nurseries and a privately run school educating children up to 18yrs. Penarth has a railway line with frequent trains into Cardiff, plus there are regular buses to Cardiff, Barry and Llandough. A station at Cogan also links to Barry and Cardiff. Llandough is a thriving village three miles from Penarth, on the hill overlooking the Marina and Cardiff Bay. It has no shops, but has a primary school, a village hall and a British Legion club which hosts a weekly youth club. Llandough Hospital is part of the University Hospital Wales and has undergone rapid expansion in the last five years. The Parish also encompasses Cogan and Penarth Marina. Cogan has its own primary school and is the location of the leisure centre and swimming pool. Penarth Marina contains a modern housing development with waterfront homes and draws many visitors to the Cardiff Bay Barrage. The Parish is a 15 minute drive away from Cardiff city centre which has excellent shops, and it is only 10 minutes to Cardiff Bay, home of the Welsh Assembly, the Millennium Centre, Sports Village and many waterside restaurants. There are very good road links to the M4 for Swansea, Bridgend, Newport and Bristol. 3 Parish of Penarth & Llandough Reg Charity no. 1130979 OUR PARISH Now and In The Future The Parish of Penarth and Llandough was formed in 2004 when the Parish of Llandough with Leckwith was merged with the Parish of Penarth with Lavernock. The Rector has recently retired after six years in post and the Parish is currently without any full time clergy. We have one active retired priest who regularly takes services in the Parish. There are also a number of other retired clergy nearby who occasionally take services. Although there is no curate at present, the Parish has an excellent record as a training place for curates, and it is hoped that this will happen again in the future. The Parish is in the early stages of discussions with the adjoining Parish of All Saints to form a new Ministry Area. The PCC will be looking for the new incumbent to lead us towards the creation of this exciting development for the Church in Wales in Penarth and Llandough. To this end, we are also including some information about All Saints Parish. Our Churches The Parish covers three churches plus two further graveyards of deconsecrated churches (Lavernock and Leckwith). The three Churches in the Parish are St Augustine’s, Holy Nativity and St Dochdwy’s. St. Augustine’s is the only Grade 1 listed building in Penarth and is situated at the highest point of the area. It was completed in 1866 having been designed by the famous Victorian architect, William Butterfield. It has a bell tower with 6 bells that are rung regularly. The churchyard is now closed for burials. Holy Nativity “greets” you as you drive into Penarth from Cogan. It originated in the 1880s, meeting in a stable block in Cogan, before the present church was built in 1894. It suffered bomb damage during World War II and was re- consecrated in 1953. St. Dochdwy’s is centrally located in the village of Llandough on the site where Christian worship dates back to the origins of the early Celtic Church. The graveyard contains the Irbic Cross which dates from the 11th/12th Century. The present church was opened in 1866 and is a widely recognised landmark with its distinctive saddle back tower visible from miles around. Its churchyard is also now closed for burials. Both St Augustine’s and St Dochdwy’s will celebrate their 150th anniversaries in the forthcoming year. All three churches are in a good state of repair with no major projects to be undertaken in the foreseeable future. The graveyard at St Augustine’s needs attention which the PCC will be looking at in conjunction with The Friends of St Augustine’s. 4 Parish of Penarth & Llandough Reg Charity no. 1130979 Spiritual Tradition The spiritual culture of the Parish is varied but is generally traditional. The style of worship at Holy Nativity may be described as Anglo Catholic; St Augustine’s is more moderately Catholic whilst St Dochdwy’s is more central within the Anglican tradition. All Saints Parish has a wide spectrum of services including traditional and modern Eucharists, all-age services and messy church. The style of worship is usually less formal and they have a strong children’s ministry. Music Music is very important in the churches and the choirs make a vital contribution to worship at our services. Robert Court, the organist and Director of music at St. Augustine’s, is a professional musician and associate lecturer in music at Cardiff University. He received the Archbishop of Wales’ Award for Services to Church Music in 2003. Robert and the assistant organist, Chris Berry, direct a keen, committed and gifted choir which can occasionally be boosted by singers from the School of Music at Cardiff University. The choir usually sing an anthem at the Sunday service. The hymn book in use is “Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New”. The William Hill organ at St Augustine’s is one of the best examples of its kind in the country. It is in fine condition and we have welcomed many internationally acclaimed soloists to give recitals on it. St Augustine’s possesses a wonderful acoustic and is frequently used for concerts (recently Treorchy Male Choir) and occasionally for commercial recordings, providing a small but welcome addition to church funds. Holy Nativity has a small choir that leads the congregational singing. St Dochdwy’s has no choir but has a fine Henry Willis organ. Children’s Activities The PCC recognise the importance of providing facilities and activities for children in and out of regular worship. A weekly mother and toddler group is run by lay people at the Parish hall and at Llandough. Unfortunately the Sunday school at St Augustine’s was closed a few years ago, however, the PCC are very keen to see it restart to offer younger members of the congregations the opportunity to learning about the Gospel with their contemporaries.