St Simon`s Church Southsea Parish Profile June 2015

St Simon’s Church
Southsea
Parish Profile
June 2015
http://www.stsimons-southsea.org.uk/
CHURCH SERVICES
On the first Sunday of each month there are two services: at 9.30am there is a KISS
(Kids in St Simon’s) service designed for families with younger children and at
11.15am there is a formal service of Holy Communion using Common Worship
Order Two in contemporary language.
On the second, fourth and fifth Sundays of the month there is a service of Morning
Praise at 10.30. The normal structure involves: opening prayer, songs led by a
music group, confession - after which children and teenagers leave for their own
groups, intercessions, a hymn, the lesson, a sermon or address (approximately 20
minutes is normal), a final hymn.
On the third Sunday there is a service of Family Communion. At present we are
experimenting with ways to make this service more interesting for younger people.
In order to meet the needs of the widest spectrum of attenders the service is
followed (after coffee) by a detailed Bible study on the passage for the day for those
who wish to stay.
On all except the first Sunday, prayer is offered for personal needs following the
services.
Normally two groups of two people are available and, should it be
requested, people may be anointed with oil.
The services, with the exception of 11.15 on the first Sunday are comparatively
informal to meet the needs of the congregation, many of whom do not come from an
Anglican background and increasingly come from a non-church attending
background. The clergy do not robe. All of the services, with the exception of 11.15
on the first Sunday are followed by refreshments.
There are normally no weekday services. Evening services were discontinued over
twenty years ago because of low attendance and have been replaced by offering
supper to anyone who comes into the church. The supper is preceded by a short
prayer and a short talk is given half way through. The supper attracts between 30
and 60 people each week, the majority are living alone, many in bed sits or in
temporary accommodation and a few are actually sleeping rough. A rule of no
smoking, no drinking, no drugs is strictly enforced.
This constitutes both a
community service and very basic evangelism.
CHURCH ACTIVITIES
Discipleship
House groups: The church runs seven groups for adults and one for
younger people.
Courses: The church runs Alpha courses, either freestanding or with the
neighbouring parish of St Jude’s, occasional short discipleship courses and
Lent courses.
Prayer and Praise: Three weekly meetings are held – Tuesday Time
Together and two Rhythm of Prayer meetings. Rhythm of prayer is a simple,
liturgy-based, time of prayer. A joint prayer meeting has recently started with
St Jude’s Church, meeting every 2-3 months. A group also meets monthly to
pray for the state of Israel.
Youth and Children’s Work
In addition to provision for younger people at our Sunday services, the church
runs a parent and baby club, also an occasional ‘messy church’ and
undertakes work in local schools, both local authority and independent. We
run a range of activities for older children and teenagers, mainly working
together with St Jude’s parish.
Ministry to the Vulnerable
Sunday Suppers: A meal is provided every Sunday evening for homeless
and vulnerable people.
Breakthru: This is a self-help group meeting every Friday where people
develop skills and are helped with benefits and basic education. It uses both
the church kitchens and the well-equipped workshop in the basement.
Housebound and Isolated: A visiting team visits housebound and isolated
people and regular services are held in a number of the local care homes.
Communication
Newsletter: We publish a church newsletter for members of the church every
two weeks. This contains not only details of services but also a wide variety
of news.
Website: The church website contains details of all our activities together
with links to recordings of recent sermons and addresses.
The Source: The Source is a four page leaflet delivered to every household
in the parish three times a year. It contains comment on current issues as
well as church news.
Missions and Charities
The church makes collections for Tearfund and for the Bishop of Portsmouth’s
Lent Appeal. We take part in the annual fundraising for Christian Aid.
Retiring collections are made to meet disaster needs
The church aims to give 10% of all voluntary unrestricted income to charitable
purposes. In 2014 we gave £600 each to: The Bible Society, Faith and
Football, The Alzheimers Society, Street Pastors, The Barnabas Trust,
FRMME (Middle East), Tearfund, JoshuaFM Radio (Uganda).
Maintenance Working Parties
General maintenance work on the church building and on the surrounding
garden is undertaken by frequent working parties.
Social Activities
An active social committee organises regular events, including “grub club”
visits to local pubs and restaurants, quiz nights, fun auctions, etc.
ETHOS of St. SIMON’S CHURCH
Since its foundation 150 years ago St Simon’s Church has seen itself as clearly from
the evangelical tradition of Anglican churchmanship, whilst more recently being also
open to the exercise of gifts of the Holy Spirit. Its outlook is firmly based on the
conviction that the Bible, as the word of God, is the final arbiter in matters of
doctrine, practice, behaviour and lifestyle. The church believes that its ministry both
within the parish and further afield is particularly to the poor and marginalised and
this belief underpins both its financial giving and its social and community work. At
a personal and congregational level we believe that we must welcome everyone and
seek to meet their spiritual, emotional and physical needs without pre-judging them.
The St Simon’s Vision Statement (Appendix 1) provides a clear indication of the aim
and intention of the church. It expands on nine aspects which we consider to be
central to our Christian life:
1.
The Holy Scriptures are fundamental to our life and faith
2.
Prayer is central to our life
3.
As Jesus family we aim to be a ‘come as you are’ church
4.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for all
5.
Each of us is called to journey with Jesus
6.
God has given us all spiritual gifts
7.
We see children and young families to be at the heart of the church
8.
We are called to reach out in particular to people whose lives have
been damaged and who have lost their way
9.
We support worldwide mission.
St Simon’s wishes to work closely with its neighbouring parish of St Jude’s and to
this end are developing a covenant relationship with them (Mission Partnership)
which will enable both of us to work jointly and more effectively. The draft covenant
statement is appended at Appendix 2.
NEEDS, HOPES AND ASPIRATIONS
Following the retirement of Matthew Holland as Vicar at the end of April 2015, the
PCC has been conducting a survey of the views of members of the congregation.
This has taken the form of eight ‘listening groups’ where two members of the PCC
listened and recorded the views of groups of people, supplemented by open ended
questionnaires for those people unable to attend a listening group.
The questioning was open ended and people were encouraged to give their ideas on
three matters:
what is important to you about St Simon’s,
what do you hope for in a new incumbent, and
what should be the priorities and vision a new incumbent should address.
The result are as yet (29th May) only partially correlated but a pattern is emerging.
What is important about St Simon’s
The two aspects which are most frequently mentioned are that it seeks to provide a
service to the community and that its services are well led, of different styles and
fairly informal in presentation. Other aspects which are frequently noted are that it is
seen as an inclusive and welcoming church open to all levels of belief and
background, that it provides well for children and that it runs as a team with most
members taking an active role.
What do you hope for in a new incumbent
Most frequently mentioned was the hope that the new incumbent would have good
interpersonal skills and pastoral abilities. There was also a common hope that she
or he would be ‘in tune’ with the development of a Mission Partnership with St Jude’s
and also would be happy to trust people with responsibility. Other things which
were mentioned were that people hoped for a good preacher, someone good with
children and a person with a vision for evangelism and church growth. We would
expect the new incumbent to exhibit and promote Biblical principles in his or her
character and personal lifestyle, particularly regarding marriage and personal
relationships.
Future priorities and vision
The most common priority mentioned is the need to increase the membership
amongst 20 to 40 year old people and to reach out to the student population. Other
frequent aspirations were that the Mission Partnership be firmly established, that the
church’s community work should be expanded and that the house groups and study
groups should grow and become stronger.
THE CHURCH BUILDING
The foundation stone of the church was laid in September 1864 and the building was
consecrated in 1867. It was substantially remodelled in the early years of the 20 th
Century when electric lighting was installed and the pews were rearranged to provide
for a central aisle. A further major development took place between 1979 and 1982
when the gallery was removed and replaced by two large meeting rooms, two small
meeting rooms, two kitchens and two sets of toilets at the rear of the church. An AV
system is installed in the Church, including an LCD projector for use in services. The
Musicians also have a performance area to lead the worship during services, which
also includes a grand piano.
During the last few years a number of major developments have been undertaken.
The high level roof and the flat roof over the vestries have been re-roofed, the costly
and inefficient oil heating system has been replaced with infra-red overhead heating,
the organ has been sold and the organ space is in the process of being turned into a
dedicated prayer space. The kitchens and toilets have been renovated and the
former coal store has been transformed into a fully equipped workshop. The nave
and chancel were also completely redecorated in 2014.
Plans for the near future will see the floor of the nave overhauled, sanded and
polished to provide a flat surface, the pews replaced by comfortable chairs to allow
for more flexible worship and a more varied use of the space and the replacement of
carpeting in the chancel and on the platform. A Faculty has been granted to allow
this work to be carried out and the funding to complete it has been raised. Decisions
have yet to be made on the future of the pulpit, the brass lectern and the stone font.
A recent (May 2015) quinquennial inspection found the building to be in generally a
good state of repair but noted that repair of the stonework of the West end stained
glass window, and to a lesser extent that of the East end stained glass window, was
a priority for the near future.
PROPERTY
The church also owns, freehold, a terraced three bedroom property in Gains Road.
This was formerly a curate’s house and has until recently been used to house the
youth worker. Following renovations the property has now been commercially let
and will provide a modest source of income for the church.
MINIBUS
A Ford Transit minibus is owned by the church. This provides support for Church
activities and other deserving groups, who are asked to make a donation at a
recommended rate based on mileage.
EMPLOYEES
The church employs four people on a part time basis:
a parish administrator (20 hours per week)
a children’s and youth pastor (30 hours per week)
a community development worker (12 hours per week)
a church cleaner (10 hours per week)
All employees are paid at or above the hourly ‘living wage’
Each employee is responsible to a line manager, normally the incumbent or a PCC
member. (The line manager for the cleaner is the parish administrator.)
Other work is undertaken on a voluntary basis by members of the church.
n.b. From August 2015 the children & youth pastor post will be split into two
separate part-time posts, each for 16 hours per week.
CHURCH CENTRE
In the late 1970s two large meeting halls were constructed at the east end of the
church, on two separate floors each of which is served by a kitchen. The upper hall
is suitable for the organisation of children’s activities, eg. Ball games, in addition to
more conventional meetings.
Church Centre lettings not only provide the Church with an income, but also put St
Simon’s at the heart of the local community.
The centre is used quite frequently by Mayville High School, including in the Summer
Term when the upper hall is used as an exam hall for its GCSE pupils.
Other external groups that have regular bookings for the Church Centre include:
Alcoholics anonymous; Keep Fit; Retired Civil Servants; Good News Travelling
Library;
Southsea Children’s Centre; Lindy Hop Dance School; Narcotics
anonymous; Cocaine anonymous; Dog Training Class.
The Letting Policy Agreement for all users was revised earlier this year.
150th Anniversary Celebrations, September 2014
FINANCES
St Simon’s has three main sources of regular income:



Giving from members of the congregation, mainly by Gift Aid;
Church Centre lettings;
Rental from property (31, Gains Road), currently let to the Portsmouth Diocese on a three
year lease
In addition, the Church benefits in various ways from two local Trust Funds:


The St Simon’s Mission Hall and Coffee Tavern Trust, set up by the first vicar of St. Simon’s
(Rev. F. Baldey) in 1879 ( reg. charity no. 274794)
The Waverley Trust, set up after the sale of the first vicarage in Waverley Road (reg.charity
no. 255234)
With this support the church has always been blessed in meeting its financial obligations.
LOCATION
St Simon’s is
situated at the
junction of St.
Ronan’s Road
and Waverley
Road, about
7- 8 minutes
walk from the
seafront.
Clarendon Road, Southsea, one of the main thoroughfares.
VICARAGE
The address of St Simon’s vicarage is 6, Festing Road, Southsea, and it is an 8 – 10 minute walk
from St Simon’s Church. It is located very close to the Albert Road shops and is about a 5 minute
walk from Canoe Lake and the seafront. It is a double fronted semi-detached property, offering
excellent family accommodation, with both rear and front gardens.
The property was built in the early 1900s and has two main reception rooms, a separate dining
room, kitchen and utility room, plus four bedrooms, bathroom and shower room.
The property is believed to be in good structural condition, with a relatively new tile roof.
Re-decoration and some essential repairs will be undertaken before the new vicar is in
post. (Confirmed by Portsmouth Diocese)
The property also benefits from a garage (unusual for Southsea), with hard standing in front, plus
a cellar with two rooms.
The front garden is mainly paved with smaller flower beds and rose bushes.
The rear garden is laid to lawn with side flower bed and shrubbery. There is also a small brick built
shed (integral to the house) that can be used for the storage of a lawn mower, garden furniture
etc.
CLERGY SUPPORT
The Vicar of St Simon’s leads a small team of church employees who are all actively involved in
support of the ministry. The current church employees are:
Community Development Worker (overseeing Sunday Suppers & Breakthru);
Parish Administrator;
Children’s Pastor (from August 2015);
Youth Outreach Worker (from August 2015).
Strong links are being forged with the neighbouring parish, St Jude’s. The vicars of each parish
have been meeting regularly for prayer and mutual support and encouragement, and one of the
proposals of the “Mission Partnership” agreement is the cross-licensing of the vicars of St Simon’s
and St Jude’s in both parishes.
St Simon’s has a long tradition of active involvement by lay members of the congregation during
services. Rotas are in operation with lay members of the congregation carrying out the following
roles most weeks:
Worship Leader;
Reading the scriptures;
Leading the congregation in prayer;
Sound desk operator;
Lap-top operator;
Coffee making;
Back of house duty (usually a Church Warden);
Welcomers
Musicians
Prayer ministry teams
St Simon’s also benefits from the support and help of a retired vicar in the congregation, who not
only assists with the running of services, but is also active in his support for the Breakthru and
Sunday Suppers ministries.
Support to the vicar is also offered by a small group of experienced members of the congregation,
known as the Pastoral Team, which meets with the vicar weekly and provides a link with the
House Groups. A cluster of local clergy also meet from time to time for mutual support and
sharing.
BAPTISMS, MARRIAGES and FUNERALS
The following statistics apply to the previous vicar in his last twelve months in the parish:
Baptisms – 1 (plus 1 service of thanksgiving and dedication) (This figure may be low because
the previous vicar was not always comfortable in offering infant baptism).
Marriages – 1
Funerals – 12 (this includes 1 funeral service at St. Simon’s, plus a further 11 where the previous
vicar officiated at the crematorium). A number of additional funerals within the parish were also
conducted by the retired vicar who is a member of St Simon’s.
LOCAL FACILITIES
Southsea is a seaside resort within the city of Portsmouth. Portsmouth is renowned for its naval
history and is home to three vessels of international fame – HMS Victory, HMS Mary Rose & HMS
Warrior. Some of the old naval dockyard (H.M.S.Vernon) has now been redeveloped into a leisure
and shopping complex called “Gunwharf Quays”,that brings many extra tourists into Portsmouth.
Gunwharf includes many places to eat and socialise, and it addition to its shops has a 15-screen
cinema complex, and the Spinnaker Tower.
Southsea seafront benefits from a large area of open grass land, “Southsea common”, and is also
the location for other attractions including the D-day museum, the Pyramids leisure pool & tennis
courts (both hard courts and grass). A hovercraft service operates to the Isle of Wight with a
crossing time of 10 minutes.
Rail links to London are excellent (I hour 30 minutes to London Waterloo), and there is also an
excellent south coast line to Brighton and beyond, as well as direct rail services to other cities
including Cardiff, Bristol & Exeter.
The Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth is the main leisure centre for a wide range of sports,
including an Olympic sized pool, and within the St Simon’s Parish there is the Wimbledon Park
Sports Centre that offers facilities for badminton and other sports.
SCHOOLS
Southsea is well served by a range of both primary and secondary schools.
Primary schools either within St Simon’s parish or very close include:
Craneswater Junior School (http://www.schooljotter.com/showpage.php?id=1293280)
Southsea Infants School (http://www.southsea.portsmouth.sch.uk/)
St Judes’ Church of England School (http://www.st-judes.portsmouth.sch.uk/)
St Swithun’s Catholic Primary School (http://stswithunscatholicprimaryschool.co.uk/)
The two nearest secondary schools now both have Academy status.
Charter Academy (http://charteracademy.org.uk/)
sixth form course)
Priory school (http://priorysouthsea.org/)
(previously 11-16 but now offers a
(11-16)
Portsmouth has its own sixth form college:
Portsmouth College (https://www.portsmouth-college.ac.uk/)
Independent Schools in Portsmouth include:
Mayville High School (co-ed) (http://www.mayvillehighschool.com/)
Portsmouth Grammar School (co-ed) (http://www.pgs.org.uk/)
Portsmouth High School (girls only) (http://www.portsmouthhigh.co.uk/)
St John’s College (co-ed) (Roman Catholic) (http://www.stjohnscollege.co.uk/)
Gunwharf Quays
Southsea Common
MEMBERSHIP, ELECTORAL ROLL AND ATTENDANCE
Church membership
Members living in the parish
Electoral Roll
171
92
89
May 2015
May 2015
January 2015
Average attendance in 2014 (2013 in brackets)
1st Sunday of month
1st Sunday of month
Other Sundays
0930
1115
1030
30
36
73
(37)
(37)
(84)
PARISH STATISTICS - FROM 2011 CENSUS
Except where stated these figures were compiled by the Diocese of Portsmouth from output area statistics in the 2011
Census.
Population
Households
9312
4292
Age under 20
Age 20-29
Age 30-44
Age 45-64
Age 65-84
Age 85 and over
19%
25%
21%
21%
11%
3%
Always single
Married/cohabiting
Separated/divorced
Widowed
51%
30%
13%
6%
No qualifications
Level 4 and above
13%
40%
Child poverty (IMD)
15%
Pensioner poverty (IMD) 15%
Working Age Poverty
(DWP) 9%
UK born
UK resident 10 years
or less
83%
9%
Owner occupiers
Mortgage occupiers
Private rented
Shared ownership
LA housing
Social housing
Rent free housing
23%
25%
43%
1%
1%
4%
2%
Resident population:
White UK or Irish
Asian
African/Caribbean
Middle East
Mixed race
Other
79%
5%
2%
1%
5%
8%
Student population
19%
Christian
No religion
Muslim
Other
Not stated
48%
35%
4%
5%
8%
ARTICLES OF COVENANT FOR A MISSION PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE
PARISHES OF ST JUDE AND ST SIMON, SOUTHSEA
1. We, the parochial church councils of the parishes of St Jude and St Simon, Southsea, in the
diocese of Portsmouth, covenant together that we undertake to work in partnership to
develop, promote and implement elements of the Church’s mission. In particular, although
not to the exclusion of other matters, we aim to advance our mission in the ways set out
below.
2. We will support the cross licensing of our ministers, both lay and ordained, and encourage
them in collaborative and coordinated ministry.
3. The staff team of St Jude’s and the pastoral team of St Simon’s will meet regularly for prayer
and planning. They will manage the coordination of the activities of the two churches to
make the most effective use of people and buildings.
4. We will establish and maintain an outreach working group which will be charged to develop,
implement and monitor strategies for publicity and for informing, contacting and evangelising
the people of Southsea.
5. We will develop common programmes for discipling, educating and encouraging the spiritual
growth of all people who attend our churches, paying particular attention to the needs of
those who have newly come to faith.
6. We will collaborate together in youth and children’s ministry, especially working together in
our ministry to schools and in joint programmes and ventures for teenagers.
7. We will cooperate in providing a ministry to the elderly, especially to those who are
housebound through illness or infirmity.
8. We will support and encourage the distinctive social outreach of each parish and involve
people from both parishes wherever practicable.
9. We will work jointly with the deanery and the diocese, if and when it is appropriate, on
schemes for church planting.
10. We will establish cooperation between the treasurers/finance teams of the two parishes to
determine the level of funding to be made available to each aspect of our collaborative
ministry and an equitable division of the financial provision to be made by each parish. Joint
recommendations of the treasurers/finance teams will require endorsement by each
parochial church council.
11. We will ensure that our respective parochial church councils liaise and coordinate their work
on all matters of mutual interest.
12. This covenant will last for ten years from the date of ratification unless modified by mutual
agreement or replaced by a single parish arrangement. A mid-term review will be conducted
after five years. After ten years the covenant will be reviewed and renewed should both
parishes so wish.
13. This covenant is signed on behalf of the parochial church councils of St Jude and St Simon,
Southsea (the signatures of the Chair & Vice Chair of each PCC)
St Simon’s Church
Vision Statement
Who are we and what are we aiming for?
1.
The Holy Scriptures are fundamental to our faith and life
We aim to understand what Scripture teaches and to live it to the full.
2.
Prayer is central to our life
Prayer together (Rhythm of Prayer and Tuesday Time Together) is woven into every aspect
of our life.
3.
Jesus’ Family
Jesus wants us to welcome equally people of all backgrounds into his family. We aim to be
a “come as you are” church, in which we can feel safe, and free to find ourselves.
4.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for all
Jesus wants to grow his church. We run an alpha course regularly, and also offer training in
how to seek and make disciples.
5.
Each of us is called to journey with Jesus
We provide a variety of home groups, short discipleship courses (VIA), as well as mentoring
to help each other to explore this new way of life, and grow into all that Jesus has for us.
6.
God has given us all spiritual gifts
Part of our task is to help each other to discover and grow in our unique, God-given gifts.
This involves taking risks and giving responsibility, with good support, to the inexperienced.
We try to encourage as many as possible to take an active part in Sunday worship, which is
generally informal. We offer prayer for healing and salvation every Sunday.
7.
We see children and young families to be at the heart of this church
For this we seek to express ‘church’ in the ways that children can connect with, and
encourage young parents through a network.
8.
We are called to reach out in particular to people whose lives have been
damaged and who have lost their way
The main way we do this is through ‘Sunday Suppers’ and ‘Breakthru’, which are as much
‘church’ as the Sunday services.
9.
Worldwide Mission
We work to support Christ’s mission to change the world. Our worldwide links are a big part
of who we are.
This document is a ‘work in progress’ which we hope that we can all own together. Please pray over
it, meditate on it, allow your imagination to colour in the details. The PCC would welcome any
comments you have to make.