ST PETER ad VINCULA WISBOROUGH GREEN PARISH PROFILE 2013
IF YOU FEEL GOD IS CALLING YOU TO TAKE US ON THE NEXT STEP OF OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER, WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU. Our Church Wardens Dr Graham Parr 01403 700793 graham.d.parr@hotmail.co.uk Mrs Helen Vause 01403 700567 helenvause@btopenworld.com
Welcome......TO ST PETER AD VINCULA, the parish church of Wisborough Green in West Sussex. We are a thriving and outgoing, mission focussed church blessed with people having numerous skills and talents. Whilst much good work has already been done, we recognise that we need to do more to know God better, to be whom God wants us to be, and to do what God wants us to do, in serving fully all those who live here. We continue to seek God s guidance so that we might reach out in action, prayer and love, make Jesus known and to warmly welcome newcomers. We are looking for a vicar who will help us to be a church that is alive and growing in faith and to lead us in vital and nurturing worship. We know, as one of our parishioners recently said, that continuing to simply do the same things we have always done but only doing them better will not bring new people into our Church. We need a leader who will also help us find new and brave ways to meet the challenges of growth and mission to the whole community. We are a parish that celebrates the ministry of all priests and we welcome both women and men. Our Interregnum Prayer Lord, help us to be a people Who respond to your calling. Develop your gifts in us, so that we may be Joyful in worship, Constant in prayer, And united in our care for one another. Call to this your church and ours A true shepherd, A person of God And a minister of Christ, That together we may seek to know God And make him known, Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 3
What The Interregnum Prayer Says about Us Lord, help us to be a people We are reliant on God and see ourselves not as a collection of individuals but as His body, His people. Who respond to your calling It s not that we always need to initiate: rather we respond to what God tells us to do and move forward confidently in the power of the Holy Spirit. Develop your gifts in us, so that we may be Gifts, both spiritual and natural, are not only to be used but deepened and developed. Joyful in worship This is our first priority to worship: not correctly, not dutifully, but joyfully. Constant in prayer We strive to ensure that prayer underpins all that we seek to do. 4 United in our care for one another Endeavouring to be one body in Christ. From this flows practical concern for our community.
What The Interregnum Prayer Seeks in our next Vicar Call to this your church, and ours Someone who truly feels called to come here: by divine direction. A true shepherd Who, shepherd-like, knows their flock as individuals. By name! A person of God Who has a strong, personal, un-dogmatic faith in the living God. And a minister of Christ Who ministers as Christ: caring, teaching, healing, serving, loving. That together we may seek to know God Who sees themselves as a leader engaging together with us in going deeper into the life of God. And make him known Who has the heart of an evangelist not just in church but in the community. Through Jesus Christ our Lord Who ministers knowing that Jesus is both utterly unique and completely available to us. Amen Let God have the last word. 5
Person Profile for the Vicar WISBOROUGH GREEN is a rural parish and is seeking an incumbent with the following characteristics: A strategic thinker, able to develop a vision with us of how we could fulfil our mission more effectively. Skilled at leading and managing people, able to take bold and difficult decisions where necessary, while retaining pastoral warmth and good relationships. A love for all people and a heart for mission and evangelism. An ability to encourage people to grow in their spiritual life. Proven leadership skills with a desire to continue to build and lead effective teams. A willing acceptance of women s priestly ministry. A commitment to encourage children and young people. An ability to communicate at all levels. An ability to discern gifts, to develop, support and empower members of the congregation. An ability to develop and sustain teaching and help for those wishing to explore and learn more about the Christian faith. 6 Experience of a growing church would be welcome.
Worship at St Peter s embraces various forms of liturgy to meet the needs of a congregation that encompasses a broad spectrum of churchmanship and a wide enjoyment of the variety of services provided. The current monthly pattern is as follows: Sunday 8.00am 10.30am 10.30am 10.30am Wednesday 10.00am Worship at St Peter s Holy Communion (BCP) 15-20 attend Sung Eucharist with Choir 1 st, 3rd and 5 th Sundays of the month 60 attend All Age Eucharist with Music Group 4th Sunday of the month 60 attend Kairos Informal Family Service with our Music Group 2 nd Sunday of the month 60 attend Holy Communion 5-10 attend Special services include an Advent Carol Service, a Lessons and Carols Service on the Sunday preceding Christmas Day, a Children s Crib Service, Midnight Eucharist and Christmas services and a full programme of services in Holy Week and Easter. We also hold services to mark other festivals in the church s year. During the past three years we have held 47 baptisms and 21 marriages 7
Mission Action Plan Over the past three years we have followed the objectives below under the three ABC headings as part of our vision for what God s priorities may be for His people in Wisborough Green. A whole parish away day took place at the end of 2011 which helped review the key objectives for the following period. We have started the journey to implement these objectives, but we recognise we need fresh independent input to inspire us. With a new incumbent we can develop the action plan to move forward together. Many of the key actions which arose revolved around improving communication and participation and these are reflected in a number of aims and actions. Many of the key actions arising from the review with the whole parish revolved around improving communication and participation and these are reflected in a number of objectives and actions: A Attending to God 8 Improve our congregation s engagement with scripture through promoting bible reading resources on Bible Sunday and starting a third housegroup. (A third group meets through Advent and Lent and total numbers attending have grown by around 50%.) Improve the quality of music. (Since the appointment of a new Musical Director in 2010 a marked improvement has taken place. The church benefits from a more confident choir and the building is now more often used for a range of concerts which appeal to a wide age range.) Further initiatives are planned which include refurbishment of the organ as part of the overall planned building project. Involve a greater number of our congregation in leadership and service. (In 2012 a total of eight new lay administrators have been trained and authorised and the sacristan team has been significantly enhanced and now numbers six. A total of seven people act as ministry support co-ordinators including responsibility for reading and intercession rotas etc.)
B Building Christian Community Form an 11+ youth group. (Chain Gang [KS2 & KS3] established in 2011 as a group of young people who come together at important points in the Church calendar and have enjoyed several Christian based summer clubs). Initiate a Mums and toddler group (Wizzy Tots, established in 2011, meets in the Village Hall every Friday morning during the school term). We intend to build on this by providing greater support from the church through a number of skilled volunteers. This has also created a potential opportunity to draw this group of young families closer to the Church community by developing other types of service/worship, probably on days other than Sunday. We need a new incumbent to be courageous and rise to this challenge. Continue to create opportunities to serve the community and help people learn more about the church in an informal setting. (Xpresso, a weekly coffee shop held in church on Friday mornings serving Fairtrade coffee and home-made cakes is extremely successful and regularly attracts over 20 people each week including a group of Mums and young children.) Improve communications both within the church and in the wider community. (The parish magazine, Ad Vincula, is distributed to around 400 homes in the parish and plans are in development to enable this to be distributed in the near future to all 650 homes in the parish). A church website is under development which should go live before the end of 2013. This will make contact with the wider community more immediate and effective. Continue with the development of the church building project to improve facilities and help increase the utilisation of the building. (The current scheme is in the final stages of DAC approval. We hope to start external and drainage works in the autumn of 2013). C- Commending the Gospel Continue with the Back to Church initiative. (Back to Church Sunday has been widely publicised over recent years but this needs reinvigorating to become an effective way to draw people back to church). Develop further the ministry of healing in the life of St Peter s. (Quarterly healing services have been initiated during 2013 which supplement the regular healing ministry available at our Sung Eucharist services.) A number of additional people have expressed interest in training in this ministry and this will be taken forward when a new incumbent is in place. 9
The Village of Wisborough Green ABOUT WISBOROUGH GREEN WISBOROUGH GREEN is a village of around 2000 people and lies in the north-west corner of West Sussex astride the A272 east-west main road. The River Arun and its flood plain to the east, and the heavilywooded high ground of the South Downs National Park to the west, maintain the essentially rural nature of the parish and effectively separate the village from the commercial and residential centres of Billingshurst and Petworth. Further information about the village can be found on the Wisborough Green Parish Council website: www.wisboroughgreen.org 10
The Church of St Peter ad Vincula and the Parish ST PETER AD VINCULA is a Grade 1 listed building on a prominent hilltop site. The earliest documents so far found that mention the church are dated 1227 and the list of vicars begins in 1273. Its hilltop site, unusually thick walls and high doorways suggest that for some time it may have been used as a Norman keep guarding the upper reaches of the River Arun. ABOUT OUR CHURCH The church has many attractive historical features from the medieval wall painting and many additions through the centuries to a new stained glass window donated in 2006. Being on an imposing site on the A272 the church attracts may visitors from the UK and overseas. St Peter s was possibly a church on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela and the parish and congregation would like to further develop links with these modern day pilgrims. St Peter s is a single benefice in the Diocese of Chichester and in the Archdeaconry of Horsham and part of the Petworth Deanery. There are presently 115 on the electoral roll. The church building is in very good condition and has been maintained to a high standard over many years. The most recent quinquennial inspection took place in June 2013 and there were no major issues identified and only a small number of maintenance items which will need attention over the coming years. 11
Music Music is an important part of our worship and life at St Peter s and we have an able paid part-time Organist and Choirmaster. The choir has gained in confidence over recent years and an enthusiastic music group provides music for the less formal services. Concerts - organ, choral and instrumental, are regularly held in church, which are not only enjoyable, but help with fundraising. Healing Ministry A small, but dedicated team are available for laying on of hands and prayer in The Lady Chapel during the Sung Eucharist Service throughout the year. Evening Prayer for Healing services are held quarterly bringing in people from far and wide. House Groups Several groups meet on a regular basis throughout the year to explore God s gift of faith and his call to discipleship with special courses studied during Lent and Advent. It is a time of fellowship as well as study and inspires those who attend. We would encourage a new incumbent to welcome new groups to explore the Christian faith in the wider community and to expand our appeal to all. 12
Dieppe Memorial Service We hold an annual Dieppe Memorial Service on the first or second Sunday of August. Canadian troops were billeted in Wisborough Green prior to the raid on Dieppe in August 1942 and we give thanks for all those who sacrificed their lives at that time. This is an important event in the life of the village and significant numbers of people attend this service including a few remaining veterans and their families, together with representatives from the Canadian Veterans Association, Canadian, British and United States Armed Forces, the Royal British Legion and the Parish Council. 13
Mission and Justice The Mission and Justice Development Group has the following two main objectives: To encourage a commitment within everyone to follow Jesus calling to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, and to release the oppressed (Luke 4:18). To support through prayer, giving and practical action the charities and missionary organisations chosen by St Peter s. We are actively involved with two ongoing projects, one local to Sussex and one international. Our home based project is Family Support Work (FSW) which is the Chichester Diocese support for families facing difficult periods in their lives. Four of the congregation are also volunteers for this work. There is a Food Basket for FSW in church and we know personally how much this helps individual families in this area. Our current international project is the support of our Church Missionary Society (CMS) mission partner in central Asia. Grace and Pete work in a really tough and poor part of the world. Pete works in agricultural development, which includes both crop development and farm mechanisation. Grace works principally in health and nutrition. 14 As well as supporting the other charities supported by St Peter s, we are keen to encourage all in the community to think about, and act on, those areas of injustice or oppression in our society, through campaigning, writing to MPs, and getting actively involved in pressure groups.
Luncheon Club St Peter s Luncheon Club is fully self supporting and is open to all who live in the Parish of Wisborough Green and those who worship regularly at St Peter s. We always welcome their friends who may be visiting and new members to the village. Lunches are held throughout the year in the Village Hall with an average of 85 people attending and are prepared by a small group of dedicated volunteers. Wizzy Tots Wizzy Tots is a group of parents and toddlers who meet in the Village Hall on a Friday morning. It is a time of fellowship and play with songs and a prayer to round off the morning. Many of the children have been baptised at St Peter s. Fairtrade and Xpresso We are a Fairtrade Church selling Fairtrade goods at the monthly Village Market and in church after the Family Eucharist Service. We use Fairtrade coffee and tea at Xpresso, our weekly coffee shop held in church on a Friday morning, and serve homemade cakes baked by a talented team. Xpresso is as popular with parents after they have dropped their children at school as it is with other members of the village. Village Care Team Our aim is to reach out to residents who need help and support and to newcomers to the village. This work is ongoing and includes a special library service for the housebound. This team also organises a Village Car Service, which continues to thrive, providing residents, who are unable to drive, with transport to medical and dental appointments. 15
Support Groups We have a loyal band of accomplished bell ringers (six bells), an efficient cleaning team and creative flower arrangers all of whom help to enrich the life of the church. The dedicated Sacristan Team look after the vestments and prepare the church for services School Over the years the vicars of the parish have grown strong links with our very succesful local primary school, taking assemblies, being part of the governing body and encouraging the school to use the Church building for Christmas, Remembrance, Harvest and Easter services and also as a teaching resource. The Headteacher has allowed the Church to use the school for an annual summer holiday club. There is a desire to continue to develop these links further and there is a real opportunity to establish further interaction such as an after school club for KS1-3. This together with our work through Wizzy Tots and Chain Gang could be the basis of our ministry to children and families that our village needs. Vicarage The Vicarage is situated at the end of a private driveway off Glebe Way with access to the south side of the churchyard. The house was built in 1963/4 and is an attractive family home set in the centre of a large plot. 16 On the ground floor there is a large sitting room, large fitted kitchen with family dining area and a separate dining room. There is an entrance lobby with a cloakroom, off which is situated the office separated from the family part of the house by an inner hall door. Upstairs there are four good-sized bedrooms, two with washbasins, a bath/shower room and separate toilet. Outside there are good-sized gardens, a garage and parking space for three vehicles. The central heating is provided via an oilfired boiler and a Holt intruder alarm is fitted.
Fundraising and Events We hold an annual Open Gardens weekend where around twelve village gardens are open to the public. Other events held in the last two years include a Jubilee Flower and Arts Festival, Christmas Tree Festival, Christmas Fair, Quiz and Chips, Bridge Days, Salsa Evening and an Art and Music Festival. We have a new keen team, St Peter s Links, taking this forward. Finances The parish has always paid the agreed amount of parish contribution to the diocese and for 2013 this will be a total of 61,200 which represents 96% of the total parish costs. We have been able to contribute a steadily increasing proportion of our total costs over the last few years and it is the intention to meet 100% in the near future. The parish also makes significant donations to a range of charities which it supports via a range of fundraising activities. In the 2012 financial year, a total of 7720 was donated to charitable causes. This is a significant achievement and the parish benefits from extremely generous gifts of talent, time and material resources which are all freely given to further mission in our parish and diocese and to further the work of a number of other good causes. The summary 2012 accounts are attached as Appendix 1 for information. Communications Ad Vincula, our monthly parish magazine, is a thriving publication and is full of church and village information and news. The increasing number of advertisers will enable us to distribute Ad Vincula to every household in the village, free of charge, from January 2014. We are preparing our new website to be up and running by the end of the year. We feel that this is a vital move to enhance our future communication with the village and the much wider community, and once our magazine is available electronically it will be available for everyone however far away they may be. 17
BUILDING PROJECT WE ARE ABOUT TO EMBARK on a large building project to improve the facilities in church. We hope to have DAC approval by October to put in a disabled toilet, two new vestries, a small kitchen area, glass doors to the north and south entrances and to renovate the organ. Fundraising over recent years has already raised through the generosity of the people of Wisborough Green approximately 95,000 either by gift or pledge towards this project. This is an exciting and challenging project and further fundraising has recently begun in order to fund the whole project. To help with fundraising and bringing awareness of the project to the wider community we have set up a team called St Peter s Links. 18
Appendix 1 PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST PETER'S AD VINCULA Registered Charity no. 1133950 STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2012 TOTAL TOTAL Unrestricted Restricted Endowment FUNDS FUNDS Notes Funds Funds Funds 2012 2011 Incoming resources Voluntary income 2a 76,652 24,287 100,939 104,080 Income from investments 2c 1 918 1,237 2,156 2,024 Income from charitable activities 2b 3,217 3,217 7,309 Church activities 2d 6,918 6,918 8,447 Other income 2e Total incoming resources 86,788 25,205 1,237 113,230 121,860 Resources expended Costs of generating voluntary income 3a 239 239 148 Fund-raising trading costs 3b 2,387 Charitable activities 3c 92,936 23,830 1,237 118,003 127,902 Governance Costs 3d 9 0 0 9 22 Total resources expended 93,184 23,830 1,237 118,251 130,459 Net incoming/(outgoing) resources before transfers (6,396) 1,375 (0) (5,021) (8,599) Gross transfers between funds Other recognised gains/losses Gains/(losses) on revaluation of fixed assets and investments 5a & 5b 47 2,328 2,375 (1,035) Gains/(losses) on disposal investment assets Net movement in funds (6,396) 1,422 2,328 (2,646) (9,634) Total funds brought forward at 1 January 2012 11,316 84,073 25,938 121,327 130,961 Total funds carried forward at 31 December 2012 4,920 85,495 28,266 118,681 121,327 19
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