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Annan United Reformed Church

www.annanurc.btck.co.uk

Pastorate Profile

August 2019

Charity No: SCO4037

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August 2019

CONTENTS

Our Vision 3

Local Mission and Ministry 4

Our Community 6

Our Premises 8

How we are organized 9

Church Statistics 9

Equal Marriage 10

Church Activities 11

Worship 12

Caring for each other 13

Youth & Children 13

Resources available 14

Being the church together 14

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Welcome to the pastorate profile of Annan United Reformed Church. In this we are

trying to tell our story together with a few of our hopes and aspirations.

So, let us begin with Our Vision.

Our Vision:

Our purpose as a congregation is to communicate God’s purposes and this we do through

worship, preaching the Gospel and serving others. Our mission statement is:

‘Moving forward in Faith and Service’

In living this statement, we wish to continue being outward-looking, sharing our resources

with others and being a positive, active partner with the communities in which we serve. We

are known for our hospitality, for responding to pastoral needs and for organising festivals /

events etc., and we feel that it is through these mediums that we have scope to develop how

we live out the Gospel in Annan.

To aid us with our mission ‘hopes’ for the future we turned to Walking the Way and Holy

Habits, identifying what we already do and from that point identifying what we would like to

do or take forward into our vision.

What follows is a very brief overview of our ‘Mission Hopes’.

TELL More opportunity to have church-led events / worship but away

from the church building encouraging ecumenical friends to participate.

TEACH Consider open invitations and explore new ideas for young people.

TEND How we undertake Pastoral Care could be improved and we have

thought the forming of Pastoral Teams may be a way forward.

TRANSFORM We are active with Commitment for Life, Christian Aid, etc. We have

supported the development of Kate’s Kitchen into an independent charity and

acquiring their own premises. Kate’s Kitchen is a local initiative catering /

serving over 1000 meals per year to those in need. Closer links with Annan

Churches Together (ACT) would also help people in Annan and the spread of

the gospel. Annan United Reformed Church is an active Church within this.

TREASURE We recently refurbished the Church maintaining the character of a building of

this age and continue to look at improving our facilities.

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Local Mission and Ministry Recommendations We have had a Local Mission and Ministry Review in 2015 and here we list the recommendations and what we at Annan United Reformed Church have actioned with respect to the recommendations. 1. The refurbishment of the premises (about to begin) should be used to further community

and church use, particularly by children and young people, but also those others from the wider community requiring church space and/or Christian help.

2. Continuing encouragement is needed to develop lay involvement in worship, worship

leading and preaching; and someone (or several people) to develop skills in Audio-Visual and other IT use, as it is felt that the Minister is the main technical expert presently.

3. Continuing development of Ecumenical Relationships, at a time when a considerable

amount is already being achieved ecumenically, and also at a time when URC ‘clusters’ are being considered with ministerial deployment and scoping under review is important.

The development of further outreach, in addition to the considerable presence and ecumenical work in the town, should be continued and is desirable, if possible.

4. The Pastorate Profile should be re-written (out of date at the time) to keep updating your

Vision and considered Priority Areas of Action, on which your Minister’s role description should be based. This will change from time to time, and with the specific skills of whoever is Minister at any particular time. Advice can be given by Rev Jan Adamson on re-writing your Pastorate Profile (see also the booklet – Guidelines to Compiling a Pastorate Profile).

Local Mission and Ministry Review Actions

1. Refurbishment of the church & kitchen is now complete and the congregation, church groups and the Girls Brigade all find the extra space that has been created beneficial and gives the church premises much more flexibility. We are now able to offer facilities to the wider community and two new community action groups have started to use our premises.

2. We are pleased to report that our congregation continue to volunteer their services; we

now have 10 Bible Readers & 6 Prayer Leaders assisting in our worship sessions. One member has recently completed a TLS course and has joined the eldership. We now have 2 members of the congregation undertaking the preparation and supervision of the church website (www.annanurc.btck.co.uk) and Facebook page (AnnanURC) and we are upgrading our A/V equipment. We also have one member of the congregation coordinating the publication of our monthly magazine.

3. We at Annan URC continue to explore ways in which the church could become a member of a cluster, but recognise that our geographical position makes it difficult to link with other Scottish Synod churches and the Cumbria Ecumenical arrangements make it difficult to link with Northern Synod.

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4. Although we are currently without a minister, our representatives on Annan Churches Together the ecumenical group in the town, are still continuing to develop Ecumenical Relationships both locally and worldwide. We continue to hold joint services & social events under the banner of Annan Churches Together.

5. The Pastorate Profile has been re-written with the relevant information updated. We will

continue to keep updating the profile with regard to our Vision and Priority Areas of Action in such a way that it reflects the basis of our minister’s role, bearing in mind the specific skills of whoever is minister at that particular time.

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Our Community:

Annan is situated on the Solway coast, midway between

Dumfries and Carlisle. Both the Galloway coast and hills

and the Lake District are within easy reach and the scenery

is second to none. It is on the A75 and only seven miles

from the M6.

The town of Annan has a population of c.10,000 residents, it is the third largest town in the

region, with approximately 30% over 65 years of age. In terms of employment there are

2,600 jobs in the town of which 69% are full time with the rest having part time roles.

Manufacturing and construction are the dominant sectors, and health and social work

services are also particularly active. However, there is a higher level of unemployment

compared with other similar size towns in Scotland. As a result, many of the high achievers

leave Annan to study and work, rarely returning.

Annan has a large proportion of social housing estates; some residences have been

purchased by occupants. A number of estates of private housing units have been built, the

manse being located on one, and these are mainly occupied by retired people.

Annan town centre has a selection of retail shops. Three bakers, two butchers, three

chemists, Ladies fashion shop, gents’ outfitters, a number of charity shops and a ‘factory’

outlet store, together with a number of shops where low priced items are sold. For its size

Annan has an unusually high number of restaurants, tea shops, cafes, hotels, public houses

and betting shops. There are two supermarkets in the town and a large number of

hairdressers.

The football team, ‘Annan Athletic’ & the rugby team ‘Annan Rugby Club’ are both successful

in their leagues and provide activities most evenings and weekends. They work hard as

community facilities with the young and the old in the town. They also support the volunteer

coaches who give of their time on a weekly basis. There is a well organised athletics club

and many people of all ages take part in local and national athletic events. There is a public

gym and swimming pool.

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The doctor’s surgery complex, with some dozen doctors and nursing staff, three dental

surgeries and a private podiatrist provide high quality care to the community. Dumfries

and Galloway Royal Infirmary, (DGRI) and maternity hospital are approximately half an

hour journey. Annan has two residential care homes and most surrounding towns also

provide such facilities. We also have a non-A & E hospital in Annan providing for patients

who require time to recuperate after surgery, patients requiring terminal and respite care.

There are several play groups and nursery schools for pre-school children and four state-

funded primary schools within the town. The Academy for secondary education transports

pupils from a large catchment area. Dumfries and Carlisle both have Universities allowing

students in higher education to study from home. University students do not pay tuition fees

in Scotland.

Annan hosts an annual Riding of the Marches to which large crowds are drawn and many

Annan born people return for the fortnight long festivities. There is an active project

sponsoring regeneration of buildings and the harbour in Annan, aided by local authority and

lottery funding.

For additional information about amenities and activities in and around Annan please visit

www.annan.org.uk

For information about the Dumfries and Galloway region please visit

www.visitscotland.com/destinations-maps/dumfries-galloway

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Our Premises:

Our premises consist of 2 buildings – our Church with integral Hall is located in Station

Road, Annan and our Manse at 35 Northfield Park, Annan.

The Church is a tall sandstone

construction of two stories under a

pitched slate roof opened after

completion in June 1903 with a flat

roof hall extension to its side.

The main church has a central

entrance to the front with one side

door providing disabled access.

There are stairs to either side giving

access to a gallery running on three

sides of the church sanctuary.

The Church ground floor has

recently been refurbished with the pews being removed and comfortable individual seating

now used. This has created a large flexible space which we hope will encourage more

community use. New toilet accommodation has also been provided along with a meeting

room, new vestry and small kitchen at the main entrance. Behind and on level with the pulpit

is the organ console.

The hall is single story with a newly refurbished integral kitchen and storage cupboards. The

hall has two entrance doors which are independent of the church. The church is heated by

a gas boiler giving hot water radiator heating and the hall is heated by a separate gas boiler.

The manse is a four bed-roomed

bungalow built in 2002 and situated

on a modern development on the

fringe of the town. There is

adequate parking and an integral

garage. Heating is by gas.

The maintenance of both church and manse are organised by the elders.

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How we are organised:

The church has 11 ordained elders with currently 5 serving elders who historically have been

‘serving’ for indefinite periods, but this is changing with elders now feeling able to take

‘sabbaticals’. A church administrator and a treasurer are both drawn from the Church

membership. The church officers all have a good working relationship with each other.

At the time of writing the elders’ meeting is held monthly and is chaired by the elders on a

rota basis with the agenda being compiled by the administrator in consultation with the

elders. Additional meetings are called should they be required to deal with urgent matters.

All elders, with the exception of the administrator & treasurer, have a geographical area of

the town for which they provide pastoral care, concentrating on the sick and housebound.

We are currently discussing a ‘team’ approach to pastoral visiting.

Some elders have special responsibilities within the church, i.e. treasurer and an elder with

responsibility for liaison with youth leaders.

The Church meeting is held 3 times a year with the AGM in June. These meetings are held

on a Sunday after a shortened worship service, the agenda being set by elders’ meeting

taking notice of any items received from church members. It is during the AGM that

delegates to Synod meetings and other bodies are appointed for a period of two years.

Church Statistics:

As can be seen from our age distribution breakdown, our congregation comprises people of

all ages with its share of elderly and frail people some of whom are house bound requiring

pastoral care home visits from our small but very willing band of visitors.

Our Church Numbers:

The total number of people on the church roll claiming association with the Church is 196

of which 23 are under 18 and 80 are church members. The number of housebound

members is 14. Our average attendance on a Sunday is 34 including 2 children. Those

living within one mile of the church is 140 or 71.43%.

Breakdown of age distribution:

Age Church Roll Attendance

0-11 12 6

12-18 11 0

19–30 17 0

31-40 12 2

41-50 7 1

51-60 28 3

61-70 25 8

71-80 46 15

81+ 38 16

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Number of Elders = 5 serving & 6 non-serving

Number of Baptisms in the past 5 years = 10

Average number of funerals each year = 6

Number of weddings each year = 1

Additions or losses to the Church Roll of members in the past 5 years:

Additions 25

Losses 30 deceased (4 other funerals not included)

5 by transfer

Total losses 35

Equal Marriage

Annan United Reformed Church welcome the decision of General Assembly 2016 allowing

each church to make their own decision on equal marriage thereby expressing their own

theological position.

Annan United Reformed Church thereby agreed the following

• To permit services of equal marriage to take place in this church.

• That, as with heterosexual marriage, the minister and elders, at the elders meeting, will make the final decision on a marriage taking place ensuring that at least one person in the relationship is a committed Christian and involved in some way in the life of this Church.

• That the elders and minister will have the authority to allow a marriage, heterosexual or equal, due to medical situations which may preclude the above.

• If Annan United Reformed Church at any time calls a minister who is opposed to equal marriage it will be the responsibility of the elders to find a suitable replacement to lead the marriage service.

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Church Activities:

The church buildings are used by:

The church family, for worship on Sunday mornings and other festivals, which draw an

average attendance of approx. 34. These numbers increase for social events to between

85-100 people.

Sunday Seekers (our Sunday School) meet throughout the year with a small group of young

children. All our leaders are subject to enhanced disclosure.

Floral Art Group meet on the first Monday of each month from 6.30pm until 9.00pm. The

group involves people from the community with the tutor (a dual silver medalist at the

Chelsea Flower Show) coming from within our congregation.

The Annandale & Eskdale Safe and Healthy Action Partnership (SHAP) ‘Tuesday Tots’

meet on a Tuesday morning in the church hall from 10.00am until noon. SHAP is a local

organisation addressing social inequality.

A Knit and Natter Social group meet on a Tuesday morning in the John Tweddle Room from

10:00am until noon.

An All Age All Ability games afternoon is held from 2:00pm – 4:00pm also on a Tuesday with

the main games being dominoes and indoor kurling, this involves people from within the

church & the community.

The Annandale & Eskdale Safe and Healthy Action Partnership (SHAP) ‘Arts & Crafts

Group’ meet on the second Wednesday of each month from 2.00pm until 4.00pm

Rainbow Tribe is an ecumenical children’s and youth choir that meet each Tuesday 6.00-

8.30 pm during school term time. There are about 27 children aged from 4 to late teens.

There are two meetings following on from each other to deal with the age range. The choir

is led and organised by the church organist and a local music teacher who each hold

enhanced disclosure.

Spectrum is an ecumenical youth ceilidh band numbering 8-10 and is operated under the

same leadership as Rainbow Tribe.

The Girls’ Brigade meet on a Thursday 6-7.30 pm (in school term time) ecumenical group

of about 18 girls of mixed age. All leaders are subject to enhanced disclosure.

Friday Fellowship meet on the last Friday of each month from 2.00pm until 3.30pm and is

open to all members of the congregation (Male & Female) as well as those within the

community. Each meeting has a speaker covering various aspects of topical interest.

Members of the eldership visit all the above from time to time. Members of our congregation

also take a full part in local non-church voluntary work such as: Food Train, a charity that

shops and delivers groceries to frail and housebound in the area extending throughout

Annandale and Eskdale, Kate’s Kitchen, Ecumenical choirs, Fridays in Faith, ecumenical

help at the children’s school holiday club.

The church has an active Fund Raising and Social Group with events organised for most

months. Summer Teas, monthly soup and sweet lunches, concerts are held each year, a

XMAS Tree Festival, and in 2019 we held successful Garden Party for our wider community

as part of our church anniversary celebrations.

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The Worship group followed the theme of

Fellowship during 2018 leading to the

establishment of occasional Saturday afternoon

events for members of the fellowship who are

unable to attend worship on a Sunday.

Worship:

During the time of vacancy, the congregation are experiencing and accepting a variety of

worship styles. The congregation is predominantly liberal in outlook.

The congregation meets in at 10:30am each Sunday for morning worship with Sunday

Seeker’s meeting in the hall at the same time. The Sacrament of Holy Communion is

celebrated on the first Sunday of the month as well as at times of significance in the Christian

calendar. The elders serve the congregation at Communion.

Services are led by both ordained and lay persons, and we have a rota of ten who undertake

readings during the service and six who lead prayers. We have a drama group (Genesis)

who perform at selected services.

A worship group was established in 2017 to oversee the preaching plan on behalf of the

elders, to organise and lead worship on specific occasions and to encourage wider

participation in worship within the fellowship. This group, using Walking the Way and Holy

Habits material, is introducing more modern material and worship styles through in-house

led services which complement the services led by visiting preachers.

Music for worship is mainly provided by organ. When no organist is available music is

provided using ‘No Organist, No Problem’ by Kevin Mayhew played through the sound

system, CD’s or iPod. We use Rejoice and Sing and other suitable sources for hymns.

Whenever possible words of the hymns are projected on the screen. The church holds CCL

licence for words, video and music.

During the year we celebrate Christmas Watch Night service, Holy Week and Easter

Sunday, Remembrance Sunday and Harvest Thanksgiving. We also hold Girls’ Brigade

enrolment services, the induction of church members, ordination of elders, Baptisms,

Blessings and funerals.

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Caring for each other:

Delivery of Pastoral Care is currently under review. Each elder, with the exception of the

administrator & treasurer, has a geographical area of the town for which they are responsible

for pastoral visits.

The minister is informed of ‘need’ by elders and those in the church who have the

knowledge. However, it must be said that often communication in this subject is not good

within the church family, with families of those affected failing to make contact.

In the past the minister has visited those in hospital, well supported by elders and others in

the congregation who also visit.

The church newsletter contains information on what is going on, and reports of meetings

both local and Synod.

Home Communion can be offered but it is rarely taken up.

The elders and youth leaders have undertaken training in ‘Safe Church’. We are currently

in the process of adopting the Church of Scotland safeguarding scheme.

The elders take Health and Safety requirements very seriously, and plans/guidelines are

displayed in the buildings. Elders are specified as Fire Marshalls.

Youth & Children:

The youth work of this church can be broadly split into work with our Sunday Seekers and

the ecumenical work.

Sunday Seekers is a group of two to five young children. There are two leaders, so groups

are small. They are currently using the Scripture Union booklet Splash for Children as their

teaching aid. Any expenses incurred are met by the church finances.

The church has a well attended Girl’s Brigade Company where approximately 18 girls enjoy

weekly meetings with a lively menu of games, teaching and community awareness. There

are also 4 Leaders all with enhanced disclosure.

We have a total of 45 young people involved in our youth groups of Rainbow Tribe, Spectrum

and Girls’ Brigade.

There is a relationship with Hecklegirth Primary School where the minister has taken

assembly. The school occasionally holds its end of term and special occasion services in

the church.

The minister has also taken assemblies in Annan Academy working as part of an ecumenical

chaplaincy team.

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Resources available to meet our needs and the needs of others

The church uses the ‘free will’ offering envelopes for regular giving and claims gift aid when

possible. We also fund-raise for foreseen expenditure. As well as generous financial

support, members of the congregation give freely of their time for DIY projects, such as

decorating the interior of the church and hall as well as minor repairs internally and

externally.

The finances are managed by the treasurer and elders. The most recent accounts can be

found in the Appendix.

The church has a good supply of technological equipment. There is a laptop, iPod, external

disk drive, digital projector, screen, flat panel TV, and CD/DVD player all available in the

church for use. A high-speed copier is also freely available.

The church has currently a very basic sound system and at present no loop system. The

church AV system is at present being updated with completion expected by the end of

August 2019.

The church would consider sharing any resource.

There is a small core group, mainly elders, who attend Synod events and external

activities, but on the whole many of the congregation do not participate outside Annan.

Being the church together in our community and belonging to the world church

Annan has two Church of Scotland Parish churches, one Episcopalian church, one Roman

Catholic chapel, and the United Reformed Church.

The denominational churches, although very much retaining their own identities, meet

together regularly under the heading of ‘Annan Churches Together’ (ACT), where the

Ministers, Priests and representatives discuss ecumenical community involvement. Until

recently all the Annan churches, with the exception of the Roman Catholic, enjoyed single

parish ministry, but now congregations are having to come to terms with sharing their

ministers with other churches in the area surrounding Annan.

We support and attend most of the joint services held in the town as well as helping at the

various activities arranged.

ACT also runs a school summer holiday club which meets each of five mornings for one

week, manned by local volunteers from ACT churches. Approximately 70 children, many

with no ‘church connection,’ are entertained with various crafts, games etc., plus worship.

A different theme is chosen each year and culminates in a united Sunday service where all

the churches are invited to join the children and share in what the week together has

achieved. Services in individual churches are not held on that Sunday.

It was decided at the end of 2008’s holiday club to keep contact with the children by

holding a meeting on the first Friday of each month, known as Fridays in Faith, this has

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also proved successful. The meetings are held in ‘The Hub’ in Ednam Street to encourage

parents to come who may find it more congenial than a church hall. The only requirement

of Fridays in Faith is that all children must be accompanied by an adult, who must stay

with them to share in the meeting, which consists of games, handicrafts, drama and

worship.

Kate’s Kitchen is an independent, ecumenical outreach to those who are on a low income

or in need of support. Arising from a request from the social and welfare agencies, it is

very well supported both by volunteers who have undertaken relevant training, and those

in need of its services who can obtain a cooked meal and obtain assistance from social

services in a non-confrontational setting. Local churches channel their donations to the

community Food Bank through Kate’s Kitchen.

ACT also supports a choir consisting of children of all ages and backgrounds run by the

United Reformed Church organist assisted by a member of St. Andrews Parish church.

The choir known as the ‘Rainbow Tribe’ meets in the United Reformed Church hall on a

weekly basis. They entertain all around the area and have two concerts a year. Any

money raised is donated to a charity of the children’s choice. There are no charges made

for membership of the choir and church premises are made available with no charges.

There is also a ceilidh band ‘Spectrum’ who entertain throughout the area. Youngsters are

taught to play and as with the choir no charges are made to those wishing to take part.

The church has involvement in the world church through Commitment For Life where our

partner is Bangladesh and £9,570.00 has been donated by our members in fifteen years.

Together with the other churches in Annan through ACT we also support Christian Aid at a

local level with various events throughout the year.

The Scottish Bible Society, Samaritans Purse, Malawi as well as local charities all receive

donations at some time during the year