The Parish of St Peter, Formby
Transcription
The Parish of St Peter, Formby
In The Deanery of Sefton In The Archdeaconry and Diocese of Liverpool PATRON The Rector of Walton ADDRESS Green Lane Freshfield Formby Liverpool L37 7DL ST PETER’S, FORMBY An ancient chapelry where God is for all – yesterday, today and tomorrow. A Church with a Difference: St Peter’s, Formby is something different. A brick built Georgian nave from the mid eighteenth century, with large clear glass windows providing a light and airy interior, coupled with a Victorian Gothic chancel and side chapel which can easily create the illusion of being in two separate buildings. Together it works, giving the church a warm and welcoming feel. St Peter’s is a part of the very fabric of Formby, cherished by its congregation and held in great affection beyond its parish boundaries. This is a large and busy parish, and continuing to provide an effective ministry will always be a great but satisfying challenge. Looking to the future we would seek to: Develop plans to make services more appealing to young families and children whilst maintaining the liturgical and musical traditions of St Peter’s. Encourage lay ministry and identify candidates for Reader training. Continue to develop strong links with Trinity St Peter’s Primary School. Promote the charm of the church and its setting to reach out to the wider community making it known that we are always there for everyone. Continue to build on current initiatives for the Parade Services and for mid-week children’s services. Play a full part in Christian witness activities along with the other Formby parishes and through ‘Churches Together’. Contents: We have tried to give a good description of St Peter’s parish, its place in the wider community and how we would like to see future development. We hope that it will be of value and assistance to all prospective applicants. Page 3 Page 4 Page 6 Page 14 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 The Priest we would like About the Parish About Our Church and its People About the Wider Context Appendix A: A word from our Area Dean Appendix B: St Peter’s Parish Boundaries Appendix C: How to contact us 2 THE PRIEST WE WOULD LIKE Someone who: Will respect and maintain the tradition of St Peter’s both in liturgy and music, with the vision to develop our worship appropriately for all age groups. Is a good parish priest with proven pastoral skills, placing pastoral ministry high on the agenda and providing spiritual leadership to all. Will be enthusiastic in developing close ties with young people, working with the uniformed organisations and pre-schools ,and taking a leading role in the Christian life and development of Trinity St Peter’s Primary School. Is a good people manager with the ‘common touch’ and a sense of humour. Can get the best out of the congregation and bring out their talents – both the committed and the less committed. Is a preacher who can engage creatively with today’s issues. Is a sound administrator with good planning and time management skills. 3 ABOUT THE PARISH Formby (population c.25,000) lies on the coast between Liverpool and Southport. The Parish of St Peter’s is at the Freshfield (northern) side of Formby and has about 10,500 residents. Although some 6 square miles in area, about 4 square miles of the parish is taken up by Ministry of Defence property (including RAF Woodvale airfield), farmland and the unoccupied coastal strip. (See Appendix B – Parish boundaries). The Parish is very much a residential and commuter area with a largely settled population and with many families having been resident for generations. All ages and sections of society are represented within the parish; although there is a general air of prosperity, the problems of debt and unemployment are by no means unknown. The majority of the residents are from European ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Trinity St Peter’s Church of England (Aided) Primary School is located close to the church. This is a popular school on the site of the original St Peter’s School and was re-opened as Trinity St Peter’s when Holy Trinity C of E School was closed in 2005. The Vicar currently serves as Chair of Governors, and the vicars of both Holy Trinity and St Peter’s are exofficio governors. Also located within the parish are Freshfield Primary School and the highly regarded Formby High School. According to OFSTED the quality of education they provide is outstanding. Clarence High School, part of Nugent Care, is also situated within the parish. 4 The coastal strip to the western edge of the parish is National Trust and Natural England land and is famed for its pinewoods, beach and red squirrel population, under threat a couple of years ago, but now fighting back. Formby has an attractive centre, with a bustling air, good shopping and a growing café culture. There are excellent public transport links to Liverpool, Southport and Preston. The ‘best’ pub in Formby, The Freshfield Hotel, is within the parish and is a most popular hostelry where there is a choice of over a dozen cask ales and good quality pub meals. It is regularly used for fellowship and pastoral outreach. 5 ABOUT OUR CHURCH St Peter’s and its People St Peter's Church - or The Ancient Chapelry of Formby, its historic title has been a centre of Christian worship, mission and pastoral service within the community since 1747 and is the oldest and largest of the three Anglican parishes by population. The style of worship has a Liberal Catholic tradition with emphasis on the Sacraments and its liturgies use both Common Worship and the Book of Common Prayer. The services are ordered, thoughtful, innovative and imaginative, and music in many forms, provided by a committed director and robed choir, plays an important part. The congregation, particularly at the 10.00am service, covers all age groups including young families, older children and octogenarians. 6 Our Current Services Sunday: 8.00am Holy Communion (1662) attendance 15-20 10.00am Parish Eucharist - regular attendance about 110 . This is substantially higher on Festival and Parade Sundays. 6.30pm Choral Evensong (1662) - attendance 20-25. Wednesday: 11.00am said Eucharist – attendance about 25. This is a service popular with the more elderly members of the parish with very sociable refreshments and chat afterwards. Friday: 6.30pm said Eucharist—attendance 5 – 10. Morning Prayer is said on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 9.00am. Worship on Wednesday (WOW). A monthly afternoon service for pre -school children and parents/carers is held in church. Around 55 children and 25 adults regularly attend, including the Foundation stage from Trinity St Peter’s school. Baptisms are usually held on the 1st Sunday of the month. Special 10.00am Eucharistic Parade services at which the uniformed youth organisations feature prominently are held regularly throughout the year including Mothering Sunday, Pentecost, Harvest and Remembrance Sunday. Additional special services include: significant days in the church calendar that do not fall on a Sunday, a Requiem service in November, a Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, and three (yes, three!) Christingle services on Christmas Eve. We are proud to say that over 5 services last Christmas attendance was about 1,000. 7 We pride ourselves at St Peter’s on being a friendly and welcoming church, with a dedicated team of sidesmen and women committed to ensuring that every-one, newcomers and regulars alike, is made to feel welcome and included. Refreshments served after the 10.00am service enhance the fellowship. St Peter’s is also blessed with a huge array of talents within its congregation which provides a strong base of support for the clergy. The uniformed organisations are a real success story – very popular and often with waiting lists. The leaders and their helpers work tirelessly on creative activities and links with the church are very strong. Our greatest challenge is to find ways to involve young people more closely in the Church’s worship and work; the regular Parade services are very successful in this regard. In 2013 St Peter’s achieved the diocesan ‘Child Friendly Church’ award. As a high priority we would be looking to our new priest to continue work recently started to tailor the 10.00am Parish Eucharist on the 1st Sunday of each month to a more family friendly style in order to appeal more readily to families with younger children. It is hoped that the school would be closely involved in any new developments. 8 St Peter’s and its Community Occasional offices taking place in 2012 were as follows: Baptisms - 49 Marriages – 13 Funerals - 41 The parish has been recognised as a good training ground for Assistant Curates and a new vicar may wish to continue the tradition. A curate’s house is available. A number of groups and organisations meet regularly within the parish, either in the Church Hall or in the Bier House depending on numbers. Current groups include: Mothers’ Union Brownies/Guides Beavers/Cub Scouts/Scouts/Explorers/Scout Network Paradise Lane (St Peter’s) Pre-school Ecumenical Meditation Group Toast Club – for pre-school children and their parents/ carers 9 Social Events The Social Committee organise events each year designed to appeal to all age groups. Events in the last year included a Garden Party, a barbecue after the ‘Back to Church Sunday’ service, Barn Dance (with live band), a Shakespeare Gala Dinner and a Parish day out to Lyme Park incorporating 2 led walks for the energetic. After the Advent Carol service and Nine Lessons and Carols, refreshments are served in church, encouraging visitors to stay and talk. Amadeus Concert Jubilee Street Party Back to Church Sunday BBQ Annual Parish Walk Annual Garden Party Leaf Rake Burns Night Supper Shakespeare Night setting up 10 A new Electoral Roll was drawn up in 2013 comprising 175 members, of whom 53 are not resident in the parish. St Peter’s (Formby) Educational Trust is a charity of which the vicar and churchwardens are trustees. Chaired by the vicar, it meets 3 times a year to consider applications from Trinity St Peter’s school and other Formby schools for items, services or facilities outside the scope of the local authority. It can also consider requests for recreational facilities for young people resident in Formby, and most notably provided funds to purchase a minibus and van for use by local Scouting groups. Other Links A strong pastoral link has been forged with St Joseph’s Nursing Home, which provides residential and day-care for adults with learning disabilities. There are also links with the Freshfield Cheshire Home and Halcyon House Nursing Home where a number of our church community now live. The Vicar serves as Chaplain both to RAF Woodvale (including the associated ATC squadron) and to the local branch of the RAFA. The Roman Catholic Church (St Anne’s), the United Reformed Church and Formby Christian Fellowship are located within the parish. Relations with these churches, as with all other churches in Formby, are good. St Peter’s is an active participant within ‘Churches Together in Formby, Altcar and Hightown’ and is closely involved in ecumenical activities. 11 St Peter’s and its Buildings The Parish Church of St Peter, consecrated in 1747, is a small, Grade II listed, mainly Georgian building seating around 250 persons. The chancel, sanctuary, and Formby Chapel are a later Victorian Gothic addition, with a choir vestry and toilets being a further addition during the last century. The building is well maintained and is in a good state of repair, with all work arising from the last quinquennial inspection having been completed. The church is surrounded by an extensive graveyard which is now closed apart from interments in existing graves, and there is a Garden of Remembrance for the burial of ashes. Work is currently underway to make safe some of the headstones. Most of the maintenance in the graveyard is carried out by a team provided by ‘Community Pay-back’ and by volunteers from the congregation. The Bier House, in the church grounds, was converted into a meeting room in 1992 and is used regularly for fellowship, PCC and Formby Parish Council meetings and by other small community groups. The Church Hall, which is owned by The Educational Trust, is situated close by and, with its surrounding open areas, is used by larger groups including the uniformed organisations. It is leased to St Peter’s Preschool during the week in term times and is available for party lettings. It is also the home of the Parish Office. 12 Other properties owned by the parish are Victoria Hall, in Timms Lane, and a ‘curate’s’ house in Kenton Close, both of which are currently commercially let, providing additional income to the church. Following a Stewardship Renewal campaign in 2010, the parish finances are on a sound footing, and a large proportion of the planned giving is Gift Aided. The parish has been able to meet all of its financial commitments, including Parish Share, and each year donates a full 10% of donated income to charity and missions both at home and overseas, as well as regularly supporting three charities seasonally during the year. The nave was re-roofed in 2010 and plans are in progress to re-roof the chancel, Formby Chapel and sacristy in August/September 2013 at a projected cost of £27,000. The whole parish is currently involved in wide-ranging fund-raising projects to help finance this work. Following an initiative by the diocese, in the last year a ‘Wills and Legacy’ policy has been agreed by the PCC and leaflets about this are now available in the church pews. We can never be complacent regarding our finances and are aware that many members of the St Peter’s stewardship scheme are well into retirement and when their donations cease it may be difficult to maintain our current income level. It is therefore vital that we continue to find ways of building our church congregation in order to secure our future. Copies of the church accounts and the Educational Trust accounts for 2012 are available on request. 13 ABOUT THE WIDER CONTEXT We are part of the Northern Cluster of Sefton Deanery, the other churches being Formby Holy Trinity with St Michael and All Angels, Altcar, Formby St Luke and St Stephen’s, Hightown, . In January 2012 the Deanery agreed that each of the three Formby parishes would continue to have a full-time stipendiary vicar, and there are no plans for this to change. It is anticipated that the parishes will work closely together and be mutually supportive. There are a number of retired clergy living in and around Formby who are willing both to preside and preach, thereby providing invaluable support to the vicar. We presently have two licensed Readers and we would envisage that our new priest would work actively towards promoting increased lay ministry within St Peter’s. We enjoy the services of a part-time family worker employed by the Deanery. She has done excellent work, particularly by developing the WOW services, participating in the Christingle services, forging links with Trinity St Peter’s School and helping us to achieve the Diocesan Child Friendly Church Award. The PCC has 4 employees – the organist/director of music, the deputy organist, the parish administrator and the church hall cleaner. The vicarage is a modern 4 bedroomed house (built 1980s) standing in extensive grounds and this will be home to the new priest. It is within a two minute walk of the church. The diocese has taken the decision to suspend the living for a temporary period in order to allow them to consider whether or not some development or reconfiguration of the vicarage and its grounds would be desirable and necessary. There are no precise plans at this stage, but the suspension will be lifted as soon as changes are agreed and implemented. 14 The church website (www.stpetersformby.org) is well established and our webmaster and other contributors keep it up to date on a regular basis. We regard this increasingly as a most important means of communication, not only for the local community but for a much wider audience and it will continue to be improved and enhanced. The church magazine is published monthly in A5 booklet format. Most of the content is sourced locally and the entire production of 250 copies each month is compiled, edited and printed in-house. It is a vibrant publication that sells well and, together with associated advertising revenue, makes a healthy profit. 15 16 Gethsemane Garden Choir Choir singing in Tesco at Christmas Making Christingles Church Parade Harvest Festival Woodvale ATC - Passing Out Parade BBQ for Back to Church Sunday 17 APPENDIX A A Word from our Area Dean “Sefton Deanery is small and enjoys good working relationships across its 2 clusters based on Formby in the north and Crosby in the south. Ministerial Development Reviews are offered annually and clergy are always welcome to make suggestions as to what they would like to see on the agenda of chapter meetings. We hold an annual joint meeting with the Readers. We would welcome someone who will participate in deanery and cluster life to further mission.” Revd Canon Pete Spiers 18 APPENDIX B RA F Wo odv ale Parish Boundaries of St Peter’s, Formby 1 2 3 4 1 St Peter 2 Holy Trinity 3 St Luke 4 St Michael and All Angels 19 APPENDIX C How to contact us: Parish Office Address: (open Mon - Fri 9.30am - 11.30am) St Peter's Parish Office St Peter’s Church Hall Paradise Lane Formby Liverpool L37 7EH Tel: 01704 871171 e-mail: [email protected] Website: www.stpetersformby.org Charity Registration Number 1128383 20