Page 1 HOLY TRINITY ELSECAR with ST MARY’S wORSBROUGH One Benefice – TwO Churches HOLY TRINITY CHURCH Church Street ELSECAR Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S74 8HS ST MARY’S CHURCH Church Lane/Worsbrough Road WORSBROUGH Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 5LQ Page 2 PARISH PROFILE FOR OUR NEW VICAR SEVENTH DRAFT – amended 16th April 2018 CONTENTS: Page 1 Holy Trinity Elsecar with St Mary’s Worsbrough – church photos and addresses 2/3 Contents 4 1. The Joint Opportunity At Holy Trinity Elsecar and St Mary’s Worsbrough 4 i. Who we are 4 ii. Where we are going 5 iii. How our vicar can help us get there 5 iv. What else our vicar can expect from us 6 v. Joint Services planned for 2018 6 2 Our Wider Context 6 i. Diocese of Sheffield 6 ii. Tankersley Deanery Holy Trinity Elsecar 7 1 The Opportunity at Holy Trinity Elsecar 7 i. Who we are 7 ii. Where we are going 7 iii. What else our vicar can expect from us 8 2 Holy Trinity Elsecar as a Church 8 i. Sunday Services 8 ii. Not-on-Sunday Church 8 iii. Services 9 iv. The People 9 v. Notable People 10 vi. Frequently asked questions 10 vii Prayer 11 3 The Parish of Holy Trinity Elsecar 11 i. Elsecar 11 ii. Hoyland 12 iii. Where is it? 12 iv. Who lives here? 13 v. The Story So Far 14 4 Holy Trinity Elsecar and our Community 14 i. Holy Trinity Church for others 14 ii. Pioneering Work 15 iii. Special Relationships with 15 iv. Occasional Offices 16 v. What happens inside? 16 vi. The Parish Hall Elsecar 16 vii. Holy Trinity’s Finances 2016 and 2017 16 5 Holy Trinity Development Plans – Wish List 17 APPENDIX A – Our Mission Action Plans Page 3 CONTENTS continued …. Page St Mary’s Worsbrough 18 1 The Opportunity at St Mary’s Worsbrough 18 i. Who we are 18 a. Choir 18 b. Drop In 18 c. Fellowship 19 d. Messy Club 19 e. Mothers Union 19 f. Parish Magazine 19 g. VIP Club 19 h. Wives Group 20 i. Charities 20 j. Social Events 21 ii. Where we are going 21 a. The Church and its Buildings 21 iii. What else our vicar can expect from us 22 2 St Mary’s Worsbrough as a Church 22 i. Pattern of Services and different expressions of Church 23 ii. Our People 23 iii. Electoral Roll 23 iv. Finances in 2016 and 2017 24 3 About the Parish 24 i. Birdwell 24 ii. Where we are 25 iii. Population, type of area, kind of people. Schools. History, landmarks 26 4 Our Vision 26 i. What do we want from our vicar? 27 APPENDIX A – Our Mission Action Plans Page 4 1. The Joint Opportunity at Holy Trinity Elsecar and St Mary’s Worsbrough i. Who We Are a. As a joint benefice we believe that Jesus wants us to serve the people who live and work around us. We believe we are successful in outreach – every year we try to add a new event to our calendar where we can show the people we are alive and here for them if they need us. Our flocks may be small but we have bags of enthusiasm. On so many occasions we have been told that we are most welcoming, lovely caring people – hopefully we are doing something right. We are praying that we may welcome an ordained leader to help us with our outreach and introduce us to pastures now. b. Welcoming – be it at Sunday services; baptisms; weddings; funerals; open days; fairs and events our trademark is to smile, welcome, offer a good cup of Yorkshire tea and listen as well as speak about life, our church and how Jesus can make a difference when He is welcomed too. c. A Christian community and friends – we strive to share our churches and our lives, encouraging each other as family. d. Our Joint Benefice – we feel we have benefited greatly in the last 10 years since we became a joint benefice. We have gained many new friends; shared lots of services, meetings, events. Especially for Elsecar we have gained the joy of St Mary’s wonderful choir, something we have not had for many years. We are looking forward to other ways of working together over future years. e. Supporters of charities – we enjoy giving as much as receiving – sometimes it’s with our time and ideas, but also with donations of money. We have never been rich money wise but what we have, we share. We feel that we are particularly rich in our humanity and open-mindedness. We pray for a Vicar who will support our mission in giving. To name a few – over the years we have supported: The Children’s Society – many parishioners have a Children’s Society box at home to collect their loose change and our Christingle services also support them. Christian Aid – is supported through the envelopes and money collection pots. Local Food Bank – is always pleased to receive donations from our churches. Sara’s Community Kitchen, Barnsley – since September 2017 we have donated clothing to this group which feeds the local homeless, lonely, isolated and families in poverty. Women’s Refuge – the Mothers Union regularly sends items like bedding; equipped children’s playrooms; equipped satellite kitchens when families are ready to move; provided Christmas dinners in 2016 and 2017; etc. Harvest Produce Auctions – raise money that is sent to a charity of choice that year – many charities have benefitted from the generosity of this event including: Water Aid; Hearing Dogs for Deaf People; the British Heart Foundation; Barnsley Hospice; Nepal Earthquake Disaster; “Project Paddington” (in 2015 joint effort by Elsecar and our church school) raising £3000 and sending beautiful teddy bears to the Refugees Crisis in Europe f. Open Minded – we support the Ordination of Women. ii. Where we are going a. We are a broad church – which enjoys the traditional worship but we are open to new experiences and ways of expressing our faith. b. Discipleship – we are eager to learn how to become better disciples of Jesus. We enjoy getting out and serving others – we would like our new Vicar to show us more ways to share Jesus love with the people we meet. Both our churches are members of “Churches Together”. Page 5 c. Prayer life – we would like to improve our communal prayer – new ideas will be welcomed. d. Making a place for everyone – we realise the need to be more ‘user friendly’ with regard to the services – maybe shorter family services for children and parents; vary the day of the service, not always on a Sunday might encourage more people to attend. iii. How our vicar can help us get there We want a vicar who can bring fresh ideas and place their own stamp on the progress made by our previous vicar during the last 10 years. We want the new vicar to be led by the Holy Spirit in their ministry, to be pastorally minded and inspired with fresh vision to help us expand and extend the worship in our churches. The vicar should be imaginative in their mission and be prepared to lead us together into the future. a. Prayerful and Biblical – a vicar who understands the importance of personal and communal prayer – who can help us as a church apply what the Bible says to our lives. We want to grow in our knowledge of the Scriptures so that we can apply them in our lives and grow as disciples of Christ. We will be looking to our new vicar to lead us in this. b. Enabling – a vicar who will lead, guide and as importantly let us ‘get on’ with the job in hand – something that we seem to have no problem doing – we are “doers”. c. Outward-looking – a vicar who understands and values outreach and is able to introduce people to Jesus. We need leadership and support in strengthening and deepening the Christian witness and teaching in our church. We seek an incumbent with strong commitment to the pastoral care of the congregation and beyond, to give us a sound basis for growth and witness in our community. This will involve challenging what we do, not simply enhancing the status quo. d. Flexible – a vicar who can change with the times and help us bring our church into the 21st century. e. PCC’s – each meets 7 times a year (January; February; April (AGM); May; July joint; September; November joint). At the moment Elsecar has 7 PCC members (including 2 Church Wardens and PCC Secretary) and St Mary’s has 13 PCC members (including 2 Church Wardens and PCC Secretary). We need our vicar to oversee our decisions – to guide us through, to be our leader. The PCC would like a spiritual leader who will build on the many positive developments over recent years, spiritually enthuse, inspire and support the existing congregation, engage and retain children and families and enable us to reach out to the community in the parish and the wider community. f. Joint Standing Committee – currently each meets 5 times a year (January; February; May; June joint; September). At the moment we have 3 members in each Standing Committee (2 Church Wardens and PCC Secretary). The new Vicar would be invited to be part of Standing Committee meetings. The role of the Standing Committees i. At our meetings we discuss things which have happened since our last PCC meeting and prepare an agenda for the next PCC meeting.