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The Profile of St. John the Evangelist

in the Parish of Hucknall

PARISH STATEMENT 2014

Diocese: Southwell & Nottingham Parish: Hucknall Team Churches: St Mary Magdalene, St John the Evangelist, St Peter & St Paul Patron: The Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham Deanery: Newstead Population: Hucknall 31,500 Cluster: Hucknall with Linby cum Papplewick Websites: St John the Evangelist www.stjohnshucknall.org.uk St Mary Magdalene www.hucknall-parish-church.org.uk St Peter & St Paul www.stpeter-stpaul-hucknall.org.uk

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This dual role post is designated as 0.5 Team Vicar in the parish of Hucknall and 0.5 School

Chaplain in the National Church of England Academy (ages 11-19) in Hucknall. The job

specification for the Chaplain’s role is detailed in a separate document.

Are you our new priest?

We are looking for a Team Vicar who will build on the successes of the last few years – new

families worshiping regularly, a large bequest, which has given us financial security and a

faithful and welcoming congregation.

An individual whose expression of faith will bless our congregation, the Team and

wider community of Hucknall

A Christ-centred person who can discern, encourage and enable others to develop

their individual ministry.

A caring pastor with good listening skills who will be creative in worship, is prepared to

share their faith and inspire through preaching the Word.

Someone able to relate to all ages and who will especially encourage and develop our

work with young children and their families but not neglect the rest of the (older)

congregation

A person of vision who will help us to ‘grow the church’ and develop a ministry in the

local community.

Someone with established experience in leading and developing a collaborative team of

people within a church, who is organised but able to delegate.

Good communication skills and a sense of humour, able to engage with people of diverse

ages and backgrounds

Enthusiasm for working within a Team Ministry with the ability to develop and

contribute new skills.

Musical skills would be an advantage

The Post of Team Vicar is to work within the wider Ministry Team of Hucknall with particular

responsibility for St John the Evangelist.

The new Team Vicar needs to be a “team player” who will enjoy being a part of an exciting

journey of creatively building a flexible team that will serve the needs of church and

community in Hucknall.

A SWOT analysis undertaken as part of our development of this profile indicated the

following;

Strengths

A welcoming and faithful congregation who work together and care for one another

Well established identity in this part of Hucknall

A monthly afternoon service for young children and parents or carers (‘LAMBS’)

Well kept church and grounds with adjacent large hall for church and community use.

Being part of a Team Ministry offers diversity of worship and activities

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Weaknesses

No live music for services (no regular organist/pianist).

Small congregation has limited volunteering time which restricts new developments

No junior church

Lack of IT skills amongst the congregation

Historically, unstable finances (but improving)

Not enough men to do the heavy lifting!

Opportunities

Occasional Offices providing scope for building contacts and encouraging regular

worship

Links with Rainbows, Brownies and Guides

Long established Day Centre group in the hall

Nearby schools, care homes for the elderly and Neurodisability Unit all providing

opportunity for outreach.

Local Day nursery

New housing both in progress and planned

Website development

Further use of hall

Threats

Small size of the congregation.

Short term tenure driven by the need for career progression.

Limited regular income and reliance on fund raising and bequests.

We are convinced that our present weaknesses can be overcome and that perceived threats

give us challenges towards seeking further opportunities, towards which our new Team Vicar

can help us move.

Geography and community of Hucknall

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Hucknall is situated 7 miles north of Nottingham City centre, and lies at the southern

part of the Ashfield District. There is easy access to the M1 (Junctions 26 & 27).

Development of new housing, the Robin Hood Rail line and the construction of the

Nottingham Tram system in 2004, connecting Hucknall with the centre of Nottingham, have

resulted in the town becoming a desirable commuter area.

The largest employer in the town is Rolls Royce, which has in excess of 800 staff but

new industrial developments are taking place on the sites formerly occupied by the coal

mines and their supporting industries. Additional housing developments are planned, which

will raise the population significantly.

Currently the total population served by the Team Ministry is 31,500 but this is expected to

grow in 2015 to include the parish of Linby cum Papplewick (St Michael’s and St James)

(currently approx. 6,000 but expected to increase significantly with new housing

developments).

There are a total of 12 schools in the parish (2 infant, 2 junior, 6 primary and 2

comprehensive). These include two Church of England Voluntary Aided schools: Hucknall

National Primary School and The National Academy. The previous Team Vicar at St John’s

was a governor at the local infant school.

There is a varied mix of shops on the main High Street, with supermarkets including

Tesco, Aldi and Iceland. There are a number of nursing homes and care homes, which provide

opportunities for ministry to the elderly. There is also a probation hostel in the parish.

Community facilities in the town include a £1.5m custom-built New College Nottingham and

the ‘Under One Roof’ project, which incorporates a number of community facilities.

The relevant local authorities are Ashfield District Council and Nottinghamshire

County Council.

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Hucknall Team Ministry:

St Mary Magdalene (top) St Peter & St Paul (left) and St John (right)

The Church of St John the Evangelist

St John the Evangelist Church

Originally a daughter church of St Mary Magdalene, St John’s was dedicated in 1877.

It was built in the Early French style of Linby stone with Bath stone facings and brick

buttresses, on an acre of land at Butlers Hill given by the fifth Duke of Portland. Its purpose

was to provide for the spiritual needs of the growing numbers of miners and their families in

the Butler’s Hill area of Hucknall. The east window is the artistic highlight of the church,

portraying the Crucifixion. It is a memorial to the men of Butler’s Hill who died in the Great

War. There is a central altar and a high altar, an organ (though currently no regular organist)

and a vestry. Toilet facilities are in the neighbouring hall. The boiler was replaced in 2014.

Within the well kept church grounds there is a Garden of Remembrance.

The last Quinquennial survey was performed in 2012. There are a few outstanding

items to complete, but the work is in hand.

The new priest will have the particular responsibility for St John the Evangelist,

working within the context of the whole team ministry and supported by a Reader (David

Kellam). The congregation is a mix of longstanding members, together with some new families

from the last two years. The churchmanship has an Anglo-Catholic background but is now

more Central, with a strong emphasis on the Eucharist. Currently there is one morning

Eucharistic service at 10am, (CW, order 1), with a typical congregation of 25-30 adults and a

handful of children. Music is a mixture of traditional and more modern hymns, facilitated by

CDs. The first Sunday is a non-Eucharistic Family Service and there is also a monthly

afternoon service for young children and parents or carers (LAMBS), which attracts about

20 adults and a similar number of children.

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LAMBS Family Service

There are good ecumenical links with the local Methodist Church, sharing in combined

services quarterly.

There are 53 names on the Electoral Roll.

In 2013, Occasional Offices across the Team numbered 71 baptisms, 22 weddings and

109 funerals. St John’s share of these was 10 baptisms, 2 weddings and 14 funerals (9 of

these in church). Three people at St John’s were confirmed in 2013.

The Team offers joint baptism preparation and marriage preparation as well as

preparing children to receive Holy Communion before confirmation, within the Bishops’

guidelines. The policy for baptism is that of the Church of England - to baptise those

children for whom baptism is requested, after a period of preparation for the parents. The

re-marriage of divorced people follows the Bishops’ Guidelines.

The District Church Council (DCC) forms the core of our leadership, some of whom

serve on the PCC. The DCC is informed by four working groups (Outreach, Nurture, Worship,

Buildings and Finance).

Highlights of the last year’s activities include Mothers’ Day Fair, Scarecrow Festival,

setting up of ‘LAMBS’, which won a ‘highly commended’ in the Diocesan ‘Precious Stones

awards, ‘Soup Saturdays’, Bi-monthly jumble sales, quarterly Parish Breakfast, Quiz night,

Advent ‘Posada’ and Summer, Harvest and Christmas Fairs.

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Scarecrow Festival

Summer Fair

Quiz night

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St John the Evangelist Hall

There are two halls (Haydon and Hicks) housed in the one building, one with a small

separate office that houses a photocopier. A large well appointed kitchen serves the needs

of both the church and user groups. The halls are available for hire. Regular users include

the Day Centre, Weight Watchers, Brownies, Rainbows and a Dance class as well as a regular

weekly church coffee morning.

The Parsonage

The Parsonage is a large detached house in good repair situated just behind the

church. It has four bedrooms, a separate garage and outbuildings, with a large private

garden and orchard. Access to the office/study can be effected without intruding into the

family space.

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The Hucknall Team Ministry

There are three churches in the Team Ministry: St Mary Magdalene, St Peter and St Paul

and St John the Evangelist, which currently comprise the following:

St Mary Magdalene:

Team Rector: Revd Canon Kathryn Herrod

Curate: Revd Sergiy Diduk (due to move on within the next 9 months)

Readers: Malcolm Handley, Graham Johnson, Jane Haywood

Ann Kowalski (to be licensed October 2014)

Recognised Lay Minister: Natasha Standen

St. Mary Magdalene is the burial place of Lord Byron, the greatly influential poet who was

renowned for his flamboyant and scandalous lifestyle and there are strong links with the

Newstead Abbey Byron Society and the International Byron Society, which hold their annual

International festival in the church and community.

St John the Evangelist:

Team Vicar: Vacant (0.5 post, with 0.5 School Chaplain) Reader: David Kellam

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St Peter and St Paul:

Team Vicar: Revd Jo Stephens

Readers: Mark Tennyson, Andy Pointon

Recognised Lay Ministers: Jill Allen, Caroline Shaw

St Peter & St Paul’s Church serves the western side of the parish, across the A611. It

is a modern, octagonal church building with full immersion baptistry and integrated hall. The

West Hucknall Cinema club, newly initiated by the church, operates from the hall.

The Team is actively supported by a retired priest, Revd George Knowles. Retired

priest Revd Allen Hart is also available for occasional cover.

Marriage Preparation and Baptism Preparation are provided within a Team context.

There is an annual Time Travelling event across the Team. This year the event was spread

over five days, with over 300 local primary school children attending.

Hucknall Parish currently works in a Deanery Cluster with St Michael, Linby and St

James, Papplewick (Rector: Revd Canon Keith Turner), which is a rural/suburban parish with a

population of about 6,000.

The Anglican churches are part of CTHLP (Churches Together in Hucknall, Linby and

Papplewick), which comprise Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Roman Catholic and United

Reformed Churches in the area.

Other faiths represented in Hucknall are Muslims and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Hucknall is in the Deanery of Newstead, which is made up of a mixture of towns and villages

of varying sizes in a former coalfield area with a population of 137,500 and growing with new

developments. The mining heritage has left its imprint on these communities in their social

outlook with a strong sense of cohesion and local loyalty. Much use is made by our population

of their local church, especially for the Occasional Offices. In mission terms, the Deanery is

still in ’Christendom’ mode and thinking, which has been used to advantage, resulting in

growth in the Deanery over the last 6 years.

Deanery vision and strategic commitment is to maintaining a strong and vibrant local

presence for mission and ministry in all the benefices and communities of the Deanery.

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FINANCE

A copy of the 2013 accounts is appended. Parish working expenses are paid monthly in

full, according to national guidelines. A Giving Programme was held in 2013. Finances have

improved over the last three years but there is room for improvement. There is a firm

commitment to paying Parish Share, which has been paid in full for the last four years.

Thank you for showing interest in the possibility of becoming our new Team Vicar.

We look forward to meeting you.

Appendix 1 - Financial report for YE 31/12/2013