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Parish Profile Benefice of Dallington and St James

St Mary the Virgin, Dallington

St James, Northampton

Then the Lord called, “Samuel, Samuel” and he said, “Here I am!” (1 Samuel 3:4)

[2018]

2 Benefice of Dallington and St James

Welcome

On behalf of the Benefice of Dallington and St James we would like to welcome you to our Parish Profile. Thank you for taking the time to read it. We aim to give you an understanding of this newly formed Benefice and an idea of the calling we hope you will consider undertaking.

We hope it will enable you to consider the position of Vicar and will look forward to meeting you should you decide to apply.

Tony Coles Sandra Oxborough and Tom Oxborough

Church warden Churchwardens

St Mary the Virgin, Dallington St James, Northampton.


Contents

Name of Benefice ............................................................................................................................... 1

Welcome ............................................................................................................................................ 2

Contents ............................................................................................................................................. 3

Benefice and Surrounding Area ......................................................................................................... 4

Vision, Mission and Future Direction ................................................................................................ 10

Church Buildings .............................................................................................................................. 12

Sunday and Weekday Services ....................................................................................................... 14

Other Services ................................................................................................................................. 16

Support Available ............................................................................................................................. 18

Youth and Children’s Work............................................................................................................... 19

Church Groups and Activities ........................................................................................................... 20

Finance ............................................................................................................................................ 21

Organisation ..................................................................................................................................... 22

Person Specification for our Vacancy .............................................................................................. 23

A position for you? ........................................................................................................................... 24


Benefice and Surrounding Area

This benefice was created on the 1st September 2017 and our Priest-in-Charge became the first Vicar. The Benefice comprises the parishes of St Mary the Virgin, Dallington and Northampton St James and is on the western side of Northampton. We are now looking for a full time Vicar to serve in this Benefice of approximately 13,000 people.

Northampton

Northampton is the county town of Northamptonshire with a growing population of around 211,000 people. It lies between London and Birmingham at the ‘cross-roads of England’. There is easy access by train (London North Western) to Milton Keynes and London to the South and Birmingham to the North. The M1; M6 and A14 provide excellent links to Milton Keynes, Luton Airport and London to the south; Birmingham, Birmingham International Airport and East Midlands Airport to the

North; and eastwards links to Cambridge and the east coast. The town offers a wide range of cultural, retail, leisure and employment opportunities. It is home to Northampton Saints rugby team (whose ground is in the parish of Northampton, St James), Northampton Town Football Club (the Cobblers), The Northampton County Cricket Team, the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery (including national shoe museum), the iconic 78 Derngate (designed by Charles Rennie Macintosh), the Royal and Derngate Theatres and the University of Northampton. Althorp House (the home of Earl Spencer, who is Patron of St Mary’s, Dallington) and the newly renovated Delapre Abbey are both local buildings of historical interest.

Good bus links are available to go to the town centre and nearby retail parks and supermarkets.

The Benefice

The population of the benefice is split roughly as follows, Dallington 5,500 and St James 7,500 people. The parish of Dallington is made up of four distinct areas:

The old village of Dallington around the church, including the Old School Rooms and local Public House.

The Spencer estate built in the 1930s, with 1960s and 1990s in-fills, is predominantly made up of social housing, but has a Post Office and some small independent shops.


The area to the north of Mill Lane, which is an owner occupied area built in the 1980s and 1990s, and

The Gladstone Road Industrial Estate to the North East corner of the Parish, which includes the Driving Test Centre.

Dallington Parish Boundary and View of the types of property in the Parish

With 40% of the population living in social housing, the parish is in the top 6% of the most deprived areas in the country (based on Church Urban Fund statistics). The key issues faced by the people who live in this part of the parish include house overcrowding, absence of work, limited education and poor health. These statistics however mask the socio-economic diversity of the people that live and worship in our community – which include the beautiful, ‘village within a town’ setting of our church, and the relative affluence of some parts of the parish.

Dallington has a diverse cultural and faith profile – for example 14% of the population are of the Muslim faith and the first language of 17% of the population is non-English.


The parish of St James is a fairly mixed area in both housing and people. The parish is in the top 15% most deprived areas in the country (based on Church Urban Fund statistics).

St James Parish Boundary and View of the types of property in the Parish

There is a wide ethnic mix, with families from Eastern Europe, Asia, Afro-Caribbean and African countries – as well as long established Northampton town families. Many faiths are represented and worship within the parish.

All age ranges are represented within our local community.

Housing is a good mix of privately owned, rented (private and social housing) and sheltered accommodation. The majority of small supermarkets, shops and services for the benefice are found in St James’ parish, which also has a Post Office. Most banks have moved out of the area leaving only Barclays Bank plc and The

Nationwide building society. Larger supermarkets, Cinema and other food outlets can be found just over the parish boundary in the Sixfields retail park.


St James is proud to have the National Lift Tower, made famous by the late Sir Terry Wogan as “The Northampton Lighthouse” in the parish. This is no longer used for testing lifts but is home to The Northampton Abseil Centre.

Commerce & Industry

Northampton is renowned for its shoe industry and we have in the benefice Church’s Shoe factory and shop. In St James’ parish there are 2 Retail Parks, Nene Valley and St James. The St James Retail Park is split into East and West being separated by the railway line. The East side, which includes the Nene Valley Retail Park, is the more retail side with Homeware, Computer, Office supplies, Electrical, Family and Clothing stores being the norm. The West side caters more for Builders merchant and suppliers, metal and other recycling centres and the Royal Mail South Delivery Office. There are a number of vehicle service, repair and Second Hand Sales outlets as well as Cosworth Engineering.

Dallington has a tennis club and two Gyms/fitness centres. The Wheatsheaf Public House is immediately opposite Dallington church where we have, in the past, led a Christmas singalong. St James is home to The Northampton Saints Rugby Club, which is owned by a local entrepreneur, and only a short distance from the church. We have historically held a “Songs of Praise” style service with hymns, songs and readings at the ground around Christmas time. A number of the

smaller local shops around St James have taken part in a “Sheep Trail” culminating in the children’s Christmas Service, but closures and new management have curtailed this activity.

Both of the retail parks are within the new Waterside Development area. This is an area running alongside the River Nene which is being developed to supply a variety of commercial and retail outlets. The Western end includes a large area in St James’ parish and the Eastern end is where the new University of Northampton Complex is being built.


Schools & Education

There are three primary schools within the benefice.

St James Church of England Primary School (Dallington parish), we have good links here with a regular communion service being held there.

Earl Spencer Primary School (Dallington parish), we have had links in recent times through our Associate Priest. The link has lapsed due to her retirement.

Lyncrest Primary School (St James’ parish). Need to re-establish link here.

Happy Hands Day Nursery runs in the old St James Primary School building and regularly uses the church and church hall.

Dallington Pre-School has just been closed, at time of writing, by the Pre-School Learning Alliance. Dallington PCC are at present working with a community group who wish to set up a charity to continue the nursery provision in The Old School Rooms, which is Dallington’s church hall. This will hopefully start up in September.

Northampton has a University, which is undergoing a massive construction and expansion programme. This is a £330million relocation programme.

Although there is no secondary school in the benefice, Northampton has a number of secondary schools nearby, including comprehensives and academy schools, 6th form Colleges, boys and girls schools and independent schools.

Health Care

We have three Community Centres, three dentists, five nursing homes, Gladstone Road Disability Resource Centre and the Northamptonshire Centre for Independent Living. There are at least three general medical practices close by but not in the benefice.

Diocese and Deanery

The Diocese of Peterborough covers about 1,200 square miles in Northamptonshire, Peterborough and Rutland. Its population is mainly in towns and Northampton is the largest town in the Diocese and Greater Northampton Deanery the largest Deanery.

Greater Northampton Deanery was formed in 2008 in order to share in God’s mission for our area by “seeing Northampton whole”. It includes Team Ministries, Local Ecumenical Partnerships, single and multi-parish benefices, 34 centres of worship and a House of Prayer. Around 2,000 adults attend our churches on Sundays and many more at services and other activities during the week.

There is a Clergy Chapter that meets together ten times a year. Northampton has over one hundred churches in the town, including Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Free Churches, Pentecostal, Independent Churches including African and African-Caribbean congregations. Churches Together Northampton has a wide membership where a number of other Christian churches and organisations work together.

The seven major faiths are represented in the Deanery.


Other Churches in our Benefice

We have a number of churches and places of worship in this benefice which includes:

A Gospel Hall

The Doddridge United Reformed Church

A Somali Elim Pentecostal Church

A Seventh Day Adventist Church

The Mount Olive Evangelical Church

A Convent

The Bangladeshi Islamic Centre

We also have the Deeper Life Bible Church, an African Church that meets in St James’ hall.

St Augustine’s Church on Kings Heath was a daughter church of St Mary’s. The church building is at present redundant, and the Church on the Heath, an Anglican / Baptist local ecumenical partnership, meets and worships as a united congregation.

St Mary’s and St James’ congregations regularly join together for services. Examples of this being:

At our Patronal festivals

On any 5th Sunday

Confirmation and any other services attended by our diocesan Bishops.

All Souls Service

Nine Lessons and Carols

Ash Wednesday

Good Friday walk of witness, which has also included our friends from Kings Heath.

Epiphany


Vision, Mission and Future Direction

We are friendly, warm and welcoming Christian communities. Whilst we enjoy slight differences in our services we see our liturgy as central. Neither church has voted for Resolutions A or B and are therefore more than happy to have male or female priests to officiate. Both churches have been delighted to have women priests looking after them in the past.

In 2016 the two parishes joined together for a Vision Day, with help from the diocese. A Growth Action Plan was created from this day and our vision is:

In five years’ time, we want to be:

churches actively involved in every part of our communities

churches that know and understand the aspirations of the residents

churches that serve those needs and aspirations

churches whose buildings are open and accessible to all

churches that are known for their compassion

churches that are engaged with social issues

churches that follow Jesus by following his example of welcome regardless of background, education or age.

Over the next five years we will:

develop the spiritual lives of our existing congregation

explore aspects of discipleship

provide a variety of worship inclusive of all ages

explore the possibility of worship apart from the Sunday Communion service

grow in numbers

In the first year we had a Stewardship Campaign, concentrating on how people could be more involved in the running of the church and parish but still looking at financial giving. (This was using the Giving for Life programme). We also looked at a community audit but this proved to be too much at the time and was left in abeyance. The PCCs approved a Legacy Policy which was requested by at least three people.

The second year plan, September 2017 to September 2018, included a giving review as well as the following areas:

Publicity: set up a small group to co-ordinate, produce and distribute publicity materials using media of all kinds

Community: a group to explore the possibility of providing a luncheon club for older people. Is it feasible? Is it needed? Would it be used?

Buildings: apply for funding for St James’ toilets; draw up plans for facilities in Dallington church; enhance the use of St James’ hall

Pastoral: organise follow up to weddings and baptisms


Office: find someone to undertake admin work in the benefice office

Services: provide experimental evening worship

We have been successful in some of these areas but look for our new priest to advise, guide and support us in the other areas.

We are keen to work with our new priest to continue and enhance the work already in progress but especially looking at the following:

Encouraging younger working families to be involved in our churches

Continue and strengthen our links with the schools and nurseries that use our buildings. This is especially important with the new community group who will be running a nursery in Dallington’s hall from September 2018.

Lead the pastoral support we have committed to in our Growth Action Plan.

Reach out and engage with the other faiths that live and worship in our parishes

Reach out and engage with the people of different cultures that live in our parishes

To see how we can better develop our ministry to children, the elderly and housebound

Identify where we are falling short and develop a way forward.


Church Buildings

Our Churches

1. Dallington, St Mary the Virgin

Dallington Church, constructed of Northamptonshire stone, was built between 1207 and 1252, and is a Grade II* listed building. Over the centuries there have been many alterations and additions, and as a result it contains a number of architectural styles including those from Norman, Early English and Decorated periods. It seats approximately 150 people and contains many interesting furnishings and artefacts donated by benefactors over the centuries.

In terms of major work to the church fabric, the south aisle was restored in the mid-nineteenth century and the chancel was rebuilt in the late-nineteenth century, financed by the Spencer family; Earl Spencer being the patron of the living. The Quinquennial survey in 2017 showed the building to be in a

reasonable state of repair. A small amount of urgent repairs was completed following receipt of the report and items due to be done within a year are being done in July / August 2018. The lead on the Nave, South Aisle and South Porch was replaced with Terne Coated Stainless Steel in 2016 following a series of thefts over many years. There are no toilet or servery facilities in the church which is an area we are looking to improve.

The churchyard is closed to burials and the upkeep is carried out by Northampton Borough Council. Ashes have been interred in the past but faculty permission is required for any additional interments.

2. Northampton, St James

St James was built in 1870 and is a Victorian red brick construction which is highly visible in the area. It has seating for 200 people. A Clock tower was added as a war memorial in the 1920s and has a distinctive four face clock.

The West end of the original church has been made into a church hall which is used for meetings and hired out to other faith and community groups. In addition our church building has a room, to the side of the hall area, which is used as the benefice office and a smaller room for storage. On the other side of the hall we have a kitchen, toilets and an additional storage area

We do not have a grave yard here. There is however an area within the grounds which is designated as a Garden of Remembrance and this is used for the burial of cremated remains.


The Quinquennial survey of 2015 identified areas of concern, including roof work needed to cure a long standing water leak. All the urgent work plus other works that could be done whilst scaffolding was in place has been completed. This included work to the roof, windows and guttering. We still have minor works at low level to be completed.

3. St Mary’s Church Hall

The Church Hall, known as The Old School, is over the road from the church. It is a Grade II listed building dating back to 1840, which served as the village school until 1939. It was purchased by the Church Council in 1961 and now consists of a main hall, kitchen, toilet facilities and various storage rooms. Improvements over recent years included disabled wheelchair access, renovations to the roof and stonework. More repairs to the lower level stonework are to start in August 2018. The building is used extensively. The church uses it for our Parochial Church Council and Annual General meetings, fund raising events as well as for the Sunday school and

coffee after Sunday services. It is used during term times by a pre-school for 5 days a week and is regularly hired out for parties and meetings.

Car parking for both the church and hall is available on the Queen’s Recreation Ground opposite the hall.

4. The Vicarage

The vicarage, formerly known as St James Vicarage, is a detached house comprising five bedrooms, bathroom, two reception rooms, office, kitchen, utility room and a downstairs toilet. It is centrally heated and double glazed. Outside there is a garage, brick built garden store and a large garden, mainly down to lawn. The house is located on Vicarage Road, which is a local road, a short distance away from the main routes that go through the parish, and is situated on the boundary between the two parishes.

The vicarage is about five minutes’ walk away from St James Church, and about ten minutes from Dallington Church.


Sunday and Weekday Services

Holy Communion is at the heart of the worship in our benefice, and we would class ourselves as being from a central church position. Vestments are worn by clergy for our services. Servers and choirs in both churches wear robes. All services are Common Worship Contemporary language, some said and some sung. We also have All-Age worship services based on Common Worship. The music for St Mary’s is from the New English Hymnal with an occasional traditional Psalm. St James uses Hymns Old & New. Both churches use sung settings for part of the services.

Monthly Service Structure

We are expecting to continue with the existing pattern of worship during the vacancy. This was created to allow for one person to cover all services. Clergy cover for our 8.00am Sunday service may be difficult to maintain during the vacancy.

Monthly Pattern

Northampton, St James Dallington, St Mary

First Sunday

9.30am Holy Communion

CW – Sung service


CW – Said service


CW – Sung service

Second Sunday


CW – Said service


CW – Sung service


CW – Sung service

Third Sunday


CW – Sung service


CW – Said service


CW – Sung service

Fourth Sunday


CW – Said service


CW – Sung service


CW – Sung service

Fifth Sunday


CW – Said service [alternates]

Benefice joint service – Holy Communion

CW – Sung service [alternates]


CW – Said service [alternates]

Benefice joint service – Holy Communion

CW – Sung service [alternates]

Weekdays 10.00am – Wednesday

Holy Communion

CW – Said service


The joint Benefice services held on a fifth Sunday alternate between the churches and are at 9.30am at St James and 11.00am at St Marys. The 8.00am service on these Sundays is normally at the other church. Joint services on a Sunday where a Patronal festival is celebrated may be at a different time to allow for a shared lunch.

The clergy are also involved in a said Communion service on the first Wednesday of each month at Nazareth House Care Home. There is also an arrangement at Argyle House Care home to provide a Communion Service on the first Thursday of each month and a Songs of Praise service on the third Thursday of each month. Lay assistance from the congregation has been offered in the past.

Both churches have a rota of ‘Welcomers’ to greet people and hand out service books. We have a mixture of all ages and nationalities attending our services. St James electoral roll was 63 and St Marys 48 at the date of the Annual Meetings. Approximately 34 people live outside the area covered by the Benefice.

The Average attendance figures are shown in the table below.

Northampton, St James

Children & Youth

(0 – 16 yrs)

Adults Totals

Sunday 8.00am Holy Communion 0 3 3


Wednesday 10.00am Holy Communion 0 7 7

Dallington, St Mary

Children & Youth

(0 – 16 yrs)

Adults Totals




Other Services

Throughout the church year we celebrate the major festivals and where possible involve the local communities. The majority happen on a Sunday and include the following:-

Nine Lessons and Carols – United service at 4.00pm in one of the churches. Followed by mince pies, mulled wine and fellowship.

24th December – 4.00pm Christingle at Dallington. 4.00pm crib service with variations at St James. These have included a ‘Sheep Trail’ around local shops and a retelling of the nativity story involving members of the congregation and using props.

24th December – Both churches hold a midnight mass service.

25th December – Both churches have a Christmas morning service.

Epiphany – A united Service at one of the churches.

Candlemas - A united Service at one of the churches.

Ash Wednesday – 10.00am service at St James followed by a United Service at one of the churches.

Mothering Sunday – all age Sunday service at each church.

Palm Sunday – palm procession and Passion play reading in place of sermon at both churches.

Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Saturday evening and Easter Sunday morning we have the Tridium service spread between the two churches.

Good Friday we have a joint Walk of Witness, ending with a soup lunch, this has included our neighbours in the parish of Kings Heath.

Ascension Day service – a united service to commission the new PCCs, usually with a visiting preacher.

All Souls Service – A united service where we invite the recently bereaved to come and remember their loved ones.

Remembrance Sunday: An act of remembrance at both churches.

During the year we try to include baptisms within the normal services, but most happen separately. We look to prepare candidates for confirmation by the bishop. We invite baptism families to bring godparents to church to celebrate Godparent’s Sunday.

We hold Back to School and Harvest Festival Sunday services. The schools and pre-schools are invited to use the buildings for some of these celebrations.

Over the past year St James C of E Primary School, Happy Hands Day Nursery, and Tots on Tuesdays (who meet in the hall) have all used St James’ church.

St Mary’s Primary School – Kings Heath, Earl Spencer Primary School, The Camrose Children’s Centre and Dallington Pre-School have all visited Dallington Church. This included the Pre-School


holding a mock children’s wedding service this year to celebrate Prince Harry’s wedding, with the vicar presiding in full robes.

We try and help the families concerned to be involved as much as possible in the relevant services of Weddings, Baptisms and Funerals.

When preparing wedding couples we use the guidelines suggested by the Wedding Project, encouraging them to be actively involved in the preparation for the service as well as their future life together.

We hold baptism preparation sessions, generally in Dallington Church after the 11.00am service there on a Sunday. We also visit the families individually especially in cases where English is not their first language.

We offer support as long as it seems to be needed after a funeral. This need varies greatly from individual to individual.

During the last year St James has seen 6 weddings; 1 baptism; 13 funerals and 1 interment of ashes. Dallington has seen 7 weddings; 14 baptisms; 22 funerals and 1 interment of ashes.

In addition, our clergy are often asked to officiate at funerals at the local crematorium.


Support Available

Our new incumbent will receive help and support from a variety of sources. Within the Benefice we have:

A retired priest who has recently moved back to live in the Benefice.

Two Lay Readers, one who is licensed and one who is retired and has Permission to Officiate.

Both churches have people who sort out rotas for reading lessons, leading the intercessions, and assisting with administering the chalice during communion. Both have a Crucifer and Servers and people who normally set up for services.

We have a ‘Benefice Safeguarding Officer plus Deputy’

Dallington has a regular organist who is paid an honorarium for his work. St James has the support of organists from another parish in the town, but some Sundays need to use CD’s for the Hymns.

We have a volunteer who is learning the work in the Benefice office. She works for a couple of hours a week on a Wednesday.

We have volunteers in each parish to take bookings for the church halls.

Volunteers keep St James’ churchyard clean and tidy, including mowing the grass. The Borough Council maintain the churchyard at Dallington, but volunteers keep the borders along the pathway planted and tidy.


Youth and Children’s Work

Both churches run a Sunday school during the main communion service, except for All Age Worship Sundays when the children stay in the service. The numbers attending vary with the ability of parents to attend. The leaders are small in numbers and would be glad of additional help.

St Mary’s is looking at the facilities in the church at present with a view to creating a suitable place for parents and children to be comfortable.

We have limited lay involvement in the local schools. The new community charity, which will run a pre-school from September at Dallington, will include a representative from the PCC on their committee.

St James has a small group of Brownies who meet in the church hall.

Both churches have a desire for this area of our mission to be developed further.


Church Groups and Activities

Both churches have an active social life as well as working to improve our spiritual life.

Spiritual Growth – We have a regular Home Group that meets for Bible Study and friendship. A second group meets for Prayer and friendship. A Lent course has been run in previous years.

Faith and Fellowship – St James has a Mothers’ Union that meets regularly. We have a joint Social committee to organise our social calendar.

Pastoral Care – both churches have a prayer cycle for those living in the benefice and receive requests for individuals to be included in our prayer list. Home visits and communion, and hospital visits are all part of the care the Benefice offers, lifts to/from church are organised when needed. We no longer have parish magazines but have been producing a weekly newsletter for each church.

Community Activities – Our churches have been co-operating for a number of years, prior to the Benefice being created, to organise social events, examples are:

Christmas fetes and summer fayres at both churches.

Joint international food evening

Parish barbeque

A summer garden party

Summer picnic

Joint Harvest Supper

Bonfire party

A trip to the pantomime at the Derngate theatre

A Pancake party

We are more than happy for the local community to take part in / or support our events. We regularly have friends and family of church members attending these events.

St James’ church hall is open every Saturday morning for wedding and baptism enquiries and tea and coffee are available to any visitors. This building is also hired by The Deeper Life Bible Church usually twice a week. The Tots on Tuesday group, run by the church, is visited once a month by health visitors and many parents/carers take the opportunity to come in and get their babies checked and weighed.

Dallington Old School Rooms is regularly booked for children’s parties. We also have a ladies’ choir who uses it for rehearsals once a fortnight, mainly during term time. The new group running the Pre-School starting in September time is hoping that they can run additional sessions once established. This might include a breakfast club, after school club and day nursery support during holidays. This group is being supported not only by the PCC but by the Friends of Dallington Village and the local Borough and County Councillor. The Friends of Dallington Village also hold their bi-monthly meetings here.

Volunteers – We have a number of people who give a lot of their time to ensure we have flowers, that the churches are clean and we welcome people to our buildings. Volunteers also ensure that we have servers, Eucharistic assistants and stocks of wine, wafers and candles for our services.


Finance

Although we are a Benefice we have separate Parochial Church Councils and each has their own team to cover looking after the finances.

St James:

PCC Treasurer is Margaret Deacon

Planned Giving Officer is Sandra Oxborough

Volunteers count and bank the collections each week.

The Parish Share of £32,875 for 2017 was paid in full.

We have reserves of approximately £26,000 in Designated or Restricted funds and at 31st December 2017 approximately £20,000 in the General Fund.

St Mary’s

PCC Treasurer is Jeff Jones

Planned Giving Officer is William Turner.

Volunteers count and bank the collections each week.

The Parish Share of £29,114 for 2017 was paid in full.

We have reserves of approximately £103,000 in Designated or Restricted funds and at 31st December 2017 approximately £73,000 in the General Fund.

Both Churches

Clergy Expenses are paid in full

Stewardship & Planned Giving – during the stewardship campaign in 2017 the clergy preached on the need to be involved in giving of time and talents to the church, as well as the churches’ financial needs. The campaigns in both churches showed successes with an increase in those giving through the Diocesan scheme. Planned giving accounted for approximately 33% of St James’ total income for 2017 and approximately 12.5% at St Mary’s.

Missionary Giving – We look to support local charities and organisations where possible. In 2017 we supported The Children’s Society and Royal British Legion. Locally in 2017 our Lent appeal was for EVE a local women’s refuge, and in 2018 Spencer Contact, which is a charity supporting those in the community in need of basic household goods to survive. We also collected food and clothing for the Hope Centre, which is a charity supporting the homeless. Both churches also have a collection point for Baby Basics a charity supplying basic goods to new mothers who don’t have anything. Volunteers have also been involved in either cooking and delivering meals or serving meals at the new Night Shelter for the homeless, which is just outside St James’ parish.

The 2017 Annual reports and Accounts are available for both parishes on request from the Archdeacon.


Organisation

The Benefice does not have its own separate Council. Each church has a Parochial Church Council which meets every other month with Annual meetings being in April.

Each parish has a Standing Committee that meets when necessary and reports to the PCC.

St Mary’s has a Buildings Committee that meets as necessary and reports to the PCC.

St James has a Fabric Committee that meets regularly and reports to their PCC.

The Social Working Group is a joint group from both churches which organises our social events programme for the year.

The Vicar is chair of all groups if available to attend.


Person Specification for our Vacancy

We will be pleased to welcome a new vicar who is able to help us work towards achieving our vision. We would be happy if you are:

of a central church background.

looking to continue a personal prayer life.

able to connect with people of all ages and backgrounds.

willing to reach out, with us, and widen our links with the local communities, especially those who live in our socially deprived areas.

happy to connect with our need to enhance the services and opportunities for our children, young people and families, both in church and in our schools.

willing to support and encourage those who want to develop their spirituality, ministry and service to feel fully engaged and involved in the life of the church.

someone who can listen to and guide us in planning our actions for the future.

able to help us continue the work of bringing our parishes closer together.

reasonably proficient with computer skills and technology.

someone who intends to take their days off and has a sense of humour.


A position for you?

We hope we have given you enough information to decide that you feel God is calling you to apply for this vacancy. We continue to pray that you are the right person for us.

If so please contact:

Cheryl Goddard

The Archdeacon of Northampton’s secretary

E-Mail [email protected]

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