TILEHURST ST MICHAEL PARISH PROFILE 2018
Contents A message from Bishop Andrew... 3 Summary... 4 Aspirations... 4 Where we are now... 4 Ministry Team... 5 Our Strengths... 6 Our Challenges... 8 Our next Rector... 9 Support we will offer... 10 Local Community... 10 Worshipping Community... 12 Life of the Church... 15 Organisation & Finance... 18 Other Buildings... 20 Appendix 1 Statement of Financial Activities... 22 2
A message from Bishop Andrew This is an exciting time to be in the Oxford Diocese. Our Diocesan Bishop, Steven, is leading us to explore together what it means to be a more Christ-like church; a Church of the Beatitudes. Our expectation is that whoever we appoint will share that journey with us, enthusiastically and joyfully. As you will see from the profile, church life at St Michael s is well established and well resourced, but there is much to do. It will be important for the new incumbent to give a high priority to enriching the spiritual life of God s people here; then to encourage, equip and release them into ministry; and to use his or her spiritual curiosity and imagination to make mission a priority. We are looking for a priest who loves the Church s traditions, but is equally ready to embrace new initiatives, to excite people with the possibility of God, and to draw them in to the work of His Kingdom. A priest rooted in the liberal catholic tradition, with a flair for innovation, who is as comfortable taking the lead as they are with working openly and collaboratively with the lay people. Reading is an exciting place to live: socially mixed, rapidly growing, close to London and beautiful countryside, it has much to offer. And the Reading Deanery, one of the biggest in the country, is blessed with energetic, creative and supportive structures and people. John Rogers, the previous incumbent, now retired, has left firm foundations here and the people are ready to work with whoever comes; they have much to give. Please pray with us as we discern who God is calling to work with His people here. We hope it might be you. Andrew Reading 3
Summary St Michael s is a busy parish with an active and committed congregation. There is much that is good happening here already. However we know there are areas to develop and many opportunities in this large parish to spread the good news of God s love to more people. We are looking for a priest and leader who can help us discern God s vision for us as a church and as individuals and to work with us to enthuse others with the love of Christ. Aspirations To prepare this profile we spent time as a PCC and as a whole congregation considering what we value about St Michaels and thinking about our vision for the future. Our conclusions are that we would like to: live more contemplative lives both as a church and as individuals; expand our links and involvement with the local schools; share the Gospel with more people of all ages in Tilehurst, including taking full advantage of the opportunities we already have, e.g. engaging more with those who approach us for occasional offices/christmas; be more courageous in exploring different forms of worship; raise the visibility of St Michael s through the use of social media as well as more traditional forms of publicity; become more compassionate, reinvigorating our pastoral care to all. Where we are now St Michael s is the parish church of Tilehurst, situated on the western side of Reading. There is a long tradition of worship since 1189 and we are anxious to build on this and take the church forward so that St Michael s works more fully alongside the Tilehurst community to demonstrate God s love. In 2016, we initiated the What Next programme to take stock of where we were as a church and what, with God s guidance, we wanted to achieve in the next five years. We used the Five Marks of Mission to guide our thoughts on where we wanted to be. We put the emphasis on being realistic, and what each of us individually felt led to do. We all agreed that it was not enough to have grand ideas of what others could do. Instead we each needed to step out and take responsibility for expanding existing activities or trying out new things. Some activities might prove successful; others might need modification 4
or even be abandoned and replaced over time. The initiatives started include: the bereavement support group; the ABC (Adults, Babies & Children) group for young families; activities for teenagers linked with St George s; house groups; changes to our prayer lists; and a review of pastoral care. We are anxious to re-energise the drive behind these initiatives, so that we build and grow, and so that more people in Tilehurst can experience Christ s love more deeply. We at St Michael s are a faithful, generous congregation. The centre of our worship is the eucharist-based Sunday services, supported by servers, vergers, welcomers, choir and organ. This is replaced approximately monthly by an all-age service. We enjoy the benefit of the experience and stability of a significant number of our members who have worshipped at St Michaels for many years. The majority are over 60 and we would love to see the congregation expand to be more representative of our local community. Ministry Team We are fortunate to have two retired priests who play an active part in leading services and taking occasional offices. They are Rev d Nigel Hardcastle and Rev d Duncan White. We have one Licensed Lay Minister, Jenny Foakes, who is currently in full-time employment. Jenny has been an active member of our congregation for many years and has experience of a wide range of St Michael s activities, including Sunday School. Since her licensing in 2012, she has preached regularly and led non-eucharistic services. She has a special interest in developing our all-age worship. She has built good links with the uniformed organisations and takes the lead on All Age worship and All Age Eucharist services. Two of our servers take communion out to housebound people. Lay people take an active role in services: the verger and serving teams, leading intercessions, reading and acting as chalice assistants. 5
Our Strengths Faithful Generous Church Membership Our church has a good number of active members who, as part of their service to God, engage in a wide range of activities to ensure the church runs smoothly. This gives us a good foundation to increase the spiritual nurture of both new and well-established believers. Links with the Local Community We have some good links with our local community, through schools, extra care housing and other local Christian churches. We have four primary schools, two special schools and a secondary school in the parish. Some of the schools use the church for visits and special services, and we know we could build on this. Communion is provided for those at home and in care homes. St Michael s also has strong links with the local British Legion, with our incumbent traditionally acting as its Chaplain. We are also an active participant in the ecumenical group Tilehurst, Southcote & West Reading Churches Together. This group arranges joint events such as the Good Friday service in the local shopping centre, carol singing and Praise in the Park (a summer open-air worship service). We would like to build on these links to extend and strengthen them. Finances OK! We are blessed with a strong financial position. The generosity of our congregation and of legacies has enabled us consistently to pay our parish share in full, and to undertake a significant restoration project, largely completed by 2014. As a result, we have a building in good repair. We are now in a position to think about ways to use our resources to develop God s kingdom in Tilehurst and in the wider world. 6
Church Building That Draws People In The church building is a beautiful, sacred space that has memories for many in the community and is a draw for baptisms, weddings, funerals, and the well-attended Christmas services. The baptism, wedding and bereavement support groups actively support those preparing for these special services and after the event. We would like to do more to share the love of God with them. Church Hall The church hall is a separate building that is an asset to our community through the provision of facilities that can be hired. It is used by a wide range of organisations in our community as well as by individuals (e.g. baptism and wedding parties). Whilst the Hall is a valuable resource it does provide us with challenges. It was built in the 1960s and has not had a lot of money spent on it over the years. The fabric of the building urgently needs refurbishment. In particular kitchen and toilet facilities require improvement. We have links with the preschool group and uniformed organisations which use the Hall, but could do more to develop these further and to extend our contacts with other users. 7
Our Challenges Responding to God s Prompting St Michael s longs to be further transformed by the Holy Spirit so that we grow more Christ-like in our service to each other and the community. As the faith of new and existing believers is nurtured through an increase in our prayer ministry, study of the Word and a heartfelt response to Christ s calling, we hope this will lead to members growing as spiritual leaders. We also hope that our prayer ministry will be strengthened so that it is central to all that we do. We can build on the steps we have already taken, such as the What Next programme initiatives. These include: the use of prayer request cards for the community; weekly prayer lists for church activities and electoral role members; the forming of a regular prayer group to support activities during this vacancy; the establishment of a house group; and a small Emmaus group held each year. Pastoral Care Our pastoral care is faltering. The small pastoral care group has been severely weakened by the loss of some members, including its leader. The recently formed bereavement support group is seeking to establish ways of extending support for the bereaved. Many groups (e.g. Mothers Union) provide mutual care. However we urgently need to develop more caring and committed ways of offering God s love with shared involvement so that no-one falls through the net and everyone is cared for. Reaching out to a wider range of the Community Whilst benefitting from the experience and support of an older congregation, we would like the church to grow so that it is more representative of our wider community, and better placed to strengthen the church for the future. We recognise that, to achieve this aim, we will need to include additional ways to our current ones of being a church. Links are being strengthened with the uniformed organisations and local schools. A small team is going into Churchend Academy during the coming summer term to present Bible stories, as part of the school s R.E. curriculum exploring Christian values. We hope to learn from this and extend this to other local schools. 8
Increased Involvement in Leading Worship We would like everyone who leads worship to be part of a worship team, so that there is a co-ordinated, team-based approach, drawing on our wider set of spiritual gifts. Our hope is that this would enable us to be more creative in exploring ways of worshipping, to provide us with increased challenges to our faith, to touch more of our community, as well as growing our spiritual leadership. Open to Change We recognise that, to meet our aspirations and to be less distant to our local community, we are likely to have to introduce additional styles of worship and to experiment with ways of doing things. Some members will find this more of a challenge than others. We would also like to extend how we communicate beyond the more traditional forms to include modern ways such as social media in order to reach out more widely to the Tilehurst community. Increased Use of the Building St Michael s is an historic building that requires resources on an on-going basis. We have spent a lot of time and money restoring it and now want to focus our attention on using it more effectively to further God s kingdom. Our next Rector We are looking for our new Rector to support and encourage all the good things that are happening here, but also to challenge us to explore possibilities for innovation and growth. He/she will need to be: Energetic and enthusiastic; Comfortable with traditional styles of worship but having the imagination to experiment with different styles and forms of worship; A person of prayer and spirituality who is able to help excite people about the possibilities of God; A leader with a collaborative style who is not afraid to provide a loving challenge; Interested in developing future leaders; Someone with a heart for pastoral care, who encourages others to share this ministry. 9
Support we will offer We appreciate the demands placed on parish priests and the difficulties of achieving a good work-life balance with enough time for family life, rest and hobbies. We expect our incumbent to have a regular day off each week with the phone diverted to a churchwarden, and to take the six weeks holiday per year recommended by the Diocese. We have a Parish Office in the extension and employ a Parish Secretary, Annette Eley, who works 16 hours per week spread over 4 days. The parish will pay for an annual retreat for the incumbent and would expect him or her to have regular contact with a spiritual adviser. Local priests in the deanery meet together for mutual support and for social events. In addition there is support from other local clergy of all denominations in Tilehurst through the local Churches Together group. We value regular meetings between the Rector and churchwardens. This provides an opportunity to share issues and to have full and open discussions to plan the way forward. We would very much want this collaborative approach to continue. St Michael s people are very friendly and supportive of their priests and their families. We offer both practical and emotional support underpinned by prayer. Local Community Reading Deanery Reading Deanery has one of the largest Synods and yet it s set within a small geographical Deanery area. This provides many opportunities to work together on bringing God into the day-to-day lives of the town and the 250,000 people living in the Deanery. We have 24 parishes and 26 stipendiary clergy alongside Self-Supporting Ministers, Licensed Lay Ministers, priests with Permission to Officiate and strong lay leadership. We have an exciting, new Deanery Mission Plan. The Plan has three mission priorities on which we are focusing in coming years: 10
leadership development and accountability increased participation of all people in mission resourcing money and partnerships across the Deanery. We have an active and well-attended Chapter, which meets six times a year. We work closely with churches from all denominations and particularly through the Reading Christian Network and Churches Together in Earley and East Reading. We have an Area Dean, Revd Dr Graeme Fancourt, and two Assistant Area Deans, Revd Jo Williams and Revd Neil Warwick. Tilehurst Tilehurst retains its own identity despite having lost its physical separation from Reading. Many families choose to live here as it is a good place to raise children. The population is a mix of newcomers and long-established families, with people who work locally and those who commute. Most homes in the parish are privately owned or rented, with some areas of social housing. The parish has a population of 15,381 with a spread of ages. The borough of Reading has a population of 162,700 but the greater Reading area has a population of 232,662. It is a vibrant multi-ethnic town. Tilehurst offers: Excellent facilities: banks, schools, post office, a range of shops and supermarkets, doctors, dentists, library, vets. A good range of schools, with four primary schools in the parish and four secondary schools within easy travelling distance. There are also selective schools and independent schools in the wider Reading area. www.reading.gov.uk/schools/primaryschools info.westberks.gov.uk/schools Easy access to green open spaces, rivers, canals and leisure facilities. Excellent transport links by road, bus and rail. Close to Heathrow. 11
Easy access to the vibrant, culturally diverse, thriving town of Reading with a theatre, university and a wide range of shops, restaurants etc. Reading is home to a number of major companies e.g. Microsoft, Oracle and Prudential. Employment levels are good. Worshipping Community St Michael s is the original parish church in Tilehurst. As Tilehurst has grown, new churches have grown out of St Michael s and additional parishes created: St Catherine s (with St Birinus), St Mary Magdalen (now part of St George s), and St Matthew s in Southcote. Tilehurst has many Christian churches of a variety of denominations: Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and free church. They all work together as Churches Together in West Reading, Tilehurst and Southcote which plans joint events and services throughout the year. There is also a very popular ecumenical coffee shop run by volunteers from a number of churches including St Michael s. Our electoral roll has 194 members. 104 of those live outside the parish but are still from the local area. There is a choice of churches in Tilehurst offering a range of churchmanship and people are able to go to a neighbouring parish if the style of worship suits them better. Numbers have not varied greatly over recent years but we find that numbers in church on a Sunday have diminished. Fewer people come every week than in the past. However we have 250 names on our Church contact list. Church Buildings There has been a Christian church dedicated to St Michael on the present site in Tilehurst since 1189. The oldest part of the present church is the south aisle, or Lady Chapel, built around 1300. In the south aisle there is a spectacular renaissance monument to the Dutch merchant and Lord of the Manor, Sir Peter Vanlore, as well as one of the oldest brasses in Berkshire. In 1855 G. E. Street restored the church to his own design. This work included building the north aisle and adding a spire to the tower. The tower dates from the 1730s and currently houses eight bells. There are two windows of particular note. The first is the East window of the Lady Chapel which is an early design by William Morris. The second is the East window of the Chancel, which is by Wailes of Newcastle. The pipe organ was replaced in the late 1990s by a new electronic one. The original pipes remain in place. 12
A major extension to the church building was completed in 1993. The cost was met by donations and fund-raising. It comprises a cloister with enclosed garden, small meeting room, office, large meeting room with kitchen, sacristy, choir room, utility room, and toilets suitable for disabled people. In recent years much restoration work has been done to the main church building, including roof repairs, and the church is now in excellent order with a programme of maintenance work managed by the Fabric Committee. The bell-ringers are working on a project to replace the existing eight bells with a ring of ten. This project is self-funding. They have had initial discussions with the Diocesan authorities. St Michael s churchyard is in two parts and is closed for new burials. There are still some burials or interment of ashes in existing plots. The newer part of the churchyard (on the opposite side of New Lane Hill from the church) is now maintained by Tilehurst Parish Council. Volunteers from the church maintain the part of the churchyard around the church. Worship Regular Services Sunday 8am Said Eucharist with sermon 20-30 people 9.30am Eucharist with music & sermon 60-70 people Sunday School runs concurrently. Coffee afterwards. 6.30pm Evensong 10-15 people Uses BCP one Sunday per month. 13
Regular Services Wednesday 10am Eucharist 20-30 people Coffee afterwards. Regular Services Monthly 9.30am 1st Saturday of each month Eucharist to commemorate the departed 10 people Aimed at those recently bereaved and supported by the Bereavement Support Group. Followed by coffee. Occasional Services All Age Eucharist held about six times a year at 9.30am on a Sunday. Uses a simplified liturgy and involves the children. The services are planned and run by the LLM and a group of lay people. All Age Worship held four times a year at 9.30am on a Sunday for Mothering Sunday, Summer service, Harvest Festival and Christingle. These involve the uniformed organisations and Sunday School. This is a non-eucharistic service and attracts people who are not regular worshippers. It is led by our LLM who plans the theme with leaders from the other organisations. Baptisms held at 11.30am on the first Sunday of each month. Eucharist with laying-on of hands and anointing held four times a year at 6.30pm when the 9.30am is a non- Eucharistic service. Christmas services are busy and attract a large number of local people who are not regular worshippers. These include: Crib Service for children (led by lay members), Nine Lessons and Carols, Midnight Mass, and Christmas Morning Eucharist. 14
Holy Week & Easter There is a Eucharist every evening during Holy Week. On Easter Sunday we hold a 6am service, followed by breakfast, as well as the usual Sunday services. Festivals There is a Eucharist for Ash Wednesday and for Ascension Day. We use Hymns Old & New and follow the Common Worship Lectionary. Home Communions are taken on request. Two of our servers do the majority of these. Currently eight people receive communion at home regularly. There is also a well-attended monthly communion service in a nearby extra-care housing scheme. Occasional Offices 2015 2016 2017 2018 Baptisms 26 29 21 - Weddings 7 15 7 13 booked Funerals 23 14 18 - Cremated remains 31 25 30 - Life of the Church There is a very strong tradition of church members volunteering to support the life of the church with over 100 people volunteering on a regular basis. Examples of this include the following. Supporting Services There is a committed team of servers who support all the Eucharistic services. We also have a team of vergers who prepare the church for services. A verger attends every service including the occasional offices. We have a small choir and an organist who support the 9.30am and 6.30pm services on Sundays. The choir master chooses the hymns each week. 15
Our active and thriving group of bellringers rings before the 9.30am and 6.30pm services as well as for Festivals and weddings. They train new ringers, young and old, and regularly compete in Branch and Guild competitions. Many people help with practical activities such as cleaning, flower arranging, grass cutting, routine maintenance etc. There is a Parish Magazine (10 issues per year) with advertisements of future events, reports on the activities of groups within the church and articles of more general interest. The Rector s letter is a valued element of the magazine. Copies of the Magazine are made available to the wider community via the Library, the Link café and local businesses. Work with Young People Sunday School meets weekly during the 9.30am service using material from Scripture Union. Numbers are small but we have two very committed and enthusiastic leaders. The children come into church at the end of every service 16
and show what they have been doing. They also assist at the All Age Eucharists and take part in All Age Worship. ABC is a social group for adults caring for young children. This meets weekly during term-time and is supported by church members and the Mothers Union. Church Groups Mothers Union St Michael s has a large and busy branch with over 60 members. It celebrated its centenary in 2017. The branch has an afternoon and evening group, each meeting monthly with a varied programme of speakers, visits and other activities. Members contribute to the Oxford Diocese pilot of a Church and Community Mobilisation Project called Stories on the Street. The branch collects emergency toiletries for the Royal Berkshire Hospital and bakes cookies to welcome new students to the University during Fresher s week. Money is raised to support Mothers Union projects in the Oxford Diocese, across the UK and internationally. Most recently, the focus has been to support AFIA (Away from it All), a diocesan project which provides holidays for families who have not been able to get away. Credo House Group meets twice a month to explore faith and develop fellowship. The group devises its own programme and members take turns to lead sessions. They recently followed the Bishop of Oxford s Advent and Lent courses. Wednesday Lunch Club provides a hot meal to about 30-40 people each Wednesday. This is much appreciated by those who attend. Volunteers work on a rota to prepare and serve the meal. Lent Lunches raise money for a chosen charity. This year it will be Christian Community Action, a local charity supporting those in need. They also provide another opportunity for people to share food and fellowship. Baptism Groups visit families whose children are to be baptised to explain the service and address any practical issues. They also attend the service to prepare the church and welcome families and visitors. 17
Bereavement Support Group grew out of the What Next programme. The group is available to offer support to those recently bereaved. They also support the monthly services to commemorate the departed. Wives Groups were originally developed as Outreach groups led by church members and have a membership comprising regular church attenders and others who do not attend church regularly. They have a varied programme of speakers and activities. Knit & Natter Group enjoys craft work together. They create items to send to a charity in Africa and sell items at the main Church fundraising events. Our Events Committee organises a programme of activities throughout the year including two main fundraising events: the Spring Fayre and Christmas Market. Smaller events such as a Quiz evening, a Murder Mystery evening and parish barbecue are also arranged. These events provide us with a great opportunity to socialise and also draw in people from the local community who are happy to support fund-raising events. For more information see our website: www.stmichaeltilehurst.org.uk Organisation & Finance The PCC meets ten times a year. It is well served by an experienced and efficient PCC secretary and treasurer. It has six sub-committees: Fabric, Church Hall, Stewardship, Events, Churchyard and Marketing. These are all chaired by lay people. 18
Giving & Money There is a strong tradition of generous stewardship of time, talents and money at St Michael s. The PCC has recently decided to sign up for the Parish Giving Scheme that is recommended by the Diocese of Oxford. Our Stewardship Recorder is leading the introduction of this scheme in 2018. We have 103 people giving regularly by standing order or envelopes. Our parish share in 2018 is 73,000 and we expect to pay in full. Please see Appendix 1 for more details of parish finances. Charitable Giving St Michael s chooses three charities a year to give money to: usually an international, a national, and a local charity. In 2017 these were: Toilet Twinning, the College of St Barnabas and the Berkshire Alzheimer s Society. Other charities are supported through events such as the Lent Lunches and Christingle. The Christmas collections are donated to a local charity. In 2017 this was Parents & Children Together (PACT). There is also a monthly tin collection for the Women s Centre. Safeguarding Safeguarding adults and children underpins all that we do. Our safeguarding officer is a registered Social Worker. She ensures all those working with vulnerable adults and children have DBS checks and that we follow Diocesan good practice on safeguarding matters. She has also recently delivered the diocesan training to a group of parishioners. Other people have completed the Church of England on-line training course. Local Trusts The incumbent is a Trustee and Chair of the Church Lands Charity which exists for the benefit of the Church of England in the parish of Tilehurst. The other Trustees are the churchwardens. There are four cottages opposite the church which are rented out and which generate an income. Last year the charity was able to make a gift to St Michael s of 10,000 towards the work of the church. The incumbent is also a Trustee of the Tilehurst Poor s Lands Charity which makes grants towards goods or services for local people in need, hardship or distress. Other Trustees are drawn from the local community and nominating local authorities. There are between 6-8 meetings per annum. The Rector is Chaplain to the local British Legion. 19
Other Buildings The Rectory The Rectory is a detached house built in the 1960s situated approximately 100 metres from the church along Routh Lane. It provides spacious living accommodation with two reception rooms, office, downstairs cloakroom and four good sized bedrooms (3 with basins and all with fitted wardrobes). There is a separate toilet, bathroom and shower room upstairs. It is in good decorative order and sits in a walled garden mainly laid to lawn with herbaceous borders and fruit trees. In recent years part of the plot has been allowed to go wild to reduce maintenance. There has been discussion with the Diocese about the plot of land where the Rectory sits. They are currently exploring the possibility of dividing the plot in two and building a new Rectory with a smaller garden. The new house would meet Green Guide standards. At the time of writing we are unsure whether this project will go ahead but the Diocese has given an assurance that the newly appointed incumbent would be given a choice. Church Hall St Michael s Church Hall is a separate building situated approximately 200 metres from the church. It is extremely well used by local organisations including a pre-school group, uniformed organisations, NHS, dance and exercise classes. It is also available for hire for private functions. As such it is a valuable resource for the local community and the church sees it as part of its Outreach programme. Regular hirers receive a discounted rate and are expected to help with some maintenance. 20
Tilston Lodge The church owns a modern house in New Lane Hill. In the past it has been used for a curate but is currently rented out and generates an income for the parish. 21
Appendix 1 Statement of Financial Activities Receipts Actual 2017 Actual 2016 Planned giving 50,535 54,337 Collections and other giving 10,159 11,690 Other voluntary receipts 4,281 2,603 Gift Aid recovered 22,210 15,785 Other receipts 9,355 2,124 Restoration/Fabric 1,833 0 Activities for generating funds 41,596 45,359 Investment Income 7,684 7,418 Receipts from church activities 30,459 35,974 Total receipts 178,110 175,290 Payments Actual 2017 Actual 2016 Cost of generating funds 343 490 Missionary and Charitable Giving 6,415 7,309 Parish Share 75,566 74,899 Clergy and Staffing costs 9,738 7,165 Church Running Expenses 43,996 50,889 Hall Running Costs 18,790 16,527 Church Repairs & Maintenance 5,752 25,829 Hall Repairs & Maintenance 3,464 1,179 Governance Costs 1,384 1,138 Total payments 165,447 185,423 Net incoming / outgoing resources before transfer 12,663-10,133 22