Rector of the Weobley & Staunton Group of Parishes

Overview

OPEN TO ALL 
growing together

We are seeking an incumbent who will find it both easy and fulfilling to help us become greater advocates for mission and support for all the benefice.

Introduction

Thank you for showing an interest in the role of Rector for the Weobley and Staunton Group of parishes. This is an exciting post in a vibrant and friendly benefice.

If this is a role that excites you, we would very much like to hear from you and look forward to receiving your application. If you would like an informal conversation about any aspect of the post please do get in touch.

Main Responsibilities

• A person of clear faith who walks with Christ and leads by word and example; a person who possesses a deep, silent hidden peace that the world does not necessarily see.
• A person who seeks truth through the combination of reason and faith.
• A good preacher with a wide knowledge of scripture and religious texts, whose sermons engage with the issues of the time and who speaks with authority to inspire and challenge.
• Someone who is able and willing to experiment with worship, using a variety of liturgies and types of service to reach people of all ages and backgrounds.
• A person with a deep care for people, a good listener who will reach out and support all members of the community, whether churchgoers or not, according to their needs.
• Someone who has the ability to disagree without anger.
• An encourager who will help us to discern the direction that God is leading us and will support us in our journey.
• Someone with the ability to enjoy and cherish the idiosyncrasies of congregations in small rural parishes.
• Cheerful, easy, kind, gentle, courteous, candid, unassuming, with no pretence.
• Someone who will support and care for us from birth to death and all the messed up bits in between.

The Ideal Candidate

For a full description of the essential and desirable characteristics of the ideal candidate, please see page 8 of the Statement of Needs document.

About us

Our Benefice is in fact two benefices held in plurality, the detail of which can be seen in the Group Benefice Profile. (There is a strong sense of cohesion in the group and we would like to to take steps to become a single benefice; this is seen more as a piece of administration which needs doing, rather than a major issue).  

Much is made of our rural environment in this profile – dispersed rural one might say – and we value it highly while working all the time to maximise our potential and outreach as one community rather than seven whenever we can. The population is about 2,500, half of whom live in Weobley. Weobley (pronounced Weblee) is a well-served, fast expanding village and although rightly celebrated as one of the county’s most lauded and visited ‘black & white villages’, new modern housing development is adding vibrancy to the village and a slightly younger demographic. This we believe offers a positive opportunity for ‘our new rector’ to work with us to engage with a new audience for a well-established, traditional church. Much is spoken about Weobley in its parish profile but it is right to add that while the benefice is rural, it’s not isolated and the importance of Weobley, identified by Herefordshire Council as a key village for community expansion, is central to sustaining the cohesion of our group and we believe firmly in the informal doctrine of ‘growing together’.