POST OF ASSOCIATE VICAR (0.5)

Transcription

1 The Parish of Wellington All Saints with St Catherine s Eyton Telford, Shropshire POST OF ASSOCIATE VICAR (0.5)

2 All Saints Wellington with St. Catherine s Eyton Associate Vicar 0.5 Purpose of post To help All Saints and St. Catherine s break through a glass ceiling and grow to next stage, fulfilling our vision to add 100 adults and 40 children to our worshipping community To support and enable the Vicar s wider ministry in General Synod and Archbishops Council Job description To be right-hand person to the Vicar, sharing in ministry and working together on strategic vision both at All Saints and St. Catherine s To develop and lead a new or existing weekly congregation at All Saints, within an emerging multiple congregations model To share in the day-to-day running of the parish, with lead responsibility for delivering certain areas within the strategy developed by the Vicar and PCC, set out in the mission action plan Opportunity to develop an area of ministry relating to the post-holder s particular gifting Person spec key qualities Like Timothy or Silas, loyal to another s vision A good organiser, able to ensure actions are followed through and completed Committed to the authority of Scripture and open to the renewal of the Holy Spirit Keen to be part of an all-age church, with a range of styles of worship catering from ages 0-96 Terms and conditions Hours worked: half-time post (3 days per week or equivalent) Stipend: 0.5 Lichfield diocesan scale Housing: a four-bedroomed house with study is provided in the parish by the diocese Expenses: reimbursed by parish Recruitment process Advertisement: through diocesan website; national networks Closing date: 7 October Interview date: Friday 14 October Interview panel: Vicar, Archdeacon plus 2 parish representatives elected by the PCC Contact For an informal conversation or enquiry, please contact Mark Ireland on (mobile ); markcireland@gmail.com

3 What is an Associate Vicar? This is a new post, so there are no previous expectations of the role. The post-holder will have an exciting opportunity to carve out a new role that will share the workload of the vicar and help the church to grow and fulfil its vision Jesus is calling us to become a church known in the community for open doors, acts of grace, Spirit-led worship and growing leaders. The Vicar will delegate specific areas of responsibility to the new Associate Vicar according to their particular gifts. Praying together and individually is the bedrock of ministry, and so joining together each morning for morning prayer is a very high priority. Staff members are encouraged to take an annual retreat, and to find a spiritual director outside the parish with whom they can meet regularly. The appointment of our first associate vicar coincides with the opening of our new parish centre, providing attractive new facilities to enable us to serve the community and help our own church family grow in faith. The vision for the parish centre is to be a place where church and community meet, and where God meets with his people. The new facilities give us significant new opportunities and with the arrival of an associate vicar we are excited to see what God has in store for All Saints and St. Catherine s over the coming years. This half-time post comes with an attractive house provided by the diocese, and would suit someone whose natural gifting is different from, and complementary to, that of the Vicar. It may be possible to combine this role with another part-time job if desired, or the post might suit a candidate looking for part-time work to allow time for study or family commitments. Current Staffing Vicar Revd Mark Ireland full-time (commenced January 2007) Curate Revd Dr Graham Rutter full-time (commenced July 2008) Youth and Children s Evangelist Sister Kate Hatton CA full-time (commenced September 2009) Parish Administrator/Operations Manager Mrs Rhian Corbett-Young part-time (commenced May 2011) Parish Office Secretary Mrs Judy Meeson part-time Non-stipendiary Clergy Revd Richard Kirby and Revd Margaret Smallman Licensed Readers Mr John Taylor, Mrs Peggy Taylor, Mrs Linda Kirby, Mrs Heather Grivell Ministry Team Ten leaders, ordained and lay, are each responsible for overseeing and managing one part of the parish s life Worship, Spirituality, Youth and Children, Pastoral, Discipleship, Growing Leaders, Community, Outreach, Mission and Administration. All Saints as a training hub All Saints has a long history and experience of training curates and of growing new leaders from within the congregation, both lay and ordained. We try to model the staged approach demonstrated in the Gospels, of come and watch me, come and help me, let me help you, let me watch you. We regularly run diocesan courses for lay leaders such as Bishop s Certificate and Foundations for Ministry. This October we are offering the CPAS Growing Leaders course. We have two Reader candidates half-way through training. We also have one candidate just starting local ministry training. One young adult from All Saints is currently spending a year working in our link parish of Christ Church, Penang, Malaysia, through the diocesan St. Chad s Trust programme. Two ordinands from All Saints (both in their 20s) are starting theological college in September 2011, and other prospective ordinands are in touch with the DDO.

4 INCUMBENT Revd. Mark Ireland 35 Crescent Road, Wellington, TELFORD TF1 3DW. Telephone Age 51 Married in 2001 to Gill, a pharmacist at Featherstone Prison Recreations: hill walking, skiing, travel, mountain biking Current Roles Vicar of All Saints Wellington with St. Catherine Eyton (from Jan 2007) Member of General Synod (1995-8, 2005-) Elected to Archbishops Council 2011 Previous Experience Lichfield Diocesan Missioner ( ); also Team Leader of the Diocesan Mission Division from 2002; also non-stipendiary Team Vicar of Walsall St. Matthew ( ) Incumbent of Baxenden St. John the Baptist, Accrington, Lancs. ( ) Curate of Lancaster Priory and Chaplain of HM Prison Lancaster ( ) Curate of Blackburn St. Gabriel ( ) Teacher, Murree Christian School, Pakistan ( ) Writing Co-Author of : Evangelism Which Way Now? (CHP 2003, 2nd ed 2005) Evangelism in a Spiritual Age (CHP, 2005, 2006) Renewing the Eucharist Volume 1: Journey (Canterbury Press, 2008) How to do Mission Action Planning (SPCK, 2009) Passions Faithfulness to Scripture and openness to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Finding ways to make new disciples and create fresh expressions of church. Training, mentoring and encouraging leaders, lay and ordained. Learning from and engaging with the Church overseas. My wife Gill!

5 Our Vision Mission Statement Because of Jesus All Saints Wellington Means Good News People Caring and Sharing Growing and Going Praying and Praising Vision Statement We are currently working on fulfilling a Vision statement approved by the PCC in autumn This expresses what we believe God is calling us to become over the next five years: Jesus is calling us to become a church known in the community for open doors, acts of grace, Spirit-led worship and growing leaders Open doors where the doors of both the church and the soon-to-be refurbished hall are open seven days a week, where people from all kinds of backgrounds can find prayer, practical help and strength to follow Christ. Acts of grace where we delight to treat others with surprising acts of grace, as Jesus treats us, and where people are accepted and welcomed whatever their lifestyle, issues or problems. Spirit-led worship where our worship includes the best of the old and the best of the new, where creative arts reflect the creativity of the Spirit, where healing and prayer ministry are regularly available, and where everyone, young and old, is encouraged to use their gifts to enhance our worship. Where everyone listens to God and feels able to pass on whatever God may be saying to them. Growing leaders where we are constantly resourcing and growing our leaders, and developing new leaders for ourselves and for the wider church at home and for the church overseas; training and mentoring including both the local ministry scheme and through young leader programmes, releasing and equipping young people with a calling to lead. Mission Action Plan Our Mission Action Plan sets this out in more detail and explores how we seek put it into practice. You can download a shortened form of it from our website:

6 Where are we? Telford is set in the heart of Shropshire perhaps one of the most beautiful and fascinating counties in England. The West Midland conurbation with the re-emerging city of Birmingham at its heart is within easy reach to the southeast, whilst the Welsh Borders are within 30 miles to the west affording good leisure and recreational opportunities. Overview of Telford Telford has a population of approximately 140,000 and has expanded rapidly since becoming a New Town in the 1960 s when it was known as Dawley New Town. During the 1980 s there was considerable inward migration following substantial investment, which attracted new industries both from the UK and overseas, in particular the Far East and Europe. Business parks provide much managerial and clerical work with some companies having their regional/national or international headquarters based here. Within the Telford Borough is the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site which brings tourists of many nationalities to the area. Wellington All Saints is located at the centre of Wellington, once an independent market town. Whilst it became incorporated within the Telford New Town boundary, it has retained much of its own identity and character and it still has a thriving indoor market, which was awarded its charter in Wellington continues to benefit from a wide network of business services including solicitors, banks, accountants and building societies. It is, however, fair to say that the centre of Wellington has for some time been overshadowed by the development of the Telford Centre complex, but due to multimillion pound investment it is now beginning to re-emerge and re-define its identity. A Wellington Partnership, within which the Church plays an active role, has been in place for a number of years its prime focus being to attract funds towards the regeneration of the town. There is now a greater degree of co-operation between the Town and the Borough with some real progress being made towards Wellington s revival as a Market Town. The town has its own council and Mayor with the Churches sharing responsibility to serve as chaplain. The population of Wellington is approx. 18,000 of which 14,000 live within the Parish. There are seven excellent state schools within the Parish 3 secondary, 2 primary, 1 junior and 1 infant. Wrekin College Public School & the Old Hall Preparatory School are also situated in the Parish. None of these are Church Schools but All Saints enjoys a good relationship with most of them. Our Youth & children s evangelist has active involvement in several of these schools, running Messy Church, taking R.E lessons, assemblies and musical groups. In addition Telford s principal sixth-form College and the College of Arts and Technology are nearby, as is a modern General Hospital.

7 Introducing All Saints Church There has been a church and a priest in Wellington since the Domesday Book. The current All Saints Church was rebuilt on the site of an earlier church in The interior has been the subject of a number of changes since, and was completely re-ordered in 1990 following an extensive fundraising exercise within the congregation. This enabled many of the modifications of the Victorian era to be reversed, so restoring the church to much of its original character yet providing a versatile setting for modern worship. At the front of the church is a large dais with moveable furniture and a ramp for the disabled. Under the dais is a baptistry, which allows baptism by full immersion. The present Parish Hall was opened in 1981 and is currently being extended and renovated. The design creates two additional meeting rooms and brings the parish office onto the church site. This will give us considerable flexibility and includes kitchen facilities enabling full catering for up to 120 people. Worship All our services at All Saints are based either on Common Worship or Patterns for Worship. We have a large number of gifted musicians who play for both our morning and evening services. Hymns and songs are on video-projection and television screens for the gallery. At present we have just one large morning service, at 10.30am, which follows this pattern: First Sunday Second Sunday Third Sunday Fourth Sunday Fifth Sunday Church Family Communion with young people joining from groups at the Peace. Morning Worship with young people in to begin and then moving to groups. Baptisms alternate between this service & All Saints celebrations. Holy Communion with young people in to begin and then moving to groups. All Saints Celebration an all age service with young people in throughout and with Baptisms as appropriate. Morning Worship with young people in to begin and then moving into groups. Our weekly 6.30pm evening services by contrast are smaller and more intimate. Whilst we have tried all sorts of patterns in the past, folk seem most happy with a quieter reflective service with an emphasis on expository preaching. Once a month the evening service is Renewal & Healing. Weekday services include daily morning prayer at 8.30am [attendance approximately 3-10], and a weekly lunchtime communion service on Wednesdays at 12.30pm (attendance approx. 25). Messy Church is now being run monthly in two primary schools by our Youth and Children s Evangelist. Further fresh expressions of church are being explored. We also take advantage of our strategic town centre site by opening the church on Thursday lunchtimes for Open Church, a drop in where church members are on hand to chat to whoever gathers in the grounds or wanders into the building.

8 St Catherine s Eyton St Catherine s Church is situated in the small hamlet of Eyton, in a very rural setting only 2 miles from the centre of Wellington. The population of the hamlet is about 30 made up mainly of farming people. The farming is a mix of arable and livestock. The worship at St Catherine s is based on the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and so offers a quieter, contemplative and more traditional atmosphere. St Catherine s offers a useful complement to All Saints in its worship style, providing greater intimacy in a small rural church setting. Our pattern of services is Morning Prayer with the second Sunday each month being Holy Communion. During the school summer holiday period we hold joint evening services instead of the usual morning service at St Catherine s enabling fellowship between the two congregations and affording both of them an opportunity to experience a variety of worship styles. St Catherine s Church is managed by a District Church Council and two Church Wardens, with two representatives on the PCC at All Saints. St Catherine s sets and manages its own budget. Electoral Roll All Saints St Catherine s Resident in the Parish Non Resident Total Ecumenical Links Within All Saints Parish there are Methodist, Roman Catholic and Union Free (Baptist/URC) churches all of which, with All Saints, are members of Churches Together in Wellington, Hadley and Leegomery. The neighbouring parish, Christ Church, Wellington, has been joined with Holy Trinity Hadley, both of which share a more catholic tradition. The Incumbent of All Saints with Eyton is joint patron of this combined parish. We enjoy excellent ecumenical relationships and the ministers of the Churches Together meet together weekly for prayer at All Saints.