Welcome to the Diocese of Worcester! Title Parishes 2019 The Parish of CHRIST CHURCH LYE and STAMBERMILL Parish Profile Keywords: Evangelical; Missional; Urban; Black Country; Expository Preaching; Fresh Expressions multicultural;;
Bishop John Inge, Bishop of Worcester: Thank you for showing interest in serving your curacy in this diocese. I believe it to be a one full of potential at a creative moment in a diocese where exciting things are happening In 2015: It is exciting because we are developing creative new patterns of ministry in these changing times: though there are fewer stipendiary clergy than in the recent past there are now more people offering licensed and authorised lay ministry than ever before; we are implementing, after much reflection and consultation, an imaginative Kingdom People vision which seeks to envision our people in their core task of proclaiming the Kingdom; differences in churchmanship are not divisive in a diocese which has a genuine family feel to it; we have a dynamic and mission minded Bishop s Staff team committed to working with lay and ordained colleagues throughout the Diocese to join in God s mission; 12,300 people attended a church service on an average week 10,400 attended a church service on an average Sunday There were 14,400 on the electoral roll of our churches 16,800 people attended Easter Services 37,900 people attended Christmas services 2,250 children and adults were baptised in our churches 890 weddings were conducted, and 2,950 people had a Church of England funeral in church or crematorium cemetery About the Diocese of Worcester the Diocese of Worcester is one of 41 (42 including the Diocese in Europe) that make up the Church of England. the Diocese of Worcester also forms part of the Province of Canterbury. the diocese covers an area of 670 square miles and includes the County of Worcestershire, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, and a few parishes in northern Gloucestershire, south east Wolverhampton and Sandwell - so we are not short on variety (it s a great place to serve a curacy, because we have nearly ever context you could imagine!) From the urban north, with its impressive history and cultural mix, to the agricultural south where the rich colours of rural life flavour many people's day to day experience, the diocese has much to offer to visitor, resident and worshipper alike. The diocese was founded in around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury for the tribe of the Hwicce. Today the diocese covers a population of 877,000. We have 98 benefices, 172 parishes and 275 churches.
Kingdom People In 2010, a 2020 Vision Group was set up by Bishop's Council to try to discern what God's future vision might be for the Anglican Church in Worcestershire and Dudley. Discussion in this group identified that our churches should be places where the Kingdom is our core conversation and where the Kingdom values set out by Bishop John of love, compassion, justice and freedom are evident. Following research undertaken in 2012 into what churches were already doing and what factors helped or hindered them in their activities, a Kingdom People vision has been set out. This is a vision for a Church which enables its people to be Deeply rooted in prayer and study of the scriptures Renewed and transformed by regular worship Equipped to witness to the gospel of love, compassion, justice and freedom Dedicated to helping children, young people and young adults to belong and be nurtured in faith Devoted to growing deeply in discipleship, offering our time and talents and money to God Resourced and released to minister to others Ready to engage with and serve our community Committed to making our buildings fit for purpose as a spiritual and community resource. The Kingdom People initiative aims to be a gift to the parishes and not an additional burden. It aims to provide a framework in which churches might flourish and grow rather than impose a blueprint of how every church should look. It has been promoted to parishes from autumn 2013. This includes the temporary employment of a Kingdom People Development Officer to encourage parishes to take up the gift and identify and train a network of volunteer facilitators to help them discern God s way forward. Ministry There is a broad range of Churchmanship within the Diocese of Worcester. The Diocese has around 120 full-time stipendiary clergy, plus around 40 Non-stipendiary and Ministers in Secular Employment. We are also blessed with a large number of retired clergy, who continue to provide ministry to parishes across our diocese. There is an extensive lay ministry in the diocese with 180 Licensed Lay Ministers (Readers) and a large number of Authorised Lay Ministers, who have completed a year s training course in areas such as worship, children s and youth work, evangelism and parish administration. Education In the Diocese of Worcester we are committed to work in schools and tertiary education. The diocesan area includes three Local Authorities, Worcestershire, Dudley and Sandwell. There are 97 Primary Church Schools in the Diocese and three Secondary Schools. The Diocese also offers programmes and resources to all schools in the area. There are a growing number of schools becoming Academies in which the Worcester Diocesan Academies Trust is developing a key role in that process.
Title Parish General Information Parishes: The Parish of CHRIST CHURCH LYE and STAMBERMILL in the Diocese of Worcester Incumbent Rev Simon Falshaw, The Vicarage High Street, Lye, Stourbridge, DY9 8LF Tel. 01384 423142 E-mail s_falshaw@yahoo.com Date of ordination: June 1993 / 1994 Length of time in present role: 17 years Personal information, previous posts and experience: Current responsibilities Diocesan pastoral committee Diocesan deliverance ministry team Lye Community Centre management committee Dudley community cohesion group (Romanian) Previous posts Curate St. Helen s Stapleford 1993-1999 Minister in charge St. Andrew s Stapleford 1999 Mission partner with Crosslinks 1999-2000 Previous training experience 2012-2014 Ian Jennings (2nd curacy) 2013 Tom Fish (currently in the parish as associate priest missioner) Nature of post: This is a training post for a deacon who expects to be ordained priest. The right candidate will in time have substantial responsibility for the further development of the Brickworks Church plant The context & churches: Lye is an urban parish with a population of about 10 000 people on the southern edge of the Black Country. The community is diverse. Some people have a very strong local identity as a Black Country village, others have arrived more recently. There is a significant transient population in the centre of Lye. 25% of the population are Muslims originating from Pakistan. There are 3 mosques in the parish. More recently a small but significant Romanian community of 200-500 people has formed. These people are mainly Roma gypsies. One quarter of the parish land area is industrial, and there are a wide variety of small businesses in the area. Housing varies between older Victorian terraces and council flats in the centre of Lye, but also includes a 1960 s council estate, and two more modern private estates. In the longer term future there are plans for a large housing development on the northern edge of the parish. There are two primary
schools (non-church), and a secondary school just outside the parish boundary. There are 3 residential/sheltered housing complexes. The parish is connected to the rail network, and lies at the junction of two major urban traffic routes. Lye High Street has a welldeveloped Balti restaurant business which attracts people from a wide area. The Church The parish has two worship centres. Christ Church is 200 year old building in the centre of Lye. It has been substantially redeveloped and has a multi-use worship area with no pews, an attached hall, and a number of other small meeting rooms. Brickworks Church is a church plant (started 2014) meeting in a community centre, and occasionally a school or even a tent! Both churches stand within the mainstream Evangelical tradition, though Brickworks Church has a more experimental, fresh expressions style. The congregations of both churches areas are a mixture of local people and those gathered from a wider area. Electoral roll: 88 Pattern of Sunday Worship Christ Church 9-00am 10-45am 6-30am Holy Communion, robed, traditional 15-20 people Family Worship: informal, nonrobed. 1st Sunday Communion, 4th Sunday all age worship 35-40 adults 10 children Evening worship: Informal, participative, 10-15 adults. Monthly Messy church, 15 adults 20 children (numbers very variable) Weekday services: Friday 12-00 Midday worship 10 adults Brickworks Church 11-00 am 15 adults 15 children About to be launched 2-00 pm Taste Messy church-like for children and parents Across the parish we place a high priority in teaching the Bible well (faithfully and engagingly), because we believe that when the word of God is taught the voice of God will be heard. We are open to the diversity of gifts that God gives to build up the church. There is usually opportunity to receive prayer after most services and occasional communion services with prayers for healing included. We have very few occasional offices, usually less than 5 weddings, funerals or baptisms each per annum. Training in taking occasional offices will be arranged in cooperation with neighbouring parishes. The church meets for prayer on Monday evenings and Friday mornings. Staff Team Associate Priest Missioner: Tom Fish (leaving in 2019) Associate priest (self-supporting): Chris Kent
Church Secretary Evangelists Gloria Burrows Fred and Lacy Swartz (on secondment from Greater Europe Mission) Youth and Children s Work Enabler. Amy Stokes secondment from the diocese for 1 year. Lay Involvement There is substantial lay involvement at both churches. Opportunities for the development of fresh expressions of church We have many strong links with people in the community and work with them as much as we can in serving the community as long as this does not compromise our ability to share the Gospel. This includes links with: Lye Community Project (Dudley social services) 3 community groups Substantial involvement in Rufford Primary school Men s and women s Muslim Christian Dialogue groups. At Christ Church there are 4 house groups, a women s prayer/parenting group, a weekly internet café drop-in, a coffee morning, and a toddlers group. At Brickworks Church there is a weekly Community Cafe, young people s scratch football, and three groups of different ages meeting for Bible study, prayer and discipleship. In addition, during the summer there is an outreach week and regular activities in the local mini-park. House of Bishops resolution The PCC considered passing a House of Bishops resolution in 2018 but decided not to do so. It may be under consideration in the future. Relationship with other churches We are home to a Shona language Presbyterian church, and also have links with Birmingham Romanian Baptist church who are church planting in the parish. There are strong links with two local minister s prayer breakfasts and we play a full role in the deanery. The Brickworks church plant has links to the HUB Black Country church planting network. Current Priorities We currently have 4 areas for development To grow in grace: i.e. to understand the Gospel better and grow in our experience of it. To re-connect with Lye: for more and deeper relationships with people in the Christ Church part of the Parish. To consolidate the Brickworks church plant: to the stage where it can help to plant another church. To be witnesses wherever: to encourage the vision of whole life discipleship. We are planning a teaching series and goal setting day based around these goals in the New Year. Vision of Mission The churches have a strong evangelical heritage and want to see people be born again and enter the Kingdom of God. We aim serve our communities with love and integrity, and to bless them, praying for the extension of God s kingdom. We have used both Christianity Explored and Alpha materials but find that in this urban multicultural context discipleship is usually complex and messy and a long term process. At a certain level there is an acceptance of this in the churches, however there is also a tension between expectations of the more middle class professional people and more local working class people.
The role of the incumbent during training A curacy is a time in which to develop key gifts in pastoring and teaching, while at the same time having the opportunity to discover particular areas of ministerial calling. This curacy offers the ample opportunity to develop these skills and scope for developing new areas of ministry. It is a time of transition and I hope to model healthy patterns of life and prayer and ministry for the future. The role of the curate in future plans and areas of responsibility The curate will have a particular responsibility for the further development and maturing of the Brickworks church plant. Subject to their specific gifts and callings there may be opportunities to develop ministry to young people and the Muslim community Accommodation There is a recently-modernised, extended 3-bedroom semi-detached house in the centre of the New Farm Estate (area covered by Brickworks Church), which is the current Associate Priest s house. One of the bedrooms doubles as a study. Additional Information The outgoing Associate Priest (former curate) is happy to discuss the opportunity with interested parties. Contact: Rev Tom Fish tom.fish@christchurchlye.org.uk 07806 661811 Who should be contacted in the first instance? Diocesan Director of Ordinands and Vocation Revd. Dr John Fitzmaurice The Old Palace Deansway Worcester WR1 2JE 01905 732814 / 07950 163116 jfitzmaurice@cofe-worcester.org.uk
The process of formation, training and assessment in the Diocese of Worcester Curacy is, first and foremost, a period of formation and training undertaken for future ministry. Although a curacy is an opportunity for ministry in its own right, it is undertaken with a view to preparation for the future regardless of whether the curate is nonstipendiary or stipendiary. This training is the shared responsibility of the curate, the training incumbent, and the DOV. Primary resources for the successful outcome of this training are: 1. The curate who brings experience, professional life, Christian faith and recent training from theological course or college to the new ministry. He or she needs to be allowed and encouraged to bring all of this into ministry and continued training alongside a willingness to learn. 2. The training incumbent who brings their own experience and needs to be able to share this, with vulnerability and responsibility, to help the curate find his or her own patterns of sustainable ministry. 3. The parish which should have its own sense of vocation to train and develop the ministry of the whole people of God, and will provide the primary context for feedback in the curate s early ministry. 4. The Formation Criteria and Assessment which are national guidelines setting out the aims for the curacy, for all partners in the training relationship to work towards. The Diocesan IME programme The primary training context is the parish (in the case of MSE curates, additionally, in the workplace). However, the diocese provides additional training for all curates. This is generally held on seven Saturdays in the year, with a residential weekend in February. All curates, stipendiary and non-stipendiary are expected to attend the IME days. There is also one additional evening session for new deacons, an additional evening session for new priests and a full day for curates in the third year looking to a post of responsibility beyond the curacy. It has proved a good idea to invite training incumbents to one IME session, and this happens from time to time. The Training Programme The Diocesan element of IME Phase 2 is based on a three-year rolling programme of study days, taught across year groups. The themes of these study days are closely related to the Formation Criteria and seek to amplify and add depth to the curates experience in their ministerial context. There is an annual residential weekend currently held at Sarum College as well as a Quiet Day. This year we will be trialling action-learning-set style theological reflection groups for an evening every month. It is expected that Diocesan IME Study Days take precedence over parish commitments on the same day. Stipendiary curates undertake two short placements while self-supporting curates undertake one. Curates are encouraged to undertake these placements in contexts which there training parish are unable to provide. EKM Exchange The Diocese of Worcester has a partnership link with the Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland and as part of their curacy Worcester curates both to visit newly-ordained pastors in Germany and to learn something of the challenges of ministry there and to host them in Worcester.