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St Nicholas’

St Mary’s & St Hilda’s

Halewood—Hunts Cross Liverpool

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Description of Content Page Number

Front Page 1

Index 2

Welcome to the Halewood-Hunts Cross Team 3

The Parish of Halewood 5

St Nicholas’ Church

St Nicholas’ Church Buildings 6

St Nicholas’ Church and the Community 8

St Nicholas’ Church and its People 11

St Mary’s Church

St Mary’s Church and its People 13

St Mary’s Church and the Community 15

St Mary’s Church Buildings 15

St. Hilda’s Church

St Hilda’s Church and its People 16

St Hilda’s Church and the Community 18

St Hilda’s Church and Buildings 19

The Wider Context 20

What we want in a Minister 22

SWOT Analysis St Nicholas 23

SWOT Analysis St Mary’s 24

SWOT Analysis St Hilda’s 25

Table of Contents

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Welcome to the Halewood-Hunts Cross Team Background

The two churches in Halewood, St Nicholas’ and St Mary’s have operated as an Anglican/Methodist Local Ecumenical Partnership (LEP) since the 1980s. At that time the two churches had two full time Anglican Ministers, a full time Methodist Minister and a Non Stipendiary Minister. Times have changed. The Methodist post is now shared between a Minister who gives 25% of his/her time to Halewood and a Lay Worker who covers the other 75% and who lives in the manse.

In 2010 Halewood lost an Anglican Team Vicar’s post as a result of the Deanery Mission Plan. As part of this Plan it had also been agreed that the Halewood and Hunts Cross churches should look at ways of working more closely together. Over the following years the three churches began to ex-plore their options with clergy offering cover for each other, joint Lent courses being offered, joint confirmation preparation and services, and other united services, especially at seasonal times.

After many meetings, much discussion and prayer, the Halewood- Hunts Cross Team formally came into being in July 2012. This involved the Rector of Halewood becoming the Halewood-Hunts Cross Team Rector and the Priest in Charge at St Hilda’s becoming the Team Vicar of Halewood-Hunts Cross. The Team is an Anglican Team as St Hilda’s, Hunts Cross is not part of the LEP

We now have a Halewood-Hunts Cross Team Council which meets four times a year to discuss issues relating to all three churches.

The structures in Halewood and Hunts Cross are not easily understood by those outside our three churches or even, for that matter, by those inside them but suffice to say, that over the years, the Team in Halewood has op-erated successfully and, with God’s help, we want to continue to build on that success in our new relationship with Hunts Cross.

Each of our three churches has its own unique history, style and ‘personality’ and the various sections in this Parish Profile will describe these in more detail.

The Current Ministry Team

Team Rector (Currently based in Halewood) Vacancy Team Vicar (Currently based in Hunts Cross) Jane Durham Assistant Minister (Part time/Temp based in Hunts Cross) Keith Hitchman Non Stipendiary Minister (Based in Halewood) Colin Critchley Methodist Superintendent Minister (with responsibility for Halewood) Andrew Fox Methodist Lay Worker (Based in Halewood) Margaret Oultram Reader (Based in Halewood) Clive Rigby Reader (Based in Halewood) Alison Shacklady Methodist Local Preacher (Home Church St Mary’s) Delia Jepson Methodist Local Preacher (Home Church St Mary’s) Daren Murrall

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One of the reasons that our Ministry Team works well is that we operate with a very flat non-hierarchical approach. So although members of the team may have different titles and roles they are all equals within the team. This is something which has stood us in good stead and which we want to maintain with any new appointment. We hope that you enjoy reading our Parish Profile and that what you read and learn about us will make you want to find out more. In putting together the profile, we consulted widely with adult members of all three congregations, with the various groups and organisations associated with the church, with our ecumenical partners and friends and with children at the local schools and those who attend church led groups and uniformed organisations.

Let’s hear first of all what the children want to see in a new minister:

(There were a number who expressed a wish for a ‘young’ person (Under 40 or even 30) either a pretty lady or a handsome man preferably with blond silky hair and coming either from England or New York. However in the interests of valuing diversity we have had to put those wishes to one side.) Someone who knows a lot about the Bible Interesting-so we all listen because if we don’t listen we don’t learn Sociable so they can easily talk to people Confident Wise Cool Talented in teaching the way to the Lord and fun to bring interest into all the stories Not boring Intelligent Enthusiastic towards everything they do A strong leader of people Kind and caring Able to help us to understand the stories so that as well as bringing adults closer to God they bring children closer as well Child friendly Generous so that if someone is in need they will help Someone who plays an instrument Good at drama, good storyteller Does funny voices Fun/tells jokes, even bad ones Someone who sings our songs Speaks properly Reliable and trustworthy Magnificent Someone who prays Someone who doesn’t repeat the same thing over and over again

Someone who believes in God

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Halewood Schools Across the area are two state primary schools, three Catholic primary schools and our own Church of England primary school which is rated as outstanding by OFSTED. The recently built Halewood Academy caters for 11-18 year olds, supplemented by access to church schools in Liverpool. http://www.halewoodcofe.co.uk/ http://www.halewoodacademy.co.uk/ There are two children’s centres providing valuable services to younger chil-dren and their families.

Halewood has its own award winning town council providing a range of ser-vices through community centres, playing fields and play facilities. http://www.halewoodtowncouncil.gov.uk/ Serving the town is a modern Leisure Centre with gym facilities, a swimming pool and playing fields.

The Parish of Halewood The parish of Halewood is situated 8 miles to the south east of Liverpool in the borough of Knowsley. Originally a small, rural village – the wood of Hale – it developed during the 1960s into a township of almost 30,000 peo-ple, although the population has since stabilised at around 20,000, 4,000 of whom are under 16 and 1,600 over 65. Halewood has both social housing, (mainly under the auspices of Knowsley Housing Trust) and privately owned homes in a number of locations, some only recently built. Currently being developed are apartments for the over 55s in the village area. Property values are increasing steadily. Part of Hale-wood is rural and to the north of Halewood is the village of Tarbock, a farm-ing community with current and historic links to the parish. Life expectancy varies across Halewood from 74 to 82 for males and 78 to 84 for females. Over 60% of the population is economically active, rising to 80% in parts. JSA claimants in May 2014 totalled 560 across Halewood. Crime and anti-social behaviour have been decreasing for some years now,

although there has been an increase in the south of the area during the

past year.

Halewood Shopping Centre

Halewood is now blessed with modern amenities, including a new shopping centre, opened in 2012. Most of the supermarket chains are present either here or within easy travelling distance. Other localised shopping areas exist throughout Halewood, pro-viding barbers, hairdressers, newsagents, mini markets, and farm shop etc.

Halewood Centre

Adjacent to the shopping centre is Halewood Centre, a multi-purpose facility housing council services, a library, post office, G.P. surgeries, dentist, a health centre, Citizens’ Ad-vice Bureau and Credit Union. The area has a good choice of G.P.s, den-tal practices and chemists.

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From 1870 to 1890 seventeen historically significant stained glass windows, designed by William Morris and Burne-Jones, were purchased through the William Morris Company of London and were installed along with a window manufactured by W H Sullivan of Liverpool. A Henry Willis Organ was in-stalled in 1889. Electricity arrived in the 1930s and the original candle lit brass chandeliers were replaced by modern electric pendant lighting in 1950. St Nicholas’ Church Millennium Project was launched in 2000 with the total development costing over £350,000. The re-ordering work was carried out in phases. Phase 1 concentrated on the roof and dry rot repairs. Phase two provided a disabled toilet, ramp access, secure safe crèche area and wider pathways. Phase three incorporated new pews and chairs giving flexi-bility of space and much easier access. A new heating system has been in-stalled and the lighting re-vamped to incorporate low energy brass chande-liers to match the original 1839 design providing improved energy efficiency.

In 2009 the existing bells finally proved to be too heavy for the tower’s structure and ringing ceased. DCC resolved to restore ringing as soon as pos-sible. The bells were removed and sold to begin a new life at St Stephen’s Barbourne. Structural work on the tower was completed in November 2012. A new, lighter peal of bells was installed lower down in the tower and our efforts culminated in a dedication service in July 2013. We now have a building fit to serve the people of Halewood, permeated with the Holy Spirit, built and maintained to the Glory of God.

Church Interior shown during a Weddings Fair (Note the beautiful William Morris Windows.)

Transport links are good both to Liverpool and the motorway network. Liver-pool John Lennon Airport is close by but flight paths tend to be south of here and are not obtrusive. A railway station serves the town, providing links to both Liverpool and Manchester. The area formed between this line and a dis-used one has been developed into Halewood Country Park which has its own visitor centre and ranger service. It holds the prestigious Green Flag Status afforded only to the best green spaces in the country. http://www.discoverknowsley.co.uk/halewoodpark.php. Please see the following web site links for further information. http://www.knowsley.gov.uk/pdf/Halewood%20APB%20Profile.pdf

St Nicholas’ Church

St Nicholas’ Church Buildings St Nicholas’ Church celebrated its 175th Anniversary in June 2014. Renova-tions and reordering were completed in 2009. Work to restore the bell tower and install a new peal of bells was completed in 2013. We believe our building has been modified to retain its original character befitting its Grade 2 Listed

status. A short history follows.

St Nicholas’ Church was constructed in 1839, from local sandstone, for the people of Hale-wood, on land donated by the Earl of Derby. It was a simple oblong building, without tran-septs or tower, with a plain bell turret on the west gable. The popula-

tion of Halewood was around 900, mainly farmers and their labourers. In 1847 the church was enlarged by the addition of transepts and a small polygonal apse. In 1882, a bell tower, complete with clock, was added and in 1883 a peal of 8 bells was installed.

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War Memorial

Each year, on Remembrance Sunday, the town’s war memorial forms the fo-cus for a wreath laying and poppy plac-ing ceremony at the end of the service. It ensures that those who have made the ultimate sacrifice remain in the thoughts of present and future genera-tions.

St. Nicholas’ Centre

The Centre is located next to St Nicholas’ Church at 70 Church Rd, Halewood, L26 6LA. Originally a Children’s Home, the complex was purchased by the church and was re-opened in its present guise in 1995. It houses our parish office and provides rooms and resources for church and community use. It is self sufficient and is man-aged by a committee which reports to St Nicholas’ DCC. Refreshments are served here after services and on other occasions.

It employs our Parish Administrator, Parish Bursar and Centre Caretaker and is home to: - Junior Church; Rainbows, Brownies and Guides; Fellowship and Friend-ship Groups; Coffee Shop and Fair Trades Stall; A Men’s Group; Mothers’ Union; and Vineyard Youth Club. Part of the complex was converted for residential use and another wing is let to Merseyside Listening Ear, a charity which provides qualified listening and counsel-ling services for those who need them. St Nicholas’ Centre is a resource which connects church and community.

For further information please see the following web site links. http://halewoodparish.org/ http://www.listeningearmerseyside.org.uk/ http://www.roydenhistory.co.uk/halewood/ http://www.knowsley.gov.uk/pdf/conservation_appraisal_halewood.pdf

St Nicholas’ Churchyard

The churchyard is the sole burial ground in the township of Halewood. It contains graves, a garden of remembrance and a babies’ plot. Al-though there is no space for new grave plots there is an area for the interment of cremated remains. The churchyard is home to Hale-wood’s war memorial monument in remembrance of those who have died while serving in the armed forces. As well as those lost in the two World Wars, a new section, for Other Conflicts, has been added fol-lowing the death of a Halewood soldier in Afghanistan in December 2009. Only one area remains for future development, the copse area to the north side of the churchyard. In the spring of 2014 a faculty applica-tion was presented to the DAC for advice regarding converting this area to a Woodland Garden of Remembrance for the interment of cre-mated remains.

The Rectory

The Rectory is a modern 5 bedroom house. It is located in Rectory Drive, close to the church and within Halewood Village Conservation Area. It has all the facilities a Minister and his or her family would expect. It is in a peaceful setting and has large secluded gardens to three sides.

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In recent years the three churches in the Team have put on seasonal events for schools:

Experience Easter Experience Christmas Remembrance

Classes from all the local primary schools, including the three Roman Catholic schools, have been invited to attend these events which have been very well received by both the children and the staff. In some cases extra sessions have had to be added to accommodate the groups wishing to attend.

St Nicholas’ Church and the Community Work with Schools

Halewood Church of England Primary School

The original Church of England primary school in Halewood opened in 1841 in buildings immediately adjacent to St Nicholas’ Church. These buildings are now used as private residences and, for the last 51 years, the school has occupied its current site a few hundred yards from the church building. The school is a one form entry with 210 pupils. The school also provides part time nursery places for 48 children. Pupils from the school come into church for a range of services throughout the year, including Harvest, Christmas and Leavers’ services. The Team Rec-tor takes regular assemblies at the school and along with other church members is a member of the school’s governing body. The school was first awarded the Church School Partnership Award in 2009 and is just about to be reassessed

Other Schools

There are two other Local Authority primary schools in the parish and these too have close links with the church. The Team Rector and/or members of the Ministry Team serve on the governing bodies of both these schools and the Team Rector takes assemblies at both Plantation School and Yew Tree Primary. (At the latter working in tandem with the Parish’s Methodist Lay Worker)

A large secondary school, The Halewood Academy, is also situated within the parish. Links with this institution have been closer in the past and at one time the Team Rector was a member of the governing body. A number of secondary age children in the parish also attend schools out of area, in particular the three Church of England secondary schools in Liverpool. All of these require evidence of church attendance for entry.

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We work closely with Halewood Town Council in organising the annual Halewood CultureFest, a week of events in June, including concerts, amateur dramatics, exhibi-tions, environmental events, quiz nights, sporting events, special church services etc. This has run since 2008 and has been an excellent vehicle for promoting good work-ing relationships and for engaging with the community. http://www.halewoodtowncouncil.gov.uk

As a result of this partnership working the Team Rector has twice served as chaplain to different mayors of Knowsley Borough Council. St Nicholas’ hosts occasional civic services including the Remembrance parade and service in church and at the war memorial The Town Council supports the church by providing venues free of charge and in re-turn the Town Council is about to start using the St Nicholas’ Centre as a venue for some of its council meetings

We have had very good working relationships with all three coun-cils. Several former members of Tarbock Parish Council are regu-lar worshippers at St Nicholas’ and we have an annual carol ser-vice in the Tarbock Village Hall.

Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals

St Nicholas’ church is very popular with families bringing children for baptism. These services are normally held on the second and fourth Sundays of the month, apart from August and December, and take place at 12.45pm. Ideally we would like to include baptisms within our main morning worship but the numbers involved, and the fact that many of our services are taken by Readers and Local Preachers, makes this unviable unless the baptism involves members of our church family who particularly request this. In 2013, 81 baptisms took place at St Nicholas. We have 85 booked for 2014 and some bookings already taken for 2015. We have a Baptism co-ordinator who liaises with the families and we also have a team of Baptism Sponsors who meet and greet the families on the day of the baptism and help them to feel welcomed on behalf of the church family. Baptism preparation is conducted by the Team Rector and in-volves a visit to the family home in the week prior to the baptism.

In 2013 there were 7 weddings at St Nicholas’. We do not currently offer any marriage preparation courses. The Team Rector, along with other members of the Ministry Team, conducts funerals at all three churches and at the local crematoria and cemeteries. Last year at St Nicholas’ church there were 26 funerals and 10 interments of cre-mated remains. At All Saints tide there is an annual commemoration service for the families and friends of those whose funerals we have conducted during the previous twelve months.

Listening Ear, which uses rooms within the St Nicholas’ Centre, offers a listening service to those who are in need of this following a bereavement and also has a FAB (Friends after Bereavement) Group which meets on a regular basis and a Butterflies group for children, helping them to cope with loss. http://www.listeningearmerseyside.org.uk St Nicholas’ and the Local Authorities

Until 31st March 2014 there were three tiers of Local Authority covering the Halewood and Tarbock Areas

Tarbock Parish Council (no longer operating) Halewood Town Council Knowsley Borough Council

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St Nicholas’ works closely with the Halewood C of E school in organising and running the annual Summer Garden Fete and also runs a Christmas Fayre in late November each year.

Supported Charities Christian Aid Traidcraft (monthly stall after parade service) Channel (From Toy Service in December) Plan International (Church Sponsored Child) Harvest Parcels delivered to bereaved families and others Big Help Project/Foodbank

Social Events

Because of all the recent refurbishments and repairs to the church, St Nicholas’ has had to be, and still is, particularly active in fundraising. Throughout the year we organise a number of social events including:

Quizzes Film Nights Concerts Barn Dances Blind Wine Tasting Chocoholics Evening Promise Auction Pudding Club Afternoon Tea Murder Mystery nights Recycling days Arts and Craft Fairs etc etc

As well as raising funds for the various building and improvement projects with which we are engaged they also serve to include members of the community who might not otherwise engage with church activities

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St Nicholas’ Church and its People

It is difficult to comment on attendances at services as these can vary depending upon the time of the year, so numbers can increase quite dramatically close to the time when faith school applications are due to be submitted. The recent Parish Dashboard figures provided by the Dio-cese showed average weekly adult Sunday attendance for 2013 as around 90 (based on both services) and children’s attendance as around 30 (based on October figures only) We have however noticed a change over the last twelve months with more people now attending the 9am Sunday Service, including families with young children and fewer at-tending at 11am. This is something we are keeping under review to en-sure that the worship offered meets the needs of those attending. His-torically this earlier service was attended by a small number of mainly older members of the congregation, now the average attendance is around 30 and we have appointed a separate group of sides-persons to assist at the service.

As part of the Halewood and Hunts Cross Team the pattern of services at St Nicholas’ fits in to the overall team pattern and does vary from time to time. The overall team pattern of services tends to fall within the remit of the Hale-wood-Hunts Cross Team Council whilst ‘local’ changes at St Nicholas’ are dis-cussed by the St Nicholas’ Worship Committee, which then makes recommen-dations to the St Nicholas’ Church Council of which it is a sub group.

Other Local Networking This includes:

Ecumenical Ministers’ Lunch (approx quarterly involving Ro-man Catholic and URC churches)

Home Communions (Easter and Christmas) Hospital/ Care Home visiting Deanery Readers’ Chapter Various uniformed organisations: Rainbows, Brownies,

Guides, Beavers, Cubs etc Mothers’ Union Women’s Institute Women’s World Day of Prayer St Nicholas’ Tots’ group (not currently meeting) Bellringers

Pattern of Services

The current pattern of services is as follows:

Sundays 9.00am Every Sunday Holy Communion (Occasionally Morning Worship)

11.00am First Sunday Holy Communion Second Sunday Parade and Family Service Third Sunday Morning Worship Fourth Sunday Morning Worship Fifth Sunday Holy Communion Team Service at one of the three churches

12.45pm Fourth Sunday Baptisms

There is no regular Sunday evening service at St Nicholas.’ Once a month there is a Team Evening Service at one of the three churches and there are also sea-sonal evening services, for example during Advent.

Mid Week 9.15am Every Thursday Holy Communion (Occasionally Morning Worship)

This is followed by the weekly church clean and the Thursday morning Coffee shop at the St Nicholas’ Centre.

The Midweek service has a regular congregation of around 20 people including some parents with pre school age children. The number on the electoral role is 198.

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Style of Worship

The worship style at St Nicholas’ has traditionally been described as ‘Lancashire Low’ although it is unlikely that anyone in the congregation could actually articulate what that style encompasses. Ministers robe for Communion services but not necessarily for other services. We do not cur-rently have any BCP services. Worshippers at St Nicholas’ tend to be fairly open to many styles of worship and are used to having a range of different people ordained and lay, Anglican and Methodist, leading worship. How-ever it is unlikely that someone with a high church/Anglo-Catholic style would feel particularly at home in our setting. People involved in Worship

As well as the Ministry Team and visiting leaders/preachers from the Methodist Circuit St Nicholas’ is blessed in having many members of the congregation involved in various aspects of our regular worship services.

2 Wardens and 3 Deputy Wardens 21 Sides-persons at 11am services (including 3 young people) 6 Sides-persons for 9am services 10 people with permission to assist with Communion Administration 15 people who act as crèche leaders 30 people who read or lead prayers (including 5 young people) 5 Leaders/Assistant Leaders at Junior Church And (most importantly) 12 people who make tea and coffee after

the services. One of our main weaknesses at the moment at St Nicholas’ is in the area of music. The previous incumbent and his wife were both very accom-plished musicians, the latter played keyboard for our main Sunday services with the help of a flautist and drummer and also organised music for our seasonal services. The Worship Committee has agreed a temporary solu-tion to this problem, involving the use of CDs and a visiting organist and involving some of our young people as ‘music stewards’ but we are look-ing for a longer term solution to this problem

St Nicholas’ has a small singing group which helps lead the singing on Sundays and with additional members from the other two churches in the team also sings, when requested at weddings. We also have a small band of local bell-ringers who ring on some Sunday mornings and at weddings, again this is usually with support from other ring-ers. Children and Worship

We have a number of children and young people who attend St Nicholas’ with their families. Some remain in church throughout the various services whilst others attend Junior Church in the St Nicholas’ Centre or go into crèche at the back of church. The second Sunday of the month is our Parade and Family service when the uniformed organisations, Junior Church and Vineyard Youth Club all attend with their leaders. The various children’s and young people’s groups help with the leadership of this worship by reading, leading prayers, taking part in sketches, singing etc. These services have proved very popular and many children in Halewood have grown up learning the Christian message through the media of puppets, Christian magic and juggling which have formed a regular part of these ser-vices. As part of our consultation process in putting together this profile we have sought views from our children’s groups. These are included in the wel-come section of the profile and clearly show how much these services and this style of Christian teaching mean to our children and young people.

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St Mary’s Church

St Mary’s Church and its People

St Mary’s emerged in the mid 1960s through the merging of two groups, an al-ready existing Methodist Society looking for a home, and the recognition from the Anglican parish that an additional ‘church’ was needed to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding town. It became the first Anglican/Methodist LEP in the Diocese and is very proud of that tradition. Originally the two congregations worshipped separately, but now there is one congregation where all are mem-bers of both traditions. There are 50 members on the electoral roll and an aver-age of 25 in the congregation each week. Many members are longstanding and are faithful in maintaining the church and its worship.

Services at St Mary’s take place at 10.30am each Sunday. Each month there is one service of Holy Communion, following either the Anglican or Methodist for-mat, and two services of morning prayer, one of which has input from our small team of worship leaders, and GMJC (Good Morning Jesus Christ), which is for all members of the congregation but with specific activities to involve children. The two traditions ensure that we have a rich and varied pattern of worship with input from the clergy team, lay readers, worship leaders and local preach-ers from the Methodist Circuit. Many members of the congregation also play a part in worship so we have a rota of roles each Sunday; sides-people, commun-ion servers, those doing Bible readings and leading the prayers of intercession. Music is an important part of our worship and we are blessed to have a very talented pianist and a music group which includes 2 guitarists and a sax player. There is no set pattern for Sunday evening worship. A small number of people meet in a member’s home with input from the team and there are opportuni-ties to attend a variety of team and circuit services.

Currently, we have a few young families who attend GMJC services but few chil-dren at other times. Consequently, we do not have a crèche or Sunday School, but we do provide a wide variety of activities for children and young people out-side Sunday services. This includes activities carried out at St Mary’s and at Yew Tree primary school.

We do not currently offer communion to children as a matter of course but this is something which we are exploring in conjunction with St Hilda’s and with the Halewood Church of England school. The two churches in Halewood were first awarded the Child Friendly Church Award in 2006 and we are currently looking at our reapplication. Supporting Cast

The ministry team enjoy the backing of some gifted hard working individual members of the church family. Often working as a team, sometimes alone, they offer expertise, for example, in catering, school governorship, fund-raising, finance, fabric, administration and project management. The list is not exhaustive but is an indication of the reinforcing strength of a dedicated lay membership which is responsive to daily challenges and planning for the future. Occasional (or non) Attenders

There are, of course, many people who live in the parish who do not attend church on a regular basis but who regard St Nicholas’ as ‘their church’. These include people who attend for weddings, funerals and baptisms, peo-ple whose loved ones are buried in the church yard, parents whose children attend the Church of England School, or one of the uniformed organisa-tions, or church run children’s groups as well as those who hear the bells ringing and know that they come from ‘their church’, or those who attend and support our fundraising events. In addition we know that we attract a number of families who start coming to church in the hope of obtaining a place for their child (ren) at a faith based school. We want to welcome and nurture these people whom God has put in our path as we know that where we have been able to do this many have become not just regular worshippers but active members of our congregation.

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Four times each year – Christmas, Easter, Harvest and Holiday Club there is an Extravaganza which involves an interactive service for the whole family with food served afterward.

At Yew Tree school we are involved in assemblies each Tuesday, usually for Juniors but sometimes joined by the Infants as well. There is also a Lunch Club on Tuesdays which has become so popular that a second group has been started on Wednesdays. Over the year 59 children have attended.

The After School Club runs every Tuesday. There is a waiting list to join this club as the school allows 27 children to join each term. This is mainly a craft club but is led by church members.

All of this work is organised mainly by our Methodist Lay Worker with lots of input from others in the Ministry Team and volunteers from the congrega-tions – although it is becoming more difficult to attract enough volunteers. There is implicit Christian teaching with games, crafts etc appropriate to age, and some of the older groups have weekends away and social outings.

It would be interesting to look at why this tremendous work is not reflected in the children or families coming to St Mary’s for worship, although some of the families do attend St Nicholas’. Two house groups meet on a weekly basis and a third has met each Lent for many years.

Groups at St Mary’s

On Wednesday afternoon during term time is JAM Club for children from Reception to Year 6 and is Children’s University registered. 72 children attended this year with an average of 30 – 40 each week. 100% BOSS Club is held on alternate Tuesdays, again during term time, for children in school years 4 – 7 and again is Children’s University registered. A total of 21 children have attended this year with an average of 10 – 15 each week. Next Level is a new venture for youngsters in Year 7 and 8, on alternate Tuesdays. 15 have attended this year with an average of 6 – 10 each week. They are particularly hoping to get involved in leading worship.

The annual week long Holiday Club is very popular with children and their families. Around 65 – 80 children register each year. A group of volun-teers have supported this work over the years with a lot of work in plan-ning and preparing for it. The service on the Sunday before and after it also attracts a very good attendance.

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We also act as Halewood’s distribution centre for the Knowsley Foodbank and welcome clients from Halewood and across the borough who have been unable to access the service during the week. This too is operated by volunteers, all of whom have undergone appropriate training. We are looking to develop other services for the community working with the Big Project which is the umbrella organisation for the Foodbank, Baby Basics, Next Steps etc. Debt counselling services are planned as part of our activities on a Saturday. As well as the activities already mentioned our members are involved in the community in many ways as volunteers, through their professional roles or as members. This includes a Credit Union, U3A, the local commu-nity choir, walking group, school governor and teacher and Brownie leader.

Obviously as an LEP we are part of both the Anglican and Methodist churches. We have also long had links with the local Roman Catholic congregations that make up the Parish of St John Vianney. In the past we have held joint events around Lent, Easter and Advent but we seem to be doing so less often now and that’s something that needs our attention.

St Mary’s is committed to supporting overseas mission and charitable or-ganisations. Several members have collecting boxes for the Methodist Church Fund for World Mission which one member co-ordinates and Easter envelopes are also collected for the same organisation. We sup-port Christian Aid through members donating instead of sending Christ-mas cards and through fund raising activities in Christian Aid week. We also donate 10% of our annual giving to a variety of organisations.

St Mary’s Church Buildings

St Mary’s is a modern, fully accessible building. After a fire destroyed the first church the current one was opened in 1974. The most recent Quinnquennial (2013) found no major concerns with any part of the build-ing although noted that it was beginning to look a little shabby. We also have a good sized car park and pleasant grounds that we pay to maintain and one or two members do a great deal of planting etc which keeps it looking attractive.

St Mary’s Church and the Community

Weddings and funerals are few and tend to be those of church members rather than the wider population who usually use St Nicholas’ as the parish church. We have some baptisms (4 in the last year), often for families living in the immediate vicinity of the church, or who are referred from St Nicholas’ as there is often a long wait for a date there. These are held as part of Morn-ing Service.

Our church buildings hosts two vital services for local people, St Mary's Care Centre for the elderly and St Mary's/ Roseheath Child Care for under 5s. Both organisations were started by the church in response to community needs but have since developed their own identity whilst retaining strong links. The day care centre is an independent social business and registered charity, chaired by the Team Rector, and has a weekly service led by mem-bers of the clergy team. The clients have increasing needs, most suffering from dementia, so the numbers attending are decreasing to enable the staff to give the level of care required. The nursery is currently chaired by the non-stipendiary minister and is a sub-committee of our DCC, so the staff are ac-tually employed by HCC. However, they are currently undergoing a review to help decide the most appropriate structure going forwards.

Church members lead a fortnightly Stroke Club which developed as addi-tional support for members of the care centre and operates on a voluntary basis. 25 members and volunteers attend and take part in a range of activi-ties and operate under the banner of the Stroke Association. After much prayer and discussion, two years ago we decided to open up the church buildings on a Satur-day to the local community. Satur-day Coffee@St Mary's provides ba-con sandwiches, cakes, tea and cof-fee at nominal prices and offers local people friendship, conversation and prayer. It is run by a range of volun-teers, most from St Mary’s or St Nicholas but some without a church connection.

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The front entrance in particular needs refurbishing as it has only single glazed wooden framed windows and doors. We would like to replace it with new upvc double glazed windows and doors if this was financially viable. There are 2 or 3 people of a practical nature who will help out when work needs doing but there is no regular maintenance and cleaning of the church, although the care centre and nursery do of course maintain their parts of the building. As explained above the building is in use 7 days per week. The utility costs are split between church, care centre and nursery on an agreed basis and the Parish Bursar ensures bills are paid and costs invoiced for as appropri-ate.

St Hilda’s Church

St Hilda’s Church and its People

History

St Hilda’s Church was built in 1898 as a mission church of St Peter’s, Wool-ton. In 1947 the Parish of St Hilda’s was created and took in areas from the parishes of All Saints, Speke, St Nicholas, Halewood and St Peter’s, Woolton.

The Parish of St Hilda’s

The parish is mostly residential with some retail outlets clustered in four groups around the area. The largest is the Hunts Cross retail park which, among other units, has an Asda outlet which is the largest employer in the parish. There are also a few commercial outlets. We seem to have more than our fair share of banks, however, we think it fair to say that this is not an indication that we are a very wealthy area! There are a few industrial em-ployers, the largest being Lilly UK, which is part of the Eli Lilly company, a major US Pharmaceutical company. Housing development was more or less halted in the 1930s, however, in the past 20 years or so there have been several new housing developments on either vacant industrial sites or green spaces. The latest population figure for the parish is about 9000, although recent developments have probably taken this closer to the 10000 mark. About 20% of the dwellings are ‘social housing’. In recent years there have been some new developments in Hunts Cross with the building of the ‘Bellway Estate’, and, in the Halewood part of Hunts Cross, with several smaller developments being built.

Situation

St Hilda’s Church, together with its vicarage, is part of a small residential suburb of Hunts Cross. Hunts Cross is a fairly small area of Liverpool and includes a shopping centre. There are several banks, convenience stores, a post office, doctors and dentists. There is a large supermarket around a mile from the church. There are some pubs and cafes. The church is next to a busy railway station which is used on a number of routes to Liverpool, Manchester and further afield. The parish crosses the district boundaries of Liverpool and Knowsley with a part of Halewood in the Hunts Cross parish.

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Weekly Services The current pattern of worship is as follows:-

Occasional services at 6.30pm. , particularly a team service on the first Sunday of the month, and Holy Communion for the team at St Hilda’s on the third Sunday. St Hilda’s offers Morning Prayer services several times per week. On Wednesdays at 10am we also offer Holy Communion (occasionally Morning Prayer, Book of Common Prayer). Around 12 people attend each week. *The frequency of the use of BCP services is not fair guide to the overall ethos of the church’s general form of worship

Time Sunday Service Description 9am Weekly Main Church Holy Communion (BCP)

11am 1st Sunday Platform 1 Morning Worship

Platform 2 Informal, interactive worship

2nd Sunday Platform 1 Holy Communion (Common Worship)

Platform 2 Informal, interactive worship

3rd Sunday Platform 1 All age worship with Baptisms

4th Sunday Platform 1 Morning Worship (Common Worship)

Platform 2 Holy Communion Informal, interactive worship

5th Sunday Platform 1 Holy Communion (Common Worship), usually a joint team service in one of the three churches

Platform 2 Informal, interactive worship

Educational Provision

There are two schools in Hunts Cross. The main school is Hunts Cross primary school. It serves children from the local commu-nity aged 3-11. It has a children’s centre and nursery attached. The children’s centre rents the church hall for play groups and football weekly. The school is a one and a half form entry school. The Team Vicar is a governor at the school. The other school is a Catholic school, Holy Family. Holy Family again serves children aged 3-11 and is slightly larger than Hunts Cross primary school. There is another children’s centre in the parish which houses a popular nursery. Other Local Facilities

Hunts Cross and the surrounding area of Halewood have many green spaces. There are parks, fields, woodlands and play-grounds. Halewood has a large leisure centre with a swimming pool and gym.

The Church and its People

Church family consultation

All of the members of the congregation and the various groups that visit the church were given the option to participate and feedback their opinions. We received some written responses. These opinions have been incorporated in our SWOT analysis. We are currently working towards the Child Friendly Church Award.

Description of our services

Sunday 9am On Sundays at 9am, we have a regular congregation of around 12 people. The service in-cludes Holy Communion and uses the Book of Common Prayer.

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St Hilda’s Church and the Community

Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals

Baptisms are conducted at 11am on the third Sunday of every month. They take place within the regular service. In 2013 there were 12 baptisms. In 2012 there were 24 baptisms. Confirmations are done jointly between the parishes with an average of 5 or 6 people per year confirmed according to both Anglican and Methodist tradi-tions. In 2011 St Hilda’s Church Council agreed a policy of admitting children to Communion from Year 2 in school (around age 7) after a suitable period of preparation. In 2013 there was only 1 wedding at St Hilda’s. In 2013 there were 39 funerals. St Hilda’s does not have a church yard. Church Organised Events The following events are organised by church;

Pre baptism visits Funeral visits Craft evening Men’s night Talent show Coffee mornings Christmas Experience for local schools Big Lunch Fellowship lunch Home visits for Holy Communion Passover Meal

Sunday at 11am

St Hilda’s offers two services at 11am; Platform 1 and Platform 2.

Platform 1 takes place in church. It uses Common Worship. It is a ‘traditional’ church service. There are 40 people in attendance each week on average. It has a more formal approach than Platform 2, however the wor-ship is still relatively informal. Robes are usually worn for Communion and Baptism services, but not for Morning Worship. Music is a combination of organist and CDs linked to the hymn book (Blue Anglican Hymns Old and New). There is a sermon. Readings and intercessions are led by the congre-gation. The congregation is steady and has a variety of people who attend frequently.

Platform 2 is an exciting, new initiative that was developed to meet the needs of our ever growing population of young families. Platform 2 is an in-formal, cafe style of worship, where the congregation is made to feel at ease upon arrival. It takes place in our church hall at 11am. Members of the con-gregation who have attended for several years greet the congregation by name and offer them something to eat or drink. Coffee, tea, juice and toast are served at the start of the service and the congregation is encouraged to sit with people they may not know and to chat. The talk is usually interactive and fun. Prayer stations have been created and prove popular with adults and children alike. Although Platform 2 was developed with families in mind, it is not solely families who attend. Since developing Platform 2 the congre-gation has grown somewhat and we get 40 attendees (adults and children combined) on average each week. We worship through prayer, singing and crafts. The barrier of feeling embarrassed in church if your child won’t sit still has been completely removed as the congregation is accepting and appreci-ates what the youth bring to the service. Our Statistics

We have 20 sides-people and 6 communion assistants. There are 7 people who lead prayers and 15 people who do readings. There are 133 people on the electoral roll.

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The church receives a fairly good income from the letting of the hall. The hall is in a decent state of repair. There has recently been renovations on the car park which has been resurfaced. The hall has all the relevant adaptations for those with disabilities.

St Hilda’s Church and Buildings

The church was built in 1898 and later became an independent parish in 1957. An ex-tension was added to the church. The original church hall was built in 1903. It started as a small ‘tin hut’ and was extended 3 years later. It was predominantly built and used for the Sunday School. In 1959 a fire caused the hall to be closed and funds were raised to pay for the repairs. It is a 2 storey building which is used frequently. It has a large hall, small grassed area to the front, kitchen, and toilets on the ground floor. Up-stairs there is an office and a small meeting room. These rooms are mainly used by PCC and the church office staff. The vicarage is a two story detached house with gar-dens to front and rear and is the home of the Team Vicar.

Our thoughts for a new Minister

After rolling out a programme to gain insight and feedback into what our congregation would like in a new minister, the children’s comments can be found in summary below. ‘If you could choose a new minister, how would you like them to be?’

Kind Humour, a good laugh Fun Caring Happy Loving

And for some reason, someone said “CHEESE!” More detailed information can be found in our church SWOT analysis.

Supported Charities

St Hilda’s supported the following charities in 2013 REACH Christian Counselling Leprosy Mission Tear Fund Christian Aid Shoebox Appeal

Church Hall Use

The church hall is used by several clubs and groups, these are; Sure Start centres Childminders Forget-Me-Nots Fellowship lunch Tea and Coffee after the Church Service Choir (not church affiliated) Church events (Craft evenings etc) Platform 2 Dance groups Mothers Union Brownies

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The Wider Context

Liverpool South/ Childwall Deanery.

Liverpool South Deanery is made up of 18 parishes following the River Mersey from Speke to Aigburth, heading north through Mossley Hill and sweeping east back to Halewood. The Deanery has deployed its allocated number of 13 stipendiary clergy. Through its Mission Plan the Deanery formed 3 Mission Areas A,B,C, Halewood and Hunts Cross being in Area C. Within these areas parishes are exploring new ways of sharing ministry and mission. The emphasis of the Deanery Mission Plan is that of Liverpool South becoming more mission focused as opposed to ‘filling any ministerial gaps’. The question that the parishes have been encouraged to engage with is:

How do we do mission together & share resources?

This has resulted in some parishes forming formal teams with other parishes exploring different ways of working more closely together. The Chapter holds monthly meetings and all clergy are encouraged to take an active part within it. Liverpool (South) Methodist Circuit (Halewood)

The Halewood Parish Ecumenical Partnership links the two Halewood Churches with ten other churches in the Liverpool (South) Methodist Circuit. The twelve churches in the Circuit include three which are also ecumenical partnerships with the Church of England or the United Reformed Church. These churches are lo-cated in communities across south Liverpool, from Toxteth in the inner city to Huyton and Page Moss (also located in Knowsley borough). The Methodist Circuit’s mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ and this year each church is being encouraged to develop strategies to advance this mission in terms of community outreach, friendship evangelism and learning and teaching. The Circuit exists to enable God’s mission and strongly encourages mission fo-cussed partnership between churches and opportunities to come together in worship as a whole circuit. The Circuit staff team includes three full time presbyters, a full time deacon, a half time presbyter, an active retired presbyter, three full time lay-workers in pastoral ministries and a part time circuit office manager. The Circuit superintendent minister and a full time lay-worker are members of the Halewood ministry team. It is not expected that the Halewood Anglican clergy will routinely attend Circuit meetings, but occasional involvement through preaching in the wider Circuit is much appreciated. Finances (Halewood)

The financial position in Halewood is complex and complicated as we have a set of consolidated accounts which includes individual accounts for the two churches, the St Nicholas’ Centre and the Nursery at St Mary’s so it is often difficult to ‘see the wood for the trees.’ In April 2013 the Halewood Ecumenical Partnership was granted charitable status in its own right and is now registered with the Charity Commission. With regard to the two individual churches, as part of an LEP, each pays a percentage of the Parish Share and the Methodist Assessment and these payments are fully up to date Although St Mary’s has a smaller congregation this does include a number of people who give regularly and generously through planned giving using envelopes or standing orders. At the moment St Mary’s income and expenditure just about break even.

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The picture at St Nicholas’ is a bit less favourable and although there are a number of people signed up for planned giving, their contributions on the whole tend to be less regular and less realistic than their brothers’ and sisters’ at St Mary’s. This means that currently St Nicholas’ is struggling to cover its regular outgoings and has had to eat into its reserves. We have tried to address this through regular teaching about Christian giving but are aware that this is something we need to revisit as a matter of some urgency. On the positive side, St Nicholas’ has an excellent track record of fundraising. Members of the church family give generously to support particular ‘projects’ both internal building projects and external appeals. Finances (Hunts Cross)

St Hilda's has a simpler financial statement as a distinct parish within the team. Parish share is paid in full, and the church has, in recent years, benefited from a legacy that funded a lay employee for three years from 2009-2012. Over the past year the membership at St Hilda’s has significantly changed with the development of Platform 2 and the rise in young families. 2014 will be the first year when we are able to gauge where we are financially, but in both 2012 and 2013 the church had a small surplus of £2800. Priorities for Mission (Halewood)

In recent years at St Nicholas’ our main priority has been to ensure that our buildings are fit for purpose and able to meet the needs of future generations of wor-shippers and the local community. Some of this work has involved essential maintenance and some has been about development and growth. This has not been without impact on our mission, as the improvements mean that St Nicholas’ is now a more welcoming place for both regular worshippers and occasional visitors. However, it may be that the time is now right for us to turn our attention to other priorities and this is something with which we would look to our new minister for help St Mary's has built its mission plan around reaching out to the community in our part of the parish. This has included working in the nearest school, opening the church on a Saturday morning for the coffee shop and Foodbank, and we look to building on the opportunities this gives us to share the gospel. We are also look-ing at once again prayer walking in the local area, which we did successfully five years ago. Priorities for Mission (Hunts Cross)

Following the Team Vicar’s participation in the Diocesan School of Leadership in 2012 the PCC held an away day in both 2012 and 2013. The second of these was led by the Revd Malcolm Chamberlain (now Archdeacon of Sheffield) and resulted in a vision and values document which outlines our priorities for mission and growth between 2014 and 2020.

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What we are looking for in a new minister

This section of the profile, including the SWOT analyses, involves feedback and quotes from individual members of our three congregations as well as from various groups and organisations associated with our churches.

Good with families, children and young people Approachable and ‘ in the real world’ A good ‘all rounder’

'A home going minister makes for a church attending congregation' A team player Someone who can grow our churches and attract people

Respect for traditional family values A spiritual leader Someone to strengthen and build on what the Team has achieved so far

Biblical teacher Shows no favouritism and isn’t pressurised by factions in congregation A sense of humour Easy to talk to

Preaching that brings bible teaching into practical application Approachable, enthusiastic New ideas in leading services

Vibrant, dynamic, proactive Someone who is sympathetic towards bell ringers Someone with a community focus

Interest in youth worship Good people management skills Caring, understanding, sense of humour

Not too radical But not too ‘wishy-washy’ Forward thinking, inclusive

Good pastoral carer, visiting people Someone who encourages and inspires ‘Gets people out of their comfort zone’

Someone empathetic to older people Not someone looking for a ‘cushy number’

A person within whom the love of our Lord dwells and from whom that reaches out to us all

'We need someone who wants to join with us in building Jerusalem in Halewood's green & pleasant land'.

Someone with a heart for working ecumenically a theology that is open to others’ positions

Someone comfortable with formal and informal styles of worship (including BCP)

Someone who can get God’s message across to people at a variety of levels

Someone who models the Christian faith in their day to day living

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SWOT ANALYSIS – St Nicholas’

STRENGTHS Variety of services and church leaders

Good support structure

Involvement of wide range of gifted lay people with spectrum of Christian commit-ment from ‘spiritual’ to ‘practical’

Good buildings and facilities Good range of activities for children through to early teens

Good range of social activities/fundraising

Hard working congregation covering lots of roles

Great partnership with St Mary’s and building closer links with St Hilda’s

A solid reputation and part of the local community

Great teamwork clergy and congregation

Links with local schools, not just the C of E school Strong ties with Methodist circuit

WEAKNESSES Limited involvement and organisations for 13+ age group

Giving is poor, lack of financial security

Different services means membership is fragmented and rarely gets together Pastoral visiting and care

Not preaching the need for personal redemption as much as possible

Need to involve even more people so they don’t just ‘sit on the sidelines’ Evangelism

Feeling that services have become a bit lacking in ‘respect’ and a ‘sense of awe’ Too many joint services caused by cutbacks in clergy. Going with the flow, no clear sense of direction

Some of those in ‘formal roles’ not very welcoming

Passive acceptance of anti-Christian teachings, values and behaviour

OPPORTUNITIES Could consolidate 9am and 11am services occasionally

More family provision at 9am services e.g. have Junior Church at 9am and not 11am

More variety of music and singing

Stronger singing group

Outreach through ‘special services’, baptisms, funerals, weddings. More follow up

Outreach to families through children’s groups

Outreach through church members being part of other groups

Need to re-establish closer links with C of E school. Encourage those who come to church for school entry to become part of the church

Establish a ‘teenage’ section of the church

A new ministry team member to look at things afresh

THREATS/PROBLEMS Lack of support for clergy at ‘special services’ (Occasional offices) Problem of finding leaders for children’s groups and organisations

C of E School, perception of it moving away from St Nicholas’ Ageing congregation. New families come because of school admissions but don’t

always stay. Individual cosiness How to work with teens Unwillingness of some other churches to work together People more willing/able to ‘shop around’ to find a church which suits them

Strong personalities unduly influencing direction or being apathetic to change

NB A number of things in all four categories were mentioned on several of the question-naires

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SWOT ANALYSIS – St. Mary’s

STRENGTHS

Distinctive (Not Anglican or Methodist) Sense of Friendship/Family

Willing to try new ideas Links with Community

Care Centre/Nursery/Food Bank/Stroke Club

Coffee shop

Children’s groups with encouraging numbers

WEAKNESSES Low Numbers Ageing congregation

Few young families with children

Attendance at children’s groups doesn’t translate into church attendance

Too few people to ‘carry the load’ People feeling tired and overstretched

Poor communication

Lack of spirituality

Lack of a ‘shepherd’ Not bringing in teens and younger adults to services.

OPPORTUNITIES

Development of children’s work

Coffee shop/Foodbank etc opportunity for outreach to the community

Trying to encourage ministry through weddings and baptisms

Links with St Nicholas’ and St Hilda’s

THREATS/PROBLEMS

Over commitment therefore lack of time and energy

People ‘getting past’ what is being asked of them

Having to work with other churches, and having to attend their services (Joint/Team Services) Lack of evangelising

People still feeling the lack of a full time permanent minister at St Mary’s

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SWOT ANALYSIS - St Hilda’s

STRENGTHS

Small enough to feel personal and friendly

Young families getting more involved in church

Ability to feed Platform 1 and Platform 2

Spiritually led

A genuine concern and love for each other Not gossipy or cliquey (on the whole) Choice of worship styles Complimentary skills of ministers

Accessible buildings Care for the older members of the congregation (lifts etc) Welcoming/Friendly/Supportive

Weekday activities Groups associated with the church

WEAKNESSES Rely too much on legacies and donations. Need to fundraise more

Some people who complain about children in worship

Too many older people on rotas

Age profile

Church members don’t publicise weekday activities enough to people outside

Pastoral Work, A team needed?

Not enough ‘social activities’ Only having one church warden

Are we becoming too fragmented because of having different services?

Difficulty getting volunteers. Same people end up doing everything

OPPORTUNITIES

Platform 2 (P2) a real opportunity to bring more people/families into church

To build on the Team arrangements and share resources, people and skills

Location gives opportunity for group outings etc to build fellowship

To build closer links with primary school To develop things like the Men’s group

To expand P2

To improve our ‘publicity’ P2 opportunity to ‘plug the age gap’ P2 bringing in whole families

THREATS/PROBLEMS

How to encourage P2 families to stay once their children outgrow P2. How to integrate them into church life

Leaving all the organisation to a few people who run out of energy and patience

People being unwilling to take on roles and responsibilities to replace older members who still do a lot Possible lack of finances How to maintain impetus of P2

No natural progression of younger adults