Basildon, Essex Parish Profile 2017
1 Welcome Welcome to our Parish Profile If you have any questions about our parish or any aspects of this profile, please telephone our parish office on 01268 289771 or Richard Sanders on 01268 520688. Our parish website can be found at www.standrewholycross.org Addresses of our c hurch buildings St. Andrew s Church The Fremnells, Basildon, Essex, SS14 2QX Holy Cross Church Church Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 2NB CONTENTS Who We Are Looking For... 2 Who We Are... 3 Opportunities for the Future...4 Our Church Life... 5 Our Church Buildings...8 Bishop Stephen writes...9 The Basildon Deanery...10 Our Town... 11 Our Vicarage... 13 Our Finances... 13
2 Strong spirituality Relationship builder Relate to the young Collaborative A visionary leader WELCOME TO ST ANDREW HOLY CROSS ROSS, BASILDON We are a lively and active parish in Basildon, Essex with a focus on serving the needs of our community and growing in faith together. Based around three housing estates, our parish faces many social issues, including child poverty and low education levels. We are trying to tackle some of these problems through our children, youth and families work, Messy Church, a CAP Debt Centre, our Community Lunches and a growing Food Bank ministry. Our parish is a wonderful place to live and we, alongside our developing Mission and Ministry Unit (MMU) with the parishes in neighbouring Vange and Pitsea, are determined to reach the people of east Basildon with the love of Christ. We rely on the God given gifts and resources of our congregation, as well as our two church buildings, to meet the challenges we face and are looking for a Vicar who will continue to equip and release the ministry of the church through prayer, word and sacrament as well as resourcing the laity. They will need to be a strong, collaborative leader who can take on and develop the mission of our church to those we are called to serve. Could this be you? WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR We are a busy parish that recognise that we have many challenges ahead of us, some which we have started to explore and many which we have not yet considered. We are looking for a Priest who will work alongside us to help us achieve all that God is asking us to do. Our congregation have given the following five key characteristics that we would like in our next Vicar: The worship in our parish reflects the older traditions of Holy Cross and the modern development of St Andrew s. All our worship is underpinned by prayer, God s Word and Holy Communion. Good relationships exist throughout our parish and congregation. We want our next Vicar to be able build on these, showing their care for God s people through what they say and what they do. We have developed a wide range of activities for our children to help them explore their faith and we hope our next Vicar will understand the need to promote the growth of our young people. Our congregation possesses a wide range of skills and we are active in developing the work of our church. We would like our next Vicar to use and develop our skills as they lead our ministry. We support our community through a wide range of activities; however, we want to develop and grow and our next Vicar needs to take us forward with new and bold ideas. We are a fully inclusive church and we welcome all applications for the position of Vicar at St Andrew Holy Cross. Our whole church is praying for all who are interested in joining our parish and we hope that this profile describes our faith, our work and our mission.
3 Love WHO WE ARE The parish community is underpinned by the people who make up our church family and has been strengthened by the ministry of Margaret, our last Vicar. Our church has an environment for growth that is based on love, worship, teaching and outreach. Our whole church family sets out to be a loving and inclusive church and we welcome everyone to our activities, events and services. The two Sunday morning services encourage family attendance, offering regular Sunday School and youth involvement. Messy Church gives fringe families a chance to grow in faith together. The Occasional Offices help us to share in life s ups and downs with our parishioners. Our home groups offer the chance for friendship, discipleship and support for all and our monthly Prayer Breakfast, midweek offices and Wednesday Eucharist encourage us to love and bless our community. Teaching The church regularly runs nurture courses which are attended by congregation members, friends and neighbours. We also run Baptism and Confirmation classes. We currently have four home groups meeting weekly for Bible study, fellowship and prayer. We also host the Diocesan Course in Christian Studies (CCS) at St Andrew s and a number of our congregation have successfully completed this Christian basics course. We offer two youth clubs each Monday evening attracting around ten 11-14s and up to ten 15-17s. Both these groups contain a good mix of young people from our weekly congregation and their friends. Worship Having two churches gives us the opportunity for breadth in our worship. The history and peace of Holy Cross Church provides a traditional but relaxed style of worship to which the children in the congregation bring an extra dose of enthusiasm. At St Andrew s, the more flexible surroundings give the liturgy an informal feel, providing opportunities for other formats of worship such as a monthly Breakfast Church service. Messy Church (which meets once a month in the community centre in the middle of the parish) has been a great success and has led to a number of families growing together as a new worshipping community. Outreach The pastoral group, set up originally to support our congregation with prayer, is now responding to the needs of our community. Our service to the community is shown through our extensive involvement in the Basildon Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Debt Centre. This established centre is in high demand and our CAP Befrienders are giving practical support to local families in managing their finances. We have recently expanded our Food Bank to ensure food is available to those who need it. Twice a month, we hold a Community Lunch at St Andrew s attended by over 50 adults.
4 OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FUTURE Our parish vision is based on growth and we are keen to work with our new Vicar to develop opportunities to further grow and unite the church family in order to develop the missional work within our community. To help us achieve this vision, the community identified two key areas that we feel should shape our future priorities: Discipleship & Worship and Community Outreach. Discipleship & worship We have seen a recent growth in our styles of worship for example Breakfast Church and Messy Church. We want to continue to grow our church family sharing Jesus love to people in our community. Actions may include Enabling our congregation to grow in confidence in prayer. Offering further activities to teach people of all ages the Gospel and of God s love. Development of the involvement of teenagers within Sunday services. Establish a youth worship band. Sharing worship with our local churches in the East Basildon group. Community outreach Building on the successes of our CAP work and our Community Lunch is important, but we also want to see development in other areas. We want our practical actions to show Jesus love in action to our neighbours. Actions may include Support for families who may struggle financially or emotionally for example, in the school holidays. Further development in the use of St Andrew s, particularly offering responses and events for those in need. Encouraging growth and resourcing of our children's and youth ministry including secondary school work. Development of our youth work so that we reach more young people in our locality. Furthering the East Basildon MMU, beyond the current pulpit swaps and shared youth events, into a team which supports and upholds each other through the sharing of resources, time and a shared vision for our community. We would like our whole church family to be committed to achieving these goals as we look for further opportunities for our two congregations to work together as one church.
5 OUR CHURCH LIFE Our parish has the enormous benefit of having two churches; St. Andrew s, of typical new town construction, balanced by Holy Cross, a 13 th century medieval building that still watches over the Fryerns Estate from its highest point. This difference gives the church great versatility and opportunity to worship in different patterns but is mutually complementary to each church s unique presence. St. Andrew s Church The flexible nature of St Andrew s building allows for varied formats of worship within the central tradition of the Church of England. Any service or celebration involving food usually takes place here because of the kitchen facilities and space. This includes the monthly prayer breakfasts, Breakfast Church and the fortnightly Community Lunch. Holy Cross Church The space at Holy Cross lends itself to a more traditional style of worship within the central tradition of the Church of England. Ministers robe for all services and there is regular sung liturgy. The church building of Holy Cross is used for most of the parish weddings and baptisms and the closed grave yard with Garden of Remembrance allows us to minister to the bereaved. Weekly services Sunday service (Holy Communion) is held at 9:30am (approx. 60 people) Morning prayer is held on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 9.00. Weekly services Sunday service (Holy Communion) is held at 11:15am (approx. 30 people) A weekly Holy Communion (Order 2) is held on Wednesday at 9:30 (approx. 10 people)...
6 People We are called to be the Body of Christ here in our community. Our congregation has many active and mission focused members who look to bless those around them through their everyday living. For example, we regularly visit residential homes and our local hospital. Currently, three members of our congregation are serving as Street Pastors in the recently launched Churches Together in Basildon project. We also look for opportunities to develop our own faith. Over the last two years around twenty people have been to Spring Harvest. Our Youth group recently attended a locally run Christian festival; a first for our church. Celebrating our Curate s ordination as Priest, Summer 2015 Local Churches Our church benefits by being part of the active Churches Together in Basildon which hosts joint worship events throughout the year, including a Walk of Witness on Good Friday and a Pentecost Praise in the Park. We are also developing our Mission and Ministry Unit (MMU) with our neighbouring Anglican parishes. This is part of Bishop Stephen s vision for every Christian and Church community to become a Transforming Presence. Our next Vicar will play a key role in cementing the working practice and mission focus of the MMU. Christmas Community Lunch
7 Children & Youth Work In the last two years we have seen a significant increase in young families attending our Sunday services. Worship Zone for under 11s regularly welcomes 10-20 children at St Andrew s and up to 10 at Holy Cross. The children are enthusiastic about their own times of learning and worship during both Sunday services, returning to join the whole church family for Communion with Children at Holy Cross forming an impromptu choir each week during the Eucharistic Prayer. A nurture group for 11-14 year olds will launch in September 2016 during the 9:30am service. Youth work continues on Monday nights at St Andrew s, organised into two groups for age appropriate activities to explore faith. The church supports a CPAS Falcon Camp, by sending leaders and sponsoring young people to attend. Those aged 14+ are also supported through ReGen, a monthly life skills, faith and discussion group. Messy Church in full swing Our children s team oversee a range of events in both churches and other venues. We launched a Messy Church two years ago to help bring more young families into the life of the church. Meeting on one Saturday afternoon each month at our local community centre, we have a vision to create an alternative way of engaging with church. We have a lot of fun but are still working out how make this into a genuine expression of church for everyone who attends (an average of 50 people each month). +John presides at St Andrew s with lots of Deacons Pastoral team We have a strong pastoral team of nine members led by an authorised Pastoral Assistant. Four members of the group will undertake the Pastoral Care Foundation Course this year and all have previously completed CCS training. Arrangements are in hand to license all pastoral team members to take Communion to the sick and housebound. The pastoral team has initiated an emergency food box scheme which is entirely supported by the church family through donations. There are ambitious plans next year to develop this valuable outreach initiative into a drop in centre that offers coffee, clothing and light meals, particularly during school holidays. We continue to look for further opportunities to make prayer central to all that we do.
8 St Andrew s Church OUR CHURCH BUILDINGS The church was built in 1955 as part of the first housing estate built in the development of Basildon New Town. It was the first Anglican church to be built in Basildon. It is a dual purpose building serving as both a church and a community hall. It is used extensively during the week by local groups and, twice a month, it is the venue for our community lunch which is prepared onsite in the kitchen. The church has a room set aside for children s activities on Sundays, a youth work area and a separate prayer room. The church uses a sound and image projection system. St Andrew s from the roadside and at Breakfast Church Holy Cross Church A Grade II* listed building, the oldest part of the current Holy Cross Church dates back to the 13 th century although records show that there was a chapel in place 200 years previously. It is located in a picturesque location, adjacent to open parkland. There is a large churchyard which is closed to new burials and a Memorial Garden for cremated remains. The church has a traditional organ and a sound system is installed. Holy Cross from the graveyard and at the Christingle Service on Christmas Eve
These are our priorities: BISHOP STEPHEN WRITES 9 In the Chelmsford Diocese we believe that God is calling his church to be a transforming presence. Our vision is that the church - that is the people of God here in Essex and East London - should be a transforming presence in every one of our parishes. To inhabit the world distinctively To evangelise effectively To hold ourselves accountable to one another and to God for the stewardship of the gospel To re imagine the way we minister so that each ordained minister and each individual Christian discovers their part in God's ministry and so that each church flourishes. To this end we are looking for priests who are excited by this vision of becoming a church which is itself transformed, and which is becoming a more visible and effective presence in the huge diversity of communities that make up this most exciting and energetic part of England. There are many challenges ahead of us. We are a diocese generously subsidised by the national church. We need to become financially self-sufficient. Leadership often seems distant. We are creating patterns of leadership that are closer to the parishes. And we are looking to develop missionary leadership at all levels of church life. Nearly half our clergy will retire in the next ten years. We need to find out how to minister with fewer stipendiary clergy and with a re-imagining of how stipendiary ministry works. We need to reorganise the way parishes relate to each other in what we are calling Mission and Ministry Units. Some of our congregations still think ministry is what Vicars do. We have a vision of ministry where the whole people of God are involved in the whole of God's ministry. We are also experimenting with new forms of authorised lay ministry. Church must be a safe place. All those in ministry will be expected to undergo training that will equip them to respond well in situations associated with safeguarding. Levels of church going are below the national average. We need to get evangelism on to the agenda and into the lifeblood of every church. We encourage and train churches to put on weekends of mission and outreach. One of our aspirations is that every benefice should have a trained lay evangelism enabler. We are developing missionary discipleship, so that every church in the diocese is a place where Christians are formed in order to be sent out in witness and service. Despite planning for a future with fewer stipendiary clergy, we remain as committed as ever to the local church. And what is the local church, but that community of men and women gathered around Christ, and living and sharing the gospel in the networks and neighbourhoods of their lives? But we need priests to lead and to serve. We know we need to change. We can only be a transforming presence when we have allowed God to transform us. Therefore, at the heart of all we do is a longing for intimacy with God and a renewed life of prayer. First and foremost a priest is a minister of the word and sacrament. All ministry flows from this. But a priest shares the ministry of the bishop, therefore presbyteral ministry will increasingly be a ministry of oversight, guiding, nurturing and directing the mission of God's church in the communities we serve. It is an exciting time to be part of God's missionary movement for the world, and the Diocese of Chelmsford is an exciting place to serve. We have a clear vision and we are looking to appoint clergy who will share this with us. In every parish we long to see each person and each community grow in faithfulness and ministry so that together we may serve in the world and Christ may be made known. +Stephen
10 Overview THE BASILDON DEANERY The area of Basildon Deanery is similar to that of Basildon District Council, covering the towns of Basildon, Billericay and Wickford, with the addition of Runwell (in the Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry) which is in Chelmsford South District Council. Most of the Deanery lies within the Thames Gateway South Essex region and there is significant regeneration either already underway or planned for the future. There are pockets of high levels of deprivation within Basildon in particular. The total population is approx.175,000 with more than half of the total population south of the A127, with approximately 43% in the north. The Deanery is cut in two by the A127 Southend to London arterial road with centres of population to the north being Billericay, including Great Burstead and Ramsden Crays, Wickford and Runwell and to the south, the parishes of Basildon from Langdon Hills in the west to Bowers Gifford w North Benfleet in the east. There are good ecumenical working relationships through Churches Together in Basildon in which St Andrew s with Holy Cross plays it part; Churches Together in Billericay, and Churches in Wickford and Runwell. Despite the A127 boundary, there is a very strong collegiality within the Chapter and parishes are positively committed to supporting one another. Vision We celebrate the diversity that Basildon Deanery represents and together we aim to be at the heart of community life as a visible sign of the presence of the living God, proclaiming the Gospel and reaching out to all people. Each parish is encouraged to focus upon how best to serve its own local community. In 2011 Basildon Deanery Synod endorsed our vision document which emphasises the following areas of particular need: a commitment to equipping and growing ordained and lay ministry a commitment to mission, especially among children and youth a commitment to working more closely together A review of the Vision Document is to be undertaken by the end of the year. Mission and Ministry Units There has been positive engagement within the Deanery with Transforming Presence and key to the process is for each parish to consider how and with whom they can work together in a mission and ministry unit to enable its ministry to flourish in the future. As the previous incumbent also served as Area Dean, St Andrew s with Holy Cross has a good appreciation of what might be achieved through participating together, and has begun to forge a good working relationship with the other churches in the East of Basildon namely the parishes of Pitsea w Nevenden, plus Vange, and Bowers Gifford w North Benfleet. This is most noticeably demonstrated in joint ventures for children and young people film nights, Messy Church, etc. We look forward to welcoming the new incumbent among us and working together for the furthering of God s Kingdom. Canon Shirley Jeffery, Deanery Lay Chair
11 The parish OUR TOWN St Andrew s and Holy Cross can both be found on the Fryerns Estate, just under a mile apart from each other. The Vicarage (see page 13), is located next door to St Andrew s a convenient location for accessing much of the parish and also the town centre and local supermarkets. There is also a set of shops, a petrol station, the local library and the Community Centre (used for Messy Church) all less than half a mile from the vicarage. Life in the parish is bustling and lively. There is a good mix of ages living here (see statistics below), and people are generally happy to share a smile and a hello with each other in the street. The housing in Fryerns and Barstable is typical of property found across Basildon. Houses are mainly two or three bedroom semi-detached or terraced properties, with small gardens and insufficient parking space for modern families. Like a lot of the town, green spaces and cul-de-sacs provide a break from the rows of brickwork and UPVC windows, and create the feeling of space despite this being a densely populated area. The Craylands estate has gone from being one of the poorest areas in the whole of the UK to now enjoying the early stages of redevelopment and rebuilding. However, areas of the original estate do still remain. There is now a large development of new-build houses and flats (Beechwood Village) which has not just changed the look and feel of the area but also the demographics. This is something our next Vicar will need to address as the church finds a way to work with the new families and professionals moving into the parish. The parish is home to four primary schools; Fairhouse Primary, Greenstead Primary, The Willows Primary and Whitmore Primary along with one secondary school, The Basildon Lower Academy. We have regular contact with each of the primary schools involving clergy taking assemblies and occasional lessons as well as hosting church visits and services throughout the year. These relationships continue to need work and development due to the sometimes turbulent nature of the schools, particularly in the areas of staff retention and working with the needs of the community. A number of residential care homes can be found in the parish. We have a weekly Holy Communion service at Hanover Drive and regular coffee mornings for the residents, a monthly worship at Mundy House Nursing Home as well as regular contact with Afflets Court, which is close to Holy Cross. Our pastoral team take care of the majority of this ministry with clergy assisting when needed. Parish Key statistics: 16,118 residents with 56% identifying as Christian (Church Urban Fund). Children aged 0-15 years make up 21% of the population, 16-64 years make up 61% and the over 65 s make up 17%. (2011 Census) Most areas in the parish fall below national averages on indicators of deprivation. Major issues in the parish: child poverty affecting 1 in 3 children, 40% of the working population having no qualifications. The parish ranks 1,006 out of 12,599 where 1 is the most deprived parish nationally (bottom 10%).
12 Basildon lies 32 miles east of Central London, 11 miles south of the city of Chelmsford and 10 miles west of the popular holiday resort of Southend-on-Sea. The town is surrounded by several nature reserves and country parks. Basildon train station is on the c2c line and it takes 35 minutes to get to central London and 25 minutes to travel to Southend sea front. There is good access to major roads via the A13 and the A127 with both connecting the town to the M25. Local amenities Gloucester Park (on the western boundary of our parish) is the largest park in the town, with an area covering around 250 acres. The parish is also flanked by Northlands Park on the east side and boasts our very own Holy Cross Park, which is used as the venue for the Rotary Firework display. Basildon has an abundance of places to eat and shop in both the town centre and an out of town entertainment venue. Home to Basildon Sporting Village, training venue for Gold medallist Max Whitlock, it is part of the 2012 Olympic legacy. There is also a large cinema, a bowling alley and a huge indoor soft play centre. Basildon has a large University Hospital. There is a regular bus service from the parish to the town centre and beyond, to places like Chelmsford, Wickford and the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock. The parish is well served by local shops, restaurants & takeaways, pubs, doctors surgeries, a dentist, a post office and a library. Autumn in Northlands Park Further statistical information about our parish can be found at: 2001 Census statistics for Fryerns Diocese information about our parish Church Urban Fund Statistics www.basildon.gov.uk/chttphandler.ashx?id=2013&p=0 www.chelmsford.anglican.org/pdfs/10.02.pdf http://www2.cuf.org.uk/parish/580220
13 OUR VICARAGE Next to St Andrew s is our vicarage built soon after St Andrew s church. The vicarage is a large four bedroom detached property with garage and a medium size garden. From the entrance hall there is an office, which is separated from the main part of the house by a door. The ground floor also has the lounge, kitchen (with large utility room), dining room, and a cloakroom. The first floor has the four bedrooms, a bathroom and a separate toilet. The house has gas central heating and is double glazed throughout. OUR FINANCES The parish has shared accounts for general running expenses at both churches, with specific funds set up as necessary for particular needs. At present there is a fund with 14,000 set aside for planned refurbishment work at Holy Cross. The Basildon CAP debt centre accounts are included within the PCC accounts as a distinct fund. Regular giving through a free-will envelope scheme and standing orders is sufficient to allow us to pay our Parish Share in full. Additional income is received as rent from other community groups using St. Andrew s and from wedding and funeral fees at Holy Cross. The PCC has a target to set aside 3000 (about 10% of regular annual income) to reserve funds split between developing ministry within the parish (some of this fund was used to subsidise Messy Church) and longer-term maintenance of our buildings. To achieve this target, the PCC has identified the need for a giving programme to be completed in 2017. Summary of General account finances for 2015 RECEIPTS ( ) PAYMENTS ( ) Planned giving 29,160.89 GiftAid refund 5,923.07 Parish Share 26,707.92 Other Giving 4,487.06 Other Income 15,923.40 Other Expenses 26,782.41 TOTAL RECEIPT 55,494.42 TOTAL PAYMENT 53,490.33 Full 2015 accounts are available on the parish web-site within the 2015 annual report at http://standrewholycross.org/wordpress/about-us/annual-report-book-for-2015