Vicar of Benefice of Clitheroe, Downham and Chatburn

Overview

Clitheroe is the market town for the Ribble Valley, perhaps the loveliest part of Lancashire. It is a vibrant place with a strong sense of community, great shops, good schools and breath-taking countryside.

The Parish Church and its three smaller associated churches are seeking a new Vicar: a man or woman in the central or liberal Catholic tradition who enjoys growing churches, who delights in a pastoral ministry of presence, who values ministering amongst all ages and who will enjoy working with a stipendiary priest colleague.

Introduction

• St Mary’s Clitheroe is a landmark building in the centre of Clitheroe with a strong musical and eucharistic tradition
• The benefice includes three other beautiful churches in good order, serving the community of Low Moor and the villages of Chatburn and Downham
• There is in post a wonderful stipendiary colleague who has oversight of two of the four churches, as well as active retired clergy
• There is able lay leadership across the four parishes with good administrative support
• The Parishes have strong links with local schools, including Clitheroe Royal Grammar School and the Church School at Chatburn
• The parishes meet their parish share in full

Main Responsibilities

The priest we are looking for will:

• Delight in a ministry of presence and relate to the whole community
• Help people to grow in the Christian life so that they become more confident in living out their faith
• Prioritise ministry to schools, children and young people
• Seek to develop the potential of the people, buildings and resources of the churches so that they grow as “healthy churches transforming their community”
• Enjoy and appreciate the variety of worship offered by four different parishes within one Benefice, from contemporary to Book of Common Prayer
• Use the Occasional Offices as a place to build relationships and encourage people in the Christian life

The Ideal Candidate

The priest we are praying for will:

• Be grounded in the disciplines of prayer and who will teach their people to pray
• Be able to communicate the Gospel clearly and accessibly and help the congregation to live it out.
• Love to grow relationships and throw themselves joyfully into the life of these communities
• Rejoice in the Eucharistic and choral traditions of the Parishes and be skilled in leading both traditional and more informal forms of worship.
• See herself/himself as the Vicar of the whole benefice (not just of the congregations) and relate to churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike.
• Be a good colleague who will enjoy working with a fellow priest and who will foster gifts of leadership in the whole people of God.

About us

For information about Blackburn diocese please follow this link https://jobs.churchofengland.org/blackburn/vision-2026/

For information on making an application through Pathways please follow this link

https://jobs.churchofengland.org/HELP/candidate-faq/

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Archdeacon of Blackburn, Ven. Mark Ireland (Email: Mark.Ireland@Blackburn.Anglican.Org, Mobile: 07866 778791)

Closing date for applications: Friday 23rd June

Interview date: Friday 21st July