St Alban’s Church, Dartford

Parish Profile

Everyone is welcome, those looking for somewhere to worship, those asking

questions about life and its meaning and those seeking faith.

St Alban Parish Church, St Alban’s Road, Dartford DA1 1TE

Who we’re looking for

• A Priest-in-Charge with a strong sense of prayer and mission, led by the Holy Spirit, with a servant heart for the

congregation and for the communities of Temple Hill, The Phoenix Quarter, East Hill, The Bridge and Fleet Estate. A

team player with a good sense of humour

• A Priest-in-Charge who will lead us innovatively and creatively in worship, prayer and a ministry of healing – we

seek a shepherd

• A Priest-in-Charge in agreement with our policy of Inclusiveness. St Edmunds and St Albans are both members of

Inclusive Church (http://inclusive-church.org.uk), and of OneBodyOneFaith (http://www.onebodyonefaith.org.uk/)

– we welcome everyone

• A Priest-in-Charge who has a friendly, empathetic and welcoming attitude towards all – believers and non-believers

alike

• A Priest-in-Charge with a heart for families (of whatever shape), young people and children, who will hold us

together by balancing the needs of younger congregation members with those of the older members

• A Priest-in-Charge who is prepared to promote and participate in the social life of the parishes

• A Priest-in-Charge who is prepared to strengthen and enhance links with local schools and community initiatives

MIGHT THIS BE YOU..?

St Alban’s Vision

We want to encourage the spirituality of all our

members, to bring them to know Jesus, to be

confident in their faith and worship, to be prayerful

and spiritual with a strong faith in God the Father,

Son and Holy Spirit, and for them to feel valued and

yet challenged.

We wish to be a Christian influence in the parish,

welcoming people and being a welcoming place for

the community, seeking to work with other churches

in the neighbourhood, and to work with those outside our church family.

In 2-5 years we would like to be:

• A mixed, outward looking congregation;

• A lively, growing church, in both numbers and spirituality;

• Accessible to the community;

• A place you want to go, with worship that is adventurous enough to meet the needs of a wide range of people, but

that remains prayerful and spiritual and embracing all age groups.

The Parish

St Alban’s is a parish in excess of 14,000 inhabitants, situated to the

east of the town centre of Dartford, Kent, in the Dartford deanery.

Dartford Town Centre is currently at the centre of large renovation

plans. The parish was originally formed when housing expanded to

the outskirts of Dartford at the end of the Victorian era. The area

around the church comprises mainly of Victorian Villas, small shops

and businesses. To the edge of the Parish, is the Fleet Estate. This

was built in the 1950s and 1960s, and has a community hall, library,

primary school and parade of shops.

Within the parish there are several schools: Dartford Primary Academy; Fleetdown (CP Infant and Junior) and the

Leigh Academy. Although not a church school, we have particularly good links with Dartford Primary Academy located

opposite the church. The Livingstone Hospital, originally a cottage hospital, is now used for rehabilitation.

The Church

The church was built in 1880 and enlarged in 1902. The church hall was sold and

is now owned by the Vietnamese Buddhist community, with whom we had links

in the past and which we would like to re-establish. When the hall was sold, the

church was reordered, and the pews were replaced with chairs and the altar was

moved to the north side. This provides an adaptable multi-purpose worship area

and hall space (which is available to the community to hire).

The chancel area is maintained as a screened chapel area. There is also a meeting

room and kitchen, vestry and separate office. We have disabled access facilities.

The Congregation

Sadly, over the past 4 years, for various reasons, our congregation has been depleted. Our average congregation is

now 24 adults and 1 under 16. Although we are an ageing congregation, we are a friendly and spiritual group, willing

to work with a new incumbent to grow our numbers.

The congregation is open to fresh ideas. We welcome new members, and ideally would like to have young families

join us, as in the past. We are members of Inclusive Church (http://inclusive-church.org.uk), and of OneBodyOneFaith

(http://www.onebodyonefaith.org.uk/). Everyone is welcome, those looking for somewhere to worship, those asking

questions about life and its meaning and those seeking faith.

We are looking for leadership and vision.

Worship

• We are a Eucharistic-based church and we enjoy a wide range of liturgy.

• The Eucharist is celebrated every Sunday at which vestments are worn.

• Music is provided by both organ (once a month) and by accompanying music CD and a small music group.

• Churchmanship is moderate, neither overtly Anglo Catholic, nor Evangelical.

• Taking communion to the sick and house bound is an important part of our outreach ministry.

• We are committed to offer Healing Ministry.

• Encourage lay ministry developing their gifts and talents.

• Children are welcomed and encouraged to attend all services and we provide an area for children to sit and play

quietly in the church.

Services

10:00am Family Communion (worship suitable for children)

Parish Support

We have one Reader with PTO, one licensed Reader and one retired Pastoral Assistant, one church warden / acting

treasurer and PCC members who all support the parish with the help of volunteers from the congregation. We do not

employ any paid assistance.

Churchwarden & Treasurer | Deborah Westerby

Reader with PTO | Olga Garner

Reader | Jan Martin

Retired Pastoral Assistant | Maureen Denney

Safeguarding Officer | Tracy Stewart

Deanery Synod Representative | Maureen Denney

PCC Members

Deborah Westerby | Acting Chair

Olga Garner

Maureen Denney

Jan Martin

Ken Martin

Corrine Lawson

Joan Goodchild

The Vicarage

The vicarage is situated about ½ a mile from the church and is a well-

maintained 4 bedroom detached house with gas central heating and double

glazing. There are 3 reception rooms, a large separate study, kitchen,

cloakroom, utility room, garage with drive for extra cars and a large, mature

garden.

The vicarage is currently being rented out by the Diocese.

Property

We own a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house on the Fleet Estate within the parish which is

let at present, giving us valuable rental income.

Activities and Groups | Past Activities • Brownies and Guides (meet every Friday evening during term time)

• Knit & Natter (every other Saturday from 10am-11:30am)

• Coffee Morning (first Saturday of the month from 10am-11:30am)

• PCC/Staff/Fabric Meetings

• Food Bank Collection

• Lent course (where we join with St Edmund’s and Temple Hill Baptist Church)

A list of activities at St Albans which we hope to revive with the new Priest-in-Charge:

• Wednesday Lunches (twice a month - soup and a roll, cake, coffee and a chat)

• Wednesday Communion (before lunch)

• Wednesday Kids Club (monthly)

• Vicar’s surgery (weekly on a Wednesday)

• House Groups/Bible Study/Book Club

Past Events

• Successful 2015 Remembrance Day Service, well attended community service, we made the papers (twice).

• Popular Annual Christmas Craft Fair, 25 local craft stalls, entertainment, hot food, carol singing and Santa Claus.

• Tea for the Queen, MacMillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, part of our regular Saturday Coffee Mornings.

Dartford

Dartford has two major buildings concerned with performance art. The Orchard Theatre, located in the town centre, is a fully

professional theatre, providing audiences with a large range of drama, dance, music and entertainment. The Mick Jagger

Centre (built in the grounds of Dartford Grammar School) in Shepherds Lane was completed in 2000 and provides facilities for

community arts across a wide region. The local museum in Market Street is housed in the same building as the library.

Central Park is a formal park in the town centre. It is used for various community events. It comprises 26 acres (110,000 m2) of

land.

Dartford train station is a five minute walk from Dartford town centre. Trains run to Dartford from London Charing Cross,

London Canon Street, Waterloo East, London Bridge and London Victoria. The North Kent Line also runs from Dartford to the

Medway towns and the Kent coast. In 2007 Ebbsfleet train station was opened connecting Dartford to London St. Pancras

and Stratford via a high speed train link significantly reducing journey times to London. It also connects Dartford to the

continent via the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Fastrack buses provide fast reliable efficient transport across Kent Thameside. Fastrack is fast becoming the transport mode

of choice for local journeys from new and existing developments around Dartford, Bluewater, Ebbsfleet and Gravesend. It

links with the main Southeastern rail network at Dartford, Greenhithe (for Bluewater) and Gravesend as well as Ebbsfleet

International.

Dartford Overview

2011 Census Data on DARTFORD

• In the 2011 census the population was 97,365 and is made up of approximately 51% females and 49% males. The average

age is 38, while the median age is lower at 37.

• 87.3% of people were born in England. Other top answers for country of birth include: 1.4% India, 0.9% Nigeria, 0.7%

Scotland, 0.7% Ireland, 0.5% Sri Lanka, 0.5% Wales, 0.4% South Africa, 0.3% Philippines.

• 94.3% of people speak English. Other top languages spoken include: 1.1% Polish, 0.5% Panjabi, 0.4% Tamil, 0.3%

Tagalog/Filipino.

• The religious make up is 60.6% Christian, 26.7% No religion, 1.6% Muslim, 1.6% Hindu, 1.6% Sikh, 0.4% Buddhist, 0.1%

Jewish, 0.1% Agnostic. 6,391 people did not state a religion. 355 people identified as a Jedi Knight and 9 people said they

believe in Heavy Metal.

• 46.0% of people are married, 13.1% cohabit with a member of the opposite sex, 0.7% live with a partner of the same sex,

24.8% are single and have never married or been in a registered same sex partnership, 8.5% are separated or divorced.

There are 4,746 widowed people.

• Top occupations: Administrative and secretarial 14.7%, Professional 14.6%, Skilled trades 12.6%, Associate professional

and technical 12.4%, Administrative 10.6%, Managers, directors and senior officials 10.3%, Elementary 10.0%,

Sales/customer service 9.1%, Caring, leisure 8.9%, Elementary administration/ service 8.9%.

• In the Referendum on EU Membership, Dartford voted Leave – 35,878 for, and Remain – 19,985 for. Turnout was 75.5%.

For further information please contact:

Debbie Westerby | Churchwarden and Treasurer

Tel: 01322 630373

Email: deborahwesterby@virginmedia.com

Olga Garner | Reader (with PTO)

Tel: 01322 221513

Email: olgagarner@globalnet.co.uk

Jan Martin | Reader

Tel: 01732 884417

Email: kenjan@btinternet.com