Parish of Central Wolverhampton. Profile for the Role of Team Vicar (0.5) with Pastoral Oversight for All Saints and St John s in the Square

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1 Parish of Central Wolverhampton Profile for the Role of Team Vicar (0.5) with Pastoral Oversight for All Saints and St John s in the Square 1

2 Contents: p2 Role Description p3 Mission Statements p3-5 Parish Team p6-8 Views of the Congregations p8-9 Church Buildings and Vicarage p10-11 Parish Statistics and Worship Pattern p12-13 City of Wolverhampton p14 on Finances (Accounts as an Appendix) Welcome Thank you for taking the time to consider becoming our Team Vicar within the Parish of Central Wolverhampton. We have done our best to give you a balanced picture of the churches, our fellowship and our place in the community and set out what we see as our aspirations and priorities for the future, as well as the challenges we face. We are looking for a priest who will develop closer relationships between these two churches, keeping both firmly rooted within the Team, develop the skills of the congregations and encourage more people to take responsibility as we develop what the churches do. Both churches have small, friendly congregations, each with some very committed and willing members. We seek someone who can support, listen and use our activities as a way of building up our fellowship and reaching out effectively with the Gospel. We want to build on what we already do and discern what else God is calling us to do. We trust that this Profile will assist you as you seek to discern if God is calling you to this post. Do please contact the Team Rector, The Revd. Preb. David Wright, on if you would like an informal conversation about any aspect of this Profile or of the post. ROLE DESCRIPTION PURPOSE OF POST (0.5 TIME) As Team Vicar with pastoral oversight of All Saints Church and the Church of St John in the Square, to have pastoral care of those congregations, with support from the Team Rector, and to minister across the wider Team when needed. MAIN TASKS: All Saints and St John s To care for and nurture the congregations To be an able and engaging leader in worship, mission and ministry To work with the congregations in discerning and developing a vision for their future mission and ministry To work with and encourage the ministry of others To be a visible presence, engaged in the life of the community including schools, community projects and inter-faith links To encourage and enable the congregations to engage fully in the life of each church and the wider community To be primarily responsible for the regular worship and pastoral offices in the All Saints (Southern District) and at St John s, assisted where necessary by the wider Team. In particular, the Team Rector will offer to conduct a minimum of two regular services per month in support of the Team Vicar 2

3 To encourage and develop forms of worship and to help the congregations explore new ways of relating to God To chair the meetings of the Southern District Church Council and St John s Management Group. WIDER TASKS: CENTRAL TEAM To work as a member of the Team, alongside clergy, authorised lay ministers and lay members across the Parish with the assistance of the parish administrator To attend staff meetings and contribute to the strengthening and the mission of the Parish To attend bi-monthly PCC meetings and PCC Standing and Finance Committee meetings MISSION STATEMENTS As a Team, we have an overall Mission Statement, which is: We, the Christians in the Parish of Central Wolverhampton, will continue to witness to God s Love and Justice in our broken world. We will proclaim Jesus Christ in our community. We will celebrate with joy His light shining in our darkness. Each church then formulates its own missional priorities which are specific to its character and area. For these two churches they are: All Saints St John s The All Saints Mission Action Plan is currently under revision. We will continue to be a welcoming, worshipping presence in the heart of the city. We will develop links with businesses and service providers in our vicinity to bring them into contact with the church for worship and charity fundraising, using St John s as a resource for all. We will develop our connections with groups who come to St John s for occasional or special event services. We will develop the concert life and other cultural uses of St John s to enable us to have the church open more often and to attract new people into our building and fellowship. THE PARISH TEAM AND CHURCH LEADERSHIP The Churches of All Saints and St John s in the Square, together with St Peter s Collegiate Church and the Church of St Chad and St Mark, form the Parish of Central Wolverhampton. This is a single parish benefice. Prior to 1978 these were separate parish churches. In 1978, all apart from St John s combined to form the Parish of Central Wolverhampton, with St John s joining the Team in All Saints and St John s are described in more detail below. St Peter s is the civic church of Wolverhampton, with a strong choral tradition and a distinctive ministry to the city centre and its institutions. It has close links to S. Peter s Collegiate School. St Chad and St Mark is in a residential area with people from many different ethnic and faith backgrounds. It has strong links to the community and has a distinctive ministry amongst asylum seekers and refugees, particularly the Farsi speaking community. 3

4 St Peter s Collegiate Church St Chad and St Mark The stipendiary staffing establishment is 2.0, which is made up of a full time Team Rector and two 0.5 Team Vicars. In addition we have one OLM, a stipendiary curate, two readers, and a parish administrator who works 20 hours per week. The Parish is divided into three Districts. The Central District, which covers Wolverhampton city centre inside the Ring Road and an area to the north of the city centre, takes in St Peter s Collegiate Church and St John s in the Square. The Southern District centres on the All Saints area and includes All Saints Church. It is an easy ten minute walk, or a five minute drive, between All Saints and St John s Churches. The Western District is based around the Penn Fields and Merridale areas and includes St Chad and St Mark s Church. The Rev d. Preb. David Wright, who has been in post for nine years, is the Team Rector and is focussed predominantly at St Peter s, but also currently has overall responsibility and pastoral oversight for St John s. Under the arrangements contemplated by this post, in addition to having pastoral care of All Saints, the Team Vicar will also have primary pastoral oversight for St John s, with support from the Team Rector. The Rev d. Ray Gaston is Team Vicar (0.5) in the Western District and is also Bishop s Interfaith Enabler (0.5). He has been in post for three years. The Team Vicar s post (0.5) in the Southern District was held by The Revd. Preb. Sarah Schofield until May 2018, when she moved to be Senior Chaplain to the University of Wolverhampton. The Parish has two Readers, one who works between St Peter s and St John s and the other who is based at St Chad and St Mark s. The Reader at St Chad and St Mark s has recently been recommended for OLM training. As well as a PCC for the whole Parish, each District has its own DCC and many day to day decisions affecting each church are made locally at DCC level. Because of the disparity in size between St Peter s and St John s, it was often the case that at Central District DCC meetings the business from St Peter s rather swamped that from St John s. The PCC therefore agreed that each of these two churches would have its own Management Group which would meet separately and focus on its own church, coming together on occasions as a whole DCC when necessary. This has worked well. All Saints has two churchwardens in post, while St John s has a warden and a deputy warden. All Saints is in a predominantly residential area, with people of many ethnic and faith backgrounds, whilst St John s is in the city s business district and surrounded mainly by offices. 4

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6 THE VIEWS OF THE CONGREGATIONS In order to determine how each of the churches see the future, a joint working group was set up by the PCC and, as part of their discussions, a survey was conducted amongst members of both churches. A good number of responses was received from each church. The first, vital question we asked was whether the two congregations were in favour of sharing a part time priest. The responses were All Saints St John s Yes 100% of respondents Yes 100% of respondents We then asked the following questions, with the answers from each church being shown. What qualities do you want in your new priest? From All Saints : Empathy with the social demographics of the area Non judgmental Committed to both churches A good listener and communicator Someone to take the church into the future Someone who is flexible and can handle people s needs. From St John s: Rooted in faith as set out in the Gospels Sincere intentions to carry out pastoral work Sense of humour (mentioned multiple times) Good listener (mentioned multiple times) Healthy self-image Open to different races/cultures/ethnic groups Generous, forgiving, loving and kind Someone who would ask what Christ would do Not too liberal Friendly, approachable and down to earth. What skills would you like in your new priest? From All Saints : Someone able to develop and enable congregation members Someone able to form links with the community, including schools Someone able to vary services Someone who embraces the whole of All Saints community Someone with imagination, a level head and purpose A team player who will work well alongside their peers. 6

7 From St John s: Someone able to teach the faith of the universal church Someone with a flexible approach to all age groups Someone with people skills a good listener A good preacher and teacher (mentioned a few times) A good singer Someone able to build the congregation and encourage families and children (mentioned a few times) Someone able to reach out into the community, including schools Not a technophobe, willing to at least engage with social media. How would you describe your congregation (strengths and weaknesses)? From All Saints : A friendly, welcoming community Able to embrace differing points of view Open to change if it is needed Willing to pull together and to sing without a musician. From St John s: Older age groups/long in years/lots of experience Steadfast and hard working Small in number Amazing flapjacks after service! Friendly/welcoming (mentioned several times) Quiet and keep their opinions to themselves Like a traditional C of E way of worship Supportive and tolerant As ageing not as many people able to help out anymore Sometimes resistant to change. What are your hopes and aspirations for the future? From All Saints : To build on our existing strengths To see strong, growing young people in our church (mentioned several times) To start activities for young people such as Sunday School or Messy Church To grow and become more involved in the community To be ready to face future challenges together. From St John s: For everyone to gather together young and old That we will attract families with children and younger people so that our church will have a future To establish a firm understanding of our faith so people outside the church can see Christian faith in practice 7

8 To reach out into the residential and business community and be more involved Prayer meetings and home visits (including the sick); More attendance Maybe a soup kitchen for the homeless A place of safety and warmth Maybe a choir again one day. CHURCH BUILDINGS AND VICARAGE St John s in the Square is an elegant, Grade II* listed Georgian building, which has recently been completely redecorated and for which a faculty application is pending to create a screened narthex at the west end, beneath the gallery. Work started on its construction in 1758 under the architect George Eykyn and the church was completed and dedicated in It was originally a chapel of ease to St Peter s Collegiate Church, but became a parish in its own right in St John s has a number of parking spaces in the churchyard which are rented out to local businesses and provide a good, regular income. It has good toilet and kitchen facilities as well as a superb acoustic, all of which contribute to its regular use for concerts and events. It is surrounded by a well-maintained churchyard which is closed to new coffined burials but has two areas set aside for the burial of cremated remains. St John s is unusual in that it has an organ which is older than the church itself. The organ was built by Renatus Harris in 1684 for the famous battle of the organs in the Temple Church in London. It lost that competition to an organ built by Bernard Smith and was then acquired by Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. It was purchased by St John s in 1762 and remains in good order. Ironically, the organ which defeated it in the battle of the organs fell victim to the Blitz during the Second World War when the Temple Church was badly damaged. There is an organist and the organ is used to lead the singing on Sundays. St John s has friendly links with the nearby Graisley Primary School. 8

9 All Saints was originally a mission church established in 1865 by The Revd. Henry Hampton, then Vicar of St John s. It became a parish in its own right in A mission school was established at the side of it and, whilst this building no longer serves as a school, it remains an important part of local life having been developed by the All Saints Action Network (ASAN) as a community facility called The Workspace. The church was built in Gothic style with a nave to seat 800. The nave is now separated internally from the transept, sanctuary and vestry, with the former having been converted to community use (and being leased to the City Council) with the latter forming the current church. The church is not a listed building. It is surrounded by small grounds, with those on the south side being used as a community garden. There is no burial ground. It has solar panels on the south facing roof, which provide an important income stream from the feed in tariff. It has good kitchen facilities and the toilet area is currently being completely renovated. The Probation Service have two regular, weekly bookings of the church, for which they pay a hiring charge. Community links are good. Grove Primary School is nearby and the church has longstanding connections with it. The Vicarage The Vicarage is a modern, purpose built four-bedroomed house over three floors. There is an en-suite bathroom to the main bedroom, together with a family bathroom and a visitors toilet accessible from the main door and study. There is an attached garage with direct access from the garage into the house as well as off road parking to the rear of the house. The entire building has double glazing and central heating. A burglar alarm is installed. There is a secure, walled garden. The Vicarage is a short walk from All Saints Church, an easy tenminute walk from St John s and fifteen minutes from the city centre. The nearest Metrolink stop is a five-minute walk away. There are local shops (including a pharmacy) nearby. 9

10 PARISH STATISTICS Whilst the statistics for All Saints and St John s in the Square will be of primary interest, it is worth setting them in the context of those relating to the other churches in the Team in order to give the widest possible picture. Average Sunday Attendance Adults and (Children) Church All Saints 20 (10) 17 (6) 17 (5) St John s 24 (3) 25 (3) 21 (2) Ss Chad and Mark 31 (5) 40 (6) 60 (8) St Peter s 131 (51) 132 (47) 140 (46) Total Easter/Christmas Attendances Church All Saints 55/65 39/75 22/80 St John s 140*/41 31/37 30/61 Ss Chad and Mark 54/95 50/102 74/119 St Peter s 353/ / /857 * This service included a baptism, hence the unusually high attendance. Electoral Roll Church All Saints St John s Ss Chad and Mark St Peter s Occasional Offices Baptisms/Weddings/Funerals (church and crematorium) Church All Saints 8/0/5 1/0/2 5/0/1 St John s 1/1/2 2/3/6 0/2/3 Ss Chad and Mark 1/0/13 8/0/5 35/0/7 St Peter s 14/4/18 3/8/17 14/7/16 10

11 WORSHIP PATTERN Sundays St John s 9.30am Sung Eucharist Common Worship, traditional language Singing accompanied by the organ All Saints 11.15am Sung Eucharist Common Worship, modern language Singing led by the congregation St Peter s also has its Choral Eucharist at 11.15am on a Sunday, and the practice has been for the Team Rector and the Team Vicar to alternate in presiding at the 9.30am Eucharist at St John s, with the one presiding at St John s then going on either to All Saints or St Peter s. This practice has been continued with an Interim Minister (0.5) during the vacancy and works well. From time to time, the Team Rector has taken the 11.15am Eucharist at All Saints and the Team Vicar has taken the 11.15am Eucharist at St Peter s. The clergy appreciate the change of fellowship and the respective congregations appreciate the change of face! Wednesdays All Saints 9.30am Morning Prayer St John s 10.30am Said Eucharist (BCP) The All Saints Morning Prayer is often led by a lay person, and a lay person leads BCP Matins at St John s on a Wednesday if there is no priest available (for example during holiday time). OTHER ACTIVITIES All Saints Tuesdays: Lunch club in the adjacent ASAN part of the church. Wednesdays: A mental health gardening group are in and around the church during the morning and in the afternoon the Probation Service use the church. Thursdays: The Probation Service use the church during the day. In the evening, the church hosts the Warm Welcome project. Church volunteers, in conjunction with workers from the Terence Higgins Trust and the charity Changing Lives, run a drop in and outreach session for sex workers operating locally. It is a requirement that all the volunteers are female and the Warm Welcome is co-ordinated by a worker employed, with grant funding, by Changing Lives. The Team Vicar is automatically a member of the steering group overseeing the project, but any further involvement, for a female appointee only, would be subject to negotiation and by mutual agreement. St John s Weekday activities at St John s tend to be ad hoc and centre around concerts and musical events, with outside groups hiring the church. Amongst the groups hiring the church are the City of Wolverhampton Choir, Wombourne Choral Society and the Wolverhampton Music Service. Two ecumenical partners, being the Asian Calvary Church and the Fountain of Grace Church, also hire St John s from time to time for events or services. Children from Graisley Primary School visit regularly and come for their Christmas Carol Service. During the spring and summer months, there is a monthly Coffee Morning for charity and every other year there is a flower festival in the church. 11

12 THE CITY OF WOLVERHAMPTON Wolverhampton was created a city in 2000 and is the third largest urban area in the UK with a population of according to the 2011 census. A 2015 City of Wolverhampton Council estimate suggests that this has risen to This estimate says its population comprises 50.7% females and 49.3% males, with an average age of % of its residents are BME (2011 Census) with 55.5% of the population identifying as Christian, 9.1% as Sikh, 3.7% Hindu and 3.6% as Muslim. Historically, Wolverhampton grew as a market town specialising in the woollen trade before becoming a major industrial centre with mining as well as steel production. Today the major industries are engineering, a large aerospace industry and the service sector. In October 2014 the Queen opened a major Jaguar Land Rover site on the border with Staffordshire. Prince Albert Statue Queen Square The Mander Shopping Centre first opened in 1968 and has recently undergone further development as part of a remodelling of the City to fit the 21st century. Along with its partner the Wulfrun Centre and the various city centre streets, most large named stores and a host of smaller, independent business can be found in the city centre. Most of the major supermarkets, including the discount chains, are in and around Wolverhampton. The City is home to the Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club at the Molineux. Wolves made a welcome return to the Premiership at the end of the 2017/18 season, finishing at the top of the Championship. Wolverhampton has the fine Victorian Grand Theatre and the striking Chubb Building, home to the independent Lighthouse Cinema and Cafe. The Art Gallery houses many historical works. Close to the city centre is Bantock House and Park, which is now owned by the City Council and open to the public. It is an Edwardian Gentleman s House which is set in original grounds and, as well as other artefacts, contains the National Collection of Japanned Ware. The excellent Halfpenny Green Vineyard, Black Country Living Museum and Severn Valley Railway are all easily accessible from Wolverhampton. 12

13 Wolverhampton Art Gallery exterior and Georgian Room The Chubb Building Molineux Stadium Bantock House Wolverhampton has excellent transport links to all parts of the country for business and pleasure. All the attractions of Birmingham are within 20 minutes by train (or 30 minutes by tram) and it is only 40 minutes by direct train to Birmingham International Airport or 1 hour 50 to London Euston. Liverpool and Manchester are easily reached by frequent, direct trains. The Metrolink Tram system which links Wolverhampton to Birmingham city centre is currently being extended to Wolverhampton Railway Station, which is itself being rebuilt. Educationally, the city has the benefit of a wide variety of primary and secondary schools, including two Church of England secondary schools (S. Peter s Collegiate School and The Kings School). There are also Wolverhampton Grammar School and Tettenhall College (which are fee paying, primary and secondary), the Girls High School (a single sex, selective state secondary school) and The Royal School (a nonselective primary and secondary free school). For those students wishing to study at a higher level in Wolverhampton, there is the City College and also the University of Wolverhampton. Situated on the edge of The Black Country, Wolverhampton also borders nearby more rural South Staffordshire and the beautiful rolling Shropshire countryside, which can be reached within fifteen minutes of our Churches. 13

14 FINANCES The finances of both St John s and All Saints are closely linked to those of the whole Parish of Central Wolverhampton. Included here are details of our parish share arrangements, the Income and Expenditure analyses for both churches for 2017 (as an Appendix) and a statement of assets and liabilities for the whole parish for the same period. A full package of accounts can be obtained by from the Parish Treasurer, Mrs. Kim Benton on kim.benton@afhgroup.com Similarly, she is happy to answer any questions you may have on the finances. Parish Share The Diocese of Lichfield calculates parish share (in very simple terms) by looking at the cost of ministry - 53,780 for 2018 making an allowance for the relative wealth or poverty of each parish and then assessing each parish according to the number of full-time, incumbent status clergy it has. Our current parish share as a Team with 2.0 incumbent status posts is , reflecting the fact that we are in an area of significant economic deprivation. Within the parish, we currently make a division of the overall parish share in line with the approximate distribution of the clergy s time across the four churches. That equates to: St Peter s 50% clergy time All Saints 20% clergy time Ss Chad and Mark 20% clergy time St John s 10% clergy time Because All Saints has struggled financially in recent years, the Diocese has granted a special assessment and asks the congregation only to pay 10% of the overall parish share, so This special assessment will remain in place until December 31 st The predicted rise in parish share for 2019 is 1.875%. On this basis, each church is currently paying the requested amount of parish share in full. Accounts (please see the Appendix below) 14

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