’PARISH PROFILE

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Welcome to St Catharine’s, Gloucester, and thank you for

prayerfully considering if God is calling you to serve here. We

are about half a mile from Gloucester city centre, with

around 100 adults worshipping each Sunday.

We want to see our church grow, both in our spiritual lives

and in our numbers. We’d love to continue to be relevant to

our parish and its diversity of families, students, and residents

of care homes, but need to improve our organisation to do

this effectively.

Both the strength and the challenge of St Catharine’s is our

strong commitment to unity alongside our respect for

diversity. Our current church family holds together those

firmly committed to broad, traditional Church of England

perspectives and others with passionate evangelical

commitments. Whatever our perspective, we are committed

to our Lord, Jesus Christ, and to our parish, and to finding

ways to work together in love to serve both. We want to see

unity amongst ourselves and outreach to our community,

though we recognise at times we fail in both. We seek a

pastor who can pull us together and equip and empower us

to serve Jesus today.

If this challenge excites you – please read on!

This profile has been written by a

subcommittee of the PCC, but some of the

content comes from 66 responses to a church

survey, and from an open consultation

workshop with around 50 members of the

church family in November 2018, where we

tried to build some consensus around our

direction as a church.

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SERVING JESUS TODAY

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A community of faith, hope and love

Whoever you are, whatever your story:

You are Welcome

St Catharine's church is a welcoming Bible-based

fellowship of faith, hope and love that aims to make a

difference in the lives of our local community.

We are a diverse group of people that accept and care

about everyone no matter what.

We are half a mile from Gloucester City centre with a

great desire to know Jesus better and reach out to our

neighbours with his life changing love; to be formed by

His Word and empowered by His Spirit.(from our website, www.stcatharine.org.uk)

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We asked people how they would describe St Catharine’s and

what the strengths are. Here are some of the replies:

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St Catharine’s exists to serve Jesus today, and as followers of Jesus,

we want our mission to be His mission. We strive to follow Jesus’

command to make disciples, baptise and teach His ways (Matthew

28:19). We aspire to be a community of disciples, and to be a people

who ask Jesus daily how we can serve Him.

At St Catharine’s, as followers of Jesus, we believe we are called to:

• serve Jesus, bringing God’s Kingdom to our community by serving,

ministering to those in need and sharing the good news of the Gospel,

• build God’s church, growing in our love for Jesus and one another.

We will do this through Spirit-filled and Bible-based fellowship,

worship, teaching and ministry, experienced together, in small groups

and alone,

• equip all to follow Jesus’ call, identifying and developing natural and

spiritual gifts, stepping out together into the world to use these gifts in

His service.

(from our website, www.stcatharine.org.uk)

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In November 2018, around 50 of the church family

met in consultation to discuss where we want to be

in five years. These are some of the top ideas:

Outreach / community (finding out community needs and taking

action to meet them inside and outside the church; welcoming friends,

neighbours, the young, and the marginalised and vulnerable; continuing

to strengthen links with the community especially the residential

homes; working with other churches and organisations as

appropriate)

Closer unity (having a strong, confident identity without excluding

others, and more activities to bring the church family together;

exuding a culture of inclusivity)

Children / young people (focusing on millennials and younger

people; developing a thriving children’s work to encourage the next

generation)

Teaching (fun and engaging; investing in young people; scriptural;

equipping for ministry and mission (including overseas); strengthening

each other in small groups)

Become more diverse (improving facilities (including a disabled

toilet!); services and activities that include all ages and abilities)

Other answers

from the survey:

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As part of our desire to welcome everyone to St

Catharine’s, we value a variety of different worship styles

and services, but with continuity of teaching across them all.

At 9.30am on Sunday, we hold a traditional Holy Communion

service using Common Worship (with some sung elements,

and aided by servers) including hymns and teaching, offering

space to meet with God in Word and Sacrament, and the

opportunity to receive prayer ministry. Much of the singing is

accompanied by the organ, although once a month songs are

led by a worship band. On every first Sunday of the month

there is a children's group. The 9:30 congregation is generally

older and has diverse churchmanship and theology. For the

past 8 years, the same 20-minute talk has been given in both

the 9.30 and the 11.15 services. We take the Word of God

seriously and it is the basis of our teaching. Talks have followed

a number of themes over recent years, including excerpts from

the Gospel of Mark, the letter to the Hebrews, and the Gospel

of John. The lectionary is followed during the major festivals.

There is a coffee time between the 9.30 and 11.15 services

where both congregations can mingle and catch up with each

other.

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The 11.15am Sunday service is more informal with a gently

charismatic feel and a service structure influenced by New

Wine, including prayer ministry and opportunity to respond to

the teaching. Singing is led by a contemporary band every week.

There are a group of around 15 musicians and singers of all ages

who contribute to the band and we feel privileged to have our

younger members involved. The 11:15 congregation tends to be

more evangelical and includes many young families.

Children's groups take place in parallel with the service every Sunday both in the church

building (for pre-schoolers) and in our adjacent church hall (for school-age children). Once

a month adults and children worship together in an all-age communion service (using

Common Worship), followed by a lunch with the whole church together.

We aim to provide activities and opportunities to participate for those of all ages and

abilities, so that families and those who come with a wide range of disabilities can truly be a

part of our church family and worship together. This includes instruments and banners for

use during sung worship, a ‘messy’ corner where children can play, and a table with

colouring sheets or other activities for those with autism who find it harder to sit with the

rest of the congregation. Both the 9.30 and 11.15 services use a screen to project the

service (with service sheets as well at 9.30), and frequently we use powerpoint slides and

other visual aids to enhance the teaching.

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We have a said communion service (including a short

reflective talk) at 8am on Sunday and at 10am on

Thursday, with several regular attenders at each,

including some who come from other churches. Both

use the liturgy from Common Worship. Although we

were initially able to keep offering the 8am service on a

Sunday every week after the vicar left, unfortunately we

had to reduce this to just twice a month when our

curate also left and we no longer had the necessary

local capacity. We hope to be able to restore a weekly

service once resources allow. The Sunday service is

primarily reflective, giving time to rest in God’s

presence, whereas the Thursday service is followed by

an extended opportunity to relax and talk with one

another over a coffee.

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We are blessed to have children and young people as part

of our family, taking an active part in many aspects of church

life. We have prioritised ministry to them over the past few

years and in 2012 we appointed a Children’s Outreach

Worker (20 hrs per week), under whose leadership the

ministry grew and thrived. The team of volunteers was

further developed and equipped to lead and facilitate our

provision for Children and Young People within the church

as well as in the community and in local schools. In 2017,

this worker moved to another parish in Gloucester to train

as a Pioneer Minister and we are now recruiting a full time

Children’s and Families Worker to take this on, and a

broader remit within the community.

Not having a Children’s Outreach worker has required the

wider church family to step up and maintain as best we can

the provision within the church and (to a lesser extent) out

in the community. It is great to see this commitment to the

ministry and we all benefit from the contribution of the

children and young people to our life together as they play

in worship bands, work on the tech team, help in the groups

and dance during our worship. Our current provision is

given on the next pages.

Sparklers - The pre-school group in our 11:15

service where children spend time singing, listening

to bible stories, making things, being creative and

playing together in a safe place whilst parents

worship.

Rock n Roll - Primary school aged children who come along to our 11:15

service go to this. Usually they follow the Scripture Union curriculum which

provides a great Bible basis for the session. There are singing, games, drama, art

and craft, prayer and lots of fun.

CCYG - School years 6-9 meet on Sunday evenings in term time from 6:30 -

8:00 pm. This is currently a thriving young youth group with a varied programme

of activities that go alongside the Scripture Union curriculum that forms the

basis of the bible slots and prayer times.

NRG - A group for school years 10-13 who meet on Friday evenings from 7-9

pm in term time for a varied programme which includes socials, bible study and

days out. Currently this is a very small group, who are going through Youth Alpha.

GFS - The St Catharine’s Girl’s Friendly Society meets on Friday evening during

term time for a variety of activities, fun and fellowship. The group has been run

by the same family for three generations and has evolved from being a place for

girls to meet while the boys went to choir practice to what it is today.

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Junior Church - This group happens on the first Sunday of the

month during our 9:30 service. It usually follows the service

teaching theme and is for all primary school aged children.

SPREE Camp - For the past couple of years we have taken

our 8-14 year olds (and some of their school friends) to the

Urban Saints SPREE West Midlands Camp in Evesham. The

camp is a great place for the children and young people to

explore faith in Jesus as they enjoy great worship and teaching

as well as an exhausting number of activities and a very cheap

tuck shop!

Each year, we run events that are more outward-looking, providing

an opportunity to invite our wider community.

Good Friday Children’s Celebration - For the last few years

we have run an Easter-themed celebration on Good Friday

morning, aimed at primary-aged children and attended by many

(with their parents) from beyond our immediate church family.

We play games, have craft activities, worship and retell the Easter

story.

Light Party - 31 October is a great opportunity to invite our

community to come and celebrate Jesus as the light of the world

and enjoy a fun, safe alternative to Halloween. This is again aimed

at primary-aged children but many of our young people join in by

helping to run the activities.

Christingle and Crib Service – we put on several Christmas

activities with families of the wider community in mind, including a

Christingle service, carol service and crib service.

‘I love all the children’s groups and all the services are really engaging for kids’

‘I like the singing’

‘The atmosphere and community are amazing’

‘The age range of children’s groups’

‘The quality of childcare’

‘All the activities we get to do in CCYG and SPREE’

‘I like how the children can be part of the band’

‘The children’s group is fun’

‘Singing’

‘CCYG is really fun’

‘It is something to do on a Sunday’

‘Youth groups’

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We value being involved in our community, and many in our

family desire to be involved more. We have some well-

established missional activities that provide us with opportunities

to serve Jesus and be a blessing to our community, as well as

enriching and blessing us as a church family. Regular activities

include:

Our Parish has a significant number of care homes, including

many for the elderly and several catering for people with special

needs (learning, emotional or physical). A small team from the

church make regular visits, sometimes running activities, sharing

communion and praying, or just taking time to be with people in

their home.

This is a developing outreach that is currently run monthly on a

Wednesday morning, aimed at providing a welcoming and friendly place

to meet and enjoy company. Until recently, the main demographic was

the retired, but the coordinating team have been keen to expand this

in recognition that there are many others who value the opportunity

to meet. Provision for pre-school children is now available and parents

and carers now regularly attend. The team are also looking to take

some training in supporting and caring for the vulnerable and forming

links with mental health services as there seems to be a particular

need in our area for safe, welcoming places for those finding life

isolating or lonely.

After many years of keeping the church building open each

day, we were finally required to lock it following several thefts

and minor vandalism. In response, many in the church offered

to ‘man’ the church, keeping it open on weekday mornings

and giving an amazing opportunity to provide not just a

building to visit, but also a welcome. St Catharine’s is located

close to the main Gloucester hospital and we have a good

number of visitors who are looking for a quiet space and the

ability to offer a coffee and a friendly welcome is fantastic.

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For many years Alpha has been run in Autumn term, whether

in the context of small groups, in the lounge of a local cafe

(Roots Coffee and Community) or in the church. It tends to

be relatively small, with usually 4 or 5 guests. Many have

gone on to develop a personal faith and join our church

family. It remains a great way to introduce people to Jesus

and demystify what the Christian faith is all about. Alpha is a

key bridge to help draw those we encounter on the fringes

of our church community (through personal friendships,

baptism families or wedding couples, and church community

events) into a living and active faith with Jesus.

There are numerous other missional activities that we either initiate or take

part in. Members from the church are involved with Healing on the Street

with like-minded Christians from a number of other churches. We take a

team into the city centre on the Saturday before Easter to bless our

community by handing out free Creme Eggs and taking time to talk and pray

with those happy to take time out from their shopping.

‘Friday morning with St Catharine’s’ is a Fresh Expression of church that

meets in the Kingsholm Children’s Centre. The group is aimed at parents

and carers who have dropped their children off but is open to anyone. They

worship, pray and engage with the Bible in very creative ways as well as

caring for one another.

Friday morning’s with St Catharine’s is one of the most exciting

developments in our church community and how it will evolve is not clear

but there is a committed team facilitating each week and this team is growing

as Friday regulars get stuck in. The opportunities the Friday mornings

present is one of the reasons the PCC is committed to recruiting a full time

Children’s and families outreach worker.

As a church we support two overseas mission partners, the

Yanez family in southern Spain who minister to a very diverse

community of refugees, migrants and the Spanish and Jane Ingle

working with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Cameroon. In 2017,

we also supported Katherine Lawson, one of our church

members, who visited Sierra Leone for a fortnight to help with

building work at the local hospital, clinic and school, and a

young person from the church on a mission trip to India.

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We currently have 5 small groups. They meet on different days, some during the day and some in the evenings, either in people’s homes or

in the Church. Numbers vary between about 4 and 8 and one of the groups acts as a post-Alpha group to offer something that is familiar

and welcoming to people who have just completed the course, where getting started in the life and fellowship of the Church can be a bit

daunting.

We hope to offer an atmosphere of friendship and fellowship in a very relaxed and informal way, to nurture and deepen our faith in God

and to learn more about Him. Each group has a slightly different style and format, but all focus on reflecting on the Bible, the vital

importance of prayer in the life of a Christian and equipping the use of spiritual gifts.

Meetings often involve a general chat over a cup of coffee; some form of study, which may involve looking at a recent sermon topic or bible

passage or watching a DVD or video and discussing it afterwards and a time of prayer for each other and others we know of who need our

prayers . The level of involvement is down to the individual and just listening and being amongst friends is absolutely fine.

Many group members feel that, for them, it is important for church to be more than just for Sundays and the greater fellowship that is

experienced between a smaller number of people in a less formal setting has, for many, been of great value. In probably all of the groups,

there have been times when individuals have experienced other group members supporting them through some difficult times where a

burden prayed about and shared has made all the difference

We are open to God in the way He would like small groups to grow and develop in our Church and feel that this will be an essential and

important part of our life as a Church family in future years.

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Every other year for the past few years we have organised a Church Family away

weekend. For the past two occasions it has been held at the Hill House Christian centre

in Somerset. On both occasions we have had about 60 people coming along. The format

revolves around teaching sessions by inspirational guest speakers, interspersed with

prayer sessions and loads of getting together fun activities.

We have a really good cross section of people, from the very young to the much “more

mature”, and those who typically attend different Sunday services have a really good time

together over the weekend. Many whole families within the Church come along. It is an

excellent event at uniting our Church.

We feel it is important that we properly cater for the needs of our children and young

people who come along. So we have used the services of Pulse Ministries who were able

to engage our young people in activities that had both a relevant spiritual content and

were fun at the same time. One area to improve in the future is by making it more

accessible to our friends from some of the care homes. This could mean we may have to

look for somewhere a little more local next time with better disabled facilities.

We feel the weekend should be open to all, irrespective of budget, and that the cost of

coming should not deter anybody coming along who wishes to. Due to the generosity of a

number of people nobody who wishes to come has ever been left out, and the finances

have always balanced!

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The summer New Wine conferences have been an annual

highlight for a good number of our church family for several

years. The opportunity to spend time away together (despite

the camping) continues to be a blessing to those who can make

it but has also proved to be a blessing to our whole church as

much of the teaching, worship and ministry has inspired and

shaped who we are as a church family. The desire to broaden

the experience of time away together to those who either can’t

or don’t want to camp for 6 nights in a (usually soggy) field was

a key reason we started to run our weekends away.

The Mothers’ Union is an international Christian Charity that seeks to

support families worldwide; our vision is a world where God’s love is

shown through loving, respectful and flourishing relationships. Our aim

is to show our Christian faith by the transformation of communities

worldwide. Our members are not all mothers, there are single,

married, grandparents, and at St Catharine’s we have men who are

members.

We meet as a group once a month except August, our meetings are

very varied, but all have a Christian-based ethos, always starting with

prayer which we feel is so important. We include speakers from our

own church family, visits to historical churches within Gloucestershire,

looking at beautiful gardens. Our programme includes a Lent Service

and Carols and Readings afternoon in December.

We support our Deanery and Diocesan Mothers Union by attending

special events and services, we support projects by raising money at a

cake stall on Mothering Sunday and holding a Garden Party in the

beautiful gardens of the care home next door to the church.

Everyone is welcome to our meetings and events, not just members.

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We have a regular morning prayer meeting on Monday and

evening prayer every Tuesday, as well as running a Taizé prayer

service once a month in the hospital chapel. During the vacancy,

we have also started praying together for the parish and the

new vicar early on every Monday morning and once a term on

Sunday evenings. The church family have been encouraged to

join in more regularly with prayer bookmarks as a daily

reminder. Prayer is also a fundamental part of small groups.

Prayer ministry has become a key part of our Sunday services

over the past few years with many church members involved in

praying for and supporting each other this way.

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The church family here at St Catharine’s are renowned for sharing time together to partake in food.

Give us any excuse and out comes the teapot and cakes are made. Afternoon tea for newcomers,

buffet lunch after an organ recital, minces pies at the Carol service are just a few of the occasions.

The twice a year Care in the Community services, Christmas and Easter are times to share

fellowship with our care homes. Mince pies or hot cross buns are served depending on the time of

year, provided by our local supermarket.

Coffee and biscuits are served between the services on a Sunday giving time for people to mingle

and share conversation with others from different services.

Coffee, Company and Cake happens once a month on a Wednesday morning, this started with a

remark from a Care Home- “it would be nice to have somewhere they could go that was close for

morning coffee”, apart from lots of chatter, board games are played. This has now extended from the

elderly to mums with young children, an opportunity for them to get out and meet others, in a

warm inviting environment.

The biggest gathering happens on the first Sunday of the month at our Open Church Lunch – a

team of cooks provide a main course and/or a pudding, vegetables, rice etc and bread are added to

this. An average of 70 people of all ages and from all services partake in good food and fellowship, a

time to make new friends or catch up with old ones. These lunches are appreciated by all for

different reasons, those living alone get company and a good lunch, families enjoy time to sit, relax

and have a meal cooked for them, the children look forward to these Sundays a time to be together

with their church friends or to have two puddings without parents watching! Whatever food we

have, God always provides, ensuring everyone has plenty, it’s like feeding the Five Thousand.

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Other annual events in the church calendar include:

Church Fete: Held in June, and run jointly with the St Catharine’s

Under 5s playgroup, this attracts a large crowd of people from the

local community into the church, and is a chance for many from across

the church family to get involved. Alongside the variety of stalls and

activities and music from a local band, we have included a family-friendly

prayer space to encourage interaction with God as well as each other.

Family Barn Dance: Each year we hold a family barn dance as close

as possible to St Catherine’s Day, a great opportunity to bring together

all ages from our church family. In recent years, live music has been

provided by Peterfolk, a band made up mainly of St Catharine’s

members.

Craft Fayre: The regular craft fair provides a chance for people to

display their talents and interact with others from the local community.

Christmas Display: In 2017, we hosted a display of Christmas trees

decorated by church groups and other local organisations, encouraging

people into the church to visit and chat with each other. In 2018, we

are hosting a display of nativities, with a similar aim.

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We have been exploring ministries to help us grow as disciples of Jesus, intentionally looking to equip Christians within our church family

and beyond. We recognise our role as a (relatively) well-resourced church within Gloucester. As we have explored how to do this, we have

run several events and have plans for similar events in the future.

Learning to Hear God’s Voice: In 2017, we hosted a day of teaching with practical training in prophetic ministry with Revd. Mark

Aldridge (New Wine). It has equipped and emboldened many in the church, and was great to welcome others keen to develop and grow

from churches and fellowships across the city.

Disability, Inclusion, Church: In Lent 2018, we ran a series of evenings to equip people to include those with disabilities more fully in the

church, moving beyond just ‘welcome’. This was attended by many from across the Diocese.

Unlocking the Bible: In October 2018, we held the first in a series of Saturday teaching sessions run by Revd. Daniel Button of

Gloucestershire Theology School. ‘Unlocking the Bible’ covered an overview of the books of the Bible, different types of literature, the

grand narrative of the Bible, and how to navigate our way through it. The intention is to enable church members to get more from their

own Bible study and help them to ‘rightly handle the word of truth’.

The Worship Foundation: The Worship Foundation is a charity headed up by Neil Bennetts, a worship leader, songwriter, author and

theologian. It aims to serve the church in the formation of worship leaders and their teams. In partnership with the Diocese of Gloucester,

they are providing training sessions, developing an on-line learning community, and providing a number of practical resources to provide

ongoing development of contemporary worship in the diocese. St. Catharine’s is partnering with the Worship Foundation to be a host

church for this training in Gloucester. More details can be found at https://theworshipfoundation.org/partnerships/

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We are structured around a number of groups and committees reporting to the PCC as shown in the diagram.

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The vicar would be supported by a

good-sized team taking on

different aspects of leadership in

the church, and an even larger

team of volunteers responsible for

welcoming, prayer ministry,

pastoral visits, the open church

team, etc.

We have been a training parish

with back-to-back curates for the

past 17 years, and have always

given space for encouraging people

to develop their gifts and go on to

serve, with 5 members moving

into ordination over the past few

years. Some trainee lay readers

have requested St Catharine’s for

their placement.

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Map data ©2018 Google Imagery ©2018 , DigitalGlobe, Getmapping plc, Infoterra Ltd & Bluesky, Landsat / Copernicus, The GeoInformation Group

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This is how survey responses

described the parish:

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Schools in the parish include Kingsholm C of E Primary School, Denmark Road

High School and Elmbridge Primary School. The closest relationship is with

Kingsholm, where St Catharine’s provides a school governor, and we have run

‘Explore Christmas’, ‘Explore Easter’ and ‘Explore Pentecost’ events for them.

‘Friday morning with St Catharine’s’ is a Fresh Expression of church that meets

next to the school, especially aimed at parents who have dropped their children

off. Kingsholm regularly invites St Catharine’s to help with assemblies, including

those run by the ‘Open the Book’ team, and both schools contribute to a

Christmas carol service.

Kingsholm School wrote that they appreciate ‘

• the strong link that we have had, the children and youth worker supporting us

with explore events at both school and church and working with our worship

team.

• Foundation governors monitoring spirituality and helping us prepare for SIAMs.

• Open the book make our worship exciting and we love it when they come

into school to tell us their stories. We like going to the church for explore.

They are always fun and we learn lots.

At secondary level, Denmark Road High School (in the parish) and Sir Thomas

Rich’s School (just outside) have used the church for concerts or special services,

and have appreciated the new chancel area. Although technically outside the

parish, the University of Gloucestershire Oxstalls Campus is just a few minutes

walk from the church and has just expanded its teaching and accommodation

facilities, some of which are in the parish.

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When asked about what they would like from a new vicar, Kingsholm Primary

School gave the following priorities from their perspective:

*To be part of our Kingsholm family, someone who the children know, respect and

can learn from. They should make the church accessible to the children.

*A more community focus. They have a great opportunity to work with and help

our families. They have a wealth of resources and should work in partnership with

school and other local organisations to make a difference.

*Someone who visits us regularly, leads worship, who gets the children excited

about their visits.

*Someone who can form good relationships with our staff and children, can provide

us with worships that are engaging and appropriately pitched for our children.

*Someone who wants to be in our school working with us. They must like children

and know how to talk to us. They need to make worship fun and make sure that we

learn things from it.

Other churches in the parish include Destiny Temple, Lonsdale Methodist Church, the hospital

chaplaincy and the Kingsholm House Church, who are very closely involved with Roots Café and the

community activities centred there. Several St Catharine’s members also support Roots and

Gloucester City Mission, and the Food Bank, which are also based within the parish.

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A unique and significant aspect of St Catharine’s parish is the presence of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, Wotton Lawn psychiatric hospital,

and a very large number of care homes for the elderly and disabled (we have a list of 34 of them). Most services at St Catharine’s include a

number of residents who come with their carers, and an important part of our ministry is being a church that includes all. During Lent 2018,

we ran an evening course entitled ‘Disability, Inclusion, Church’ to encourage a move beyond just ‘welcome’.

Members of the church organise monthly visits to seven elderly care homes and one adult disability home to offer communion and celebrate

special events, as well as an annual ‘Carols for Caring Communities’ service at the church.

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The current church building was finished in 1915, but it has been re-ordered in recent years

and now provides a spacious, bright, attractive, and flexible space which is used throughout

the week.

Seating in the large nave consists of cushioned chairs which can easily be moved aside to

create open space for events such as Explore Christmas, Explore Easter and the Light Party.

The chancel is now a raised dais where the movable forward altar is situated. The dais is fully

wired for power and audio, enabling the worship band to play from it. The organ console is

also accessible from it.

The main entrance, at the west end, opens into an enclosed lounge area at the back of the

nave, which is heavily used for church meetings, weekday open church, children’s activities, etc.

It provides a comfortable and attractive space for all sorts of uses.

Also in the church is a small side chapel, the vestry (now used for children’s activities on a

Sunday), the vicar’s vestry and a toilet. There is a small kitchen area which is great for

preparing refreshments and for serving the monthly open church lunch. The church office is

located in the south-west corner of the church above a store room.

A significant weakness is the limited toilet facilities, with only one toilet in the church building and the rest in the church hall. There are

no disabled facilities, which is a challenge for our emphasis on inclusion in our activities. A small group are thinking through the options

to improve this situation.

A quinquennial inspection was conducted towards the end of 2017 with the report being delivered in the spring of this year. There is

some work required to the fabric of the building.

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To the rear of the church in a separate building is the church hall. Although

it has seen better days, the building is well-used and is a good source of

income for the church. A playgroup hires the hall 5 mornings per week and

we have very good relations with them. Various other groups use it in the

afternoons and early evenings, such as St Catharine’s Over 60s, Girls’

Friendly Society, Guitar Group, Slimming World and Weightwatchers

The small churchyard has never been used for burials, but there is a garden

of rest for the interment of ashes at the east end of it.

There is a small car park with fairly limited parking; most people park on

local roads.

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0

50

100

150

200

250

Electoral roll

2017 2018

Weddings 1 2

Baptisms 8 12

Church

Funerals

9 6

2017 2018

Adults Children Adults Children

Average Oct Sunday

attendance

122 25 97 21

Thursday

communion

17 15

Friday morning with

St Cats

16 3 12-15?

Easter services 106 29 154 34

Christmas Eve and

Christmas Day

289 75 NA

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Over the years, God has been good and the congregation has been faithful in giving. We are

allocated the full parish share each year and for many years we have met our obligation. For

some years we were able to contribute extra parish share to help meet shortfalls in other

parishes. Income is from regular giving and rent revenue of hall lettings. Our full Report and

Accounts can be found on the Charity Commission website:

http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk and our Charity Registration No. 1132760.

During the last 8 years we have financed two major projects in the church: a completely new

heating system and just recently we have refurbished the chancel which will enable the church

to utilise this space for concerts with a full orchestra and drama projects. Through the

generosity of our church family we have been able to cover over 90% of the costs, with the

balance being covered by grants.

Over the past few years we have funded a children’s worker, music director and clergy

assistant. We are still supporting a clergy assistant and we’re looking to recruit a full-time

children and families worker, despite our very constrained finances.

We currently help support two mission partners each year: a family working in Spain and a

linguist working in the Cameroon. We also try and help those in our congregation who are

called to offer their services in overseas projects.

The PCC actively encourages a faith-filled approach to finances, committing to strategic

activities and looking to God to provide what is needed to fund them, rather than waiting until

all funds are in place before stepping out. It has been great to see God make the books balance

time and again as we make events like the Weekend Away open to all regardless of ability to

pay and yet find the costs are covered, it gives a real ‘Acts church’ feel and blesses us all.

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At our consultation workshop, the following things were identified

that St Catharine’s does less well:

• Pastoral care needs organising

• Using the wonderful C of E lectionary to guide our choice of

readings

• Talk less!

• Too much of a focus on the church building

• Accessible worship times for families

• Connecting with real people and their interests

• Money

• Caring for each other

• Are we supporting each other in the ways we are trying to reach

out individually to people in our workplaces?

• World mission engagement

• Nurture of traditional congregation

• Youth work

• Not enough 15-30s

• Bringing people on. Too reliant on the same people.

• Finding people to staff all our great ideas

• Discipleship

• Honouring our diversity of worship needs and styles of

spirituality

Other challenges were given in response to the survey:

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• A person of prayer and integrity who loves to worship and who will ignite us with the same passion for God

• Someone able to inspire and lead us in engaging with and taking the gospel into our community

• A compassionate pastor who can unite and nurture the whole church family

• Someone who holds together the equal importance of word, sacrament and Spirit in the context of a diverse

variety of worship styles

• A team leader who will support, encourage and grow the existing team

• Someone with experience to organise, motivate and lead a church seeking to grow

• Energetic and inspirational with a good sense of humour

• Experience of working with people with disabilities

• Sensitivity to people of different traditions and theologies

• Happy to communicate in various ways and comfortable with social media

• With the security and authenticity to share life in vulnerability within the church family

• Dedicated assistant to the clergy, 12 hours a week

• A good-sized team of lay preachers, service leaders, worship leaders, retired clergy, a reader and licensed lay

worker

• Encouragement and prayer

(these are the priorities identified by the PCC, prayerfully thinking about the trajectory over recent years and the

input from the survey and consultation (raw data given in Appendix 2))

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•Developing diverse lay and ordained

leaders from the communities we serve

•Piloting liberating models of leadership

and ministry, especially in multi-parish

benefices

•Creating learning networks for lay and

ordained leaders

•Investing in our engagement with baptism families

to spark an amazing adventure with Jesus Christ

•Placing schools at the heart of our mission with

creative connections between churches and schools

•Encouraging new and courageous ways of

worshipping, in different places, which connect with

more people

•Approaching the use, upkeep and future of our

church buildings in bold and creative ways

More info at https://www.gloucester.anglican.org/about-us/our-vision/

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•Enabling people to discover new depths to

prayer and spiritual growth, individually and

together

•Nurturing confident disciples to live out

their faith seven days a week

•Sharing our stories in new and

different ways, including through digital

media

•Being advocates for human flourishing, through

initiatives which combat injustice, environmental

destruction, exclusion and isolation

•Using sport, music and art to build relationships

and share the Christian faith

•Connecting with new housing developments in

innovative ways

•Investing in people and programmes, which

excite young people to explore and grow in faith

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The vicarage is a spacious Edwardian 4-bed detached property in

a quiet cul-de-sac, just 3-4 minutes walk from the church. It

occupies a secluded plot in a smart avenue of similar executive

homes. It is a 15-minute walk from central Gloucester and the

Hospital. The house has central heating, double glazing, and solar

panels for cheaper electricity.

On entering the house via the impressive wooden front door, the

vicar’s study is on the right and the downstairs toilet is on the

left. Double doors separate this ‘business’ part of the house

from the family home. Downstairs within the family home are

the large kitchen and three reception rooms, including a lounge

with fireplace. Upstairs there are four bedrooms, a bathroom

with toilet and a shower room with toilet.

Outside there is ample parking within the front garden, and a

good-sized mature garden at the back with a detached garage

and workshop.

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A team player, not a big boss - someone who can pull

people together and equip and empower them

Pastoral and approachable with good sense of humour

A good leader who can delegate well - good listening skills,

lead by example behind the scenes and upfront

A good pastor - servant hearted, pastorally sensitive, able to

celebrate diversity, an encourager

A relational person (people person) able to engage with the

youth and older folk

Teacher (Bible-based, inspirational, engaging, relevant, thinks

out of the box)

A strategic innovator - passion for building the church;

empowers us; takes risks

A younger person / millennial?! (with life experience)

Spiritually-led and able to relate to all both inside and

outside the church

Team builder (facilitating, delegating, encouraging, people

person)

Integrity (caring, wisdom, warm, willing, honest)

Someone respectful of and who gives value to the

different styles of worship

Enabler and encourager

Good at listening

Someone who is willing to be visible in the

community - outside the normal church activities.

Someone with a vision for the needs of the

community

Friendliness is essential

Experienced

Nurturing - within and without. Compassionate.

A visible presence - involved in wider life of church

Someone who brings a partner - not a loner, but

someone supported well within that relationship

•••••••••••••••

•••••••••••

••••••••••

••••••••••

•••••••

•••

•••

•••

••

••

••

••

•

••••••••••••••

•••••

••••••••••••••

••

••••••

At our consultation we asked each of 7 tables to come up with their top 3 descriptions of the vicar we need, and then each of the 50 individuals had

two green dots (positive) and one red dot (red flags) to prioritise the outcomes. The results above show where there is consensus or differing opinion.

(this reflects concern over potential

implications of the phrase ‘Bible-based’)

(reflects a belief that age is irrelevant)

(reflects a belief that

marital status is

irrelevant)

APPENDIX 3: THE PERSON WE ARE LOOKING FOR (SOME CHILDREN’S VIEWS)

41

‘I lik

e v

icar

s bein

g kin

d, b

ein

g a

Chri

stia

n’

‘Kin

d, b

rave

, nic

e, c

o-o

pera

tive

, fri

endly

’

‘I w

ould

lik

e t

o s

ee y

oung

child

ren g

et

the

opport

unity

to e

xpre

ss t

hem

selv

es

more

in

churc

h’

‘I w

ant

my

vica

r to

be a

fem

ale a

nd t

o b

e r

eal

ly

kin

d a

nd h

elp

ful’

Text drafted by the Parish Profile subcommittee: Brian Champion, Rachel Barton, James

Wenham, Ed Reed, Jenny Perry and Phil King

All photos by Phil King unless otherwise specified

All people with recognisable faces gave consent for their photos to be used in publicity

materials for the church

Branding for Gloucester Diocese ‘Life’ Vision from

https://www.gloucester.anglican.org/parish-resources/communications/branding/

42