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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