THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH
BROADWAY
WORCESTERSHIRE
Registered Charity Number
1134894
Website:
www.broadwayurc-worcs.org.uk
Due
to technical problems, not all the photographs are present.
Mission statement
“To
know Jesus better and to make Him better known”
March 2011
INDEX
INTRODUCTION
The Setting
The Congregation
The Church and Manse
Synod and Area
CHURCH LIFE
Worship
Study
Groups
Baptisms
and Weddings
CHURCH GROUPS AND COMMITTEES
Church
Meetings
Elders
Pastoral
Carers
Worship
Committee and Worship groups
Church
in Society
Youth
and Children’s Work
Pilots
Activities
Open the Book
Fun
and Fundraising Group
Finance
and Premises Committee
Vision
Group
Website
MINISTRY AND MISSION
PRIORITIES FOR THE PASTORATE
Spiritual
Development and Preaching
Pastoral
Care
Youth
and Children’s Work
Evangelism
and Church Growth
Action
for Justice
Community
Development
Stewardship
ECUMENICAL RELATIONS
ROLE OF A MINISTER
(Including Ministerial Terms of Settlement)
APPENDICES
1
Population of Broadway
2
Regular Hall Users
3
Church Statistics
4
Summary of the Church Accounts
5
The Geographical Spread of the Church Members and Adherents
6
Map of Broadway
INTRODUCTION
The
setting
The village of Broadway is
situated in the north-west corner of the beautiful Cotswolds, within 20 miles of
Worcester to the north-west, Cheltenham to the south and Stratford upon Avon to
the north. The market town of
Evesham, six miles to the north-west, has several supermarkets and shops to meet
most needs. There is a limited bus
service.
The village has two First
Schools, a parent and toddler group and two playgroups, one of which uses our
hall on two mornings each week. Doctors,
a dentist, an optician, banks, a post office and a number of other shops are all
located on the High Street. Convenience food shops are situated near the main centres of
population in the village. An
Activity Park, which has recently been extensively refurbished, is proving to be
very popular.
The total population of
Broadway, as recorded in the 2001 census, is 3025, of which 37% are over 65.
Further details are shown in Appendix 1.
Driving into Broadway from
Evesham, you pass some retirement flats and nursing homes and admire the view
that they have of the Dumbleton Hill and the Vale of Evesham.
You continue up the wide High Street with its trim greens and gaze upon
the attractive honey-coloured buildings, largely dating from the 17th
and 18th centuries, with fascinating shops inviting you to browse.
Continuing to the Upper High Street, past the United Reformed Church and
Manse, you can gaze at the ‘chocolate-box’ view of the lovely houses with
Broadway Tower in the background, gateway to the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty.
But there is another side to
Broadway. The large number of
retirement flats and nursing homes indicates that a high proportion of the
population is elderly. In the High
Street, you realise that what you are looking at comprises, chiefly, hotels,
guest houses, restaurants and pubs together with shops which sell antiques, fine
art and gifts. This is an ‘all
year round’ tourist village. The
properties in the Upper High Street are, in the main, in the high price range
and many are owned by millionaires and ‘second home’ owners.
The majority of people in the village live in the two estates on either
side of the Leamington Road: on the one side, the modern estate and, on the
other, the former council estate (now mostly owner-occupied).
There is also a recent development of about seventy dwellings on a former
industrial site and further small developments are in the process of
construction. It is in these areas
that most of Broadway’s community is found.
The surrounding countryside
is devoted to agriculture and market gardening (The Vale of Evesham) but both
are struggling in the present economic climate.
There is some light industry in neighbouring villages.
See Appendix 6 – Map of
Broadway
The
Congregation
The congregation is, in the
main, a settled one and mirrors, to some extent, the age profile of the local
community, with a large percentage over 65.
The majority have a ‘retired professional’ background, with a wealth
and variety of experience (See Appendix 3 for relevant statistics).
As indicated elsewhere in this Profile, this experience is put to good
use in both church and the local community.
It is likely, because of the nature of Broadway, that we will continue to
have a strong need to minister to the older generation and, to this end, see
Pastoral Care as very important. At
the same time, the exciting development of our work with young people (which is
described elsewhere in this profile) opens up opportunities to interact with the
younger age range, especially with the parents of our Pilots.
There are many members of the
congregation who have a deep personal faith and others who are still exploring
the Way. A number take Bible
Reading notes and the URC Prayer Handbook.
Over the last two years, the Church has followed parts of the Emmaus
Course, allowing members to explore together, and discuss, their faith.
About one-third of the church family has been involved in this and has
found it to be beneficial. An
incoming minister might like to develop this further.
Our theology is generally on
the liberal side, although there are some who tend to a more fundamental
ideology. There is a tolerance of
these differing views which does not cause any difficulty and sometimes enhances
discussion.
The congregation, Easter Sunday 2010
The
Church and Manse
The church is set back from
the road and situated in the Upper High Street. There has been non-conformist worship in the village since
1792. The present church building
dates from 1843 but has been much altered over the years. It is compact and centrally heated with seating for about 120
on moveable chairs. In recent
years, we have installed a digital organ, a modern sound system with CD, tape
and inductive loop, disabled facilities and ramped access to both church and
hall. The cost of all these
improvements has been met in full without recourse to loans.
The Vestry area has just been completely rebuilt internally in order to
remove a longstanding severe dampness problem.
A new small meeting room has been created.
The spacious hall and kitchen
at the rear of the church was built in the 1960s. In the last six years, it has had a new roof and new
flooring. A sound system with
inductive loop has been installed and, recently, 35 new comfortable chairs have
been bought.
Studies have been made into
the possible development of the area between the church and the hall.
These plans have been put on hold for the time being but we are hoping to
erect a timber-framed building which will provide storage and another meeting
room. (See Appendix 2 for a list of regular users of the hall)
The recently-refurbished
Manse is adjacent to the church and is a two-storey detached house in Cotswold
stone. The house is centrally
heated and double-glazed. It
comprises a hall with cloakroom, two reception rooms, kitchen/breakfast room,
study, four double bedrooms, bathroom, secluded garden with shed and parking for
cars.
Synod
and Area
Broadway is in the West
Midlands Synod, about one hour’s drive from the Synod office.
Representatives attend Synod meetings when possible but the congested
roads around Birmingham make this difficult when meetings are held in the north
of the region.
Broadway was previously in
the Hereford and Worcester District. With
the creation of Areas, churches to the north and south became separate areas.
We remain linked with churches in Kidderminster, Worcester and Malvern,
the nearest of which is twenty miles away.
Prestbury URC (in the Cheltenham group) and Stratford-upon-Avon URC, in
Warwickshire, are both a little nearer in terms of both distance and travelling
times but, historically, we have not had as much contact with them as we have
had with the Worcestershire churches. We
feel that the URC needs to do more to make Areas work, particularly in rural
areas, so that members feel part of a larger Church.
CHURCH
LIFE
Worship
Services are held each Sunday
at 10.30am. The average attendance
at Sunday services is about 35-40, of whom most are church members.
We also welcome visitors who share worship with us when they are on
holiday in the area.
Our services are mainly
traditional in style and content but we are not resistant to new forms or hymns.
The service on the first Sunday of each month includes Holy Communion.
Several services each year
involve our Pilots, who participate in reading from the Bible, preparing and
reading prayers and singing. We are
pleased that the young folk seem ‘at home’ in the church and are happy to
chat with the ‘slightly older’ members of the congregation who, in turn, are
equally happy to welcome and interact with them.
We occasionally hold ‘Songs of Praise’ on the grass in front of the
Manse.
On a regular basis, members
of the congregation join together to lead worship and this will continue with a
50% scoping. This will be even more necessary during our interregnum, as there
are not very many retired ministers or lay preachers in the area.
Most members of the congregation are on the rota to present Bible
readings at all services, and some occasionally lead the Prayers of
Intercession.
The main hymnbook in use is
‘Rejoice and Sing’. Other hymns
or songs are displayed via a computer and projector, using PowerPoint.
We have a rota of three organists and some good musicians.
We have the Methodist PowerPoint discs as a resource for extra hymns.
Each month there is a service
of Quiet, Healing and Holy Communion; this is attended by a small, but
appreciative, number of the church family.
The Ministry of Healing was flagged up as desirable in our last profile
and these services came out of that wish. It
may be that there is a need to look further at the format or timing of these in
order to meet a wider need.
Study
Groups As
a result of a wish to engage in more outreach into the community and a
recognition that we were not as prepared spiritually or confident to do it as we
should be, it was decided to follow the Emmaus Course as a preparation for
ourselves, with the hope of further outreach.
About a third of church members have attended these courses over the last
few years and they have been much appreciated.
We are proposing to continue these further.
For many years, the church
has had a monthly magazine called ‘The Broadsheet’. In addition, we use the “Sunday Link”, which is an
Ecumenical bulletin produced weekly, with comment based on the Common
Lectionary. The reverse side is
used to give details of the services, pastoral news and notices of future
events. It also has a section
outlining concerns for which prayer is asked.
Baptisms
and Weddings
The church does not receive
many requests for either Baptisms or Weddings and does not have a set policy.
The Elders would normally expect the Minister to discuss the requests
with them.
CHURCH
GROUPS AND COMMITTEES
Church
Meetings These are held ten
times each year (not in August or December).
The average attendance is between 20 and 25.
The Annual Church Meeting, at which Elders and committee members are
elected and accounts presented, is held in March.
Easter
Breakfast
Refreshments before a Church meeting
Pastoral
Carers There is a team of
pastoral carers, most of whom are serving or non-serving Elders.
b)
Worship Groups - members of the congregation who meet together to prepare
and lead worship from time to time.
In 2009, the Group organised
a study day on the situation in Palestine/Israel and the Occupied Territories
with a speaker from Christian Aid’s team.
Members of other churches supporting Palestine through Commitment for
Life attended the day.
YOUTH AND
CHILDREN’S WORK
Pilots
We
are a member company of the National URC organisation
(See www.urc.org.uk/what_we_do/pilots/pilots)
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Broadway Pilots
company started in November 2002 and is well-supported by our congregation.
It has grown to between 20 and 30 Pilots attending each week and we have
54 on the roll.
All the young people have joined us through our outreach, since we have
no parents with young children in the congregation.
We have an enthusiastic team of ten leaders which enables us to operate
all four age groups from 4 to 18 years old – Deckhands, Adventurers, Voyagers
and Navigators, with some 6-10 folk attending regularly in each age group.
A typical Friday meeting starts in our hall at 6.30pm and ends at 8pm.
The entire company join the opening circle, songs and pop & biscuits.
Then we divide into age groups for crafts, discussions and games.
We have cross-company projects such as making a ‘four seasons’ quilt,
a ‘Journey of the Cross’ quiet corner, and the Christmas Tree festival. In
the summer, we go to the nearby local Activity Park which is extremely
well-equipped with apparatus and has a good size field for games.
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We were awarded Child Friendly Church status in October 2009,
presented to us by West Midlands Synod. This includes all leaders having been
CRB checked and our Policy for Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable adults is in
place. We feel that this rewards
our commitment to providing a welcoming and encouraging environment for our
young folk.
We have experimented with the ‘messy church format’ on
five Pilots evenings and are encouraging parents to join us for these. On the
first occasion, three parents joined us and latterly seven, so it is early days
but encouraging.
Broadway Pilots attend the residential
summer camps arranged by the National
Pilots or the West Midlands Synod, together with 65 other Christian youth
from around the country. Usually around eight of our company attend each year.
To enable our young people to
appreciate that they are part of a wider movement, we have taken a coach-full of
Pilots
and their families to the national Pilots events at Legoland, Longleat and Warwick Castle which around 4,000
PILOTS attend.
Through our Captain we have strong
links with the National Pilots and West Midlands Synod Children and Youth Committees.
Eight of our older Pilots have been trained and
mentored as Young Leaders and three
of them are on the Synod Youth Executive
The lectionary is followed in the
form of Roots for Children and Young People and the Youth Emmaus, thus
synchronising with Sunday Services with which Pilots
assist
three or four times per year.
This
is what some of the Pilots
say they like about Broadway Pilots
(excerpts
from the ‘Thinking about my Church’ questionnaire, March 2010):
‘Happy people, friendly people, making new friends’
‘playing games, singing songs’ ‘cake’
‘fun, it makes us feel good’
“He’s on his way now and it’s all thanks to PILOTS” - Mother of PILOT
‘It makes me talk more about God’
‘stops me worrying about things’
‘Happy, fun times’ ‘Good
things what make me happy’
“PILOTS has transformed
her” - PILOT’S mother
‘a variety of activities,
and PILOTS has a positive effect on
my life when it is stressful, I turn to God for his help to find a way
forward’
‘PILOTS is my church’
‘Friends’ ‘I
respect people more’
‘I can be myself and feel welcome’ ‘More cake please'.
Activities
The format on Good Friday and the Christmas Activities mornings is to start with
a game, have a short Christian message (by one of the Broadway clergy), sing
some religious fun/action songs, have some juice and biscuits and then take part
in up to five art/craft/kitchen activities.
The format of the Summer Activities is to have an opening game, DVD/Story,
Comment, Memory Verse, Drama, Songs, juice and biscuits and then split into age
groups for two hours of appropriate art, craft, dance, indoor and outdoor
activities. On the Thursday, we
have a coach outing for all the children and helpers and any parents who want to
come. This is very expensive, as we
try to make the children’s trips cost-free – coach and entrance fees. We
have managed to secure a number of Grants each year from various Trusts, etc,
and this has made these trips possible. In
recent years, we have been to the Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford, The
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust Educational Centre near Worcester, Noah’s Ark
Zoo Farm near Bristol and, in 2009, due to lack of funds, a walk up to Broadway
Tower for a picnic lunch and games - only it poured with rain, so we had to come
back to the Church for the games! In
2010, we visited Weston-super-Mare and had a day at the seaside.
We had 26 adults involved and 58 children for the week.
Open the Book A
team of members from various churches takes Assembly once a week
at each of the two primary schools
in Broadway, Broadway First School and St. Mary’s Catholic Primary
School.
We are now in our fifth year with one school and third year with the
other. We follow the Ofsted-approved
‘Open the Book’ syllabus, a national scheme, where we act out Bible
stories each week. We include the children in the acting and crowd scenes as much
as we can; every request from us for help is met by a forest of hands! Many
of the children come to Pilots and Activities. A
new departure, at Christmas 2009, was when we held Assembly for both schools
together in our church. This was deemed
to be so successful by the schools that they asked if we could do the same at
Easter and Christmas 2010. Hopefully,
this will be a pattern for the future. The
feedback from individual children is extremely encouraging. For the last four years, we have given a copy of The Children’s
Bible to all the leavers from Broadway First School.
Christmas Assembly amongst the Christmas Trees
Fun
and Fundraising Group This group
organises social and fundraising events, including an
annual Fayre on the
village green and the popular Christmas Tree Festival.
A catering group occasionally provides lunches and teas for coach parties
visiting Broadway, as part
of our outreach.
Finance and Premises Committee.
This oversees the maintenance
of the premises and all
aspects of finance.
Vision Group. This considers ideas for the
future of the church, predominantly buildings and major
alterations projects
where grant-seeking may be required. Proposals
are placed before the Church
Meeting for discussion, alterations and
final
approval.
Website. The church has had a website for several years. It contains information
about the church,
its activities and various articles. There are
links to Synod and National URC websites and the local
village website.
MINISTRY AND MISSION
As will be seen from the statistics, the pastorate has two distinct
characteristics:
Its age profile. Although a high
percentage of the congregation is over 80, most are relatively active
and
involved in the life of the church. A number of them are
non-serving Elders and provide the church
with a wealth of experience and ability.
small towns or villages within a fifteen-mile radius.
Both of these characteristics impact upon the active mission of the church.
The infirmities of age do
limit the mobility of a number of our members and the extent to which
some can become involved in
outreach, but this does not hamper their
ongoing
involvement in pastoral care.
Members
have a range of abilities and take leading roles in many of the local non-church
activities, in
particular:
Signpost
– a community help and information service for the village, providing access
to Age Concern, DIAL, Relate, CAB, Cancer Support and others.
Evergreens
(formerly Darby and Joan) which meets in the Methodist Church is supported by
several members of the church.
The
Broadway Music Makers – the village choir – two double concerts a year –
several of our members are involved.
The
Broadway Players - amateur Drama and Pantomime group (which was started by our
church about fourteen years ago) – in which a number of our members and Pilots
are now performing or involved.
Girl
Guides – one member heavily involved
The
Broadway Trust – whose objectives include ‘to encourage high standards of
architecture, planning and landscaping’ and ‘to ensure that the appearance
of Broadway befits its designation as a Conservation Area within an Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)’.
The
Gloucester and Warwickshire Railway.
Parish
Councillors, including one mayor, in nearby villages or towns.
PRIORITIES FOR THE PASTORATE
Although our previous profile is only five years old, there have been quite a
few changes in that time
and the preparation
of this document has enabled us to take stock and to see how we are meeting
our Mission
Statement, which is:
‘To know Jesus better and to make Him better known’
with its encouragement to members
to develop and discuss
their faith, we still see the need for
further spiritual development and
preaching to increase our knowledge of our
Lord. A deeper
understanding and
increased confidence should help us to be more effective sharers of the Gospel,
especially with those outside the church family.
Pastoral Care.
Given our age profile, and that
of the communities we serve, Pastoral Care continues
to be a vital part of our
mission. We perhaps need to help the carers to develop their skills.
people
(as outlined elsewhere) is encouraging.
We must continue to
develop and support this part of
the Church’s life, including ministering, where possible, to the families
from which the children come.
Evangelism and Church Growth. It is hoped that, by
concentrating on the previous three priorities,
we can encourage more people
to share with us in our worship.
non-church groups serving
the community. (See under Ministry and Mission)
Stewardship.
There is a need for us to take
stock of our resources, both human and financial, so that
they are used as effectively as possible.
ECUMENICAL RELATIONS
There have been close links with our Methodist neighbours for many years.
We have a number of joint services each year. It is unlikely that some of the present members of the Methodist
Church would agree to an LEP but this should not prevent us continuing to share
as much as possible. The local Methodist Circuit is in the process of re-organisation and
there may be scope for a closer working relationship.
We are looking for a minister to share, and guide us, in the continuing ministry
and mission of this church. In a
close-knit church and village community such as
this, we feel it is important for a minister to be a ‘people’ person who
will give pastoral care and help us to develop our own knowledge of, and witness to, our Saviour.
As mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Healing is
important to us but our present arrangements need to be reviewed in order for us
to reach out to more people.
with Synod and Central Office Guidelines.
Stipend:
The stipend is paid by Central Office in line with agreed national rates.
No supplement or payment for additional work is currently paid.
Housing:
The manse (described earlier) adjacent to the church will be provided in
accordance with guidelines laid down by Synod and Central Office.
Travel:
It is envisaged that the Minister will own a car and, so, a mileage
allowance will be paid at
the rates recommended by
Synod, currently 40p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p
per mile thereafter,
each year. Personal mileage will not be paid.
A fixed car allowance is payable monthly via the payroll.
As this is a 50% scoped post, the annual contribution from this church
will be £600 (one half of the current annual rate).
Other:
Holidays, in-service training and sabbaticals are in line with Central
Office Guidelines. The way
in which
the Ministry will be arranged will be subject to negotiation.
Appendix 1. Population of Broadway taken from the 2001 census.
Total population is 3025, of which 1376 are male and 1649 female.
Age
Number
0-9
216
10-15
167
16-19
103
20-29
199
30-44
477
45-64
786
over
65
1077
Appendix 2. Regular hall users.
Playgroup
2 weekday mornings
Guides
Monday evenings.
Garden
club
Last Monday of the month.
Tai
Chi
Tuesday evening.
Beavers
Wednesday early evening.
Music Makers Wednesday evening.
Ensodo
Thursday afternoon.
Cubs
Thursday evenings.
Pilots
Friday evening.
Appendix 3. Church Statistics.
A) Number of members.
Under
45
0
46-64
5
Over 65 47
Total
52
Residing in Broadway 20
Residing
elsewhere 32
Number of adherents 11
B) Changes to the church role in the past 5 years.
Additions: By profession of
faith 2
By
transfer
3
Losses: By
death
11
By
transfer
0
By removal from the role 8
C) Number of households 48
D) Within the past 5 years , here have been the following:
Baptisms 1, Marriages 0, Funerals 6.
Appendix 4, Church Accounts, available on request.
Appendices 5, map of distribution of members and 6, map of
Broadway, cannot be transferred
to the website.
