Welcome to the Diocese of Worcester!

Welcome to the Diocese of Worcester! Title Parishes 2018 The United Benefice of the East Vale & Avon Villages Badsey with Aldington, Bretforton, Cleeve Prior, North & Middle Littleton, Offenham and South Littleton Keywords: Rural, Inclusive Catholic Parish Profile

Rt Revd Dr John Inge, Bishop of Worcester: Thank you for showing interest in this serving your curacy in this diocese. I believe it to be a one full of potential at a creative moment in a diocese where exciting things are happening In 2015: It is exciting because we are developing creative new patterns of ministry in these changing times: though there are fewer stipendiary clergy than in the recent past there are now more people offering licensed and authorised lay ministry than ever before; we are implementing, after much reflection and consultation, an imaginative Kingdom People vision which seeks to envision our people in their core task of proclaiming the Kingdom; differences in churchmanship are not divisive in a diocese which has a genuine family feel to it; we have a dynamic and mission minded Bishop s Staff team committed to working with lay and ordained colleagues throughout the Diocese to join in God s mission; 12,300 people attended a church service on an average week 10,400 attended a church service on an average Sunday There were 14,400 on the electoral roll of our churches 16,800 people attended Easter Services 37,900 people attended Christmas services 2,250 children and adults were baptised in our churches 890 weddings were conducted, and 2,950 people had a Church of England funeral in church or crematorium cemetery About the Diocese of Worcester the Diocese of Worcester is one of 41 (42 including the Diocese in Europe) that make up the Church of England. the Diocese of Worcester also forms part of the Province of Canterbury. the diocese covers an area of 670 square miles and includes the County of Worcestershire, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, and a few parishes in northern Gloucestershire, south east Wolverhampton and Sandwell - so we are not short on variety (it s a great place to serve a curacy, because we have nearly ever context you could imagine!) From the urban north, with its impressive history and cultural mix, to the agricultural south where the rich colours of rural life flavour many people's day to day experience, the diocese has much to offer to visitor, resident and worshipper alike. The diocese was founded in around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury for the tribe of the Hwicce. Today the diocese covers a population of 877,000. We have 98 benefices, 172 parishes and 275 churches.

Kingdom People In 2010, a 2020 Vision Group was set up by Bishop's Council to try to discern what God's future vision might be for the Anglican Church in Worcestershire and Dudley. Discussion in this group identified that our churches should be places where the Kingdom is our core conversation and where the Kingdom values set out by Bishop John of love, compassion, justice and freedom are evident. Following research undertaken in 2012 into what churches were already doing and what factors helped or hindered them in their activities, a Kingdom People vision has been set out. This is a vision for a Church which enables its people to be The Kingdom People initiative aims to be a gift to the parishes and not an additional burden. It aims to provide a framework in which churches might flourish and grow rather than impose a blueprint of how every church should look. It has been promoted to parishes from autumn 2013. This includes the temporary employment of a Kingdom People Development Officer to Lay Ministers, who have completed a year s training course in areas such as worship, children s and youth work, evangelism and parish administration. Education In the Diocese of Worcester we are committed to work in schools and tertiary education. The diocesan area includes three Local Authorities, Worcestershire, Dudley and Sandwell. There are 97 Primary Church Schools in the Diocese and three Secondary Schools. The Diocese also Deeply rooted in prayer and study of the scriptures Renewed and transformed by regular worship Equipped to witness to the gospel of love, compassion, justice and freedom Dedicated to helping children, young people and young adults to belong and be nurtured in faith Devoted to growing deeply in discipleship, offering our time and talents and money to God Resourced and released to minister to others Ready to engage with and serve our community Committed to making our buildings fit for purpose as a spiritual and community resource. encourage parishes to take up the gift and identify and train a network of volunteer facilitators to help them discern God s way forward. Ministry There is a broad range of Churchmanship within the Diocese of Worcester. The Diocese has around 120 full-time stipendiary clergy, plus around 40 Non-stipendiary and Ministers in Secular Employment. We are also blessed with a large number of retired clergy, who continue to provide ministry to parishes across our diocese. There is an extensive lay ministry in the diocese with 180 Licensed Lay Ministers (Readers) and a large number of Authorised offers programmes and resources to all schools in the area. There are a growing number of schools becoming Academies in which the Worcester Diocesan Academies Trust is developing a key role in that process.

Title Parish General Information Parishes: The United Benefice of the East Vale & Avon Villages (Badsey with Aldington, Bretforton, Cleeve Prior, North & Middle Littleton, Offenham and South Littleton We are a lively group of churches in Worcestershire s beautiful Vale of Evesham, committed to living out the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ in word and deed, with joy, prayer and service to the communities around us. There are currently two Benefices in our family of churches; Badsey with Aldington, Offenham & Bretforton, and Cleeve Prior & the Littletons, consisting of six parishes in total within the Diocese of Worcester. Each parish has its own church and PCC. The combining of the Benefices began some time ago as part of the Deanery restructuring programme, and eventually took effect in 2015. There has been a single Priest in Charge of both Benefices since March 2016, and the work to combine them into a single United Benefice continues. All six parishes are classified as Rural. Incumbent Revd. Fr. Philip Morton The Vicarage High Street Badsey WR11 7EJ 01386 832599 vicar@ourbenefice.org.uk Personal information, previous posts and experience: The present incumbent is Fr. Philip Morton, who started in the post of Priest in Charge of both Benefices in March 2016. Previously he was Assistant Curate in a group of three churches in Sutton Coldfield, Diocese of Birmingham. Philip trained at Cranmer Hall in Durham, and is part of the Inclusive Catholic tradition. He was ordained Deacon at Birmingham Cathedral in 2012 and Priest the following year. His ministry so far has given him good experience of working with people both lay and ordained from across the breadth of the Church of England. He is also an Associate Director of Ordinands for Worcester Diocese, a Bishop s Advisor for Selection and a Spiritual Director. Nature of post: Training post for deacon who expects to be ordained priest. This Benefice has no resolutions passed under the 1993 Act of Synod and welcomes the ministry of both women and men.

The context & churches: Location All six parishes are located within 5 miles of each other within the Vale of Evesham. Transport links There is access to the M5 north and south, M42 and M40, all within reasonable distance. Worcester, Cheltenham, Stratford upon Avon, Redditch, Birmingham and the Cotswolds are all within easy reach. There is direct rail connection from Evesham to London Paddington and Worcester and there are public bus services throughout the benefice to the main towns and cities. Key characteristics Nearby Evesham provides good everyday shopping facilities. All the Parishes are rural, serving local communities and acting as dormitory villages for people working in the region s towns and cities. The area is predominantly agricultural and horticultural. Schools and other amenities There are Church of England First Schools in Offenham, South Littleton and Cleeve Prior, and two other First Schools in Badsey and Bretforton. There is a Middle School in the village of Blackminster in Offenham parish. Evesham provides good secondary schools and a College of Further Education. There are sporting facilities and leisure interest clubs throughout the Benefice. Our Context The Vale of Evesham is a busy agricultural area, comprising an economy of pastoral, horticultural and agri-industrial business. The history of the area is predominantly small-scale market garden work. The values and traditions of this history are still celebrated today, and the church plays a central role in sharing this with the community. In addition to the six schools in the Benefice, there is HMP Long Lartin in South Littleton, and Kanes Foods which employs in the region of 3,500 people. Vision and Mission for our Benefice Over the past two years we have been careful to nurture the individual strengths of each parish. Each church has its own identity and characteristics, and we enjoy working closely together, supporting each other and sharing a vision for the whole Benefice. Each church is inclusive and broadly of the central Anglican tradition, although there are some minor differences in practice depending on the church. With a mixture of worship styles being developed, from BCP to more informal home-grown liturgies, there is plenty of scope for imaginative worship and honest reflection on where the Holy Spirit is leading us.

Staff Team Vicar 4 Licensed Lay Ministers (Readers) 1 Benefice Administrator Candidates currently exploring vocations to Accredited Lay Ministry Worshipping community We currently use Common Worship with seasonal booklets, a Morning liturgy and BCP Evensong Clergy, readers and choir robe There is a range of music styles and hymn books 4 out of the 6 churches have an organist and one has a choir There is a mix of traditional and more informal services 3 active bell towers with a tutor Occasional Offices per year (average) The Occasional Offices are among the best ways for our churches to be involved with the wider communities, and we continue to be a focal point at these mile-stone occasions in life. Although figures change each year, we have about 80 baptisms, 30 marriages and 80 funerals on average. Two of our LLMs are licensed to lead funerals. Current service provision Each church has a service every week, with Holy Communion twice a month. On alternate weeks there is either a Family Service or a service of Morning Prayer. Both of these services use the new Morning liturgy developed by our LLMs. On fifth Sundays we have a Benefice Eucharist. Evensong (BCP) is celebrated at Badsey and Bretforton (both once a month) and at North & Middle Littleton (said service, twice monthly). Daily Office Morning Prayer is said every day in a variety of locations, and there are small groups who meet for prayer at other times. Please see overleaf for our monthly provision.

Patterns of Service 1st Saturday 1st Sunday 2nd Sunday 3rd Saturday 3rd Sunday 4th Sunday 5th Sunday Badsey With Aldington 11:00am Eucharist 11:00 am Family Service 11:00 am Family Eucharist 6:30 pm Evensong 11:00am Morning Offenham 8:30 am Morning 8:00 am Holy Communion 9:30am Family Service 9:30am Eucharist 8:30am Morning 9:30am Morning 9:30am Eucharist 9:30am Eucharist Bretforton 6:30 pm Evensong 9:30am Family Service 6:30 pm Eucharist 9:30am Morning South Littleton 9:30am Family Service 9:30am Morning 9.30 am Eucharist 9.30am Morning 11:00am Benefice Eucharist at churches on rotation Cleeve Prior 11:00 am Morning 11:00am Eucharist 11:00 am Eucharist 11:00 am Eucharist North & Middle Littleton 4:30pm Eucharist 4:30pm Evensong 4:30pm Eucharist 4:30pm Evensong Morning Prayer is said at 07:45 each weekday at Badsey Morning Prayer is said at 07:45 Mondays at Bretforton. There is also a monthly Eucharist service on the FIRST Wednesday in the Month at 10:00 at Badsey.

Lay Involvement Rural ministry as a whole relies on enthusiastic and competent Lay involvement in the ministry of the Church, and our Benefice is no exception. All of our churches have people involved with reading in services, leading intercessions, serving at the altar and administering the Holy Sacrament. In addition, we have Baptism Visitors to help prepare candidates and their families, a Home Group which meets monthly (and the possibility of new groups starting up), prayer groups that meet regularly to pray for the mission of the Church and current events, and members of the Friends of the Holy Land. There are also two Friends groups, one in Offenham and one in Badsey, who help to raise funds for the churches and to promote the churches as centres of community life. What is its vision of mission? We are a newly formed Benefice looking forward to finding out where God is leading us. Part of this is about discovering our new identity as we work together. There is plenty of scope for exploring what God is calling us to, and we hope our new Curate will play a key role in this process. Rural ministry today provides many challenges and opportunities, and working in this context means that you will be at the forefront of how the Church of England understands the nature of ministry for the 21st century. Our priority is to be faithful to the Gospel, to plant seeds and nurture growth, both spiritually and numerically. How does the incumbent understand the role of training? We see the role of Assistant Curate as being primarily one of equipping and supporting a newly-ordained person for the role of longterm ministry in the Church of England, either as an Incumbent or in a support role. In the first (Deacon) year, the role will involve close collaboration with the Priest in Charge, LLMs and Church Wardens as the Curate explores the context of the Benefice and discerns the shape of their future ministry. This will include developing skills in worship leadership, particularly baptismal and funeral ministry, as well as pastoral care and mission. Following ordination to Priest, the Curate s ministry will expand to involve Eucharistic ministry and weddings. It would be expected that the Curate explore and utilise their own skills and abilities in a particular mission project, and perhaps increasingly take responsibility for a particular aspect of the church s life, under the supervision of the Priest in Charge.

By the Curate s third year in post, we would hope they feel confident enough to take on some more roles normally carried out by an Incumbent, such as Chairing meetings and dealing with aspects of administration and church management, subject to the Curate s existing skill set, but with the added support of the Priest in Charge. There is an active and supportive Deanery Chapter, which the Benefice is fully part of. It is expected that a Curate would participate in Chapter meetings and events where possible, including an annual 3 day retreat. Most of all, we feel a Curacy should be a time when new clergy feel they are able to respond to God s call on their lives within a supportive and prayerful community, where skills are enhanced and developed, and the Curate made ready for a life of realistic ordained service. Accommodation The Diocese will provide suitable housing within the Benefice that complies with the Parsonage Board requirements for clergy housing Who should be contacted in the first instance? Diocesan Director of Ordinands and Vocation. Revd. Dr John Fitzmaurice The Old Palace Deansway Worcester WR1 2JE 01905 732814 / 07950 163116 jfitzmaurice@cofe-worcester.org.uk

The process of formation, training and assessment in the Diocese of Worcester Curacy is, first and foremost, a period of formation and training undertaken for future ministry. Although a curacy is an opportunity for ministry in its own right, it is undertaken with a view to preparation for the future regardless of whether the curate is non-stipendiary or stipendiary. This training is the shared responsibility of the curate, the training incumbent, and the DOV. Primary resources for the successful outcome of this training are: 1. The curate who brings experience, professional life, Christian faith and recent training from theological course or college to the new ministry. He or she needs to be allowed and encouraged to bring all of this into ministry and continued training alongside a willingness to learn. 2. The training incumbent who brings their own experience and needs to be able to share this, with vulnerability and responsibility, to help the curate find his or her own patterns of sustainable ministry. 3. The parish which should have its own sense of vocation to train and develop the ministry of the whole people of God, and will provide the primary context for feedback in the curate s early ministry. 4. The Formation Criteria and Assessment which are national guidelines setting out the aims for the curacy, for all partners in the training relationship to work towards. The Diocesan IME programme The primary training context is the parish (in the case of MSE curates, additionally, in the workplace). However, the diocese provides additional training for all curates. This is generally held on seven Saturdays in the year, with a residential weekend in February. All curates, stipendiary and non-stipendiary are expected to attend the IME days. There is also one additional evening session for new deacons, an additional evening session for new priests and a full day for curates in the third year looking to a post of responsibility beyond the curacy. It has proved a good idea to invite training incumbents to one IME session, and this happens from time to time. The Training Programme The Diocesan element of IME Phase 2 is based on a three-year rolling programme of study days, taught across year groups. The themes of these study days are closely related to the Formation Criteria and seek to amplify and add depth to the curates experience in their ministerial context. There is an annual residential weekend currently held at Sarum College as well as a Quiet Day. This year we will be trialling action-learning-set style theological reflection groups for an evening every two months. It is expected that Diocesan IME Study Days take precedence over parish commitments on the same day. Stipendiary curates undertake two short placements while self-supporting curates undertake one. Curates are encouraged to undertake these placements in contexts which there training parish are unable to provide. EKM Exchange The Diocese of Worcester has a partnership link with the Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland and as part of their curacy Worcester curates both to visit newly-ordained pastors in Germany and to learn something of the challenges of ministry there and to host them in Worcester.