Vicar of St George's Stalybridge (0.5) and Team Vicar in the Good Shepherd Team (0.5)

Overview

Vicar of St George’s Stalybridge (0.5) and Team Vicar in the Good Shepherd Team (0.5)

This is an exciting post for a priest with the skills in helping to create and shape a vision for the Church in Stalybridge and Ashton. We are looking for someone who can foster team working between clergy and lay people both within and across churches and who will

Develop links with the towns and communities to support the mission of the church

Strengthen relationships with the local schools

Engage effectively with children and young families

Grow the congregations

Nurture people in their life-long discipleship

Main Responsibilities

Role Purpose

General

• To exercise the cure of souls shared with the bishop in these parishes in ollaboration with your colleagues
• To have regard to the calling and responsibilities of the clergy as escribed in the Canons, the Ordinal, the Code of Professional Conduct for the Clergy and other relevant legislation.
• To work to advance the Kingdom of God through servant leadership, collaboration and example, and with particular regard to the current diocesan mission priorities
• For growing churches
• For increasing giving
• For serving the wider community
• For nurturing vocations
• To share in the wider work of the deanery and diocese as appropriate, for the building up of the whole Body of Christ

Specific

• To work with the PCC in the ongoing development of the Mission Action Plan
• To foster discipleship and spiritual growth
• To nurture vocations, particularly to lay ministries
• To develop the church’s work with children and young families
• To strengthen the links with community groups and organisations
• To encourage a sense of team working with the churches in the emerging cluster

Key contacts

Generic

• The Wardens and PCC
• The Team Rector and churches of the Good Shepherd Team
• The Deanery Chapter, Synod and Mission and Pastoral Committee
• The Staff at Church House

Specific

• Schools, care homes etc

Supportive

• The Area Dean of Ashton Rev'd Roger Dixon
• The Archdeacon of Rochdale Ven Cherry Vann
• The Suffragan Bishop of Middleton Rt Rev'd Mark Davies

Role context and any other relevant information

The Deanery’s strategic vision is developing in line with the Diocese’s Fit for Mission programme. It is envisaged that St George’s Stalybridge as well as the two Mossley parishes of St George and St John will join the current Ashton cluster of the Good Shepherd Team, Christ Church Ashton and St John’s Hurst. Part of the role of the new Vicar of Stalybridge will be to strengthen the links between St George’s and the Good Shepherd team and to encourage, along with all the other clergy and laity, a greater degree of collaborative ministry in order to maximise the opportunities for mission and make the best use of the resources available.

Team Vicar in the Good Shepherd Team

Role Title: Team Vicar (0.5 stipendiary)

Name of benefice: Good Shepherd, Ashton

Deanery: Ashton

Archdeaconry: Rochdale

Initial point of contact on Terms of Service: The Archdeacon of Rochdale

2. Role Purpose

General

• To exercise the cure of souls shared with the bishop in this parish in collaboration with your colleagues.
• To have regard to the calling and responsibilities of the clergy as described in the Canons, the Ordinal, the Code of Professional Conduct for the Clergy and other relevant legislation.
• To work to advance the Kingdom of God through servant leadership, collaboration and example, and with particular regard to the current diocesan mission priorities
• a. for growing churches
• for increasing giving
• for serving the wider community
• for nurturing vocations
• To share in the wider work of the deanery and diocese as appropriate, for the building up of the whole Body of Christ.

Specific

• To have responsibility for St Michael and All Angels' church and its future development as an effective town centre church.
• To exercise a chaplaincy role in the town centre, along with the present curate, and to share in the civic life of Ashton- under-Lyne to strengthen links with St Michael's.
• To continue developing with colleagues a mission strategy for the Parish and specifically the MAP for St Michael's
• To be a governor for Parochial School and strengthen its links with St Michael’s
• To work with the parishes of the emerging cluster to establish opportunities for closer working, sharing resources and joint missional activity

 Key contacts

Generic

• The PCC and St. Michael and All Angels’ DCC
• Clergy and Lay Colleagues in the Parish of the Good Shepherd
• Clergy and Lay Colleagues in the emerging Cluster
• The Deanery Chapter, Synod and Mission and Pastoral Committee
• The Staff at Church House

Specific

• Schools: Parochial School
• and others of our church schools as required and agreed
• Cluster parishes: Christ Church, Ashton
• St. John, Hurst
• St. George, Stalybridge
• Mossley Parishes, St George and St John
• Leaders from other denominations: Roman Catholic: Fr Simon Firth
• Nazarene: Pastor Carl McCann
• New Life Church: Stuart Gosling
• URC: Vacant
• Methodist: In transition

Supportive

• The Team Rector
• The Area Dean
• The Archdeacon
• The Suffragan Bishop

 Role context and any other relevant information

The Deanery Pastoral Plan places the Parish of the Good Shepherd in an Ashton Cluster which, at the time of writing, also includes Christ Church Ashton and St John’s Hurst. As the Deanery’s strategic vision develops, it is envisaged that the parishes of St George’s Stalybridge and the two Mossley parishes of St George and St John will join the cluster.

The role of St. Michael’s as the historic Town Centre Church is under review and is expected to develop under the leadership of the Team Vicar.

St. Michael’s has accepted that the Eucharist will not take place every Sunday morning and that it is most likely that non-Eucharistic worship will take place on two Sundays a month. It is seeking to establish lay leadership for these services.

Chaplaincy work within the Town Centre is crucial in the church developing its mission to those who shop, play, and work in the Town Centre and to the future of the Church of England in the Town Centre of Ashton-under-Lyne. The new TV will be expected to work alongside the Team Rector and Curate to maximise the opportunities

The Good Shepherd was formed in 2008 and is keeping under regular review its focus on mission and ministry and new ways of working. The Team Curate, who will be in post until the summer of 2020, has been given free-reign to develop new forms of evening worship at St. Michael’s.

The Ideal Candidate

Spirituality and Tradition

Applicants for the post should

• be Eucharistic in their spirituality
• be flexible and open to new forms of worship and various forms of music
• be a mature person of vision and prayer
• someone with a heart for mission and committed to growth

Experience and understanding

Applicants should be able to demonstrate the following:

• experience of working collaboratively with ordained and lay people
• an understanding of helping congregations grow in their discipleship
• experience of working effectively in C of E schools, both as a governor and as a priest
• experience of engaging well with people of other faiths and none
• experience in helping churches grow

Skills and competencies

Applicants should be able to demonstrate:

• skills as a team builder
• proven leadership skills
• an ability to discern and foster gifting and calling amongst the laity
• skills in helping to create and shape vision
• a flair for working and worshipping with children and young families
• skills in developing partnership working with neighbouring churches

General Attributes

Applicants should

• Be flexible and creative.
• Have vision and energy
• Be a person of grace and integrity
• Be personable and approachable
• Be enthusiastic for growth

Spirituality and Tradition

Applicants for the post should

• be Eucharistic in their spirituality
• be flexible and open to new forms of worship and various forms of music
• be a mature person of vision and prayer
• someone with a heart for mission and committed to growth

Experience and understanding

Applicants should be able to demonstrate the following:

• experience of working collaboratively with ordained and lay people
• an understanding of helping congregations grow in their discipleship
• experience of working effectively in C of E schools, both as a governor and as a priest
• experience of engaging well with people of other faiths and none
• experience in helping churches grow

Skills and competencies

Applicants should be able to demonstrate:

• skills as a team builder
• proven leadership skills
• an ability to discern and foster gifting and calling amongst the laity
• skills in helping to create and shape vision
• a flair for working and worshipping with children and young families
• skills in developing partnership working with neighbouring churches

General Attributes

Applicants should

• Be flexible and creative.
• Have vision and energy
• Be a person of grace and integrity
• Be personable and approachable
• Be enthusiastic for growth

For more information about this application process, please use this link

About us

Vicar of St George Stalybridge and

Team Vicar in the Good Shepherd Team

DIOCESAN STATEMENT OF NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

DIOCESE

The Diocese of Manchester extends over most of Greater Manchester and Rossendale and is characterised by its extraordinary diversity of communities and cultures. The vibrancy that this gives to life makes it a joyful and hopeful place to pursue God’s mission. The overall vison of the Diocese is to establish

‘a worshipping, growing and transformative Christian presence at the heart of every community’

and we firmly believe there is an opportunity to do so at this point on our journey of faith.

We have a specific missionary vision, values and goals:

Our Values

Faith, Hope and Love

Our Inspiration

We run with perseverance the race that is set before us… with our eyes fixed on Jesus

Our Mission Goals – to be a Church which is

Growing

growing new disciples in missionary church communities which are younger, more diverse, active and spiritually engaged

Nurturing

increasing vocations, nurturing new and existing disciples, increasing financial giving

Serving

present for all, speaking and acting prophetically for justice, supporting pastorally especially the vulnerable, deprived and excluded

Guided by this vision, the Diocese is engaged on a process of strategic planning for the future, shaped by our vision to become Church for a Different World. The Fit for Mission programme is the tool by which we seek to make this vision a reality. It is led by a Steering Group that includes the three bishops and others with specific gifts in this area.

The Bishop has the resolve to appoint in this Diocese only clergy who have a clear sense of calling to the particular post and are committed, under God, to the Diocesan vision, and its values, inspiration and goals. We believe that mission and ministry are properly undertaken collaboratively, working with neighbouring parishes, specialist and sector ministries, and ecumenical and wider community partners. Clergy will be expected to work collegially with other ordained ministers and lay people to encourage and sustain the wider mission and ministry of the church. Clergy and parishes are strongly encouraged to undertake a process of ‘Mission Action Planning’.

Clergy are expected to encourage and enable the gifts and ministries of all God’s people and especially to help individuals explore any possible call to ordination (including Ordained Local Ministry), Reader Ministry or Authorised Lay Ministry.

Education is a major factor in the life of the diocese and its mission to young people. There are 192 church schools and a growing number of academies. Unless there is very good reason, where there is a Church School in the parish the minister of that parish is expected to carry out conscientiously the role of ex officio Governor, as part of a wider ministry in the school, although in the case of benefices with several schools no member of the clergy should act as Governor of more than two schools.

We are committed to promoting the well-being of clergy, and in a 2015 survey 91.6% of all the clergy who responded either strongly agreed or agreed with the statement, ‘I enjoy ministry in the Diocese of Manchester’.

It is normal for a priest to have a ministerial interest wider than the benefice itself that takes something in the region of 10% of their working time.

Except where required under the terms of the Priests (Ordination of Women) Measure 1993 or the House of Bishops Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests 2014 we are committed to ensuring that the Diocese does not discriminate against applicants on the basis of criteria unrelated to their ability to function as a priest in the benefice.

All ministerial appointments in the Diocese are subject to enhanced DBS Disclosure and we are obliged under the requirements of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 to request documentation which will satisfy its requirements of proof of eligibility to work in the UK.

DEANERY

Ashton is a diverse deanery with a significant and growing Muslim community in the town of Ashton as well as an increasing number of people from Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. There is a wide range of church traditions within the deanery, with one, (St Hilda’s Audenshaw) looking to the Bishop of Beverley for episcopal oversight. There are good relationships amongst the clergy and Chapter is generally well supported.

There are 15 parishes in the deanery, including the Good Shepherd Team which is a single parish of five churches. Together, they are served at present by 11.5 FTE stipendiary priests alongside other ordained and authorised lay ministers. The Deanery is one of the four pilot deaneries across the diocese that are seeking to implement the Fit for Mission programme. This involves parishes coming together in mission clusters or units, sharing resources (including lay and ordained ministries) and making better use of the church buildings that are fit for purpose.

An external evaluation of the Fit for Mission programme is underway at the moment with a report due early in the new year. This seeks to capture the learning from the pilot deaneries and offer some pointers and recommendations as we seek to make the vision of being Church for a Different World a reality across the diocese.