St Leonard s Church, Turners Hill Parish Profile 2012 OUR VILLAGE The village is a lively community surrounded by farmland. Turners Hill is in the county of West Sussex and the district council area of Mid Sussex. It stands on the High Weald which runs east to west between the North and South Downs and is 600 feet above sea level: the resulting views from both the church and vicarage are spectacularly beautiful. Much of the local farmland and some of the village property remains owned by Paddockhurst Estate, with some tenant farming as well. The latter half of the 20 th Century saw a considerable growth in the Parish population, with several small-scale housing developments, the most recent of which was for sheltered accommodation at Noah s Court. Approval has just been granted for the development of 47 new homes to be built in the village. To the east of the village is The Park a unique village within a village, catering for the over 50 s with approximately 350 residents. A luxury hotel, Alexander House lies on the outskirts of the village. The village has many diverse groups, clubs and activities to cater for all interests. There is a recreation ground with football pitch, floodlit all-weather games court, children s playground and youth shelter. The cricket ground with its thriving team lies a few hundred yards beyond the parish church. There is also an active Parish Council which meets monthly to deal with local matters. There are two churches in the village; the Parish Church and the Free Church. There is also a Church of England (voluntary controlled) primary school. Worth Abbey (a Benedictine monastery) and Worth RC School are situated about two miles west of the village, which is also where the local Roman Catholic community has its centre. Perhaps belied by its rural setting, Turners Hill is extremely well situated with excellent access to all the necessities of modern living: schools, shops, medical facilities and ease of communication. The village has a post office and general store, hairdressers, gift shop/florist and ironing service, as well as three pubs/restaurants and a purpose-built village and sports hall (The Ark). State senior schools are in the nearby medieval market town of East Grinstead. Nearby is Three Bridges station which is on the main London to Brighton line. Gatwick Airport is a 15 minute drive away and the M23 is a 10 minute drive away. THE CHURCH St Leonard s Church (which is a Grade II listed building), is a short walk from the village centre. It was consecrated in 1895 and is open daily. It was funded by local donations after the local landowner Mr Robert Whitehead offered the village a plot of land. It has some
2 very fine stained glass windows including some by Charles Eamer Kempe. The bell tower, designed by Sir Aston Webb, was added in 1924 as a memorial to those who gave their lives in the First World War. The church is in pretty good order (we are currently attending to some matters raised in a recent quinquennial report), has an open graveyard and a large car park. THE CHURCH HALL The church hall (which replaced an earlier building) was put in place in 2002 to provide a kitchen, lobby area, storage and toilet facilities and has a large recreational space. It is in good condition. The hall is regularly used by the congregation. It is let out and the income used towards maintaining the building. THE VICARAGE A new purpose built vicarage with integral garage was constructed in 1990. Situated on the eastern side of the church with an enclosed garden and large driveway, the vicarage is a delightful four-bedroom family home with separate vicar s study and the best views in the diocese. THE CONGREGATION & SERVICES We have an active, faithful and friendly congregation of about 55 or so adults and 8 12 children each Sunday with more at the major festivals:- on Easter Day this year, we had 100 adults and 21 children; each of our Back to Church Ice-Cream Sundae, Patronal Festival and Crib Service also saw over 100 people in attendance. We maintain two services each Sunday, one of which is a BCP Holy Communion service and the other uses the more modern communion liturgy; there is also a regular mid-week communion service attended by about 12 people. We have a rota for readers, books/welcome, children s corner, chalice and tea/coffee. Turners Hill C of E primary school uses the church for services each term and the Church is increasingly being used for school events. A Service of Remembrance, organised by the Turners Hill and Crawley Down branch of the British Legion is held at St Leonard s and usually conducted jointly by the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Free Church Ministers. CHURCHMANSHIP Although our last priest-in-charge and his two immediate predecessors were Anglo-Catholic, the parish is not inherently of that nature and we would prefer to have someone who was neither Anglo-Catholic nor Evangelical and was therefore rather more middle of the road in his or her churchmanship.
3 CHURCH ACTIVITIES The Friends of St Leonard s is a successful group that combines fund-raising and social activities supported and run by many in the village, church-goers or not. There are coffee mornings and garden parties, a stall at the London to Brighton bike ride, a cake stall at the Village Fete, an Arts & Crafts three day festival, a darts match, a fair game draw and a Boxing Day run. Those are just a few of the events that raise the profile of St Leonard s within the village and beyond. The Parish News is published monthly and delivered free to every home in the village, and the surrounding area, copies are also sent to many former residents. Our priest-in-charge writes a reflective article From the Vicarage, there are church notices and contributions covering other events and activities from the Abbey, the Free Church, Turners Hill Primary School and many other local groups and businesses. St Leonard s actively supports Family Support Work with donations of both money raised via the Friends and monthly collections of food. It is an important link for our church community. We also engage in other charitable activities. We have a choir, organists and bell ringers. The bell ringers meet every Tuesday evening and provide bell ringing at weddings and special occasions during the church calendar. St Leonard s has a peal of 8 bells and this year hosts the AGM for the Bell Ringers Society. ECUMENICAL LINKS We have a long tradition of fellowship with the local Roman Catholic community, going back over 40 years. This includes a number of joint services each year, a study group, retreats, trips, charitable activities and social events, which are co-ordinated through a joint committee. In addition, for the last (fifteen) years or so, the last priest in charge of St Leonard s and his two immediate predecessors also served as the Anglican Chaplain to Worth RC School, which has resulted in a three way collaboration between us, the Roman Catholic parish and the school. There has also been an overlap in pastoral care for the staff and pupils at the school, together with charitable giving and social events. We hope to forge stronger links with the village Free Church in the future and work more closely with them at Turners Hill Primary School. TURNERS HILL C of E PRIMARY SCHOOL The Church of England (voluntary controlled) Primary School has 123 pupils. It has been part of the village for over 100 years. It takes children from the reception class to year 6. Most children then go on to one of the senior schools in East Grinstead. With the cooperation of the present head teacher at Turners Hill Primary School and our last priest in charge, the school has gone from being graded as a fail in the Diocesan report to good
4 with elements of outstanding, in the space of one inspection. Our PCC has representation on the School Governing body and our priest-in-charge is an ex-officio Governor. We wish to build upon this positive momentum and foster stronger links with the school. PCC St Leonard s has a strong PCC with 5 newly elected members, deanery representation, chairman of fabric, treasurer, child protection officer and secretary. Meetings take place in the church hall a minimum of 4 times a year, together with an annual APCM. A recent stewardship giving campaign has taken place with considerable success. CHAPLAINCY As mentioned above, for the last (fifteen) years the role of priest-in-charge of our parish has been shared with the Anglican chaplaincy at Worth RC School. This has involved our last three priests-in-charge spending roughly 50% of their time in the parish and the other 50% at the school, with the school making a financial contribution to cost. It has yet to be decided by the Diocese and the school whether this arrangement will continue in the future. ALLOCATION OF TIME The role of priest-in-charge of Turners Hill will be either on a house-for-duty basis of two to three days per week or for a 50% of time basis, that is, that it will occupy half of a normal full-time workload. The appointee will also have the benefit of residing in our Vicarage. Subject to the Bishop s decision, the remainder of time may be taken up with the Worth RC School Chaplaincy, another church post or occupation or free time. WHAT WE REQUIRE We are looking for a priest-in-charge who: will devote 50% of their time to the parochial work for our parish of St Leonard s, Turners Hill, residing in the Vicarage; recognises that the future of this parish lies with the young people and families, including our working links with the village school, who therefore has a heart for children and young people, but who also values and will support the adult and more elderly members of the congregation; will strive conscientiously to undertake the spiritual and pastoral work and other duties of an Anglican minister, who follows the Church of England s liturgy and lectionary, who will be willing to take both communion and other services for the congregation, who preaches effectively and thoughtfully and who will be receptive in considering suggestions made by the PCC and the members of the congregation;
5 will visit members of the congregation and others in need, who will involve themselves in the village and community life, be seen and become part of the St Leonard s Team; will foster ecumenical links with both the Free Church and the Roman Catholic Church; is friendly, outgoing and able to relate to everyone in our community; can be adaptable in leadership. We would welcome a woman priest-in-charge. A priest-in-charge who meets our needs as set out above will have the full support, help and encouragement of the PCC, the congregation and the wider community of Turners Hill. STATISTICS 104 people are on the electoral role of the church. The civil Parish is approximately 2,000 people including the Worth Abbey community. The ecclesiastical Parish is approximately 1,200 people. CONCLUSION This profile has been compiled to give a sense of St Leonard s, its Parish, its people and its purpose, as well as what we require. We are happy to answer any questions and would be delighted to meet interested parties for an informal visit. POINTS OF CONTACT Churchwardens:- Mrs Barbara Podbury (01342 714899) and Mr Andrew McKnight (01342 713730) Email: barbarapodbury@googlemail.com or amckstlth@gmail.com This Parish Profile has been compiled by the churchwardens and approved by the PCC on 23 rd July, 2012.