The Uffington Group of Churches. Benefice Profile and Statement of Needs. Bourne. Market Deeping. Stamford. Wilsthorpe. Braceborough.

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1 The Uffington Group of Churches Bourne A6121 Benefice Profile and Statement of Needs Braceborough Wilsthorpe A15 A6121 Greatford Market Deeping Barholm West Deeping A1 A1175 Uffington Tallington Stamford A606

2 Introduction Thank you for taking an interest in the Uffington Group of Churches. If you are reading this to see whether you might be interested in becoming our next Rector, we hope you will find it helpful. If you are reading this for any other reason, we hope you will find this profile interesting, and if you are in the area, or might just be passing through, we hope that you might wish to come and see us. We hope that our new Rector will be able to inspire us in three key areas of our discipleship growth plans: drawing more of our villagers, especially from the missing generations, to respond to the message of the gospel (ie making more Christ-like Christians, as Bishop Edward King might have said); enhancing the faith of current members of our congregations (responding to the need for more Christ-like Christians, as Bishop Edward King did say); ensuring that our seven churches are not only kept open and functioning, but are made more attractive focal points for the lives of our parishioners and communities. We believe that such a person is likely to be: someone who will prayerfully seek to preach, teach and share scriptural truth; willing to grasp the nature of rural ministry; able to preserve the identity of each parish while maintaining coherence of the Group; comfortable with a range of worship and broad expression of faith; able to develop and communicate an inspirational vision for building God s work amongst all ages in the Group and in each parish; able to lead, cultivate and enthuse teams of volunteers involved in the ministry, administration and upkeep of the seven churches; open, approachable and supportive, and willing to be visible at community events in all the villages; keen to guide and support the Christian ethos of the Uffington Church of England Primary School, being a regular visitor to the school and ex-officio governor. We fully recognise that one person may not be able to do everything. Over the years we have come to understand that God s work in the seven parishes needs a team effort; we now have people with a variety of skills who are keen, supportive and enthusiastic to pull together with the right leader to spread God s word in our parishes. Contents The Uffington Group Introduction... page 2 Who and where we are (including location, transport, essential services, health & schools)... 3 The Ministry of the Group (including current practice, initiatives, ministry team & communication)... 5 The Rectory... 7 The Seven Parishes Uffington... 8 Barholm with Stowe... 9 Braceborough Greatford Tallington West Deeping Wilsthorpe The Deanery of Stamford & Diocese of Lincoln Some facts and figures Uffington Group of Churches Page 2

3 The Uffington Group Who and where we are Location The Uffington Group of Churches covers the seven (ecclesiastical) parishes in the triangle between the market towns of Stamford, Market Deeping and Bourne, in the southwest corner of Lincolnshire. As shown in the very schematic map (not to scale!) on the cover, Uffington, Tallington and West Deeping lie more or less on the main road (A1175) from Stamford to Market Deeping; Barholm, Greatford, Braceborough and Wilsthorpe are reached by country lanes. None of the villages is more than six miles by road from its nearest town. The area is becoming very desirable due to its attractive environment, historical background and transport links. Transport The benefice lies between the A1 to the west and the A15 to the east and benefits from good road links. Road access to Lincoln by either route takes just over an hour. East/West roads are the A43 from Stamford to Northampton and beyond and the A1175 leading to Spalding, Boston and the coasts of Lincolnshire and Norfolk. The benefice has excellent rail links. Stamford station provides services to Birmingham to the west and, via Peterborough, Stansted Airport, Cambridge and Norwich to the east. Peterborough provides access to London (50 minutes), many northbound stations up to Edinburgh and also local services to Lincoln and Nottingham. A weekday two-hourly bus service links Oakham, Stamford, Market Deeping, Bourne and Peterborough. Medical facilities There are GP and dental practices in Stamford, Market Deeping and Bourne. Stamford Hospital provides a range of outpatient and day surgery services, and a (very useful) minor injuries unit (9am-5pm on weekdays), but not A&E. Peterborough City Hospital provides virtually all of the services to be found in a major hospital, including A&E (though waiting times can be long, so whenever possible folk try to sustain injuries only on weekdays during normal working hours which can be treated in Stamford!). Schools There is a Church of England Primary School and an independent primary school in Uffington, and primary schools are also found in the adjoining villages of Langtoft, Baston and Thurlby (as well as the three towns). There are nurseries in Barholm, Uffington and Tallington. There are secondary schools in the three market towns and Peterborough, and further afield in Oakham. Shopping etc From the rectory, the easiest access to supermarket shopping is Morrisons, on the Uffington side of Stamford. All of the other major supermarket chains are also represented in Stamford, along with several high street names and a great selection of independent retailers and services. In the villages, a post office facility is provided in Tallington Village Hall for two hours on Tuesday afternoons and Uffington Group of Churches Page 3

4 Tallington also has a convenience supermarket in the petrol station, and a farm shop. There are post offices and convenience stores in nearby Baston, Langtoft and Ryhall, wider options in the market towns; and Peterborough, less than half an hour away, has all of the shopping facilities one would expect of a major city, including John Lewis. Businesses etc There are farms in and around each of the villages; an agricultural machinery business in Wilsthorpe, a large gravel extraction site in Tallington and a vehicle repairer in Greatford. A number of other small businesses are run by people within the villages (some of which are advertised in the Group s monthly magazine Towers & Spires). Residents of the seven villages tend to work in the three market towns, Peterborough and beyond in places like Cambridge, Leicester and London. Leisure There are five village halls within our Group of parishes, where a huge variety of activities including Women s Institute, Brownies, Guides, classes, talks, quizzes and other social events take place. Additionally, our communities meet up in the five public houses in the villages. Uffington has thriving junior & senior cricket teams, with nearby Tallington Lakes offering leisure activities including a dry ski slope, various water sports and fishing. The historic town of Stamford is two miles from the rectory. It was voted the best place to live in 2013 and second best place to live in 2017 in polls in the Sunday Times, and is renowned for a variety of restaurants and hotels. A traditional country market is held in the town every Friday. There are two theatres; one of which provides a cinema, a leisure centre and a choice of private membership fitness centres. Tolethorpe, close to Stamford, is the home of the much renowned Open Air Rutland Theatre of the Stamford Shakespeare Company. Burghley House and Park, where many open air concerts and the annual horse trials take place, attracts many visitors. The cathedral city of Peterborough offers a main line railway station, modern multi-screen cinema, four theatres, museum, library and facilities for a variety of sports. Rutland Water provides an enormous treasure trove of activities. It is serviced by a 25-mile circular track for walking, jogging and cycling; cycle hire is available. Getting out on and enjoying the water couldn't be easier at the water sports centre. Rutland Water also offers world-class trout fishing and bird watching. Civil authorities All seven parishes fall within the areas administered by Lincolnshire County Council and South Kesteven District Council. The parishes of Greatford, Tallington, Uffington and West Deeping each have a (civil) parish council covering their respective parishes. The ecclesiastical parishes of Braceborough and Wilsthorpe constitute a single civil parish and have a single (civil) parish council. The parish of Barholm with Stowe is too small to have a parish council, but a Parish Meeting is held twice a year. Several of the civil parish councils contribute to the upkeep of the churchyards. [In this profile parish means ecclesiastical parish, unless otherwise stated.] Uffington Group of Churches Page 4

5 The Ministry of the Group Current Practice The Group has existed in its current form since 1995, but the parishes have worked with their neighbours in various different groupings for very many years. However, as is common in small villages, residents tend to have a sense of place which engenders an allegiance to their locality resulting in a preference to worship in their own parish churches. So congregations are normally predominantly drawn from the village in which the church is situated, though Barholm is an exception as it attracts worshippers from several of the other parishes (especially at Evening Prayer). Each parish has taken its own decisions about the form and style of worship in its church, so there is a fair degree of variety in the services across the Group. For example, three parishes have all their services in contemporary language, one has all its services in traditional language, and the other three have some in traditional and some in contemporary language. There have been some changes in styles of worship in recent years: for example, West Deeping replaced one of its services of Morning Prayer with All Age Worship ( AAW ); Uffington replaced traditional Morning Prayer with more modern forms; Greatford replaced one of its monthly traditional Communion services with Morning Prayer or All Age Worship. There are sets of service books (generally using material extracted from Common Worship) used by parishes across the Group, but parishes are free to adopt their own variations if desired the only obligation the Group seeks to set is that there is at least one service of Holy Communion within the Group every Sunday, and services of Holy Communion in every parish on Easter Day and on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. In recent years a practice has grown up of having a weekly pew sheet, containing the readings and collects of the day, a list of potential prayer topics, and details of forthcoming services and other events. This not only aids worshippers, but also helps enhance the coherence and unity of the Group as everyone has the same set of notices etc and same set of prayer topics. As is common in small rural parishes, the churchmanship is generally fairly central, though there are variations within the Group: one parish has evangelical leanings and another is more catholically inclined. Vestments are available (and often worn) at Barholm, and are also available (though less frequently used) at Tallington, Uffington and West Deeping. The retiring Rector was prepared to conduct marriages of those previously divorced, provided that (after extensive discussion with the couple) she was fully satisfied that the Church of England s guidelines on remarriage were satisfied. All seven parishes have been prepared to host weddings of those concerned. Outreach and new initiatives The Diocesan Developing Discipleship Programme ( DDP ) was launched within the Group in April 2016 and three parishes quickly established growth plans and two others have now prepared theirs. It was a very useful exercise and has both helped us work together better as a group and enabled us to start to be more focused about what we do. We have also noted with interest the Diocese s Learning Communities initiative and can see its merits, but feel we may not have the resources to participate in the current circumstances. Although not a direct product of the DDP, a number of people from the seven parishes have been meeting fortnightly to pray for the Group as it approaches the vacancy, and folk within the Group observed the 2017 novena of prayer in Ascensiontide with special reference to the situation in the seven parishes. Trying to help parishioners grow in faith, there were more Lent groups within the Group in the last couple of years than previously, some of which led to two groups following modules from the Pilgrim course, and there is a regular fortnightly Bible Study held in West Deeping throughout the year. Also in West Deeping, the monthly Saturday coffee morning has been extended to promote the theme of the next day s AAW service. Uffington Group of Churches Page 5

6 The school in Uffington is a great opportunity for us to reach not only the children but also their families. We have a team of people from across the Group who, once a week, follow the Open the Book programme and dramatise stories from the Bible for the lower years children. For the parents and younger siblings, we run a busy drop in café on Friday mornings in term time. This has been a very positive initiative. It is very well used and has led to some families attending church, some of the mums joining one of the Lent groups and an increase in parents supporting school services in Church. We think there could be a real appetite for an Alpha-type enquirer s course within our villages. We have two care homes in our group and Holy Communion is taken to both each month. In December the residents of Tallington Care Home very much enjoyed making Christingles for their Christingle Service, the Mothers Union visited to sing carols, and we hold a service for them in Tallington church in the spring. On a practical level we want to make the church buildings more accessible and welcoming to the communities they serve. To this end, four of the churches have well-advanced plans to install toilet and servery facilities (one should be completed this year, two are at the submission stage and the fourth has some water supply problems to be resolved). We hope that all these improvements will enable us to become more integral parts of our villages. The parishes have become used to managing their own affairs as the retiring Rector s recent illness was sadly not her first period of extended sick leave in the last few years. Therefore there is a goodly number of volunteers experienced in a wide variety of aspects of the churches lives. They are looking forward to the fresh impetus that a new Rector can bring. Ministry Team Until 1997 the Group (and West Deeping in particular) benefited from the ministry of a series of retired clergy who rented the old West Deeping school house and took a number of services and helped in various ways in the Group. When the last such priest died, his widow remained in the house and was licensed to continue to assist in the parish and the wider Group. The ministry of the church was therefore maintained without developing any great tradition of formal lay involvement. But this has gradually changed in recent years. When the last vestiges of (the now defunct Diocesan initiative) New Era threatened in 2010 to abolish the post of Rector (as and when the current incumbent left), three members of Uffington s congregation trained to become Authorised Lay Ministers ( ALM ). They were authorised in 2013, (though two are not currently engaged in ministry because of family responsibilities outside the area); a member of West Deeping s congregation similarly trained (and was authorised in 2015). Another member of West Deeping s congregation trained as a Lay Reader and was admitted and licensed in There are two retired priests (one resident in Tallington, the other in Greatford) who are active in the benefice, one of whom has been coordinating the work of the benefice during the vacancy. (Another retired priest resides in Tallington but, because of historical connections, worships and assists in a nearby benefice.) The Ministry Team generally meets every two or three months to review the work within the Group, plan future work and provide mutual support to one another. The Group has also been regularly assisted by two retired priests living in Market Deeping (though one has just finally retired), and since the start of the retiring Rector s latest illness has been assisted by the clergy of Stamford. Parish & Benefice Administration Each parish has its own Parochial Church Council to conduct the affairs of its church most PCCs try not to meet unnecessarily often! A decade or so ago, there was no great coordination between parishes, though from time to time meetings of churchwardens were convened, which were sometimes broadened to churchwardens and treasurers. In 2011 this gathering decided that, in order to enhance coordination and communication Uffington Group of Churches Page 6

7 between the parishes, a group council should be established consisting (in principle) of two or three representatives of each parish though the group council would have no formal powers and no place within the Church s governance structure. Initially the Group Council met about three times a year, but during the periods of the retiring Rector s illness, has met a little more frequently to aid communication and planning and coherence within the seven parishes. The Group Council is also struggling to secure agreement between the parishes for the equitable division between the parishes of the benefice share payable to the Diocese. Communication The Group organises a monthly magazine (Towers & Spires) containing news of each of the churches and the villages more broadly (including information about parish councils, women s institutes, etc). This is distributed to every house in all seven parishes by volunteers in the parishes there is no charge, the cost is covered by advertising carried in the magazine. The seven parishes have up-to-date information on the Church of England s A Church Near You website, and there is also a website maintained locally covering the Group as a whole. Uffington and West Deeping both have an active presence on Facebook. Mothers Union The Group hosts the small (but active) Welland Branch of the Mothers' Union which meets roughly monthly (generally in West Deeping). The branch joins with other branches in the Aveland Cluster (largely from the Beltisloe and Elloe West Deaneries) for events like a Lady Day Service and the Women s World Day of Prayer and cooperates with them in supporting the Mothers Unions work at the cafe at St Benedict s, Lincoln. The Rectory The rectory is in a central position in the village of Uffington, adjacent the church. The house would make a lovely family home built in the 1950s, it is a spacious, four bedroom detached property set back from the Main Road, and has a separate garage. There is a large frontage with a lovely beech hedge and mature horse chestnut trees, and a fully enclosed back garden, laid mostly to lawn and with its own back gate entrance to the church via the churchyard. The accommodation downstairs comprises a separate entrance porch, open hallway, dining room, study, kitchen with utility room and back door access to outside, lounge, and very large cloakroom with WC. The rooms are all generously sized and the lounge runs the whole depth of the house, with windows to the front and French windows out to the garden at the rear. Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms, a family bathroom (with a shower over the bath) and a separate toilet; one of the bedrooms has a hand basin. The rectory has all the normal utilities (BT Infinity is available), and has gas central heating (a new boiler was installed three or four years ago). It is in good order (work arising from the most recent quinquennial inspection was completed in early 2017). Uffington Group of Churches Page 7

8 The seven parishes Uffington (Church of St Michael and All Angels) The parish of Uffington is the largest of the seven parishes with a population of 680 people. The rectory and church are situated in the centre of the village, 2 miles to the east of Stamford. Uffington is traditionally a farming community with a core of stone built properties, but it now also incorporates many more modern houses. A significant number of the population commute to London. There are two primary schools and a nursery. There are three main hubs in the village; the Church, the Village Hall and the newly re-vitalised pub. In the summer, there is also the Cricket Club. There is a lot of overlap and goodwill between these centres (although that does not translate into people attending church services) and many events are organised in the village; talks, quizzes, a book club, WI, keep fit classes and the Scarecrow Weekend to name but a few. The Church of St Michael and All Angels Our vision can be split into three aims: to grow and support each other in our own faith; to help others to come to know God; to be a blessing in our community. Our church is large, Grade 1 listed, and in good order. Five years ago, we re-roofed the chancel; and also re-roofed and completely refurbished the adjoining Casewick Chapel. We have recently received the Chancellor s approval of our plans to build toilet and servery facilities and are very excited to extend the use of the church further and bring the facilities of the church into the 21 st century. The church building is always open during the day. The main outreach activities that the Casewick Chapel space makes possible are the Casewick Café and Open the Book. The Café is run weekly in term time, primarily for the parents of children at our local Church of England primary school and their preschool children. It is hugely appreciated and a regular Friday morning commitment for about 14 mums and 10 children. The mums run a church stall at Scarecrow Weekend and four of them attended the last Lent course that we ran. We are very lucky to have the fine school directly across the road from the church, with a very supportive headmistress who is a member of our congregation. A group of people delivers Open the Book to the younger schoolchildren each week, and this is much valued and appreciated, and enjoyed by all! Through school the children take a very active part in the life of the church throughout the year, contributing to the major festivals, coming over to church for assemblies, nativity plays and their carol service and, more generally, to explore aspects of church life in their RE work. We also have a good relationship with the independent primary school in the village who hold their carol service in church and who contribute significantly to the life of the village. Both schools currently enjoy visits from members of the Stamford clergy, but are very much looking forward to having regular input from our own rector. Uffington Group of Churches Page 8

9 Our regular Sunday attendance averages around 18, with ages ranging from 1 to 90+, depending on the service. Once a month we run a Sunday School during the morning service, typically for 5 or 6 very young children. Every service is followed by coffee and plenty of opportunity for conversation. We have an active and committed PCC with a wide range of qualities, the greatest one being that we work together as a team. Three of our PCC members are school governors and the Rector is an ex officio governor. Our organist plays for our service every Sunday and is himself a member of the PCC. A group of bellringers from around the locality ring for special services. As a PCC we are joint trustees of the Village Hall and support that organisation by running winter afternoon talks for their funds. Financially, we are solvent and always pay our parish share. Our main source of income is the annual village Scarecrow Weekend which, as well as raising money, brings together people from across the village and sees a steady flow of people in church. We also benefit from a village charity, the Somes Trust, which has the Rector and churchwardens as trustees. As a church, we have been fairly successful at keeping the show on the road, but are keen to do more than that and are hungry for some genuine spiritual leadership to help us fulfil our vision. Barholm with Stowe (the Church of St Martin) BUILT TO LAST, HERE FOR THE FUTURE The parish of Barholm with Stowe has the smallest population within the Group, just 97 people. There are 34 houses within the village of Barholm, and another 6 in the small settlement of Stowe (adjacent King Street). Four of these houses were the result of relatively recent barn conversions (though as the built up parts of the parish have been designated as conservation areas, it is unlikely that any further building growth will take place). The village of Barholm has a thriving public house and a private, well-respected nursery school, and the land around is extensively farmed. There is no (civil) parish council, but a Barholm Parish Meeting is normally held twice a year. The Church of St Martin, Barholm is the oldest in the group, being largely medieval, but showing Saxon origins and beautiful Norman arches and arcading. During the mid-nineteenth century, St Martin s was run on Tractarian values of which there is evidence in the church today. The Church is always open during the day and our visitors book tells us that we have visitors from all over the world, which is amazing given our rural location. Up-to-date and relevant information is displayed on the notice board in the porch. There are two services a month: traditional Evening Prayer on the first Sunday at 6pm and Holy Communion (Common Worship, traditional language) every third Sunday at 9am. St Martin s is pleased to welcome worshippers resident elsewhere in the Group and beyond, and most folk feel there is a very special atmosphere of peace and reverence within the church. Uffington Group of Churches Page 9

10 The congregation is mainly elderly and retired but faithful, with an average Sunday attendance at Evensong of 19 and Holy Communion of 12. We are able to seat 70 people comfortably. Special services include a St Martin s Day Celebration (transferred to the first Sunday of July in line (roughly) with the BCP calendar to avoid being submerged by Armistice Day), Choral Evensong with guest choir, Group Services, Harvest Festival, Advent Carol Service and midnight Christmas Communion (held every other year) attract greater numbers, showcasing Barholm at its most joyful with after service fellowship. Our PCC consists of a churchwarden (who is also our regular organist), deputy churchwarden, PCC secretary and six long standing members. We have a loyal rota of people who provide a welcome at service and who read the lessons. A team of talented flower arrangers delight our congregation and visitors alike throughout the year and enhance the natural beauty of our church. We have a treasurer who, although not on the PCC, is always on hand for advice. Our parish share is always paid early and in full. The church traditionally holds a well-supported annual gift day which, along with the regular collection plate and donations received at our cultural heritage tours and teas, covers day to day expenses. There is no village hall or community meeting place so the PCC is working hard to preserve and equip St Martin s as a useable hub of the village. We are working towards ensuring that the building is accessible, in good order, informative, comfortable and welcoming and that the building is fit for purpose in the 21st Century and for generations to come. A faculty for re-laying of the entrance path and installing a water main was approved in December 2017, and the work is now complete. The provision of a lavatory and servery is identified as a priority. We have already, on the advice of the DAC, instructed an architect who has drawn up plans, approved by the PCC, who as a team are very much committed to these improvements. One of our next steps is to upgrade the lighting to aid the congregation and to enhance our church building. Our last quinquennial inspection was in February 2016 and we are working together as a PCC to complete a schedule of repairs and maintenance, as recommended by the architect. As a small congregation we have very much embraced the DDP and set out our living growth plan in spring Our document may be seen and discussed in more detail at any time by any one of us. In summary, our vision is split into two distinct aims: Welcoming - the improvement of our church building (Our Haven) as outlined above, and Fellowship including helping others to know God, via fortnightly worship, special services, quiet afternoons and church/culture tours and improved communication. St Martin s is well supported by a small in number, but big in heart, loyal congregation. We would very much welcome a cheerful priest who is prepared to work hard, with our support, to encourage and engage younger people and families who we recognise we are failing to attract. Uffington Group of Churches Edward King window in St Martin s Church Page 10

11 We hope to welcome someone who will lead our Church family in faith, and help us reach out to the Parish of Barholm, forging links with the nursery school, the thriving public house and the wider community; at the same time respecting the individuality and tradition of St Martin s, whilst helping us to unite in a healthy, courteous and loving relationship within the Uffington Group family. Braceborough (Church of St Margaret of Antioch) YOUR CHURCH, OUR COMMUNITY, WE CARE TOGETHER. The parish of Braceborough lies to the north of the Group. There are 71 properties, mostly privatelyowned by their occupiers, housing about 189 residents. We have an active Parish Council (in conjunction with neighbouring Wilsthorpe), a fully functioning PCC, and a proactive Village Hall Committee which organises a full diary of social events for the community, often in conjunction with the church. The Village Hall, in the centre of the village, belongs to the church and is leased to the Village Hall Committee. The privately-owned Braceborough Hall Retirement Home is nearby and Holy Communion is taken into the Hall each month. There are no shops, nor public houses. Apart from a daily school bus, there are no regular bus services but Call Connect flexibus is available with notice. A small, rural village with a genuinely friendly, helpful and welcoming community approach; the village maintains a full diary of varying social events to which everyone is welcome. Fund-raising events contribute to the financial health of the Village Hall Committee, the maintenance of the village hall building and grounds. These fund-raising events are shared with church from time to time to help support its financial position. The Church of St Margaret of Antioch is a Grade 1 Listed ragstone building within the village conservation area, with bell tower, spire and tiled roof, dating to the 13 th century (tower). The porch was added in 1620 and substantial renovations were completed by the Victorians around We have wonderful original stained glass windows, flag stone floors, an organ, adequate lighting but little heating. It is cold in winter, but we love our pretty church! The church building is open all day, every day. We have completed a number of substantial repairs and improvements during the last 15 years including essential work to the tower, areas of roofing, stonework, the porch, flooring and pew supports on the south side and the bell tower. These were largely funded by grant-aid and local fundraising which was well supported by the village community. Holy Communion at 9am on the first Sunday of each month attracts about 13 worshipers (almost double from 5 years ago). Good Friday, Easter Sunday (about 18), Harvest Thanksgiving (35-40), Christmas Eve Carol Service (100+) and Christmas Day (15) are the other main festival services. We have baptisms, weddings and funerals. There is a ramp in the porch to assist with disabled access. PCC and Management: We have a churchwarden, secretary, treasurer, Synod representative and an organist. Quite a few others help get things done! 18 are registered on the electoral roll. Finances: Our parish share has been paid in full every year. This year a reduction has been agreed so we might invest a little in helping make our church more welcoming. For many years over 90% of our income has been returned to the diocese. The local Parish Council makes a grant each year towards the costs of Uffington Group of Churches Page 11

12 grass cutting and maintenance of the churchyard. Our accounts have reserves of about 10,000. Planned giving, plate collections, a Gift Day and fund-raising events generate our income. Practical support with some fund-raising events comes from our close relationship with the Village Hall Committee. We have a Parish Development Plan, adopted by the PCC, which lists a number of objectives we aim to achieve over the coming years. Summary: We could be described as a low maintenance parish given our relatively low number of services and the ability to get things done and to help each other within our village community. Braceborough really has a true community spirit and the willingness to support each other is regularly demonstrated. Our Wish List: To improve the visibility and presence of church leadership within our parish church family and village community. To improve pastoral visiting; for our new incumbent to be regularly seen in Braceborough and at social events. For our church to become more attractive and welcoming, particularly to young people, families and individuals within the wider community. To continue to improve the appearance of parts of church and comfort levels at services, in accordance with the Parish Development Plan. However, our church building lacks heat and despite the warmth of our welcome, remains the coldest in the Group! Greatford (Church of St Thomas Becket) The parish of Greatford (pronounced Grettford the name probably derives from gritford) contains the small, pretty village of essentially two roads, with around 100 houses, and approximately 250 inhabitants. It is situated on the West Glen River, centred around Greatford Hall and Manor Farm, and is about 4½ miles north east of Stamford. It is purported to have been on the coast in pre-historic times and is surrounded by flat fields leading out into the Fens to the east and is at the end of the oolitic limestone sweep that reaches out from the Cotswolds in the west to Stamford. The population is made up of families with very young children, through to pensioners: some of our most elderly folk are no longer able to remain at home and live in near-by care homes. The village has a pub (The Hare & Hounds), a recently renovated and well used Village Hall and a playing field. The village school closed in 1983 and pupils transferred to Baston Church of England Primary School. Today some children attend Copthill School, Uffington and the Stamford Schools as well as Baston. The parish council (which helps fund the cutting of the churchyard grass) meets every two months and in 2017 Greatford won the Best-Kept Village Award (small villages class). An annual village litter-pick takes place. There is no public bus service reaching the village apart from the early morning and afternoon school buses. There is an annual village fete, and the Village Hall hosts choir practice, music groups, exercise groups, monthly Meet your Neighbour events (run by church members), dog-training classes and the occasional craft fair. There are a number of book groups held around the village and two or three Ladies Evenings are planned in the pub. Uffington Group of Churches Page 12

13 The church of St Thomas of Canterbury is a grade 1 listed building, having an average congregation of between eight and fourteen mainly of pensionable age but nonetheless active in the maintenance of the church. In 2015 the church was enhanced by the installation of a new stained glass window in memory of Thomas Becket. Plans have been prepared for the installation of a lavatory and servery. The PCC has prepared a Discipleship Development Programme. The church building benefits from funds raised through Friends of Greatford Church. Further funds are raised regularly by the delivery, with our parish magazine, of the local magazine, and by talks given on the history of the church. The church is the burial place of Dr Francis Willis, ordained priest who (with his son) attended King George III and combined traditional methods of treating the King s madness with more enlightened, forward-looking methods. Nolleken s fine bust of Francis Willis and the Willis memorial tablets in the chapel attract visitors to the church. Our church is used by those connected with the village for christenings, weddings and funerals. We host the group Christingle Service and our Christmas Eve Carol Service attracts a full church of around 180 people. The church is always open during the day. Some of the congregation meet for regular Bible study and discussion about our faith. The Becket Window It is hoped that our work leading on from the DDP will attract more villagers to join our congregation all are very welcome! Services take place on the second and fourth Sundays of each month at 9.00 a.m. The first service is Holy Communion and the second is either Morning Prayer or an all-age service. Services are preceded by bell-ringing and we are fortunate to have two organists who accompany these services. Coffee and biscuits are usually served after services. We are a supportive, caring village, with many quiet and unseen acts of charity and generosity. There is a core of residents who are committed to creating a sense of community within the village and keen to volunteer their efforts to that end. Tallington (Church of St Lawrence) The parish of Tallington lies on the A1175, 4 miles east of Stamford. In the 2011 census the population was 497. The A1175 runs through the village with the majority of properties on the North side of the road. The busy East Coast Main Line (ECML) runs North/South at the east end of the village and, at peak times, long queues of vehicles at the level crossing clog up the village. A Tallington by-pass was first mooted in 1954 and is still awaited - not only by the residents of Tallington but by the thousands of motorists who daily pass through the village! If a by-pass comes about it is proposed to run north of the Village and will provide a modest increase in the number of houses which is necessary to pay for the road. Railtrack had planned to provide the bridge but lack of funding means the project has been shelved. There are essentially three adjoining housing estates in the village: at the west end is St Lawrence Way, a relatively new estate of 51 houses. The centre of the village consists of mainly older houses with a few new in-fills and six new houses in Red House Paddock. To the East end of the village is Searson Close, a newer estate of 12 houses adjacent to the ECML. Uffington Group of Churches Page 13

14 Village facilities consist of an active Village Hall with a children's play area containing play equipment; a garage with a shop; a Physiotherapy Clinic in Barn House; a public house (The Whistle Stop) and a recently modernised and extended care home. There is a Nursery school in the village, but the nearest primary school is in Uffington. A visiting Post Office facility is provided on Tuesday afternoons in the Village Hall and a library van attends the village every four weeks. BT has provided fibre optic to a cabinet in Bainton Road with copper connections to village homes. A commercial company, Gigaclear, has provided fibre optic connection in the village with connections available to every house, should they wish to upgrade. Tallington Lakes Leisure Park, situated around 205 acres of water left by the old gravel workings in the north east corner of the parish, provides water sports facilities and a mixture of lodges and residential properties. Some of these are used as weekend properties whilst others are permanently occupied. In all they total some 450 properties with more being built. The church of St Lawrence is an attractive 11th century church at the west end of the village off Bainton Lane. It is a well kept church with a small regular congregation of around 11 consisting mainly of people of 65+ years. Festivals attract higher figures of We have one retired priest in the village who has taken our services during the vacancy and who regularly conducts our monthly Evening Prayer. We have a PCC and volunteers keep the church running, provide flowers and ensure the church is clean. The churchyard is maintained on contract. The church has an occasional gift day and holds an annual coffee morning. The Group Ministry Team provides support for services in the Tallington Care Home in the village. We meet our parish share but it is difficult with a small congregation. Annual grants of around are made by the Parish Council and the Herons Trust. We have been fortunate in recent years to benefit from some generous personal donations but these cannot be relied upon as a means of funding. The church building is always open during the day. West Deeping (Church of St Andrew) The parish of West Deeping is an attractive Lincolnshire village three miles west of Market Deeping on the A1175 Stamford Road and six miles east of Stamford. Part of the village to the south, where St Andrew s Church is located, is in a conservation area. The village has an approximate population of 270 spanning all age groups: children attend schools in the local area. Much of the land in the parish is farmed except to the north of the A1175 where there is large scale gravel extraction. The village has a Village Hall and a pub. Many of the 12 clubs and groups in the village use the Village Hall as their meeting place. The church community is very involved with these groups such as heritage, conservation, reading, walking and rural arts. We hold a monthly church coffee morning in the Village Hall preceding the AAW service. St Andrew s Church is a lovely Grade 1 listed building the oldest parts of which (including the nave and tower) date back to the 13th Century. The tower houses six bells which are rung regularly. The church is open during the day all year round for visitors. The building has been maintained over the years to a reasonable standard, within limited resources. Now as part of our DDP growth plan we are actively Uffington Group of Churches Page 14

15 considering a restoration and improvement programme, the first step being installation of modern toilet and servery facilities to improve suitability for our community. It is our desire to use the church building for many more activities than we are currently able to do. As caretakers of this beautiful building we pray that this programme will provide a legacy for future generations. Our dream would be for the church to grow through the Christians in West Deeping being involved in our community and surrounding area showing the love of Jesus. This dream is articulated in our DDP vision, mission and plans which the PCC uses to manage our activities. Our mission may be summarised as: Being a visible and active presence in our local community providing spiritual and practical support and, by example, drawing people to Christ. Being a community which is supportive, nourishing and encouraging of each other. Being an encouragement to the lonely and those in need. Caring for and developing our church building to promote its position in village life. Our ministry is based on a small, faithful and friendly community looking to grow. We are fortunate to have a service in the village every Sunday: one Morning Prayer; two Holy Communion and one AAW Service. When there is a 5th Sunday in the month there is an Uffington Group Service and we would like to see this activity grow as we work more closely together as a group with the guidance of a new Rector. We are blessed with an Authorised Lay Minister and a Reader and members of our church family take an active role in worship. Attendance at AAW services is regularly 30 or more people, including families with children. Special services such as Easter Sunday, Harvest Festival and the Christmas Carol service, recently coupled with AAW, are most popular attracting larger congregations. We have people with skills and the desire to serve God who would be willing and able to support the prospective incumbent. The AAW Services have been running for three years, firstly with help from people from St George s Church, Stamford who live in a nearby village, then under the direction of a Curate who had a year s appointment to help out in a number of parishes in the Group and latterly with a home grown team from St Andrew s Church. This is a contemporary service and the number of people it has attracted has been very encouraging but we feel, to move on, we need input and leadership and the presence of a rector on some occasions. Music at this service is led from the keyboard and we have a portable sound system. In addition, we have a Bible study (home) group which meets fortnightly on a Tuesday afternoon. Numbers have been growing, currently we have around a dozen members. We therefore eagerly await a new priest to guide us with all forms of ministry and pastoral care and to actively help us to reach out to those in our community and the wider Uffington Group with the good news of the gospel. Our organisation activities are managed by an experienced team in the PCC which includes our ALM, our Reader, the churchwarden and the treasurer. The PCC meets quarterly and the agenda is driven by our DDP and growth plans for our faith, worship, evangelism, outreach, fabric and events. We pay our parish share in full each year: our income and projected outlay is an annual challenge! We organise regular fund-raising events such as the Open Village event in June 2017 and the recent Christmas Tree Festival. These have helped inspire community integration and raise much Uffington Group of Churches Page 15

16 needed funds. Minutes of meetings and other useful information with pictures are published on our Parish website at: We have two active charities in the village and the Rector of the Group is an ex-officio trustee on both. In summary, we are trying hard to sustain our vision and praying even harder for genuine spiritual leadership to guide us all on our journey. Wilsthorpe (Church of St Faith) The parish of Wilsthorpe comprises 40 houses (including 2 farms) in the village, which are surrounded by fields and open countryside. The church of St Faith, Wilsthorpe is the youngest church in the group, being just 300 years old. We celebrated our tercentenary in 2015 with a service led by the Bishop of Lincoln. Despite being only 300 years old, we do have a fine stone figure of a 13 th century knight which has recently been authenticated. St Faith s is open all day, every day and has up to date, relevant information displayed on the notice board on the front gate. We have just one service a month: Holy Communion on the first Sunday at 10.30am. We do however host the Group s Dawn Service on Easter Day (as we have the best view in the Group of the rising sun), and also Holy Communion on Easter Day and Christmas Day at 10.30am; Harvest Festival and the Carol Service on Christmas Eve (which includes dressing the crib). These attract a good many people from the village. We are fortunate to have had young families move to the village in recent years. Four of the children have been baptised in St Faith s and they and other children, now take great delight in helping to decorate the church for Christmas and taking part in the services throughout the year. We have created a children s area with books, crayons etc. Our churchyard is very well kept throughout the year with the help of a small grant from the Parish Council and a very supportive volunteer. Our PCC consists of a churchwarden (who plays our music on his guitar), a treasurer, PCC secretary and 5 other members. All our members, when available, take part in all our services and are very welcoming to new-comers and/or visitors. We do our best to pay our parish share in full, with contributions from the collection plate and regular planned giving. There is no village hall or community meeting place in our parish, so the church has been used for choral evenings, jubilee celebrations and exhibitions, including a commemoration of the start of the First World War and our tercentenary, where we serve refreshments. These events are always well attended. The church is also used to hold the Parish Council Meeting three times a year, the other meetings are held in Braceborough Village Hall, which is also available for our use for larger fund-raising events. At the end of 2016 the church steeple was repaired to stop ingress of rain and pigeons (!), as advised by our quinquennial inspection. This was funded by grants from various organisations and fund-raising within the village, including Open Gardens and Pimms and Plants The Tercentenary Service Uffington Group of Churches Page 16

17 evening, which has now become an annual event! St Faith s is well supported by a small but loyal congregation, who would like to see the church thrive and would welcome a Rector who will encourage and engage with our younger members to see our church continue to grow within the Uffington Benefice Group. The WW1 exhibition The Deanery of Stamford & Diocese of Lincoln The Uffington Benefice, together with the four benefices in Stamford (All Saints with St John the Baptist, St Georges, Christ Church and the united benefice of St Mary and St Martin) make up the Deanery of Stamford one of the six deaneries in the Archdeaconry of Boston and 22 deaneries of the Diocese. The Stamford Deanery is the southwest corner of the Diocese (and County) of Lincoln the Deanery is surrounded to the south, west, and much of the north by the Diocese of Peterborough. To the east and north east the Deanery abuts the deaneries of Elloe West and Beltisloe. The Anglican churches in Stamford work with the other Christian denominations in the town to proclaim the gospel in words and the work done in the town; much of this is done under the banner of Churches together in Stamford (CTiS), and as its focus is the town of Stamford, the Uffington Group is not formally a member of CTiS, but participates in those activities which are appropriate (eg the week of prayer for Christian Unity). The Stamford Deanery Synod meets three times a year, rotating around the benefices, and sometimes meets in the Casewick Chapel of Uffington Church. Each of the seven parishes has one lay representative on the synod. The Stamford Deanery Chapter generally meets six times a year, rotating around the benefices. A Bishop s Mission Order has been made for the Stamford, Bourne and Deepings area (covering the deaneries of Stamford, Beltisloe and Elloe West ie including the parishes of the Uffington Group of Churches). The objectives of the Mission Initiative are: To allow a mission enabler to recruit and train leaders of missional communities and/or Fresh Expressions and gather groups for the specific task of growing new disciples wherever the new communities are seeded in the surrounding area. To work in partnership with local parishes and incumbents to encourage mutual flourishing through midweek, homebased discipleship. To encourage the missional community/fresh Expression to worship locally at least once a month at the invitation of the local parish. The vision is the making of disciples on mission with Jesus across South Lincolnshire. The Bishop s Mission Order will give permission for work in partnership with the inherited forms of church in South Lincolnshire. The aim is to build mid-week communities who have a heart to reach out and grow disciples in their local networks and community. St George s Church Stamford will act as a resource church to encourage these new communities to grow locally, build good relationships with inherited forms of church, with the possibility of joining in monthly local worship at the welcome of the local parish. Uffington Group of Churches Page 17