SAINT JAMES’ CHURCH

MILTON

St James’ Church Milton 287, Milton Road, Southsea, PO4 8PG

Priest in charge:

Fr Paul Armstead

Associate priest: Fr Phillip Amey

Churchwardens:

Mrs Ann Kerle and Ms Stella Wansborough

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Milton and Eastney Is situated on the eastern side of Portsea Island (PORTSMOUTH). It is an attractive residential area with parks and open spaces, good local shops and amenities and many leisure facilities. Eastney beach, within walking distance of the parish church, is at the east end of a five mile long sea front promenade which stretches from Portsmouth Harbour to Langstone Harbour where a small passenger ferry crosses to Hayling Island. There are pleasant walks to be had on Milton Common where its eastern edge adjoins the Langstone Harbour fore-shore. Many wading birds can be spotted there and the harbour is a favourite place for sailing with Sailing and Yacht Clubs based in the parish. Ferries from Portsmouth Harbour, both passenger ferry and car ferry, run daily to the Isle of Wight. There are cross-channel ferries running to France, Spain and the Channel Islands. Various other commercial shipping use the port and of course it is the home of the Royal Navy where Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory, the oldest commissioned warship in the fleet, holds pride of place, closely followed by HMS Warrior and the wreck of Henry VIII’s Tudor warship the Mary Rose. The historic Dockyard is a big visitor attraction and displays 800 years of Naval history. There are four railway stations within the city, again one being within easy walking distance of the parish church. This gives easy access to London ( 90 minutes ) and beyond. In addition to easy road and rail links to Heathrow and Gatwick, Southampton Airport is reached in just 40 minutes by road. There is an easy and very regular bus service operating daily throughout the city. There are many shopping areas within the City, the latest development in recent years being Gunwharf Quays with its many shops, restaurants, clubs and bars and its iconic Spinnaker Tower, with panoramic views stretching out for up to 23 miles, built to commemorate the Millennium. Regular events are held on Southsea Common throughout the year. The City has two Cathedrals, St. Johns Roman Catholic Cathedral and our own Cathedral Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury. Two fine Victorian Theatres and some excellent museums including one being the birthplace of Charles Dickens and another being the D-Day Museum. Southsea Castle, situated proudly on the sea-front was built by Henry VIII in 1544 to protect from invasion.

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Milton and Eastney continued The City is also home to Portsmouth FC which is situated within the parish. The Club was founded in 1898 by among others Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who practiced as a Doctor in the city. Recent success has seen the club enjoy seven seasons in the Premier League and become winners of the FA Cup Final in 2008 and beaten finalists in 2010. The Great South Run has been successfully staged in the City for many years. There are many sporting facilities available across the city for use by the community including the Mountbatten Centre in the north of the city which houses a range of sporting facilities including an Olympic sized swimming pool and a recognized athletics track. The South Coast climate is often a few degrees milder. Altogether a delightful, vibrant city, with Milton retaining something of its village past. We aim to be a friendly and caring community. We see ourselves very much as a family representing all ages. Like any family we support each other. We have a large congregation on a Sunday morning made up of mostly local people. We have been told we are a welcoming and friendly Church. We enjoy worshipping together and our visiting priests have commented on how much they have enjoyed being part of our worship. We also have fun together at many social events. Indeed, there are many social opportunities to encourage fellowship and a real feeling of belonging. People are encouraged to participate without pressure. Junior Church meets during Sunday services, joining at offertory. There are up to fifteen children ranging in age from four to fourteen. There are eight adult volunteers who take turns to lead these sessions and are now involved in establishing Messy Church. Each Christmas we present a short play during the Christingle service. A crèche is also available every Sunday and there is a small collection of toys and books at the back of the church in the children’s corner for those children who are too shy to leave their parents.

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Parish Profile and Requirements for Incumbent

Parish Outline

The population is 23700 per 2011 Census and rising, housed in mainly privately owned terrace housing with some council housing, housing association homes and a Ministry of Defence estate. Extensive new housing has been established in the past few years with more in the process of being built;

One General Hospital which is in the process of being redeveloped, one Psychiatric Hospital (with no chaplaincy provision); and an NHS walk-in Treatment Centre;

Four Infant Schools, three Junior Schools and a Secondary School (11-16); a school for children with behavioural difficulties and one for physically challenged children with learning difficulties;

Portion of the University halls of residence to house c.1800 students;

Two children's homes;

A new development, Milton Village, for the elderly and those with Alzheimers;

A residential home for physically challenged people and a home for people with mental health difficulties;

Two light industrial estates;

Professional Football Club (with own Chaplain);

Other Churches in area:

Roman Catholic, Eastney Evangelical Free Church, Baptist, Christ Church (formerly United Reformed Church), Methodist, Langstone Church (formerly Fellowship).

Current Links:

CHIME - Churches in Milton and Eastney.

CLUSTER GROUP - includes St Margaret’s Eastney, St Simon’s Southsea, St Jude’s Southsea and Holy Spirit Southsea.

We also have links with the religious order for women, The Sisters of Bethany in Southsea.

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Milton Parish Church Statement of Significance The present Church of St James Milton situated at 285/287 Milton Road, Southsea in the County of Hampshire, was built in 1913 to plans drawn by J Oldrid Scott and orientated on a compass North-South axis. The Church replaced the earlier (1841) building designed by Livesay which was on an East-West axis fronting on Milton Road. The 1913 Church was built to seat 900 persons. In 1978 the back three bays of the building were converted to form church halls on two floors and reduced the total seating capacity to 350 whilst retaining the choir and sanctuary intact. At the same time the font was moved to the east end of the south aisle. The upper hall was separated from the worship space by a temporary wall created out of translucent corrugated sheeting. This was made more permanent in 2004. Pevsner describes the building as being composed of stone with brick dressing. The interior walls were rendered with plaster some twenty years ago thus destroying the austere but pleasing interior brick and stone work. Pevsner highlights the “Jesse Tree” window by Ninian Comper. Comper’s first work in Portsmouth was commissioned by the Parish of St James Milton. A carved wooden sunburst with the risen Christ, attributed to Comper, is found over the high altar. Lawrence Lee created a window for St Cross Chapel in 1967 depicting the “Agony in the Garden”. In 2002 twelve etched clear glass panes by Tony Gilliam were installed in the south screen of the choir entitled “The Creation”.

Goldsmith Avenue property The former ’Curate’s House’ is a large family house (semi detached) across Milton Park from the Church. It is very spacious, contains four bedrooms, three reception rooms, kitchen, conservatory leading to a small garden with shed. On road parking. The house overlooks Milton Park on land once owned by Sir James Goldsmith, the first Churchwarden of the Parish, whose tomb is in the Churchyard.

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Administrative Information The ecclesiastical parish is situated in the Diocese of Portsmouth within the Church of England. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a charity registered with the Charity Commission, number 1129165.

Child Protection The PCC operates a Child Protection Policy, with all adults in contact with children required to have CRB clearance. There is an elected Child Protection Officer who is responsible for training courses and any administration relating to this.

Website Our website www.stjamesmilton.org.uk was launched in 2000 and is regularly updated. Improvements to the site are being considered. It has been found to be a good source of information for people planning to get married, to have their children baptised or to check on events being held in the church. It is felt that this is a good form of outreach but needs further development to keep up with modern trends. Management The Incumbent and the Churchwardens have an extremely close working relationship and manage the day to day running of the Church. This aspect of working together is of great importance for the work and worship of the Church. The incumbent and the Churchwardens constantly advise and inform the Parochial Church Council of all relevant information received from the Diocese. Currently the Churchwardens deal with baptisms, banns and wedding bookings on Saturday mornings.

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Parochial Church Council

St James PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the Incumbent, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church: pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It is also responsible for maintaining the Church/Hall complex of St James Milton in the Diocese of Portsmouth together with the two properties owned by the Parish at 51 Goldsmith Avenue, a four bedroom semi-detached house and 14 Priory Crescent, a three bedroom terrace house.

The method of appointment of members of the PCC is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All Church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC. The PCC operates through a number of committees that meet as required between full meetings of the PCC. These are: Standing Committee: It is the only statutory committee. It has power to transact the business of the PCC between its meetings, subject to any directions given by the Parochial Church Council. Mission Committee: Involves itself in seeking ways and means of spreading the Gospel both locally and in the wider world. Pastoral Committee: Seeks to provide both a lay and ordained ministry of care for members of the Parish and the wider community. Halls and Maintenance Committee: Attends to matters relating to all the buildings and grounds forming the parish plant including our two residential properties. The PCC employs a Church Halls caretaker for fifteen hours per week. Social Committee: Attends to all social activities i.e. Summer Fayre, Christmas Bazaar, Parish Dinner and all Fellowship and Outreach events.

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Staffing The current proposal of the Deanery and Archdeaconry Pastoral Committee, supported by the Bishop's Council as the Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee, is to seek to draw together the 3 parishes of St James, Holy Spirit, Southsea and St Margaret's Southsea. It is recognised that this is a process that will need to develop over a period of time and will be based on the developing of relationships among the clergy and people of those parishes. Under the Deanery Plan these 3 Parishes have 3.5 stipendiary posts allocated to them.

The first step in this process was to make joint appointments to this Parish and Holy Spirit, Southsea. The clergy being licensed to work in both parishes in a partnership arrangement. Once these two posts had been appointed it is now possible to then appoint a further 0.5 post to serve with these two parishes. There is a Reader licensed to the Parish, Jeff Harvey.

This is an exciting prospect for developing the resources of this group of Parishes and seeking to serve the many opportunities for mission that they provide.

Worship — Our worship pattern is at present:

Sunday Services: 8.00am Mass with homily 9.30am Parish Mass and Junior Church 11.30am Holy Baptism (first Sunday of the month) 6.30pm Evensong (with Benediction on first Sunday of the month)

Tuesday 7.00pm Mass Wednesday 10.00am Mass Friday Noon Mass (first Friday of the month)

Morning Prayer is said at 8.30am and Evening Prayer is at 5.30pm (except Sundays and Thursdays)

When the first Sunday of the month falls during term time the Portsmouth 5th Scout Group are represented and the service is All-age in ethos.

Average Sunday Service Attendances: 8.00am Mass: 10 9.30am Parish Mass: 110 6.30pm Evensong: 12

Average Weekday Service Attendances:

Tuesday 7.00pm Mass 8 Wednesday 10.00am Mass 25 Friday Noon Mass 20

After the Wednesday service coffee is available in the Hall

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Electoral Roll

Currently stands at 130 parishioners.

Choir and Servers

We have a small but loyal group of adult choristers and an organist. There is also team of servers who cover all Sunday services under a rota system.

Chalice Assistants

We have seven Chalice Assistants who are licensed by the Bishop.

Verger

Our Verger attends all weddings, funerals and interment of ashes in our Garden of Remembrance.

Flower Arranging

We have a team of people who ensure the flowers are arranged each week.

Church Cleaning

We have a team of people who ensure that the Church is kept clean and tidy each week.

Fellowship Junior Church/Crèche/Young people Junior Church enjoys continued

stability and meet during Sunday services, joining at the offertory. There are up to twenty children who participate in this and the Creche. A recent innovation is Messy Church and enthusiastic participation from all. Youngsters serve regularly and once a month form the complete team. Occasional social events are organized

such as bowling, meals out and theatre visits. We have regular visits from some of the local schools for either whole school events or visits by year or class groups. In 2013, there were 30 baptisms conducted.

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St James Guild Ladies of the congregation and the local community have met as the Ladies Guild for more than fifty years. This is a flourishing group and currently has a membership of thirty. They meet every Wednesday in term time, entertain speakers and undertake outings to places of interest.

Mens Fellowship The men of the congregation have met for the past ten years or so on the last Monday of every month. They are usually entertained by a speaker and often meet in a local hostelry. The membership of this group is relatively small, but loyal.

Other Activities Summer Fayre and Christmas Bazaar, Annual Parish Dinner, Patronal Festival, Summer Barbecue and Outing plus various other social events which include monthly Parish Lunch (weekly during Lent), Table Top Sales, 200 Club (Fund Raising), Parish quiz night and Sunday Lunches. We hold monthly coffee mornings These are opportunities for Christian witness, fellowship, fun and sustenance.

Additional services throughout the year include Messy Church, annual memorial service for families whose funerals have been taken, thanksgiving for marriage. A Christingle service is held when the church is filled with standing room only. Local schools hold Harvest Thanksgiving and Carol Concerts every year. The two church halls are used at various times by the congregation, especially for coffee following the Sunday morning service which enhances fellowship, and also extensively by the local community with regular groups including Drama, Model Railway, Glee Club, 55 Alive Club, in addition to the Uniformed Junior Groups, private functions and St James Guild.

Local schools bring class groups to church regularly to experience the ‘special space’ and learn something about the building and its uses.

We have a large car park which is able to be used by all Church and Church Hall users.

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Junior Organisations

Scouts, Cubs and Beavers – Monday evenings, Brownies – Tuesday evenings, and Guides – Friday evenings. All meet weekly in term time. There is a monthly parade service which currently is very well supported by the Scouts, Cubs and Beavers.

Parish Magazine

The ‘Milton and Eastney Review’ continues to be printed, collated and distributed remarkably cheaply thanks to our advertisers, contributors, collator, distributors and in-house printer and booklet maker. The parish has office equipment that produces this and it continues to work well. Weekly notices are printed in “The Pew Sheet” distributed with the hymn and service books each Sunday at every service by our welcome team.

Church Building Centenary 2013 The Parish celebrated the centenary year in 2013 of the current building when there were many celebratory events and commemorations. The parish community was welcomed and seemed to enjoy revisiting their sacred space. There is now an enthusiasm to carry this forward into the next century.

Resolutions

Resolutions A & B contained within the Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993 and Petition for Extended Episcopal Oversight allowed for in the Episcopal Ministry Act of Synod 1993 have been passed by the Parochial Church Council. The Parish has been granted this under the Bishop of Richborough.

Churchmanship

Modern Catholic in ethos, we have our own Service Books used for all Eucharistic Services, based on CW Rite. Evensong BCP, with Benediction once a month. The introduction of the Nave Altar in the 1990’s has meant that this is the main altar now used for services and the original High Altar is used on Sunday evenings and is the altar for funerals and weddings. Above all we like to be faithful, confident and joyful in our praise to God.

First parish pilgrimage to Walsingham 2013

Centenary Flower Festival 2013

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