The Mells Group Benefice

Parish Profile

The Mells Group Benefice

In the Deanery of Frome

Contents

Introduction 3

The Position 3

Parish Mission 4

Challenges 6

Role Description 6

What we offer 8

The Rectory11

The Deanery12

The Diocese12

Service Organisation13

PCCs14

Group Funds15

Communications15

Amenities and Facilities16

Local Events and activities16

Individual Parishes18

Introduction

The Mells Benefice is situated in the Mendip Hills, ten miles south of Bath, and three miles west of Frome. Wells and Bristol are within easy reach and there is an excellent train service to London from Westbury and Warminster to Paddington or Waterloo.

The Group is rural, but very compact and the Eastern Mendips are the most densely populated rural area in Somerset. It covers an area of eleven and a quarter square miles and there is a good network of roads and lanes. The countryside is very attractive, mainly agricultural with a thriving (but unobtrusive) quarrying industry. There is also extensive woodland with attractive bridleways and steep sided valleys with streams.

The five parishes which are Mells with Vobster, Buckland Dinham, Chantry, Great Elm and Whatley all vary in character and historical background but have a strong collective identity as part of a vibrant group known locally as ‘The Five Alive Group’. Their individual profiles, given in the attached Appendix, provide further details.

Parishioners are a friendly and flexible group, but like to have a service in each church at least three times a month to demonstrate Christian witness. They have fairly broad ecumenical roots and apart from the majority C of E, there are in the congregation’s members from the Roman Catholic, Baptist, Quaker, Salvation Army, Methodist, United Reformed Church and Congregational Churches. In general terms the churches are neither high nor low but follow the median line.

The congregation is ageing and the main challenge the Group faces is to grow its regular members and reach young families; we pray that the next incumbent will help us to be successful in this. Demographic details of the individual parishes (less Whatley) can be found at to Home page, Supporting-Parishes, Finance & Admin, Parish Spotlights).NB: Great Elm is listed as Elm. Details for Whatley would be very similar to Chantry - its sister parish.

The Position

The new incumbent will be appointed as Priest-in-Charge but it is hoped that he/she will become the Rector within two years when the position in the Deanery is clarified. The previous incumbent was always referred to as the Rector and the term ‘Rector’ is used throughout this Profile.

Parish Mission

Mission Statement

“Sharing the love of Christ within The Mells Group”.

We aim, through the power of the Holy Spirit to:

Grow closer to God as we worship, pray and read the Bible

Beyond the regular church services detailed later members of the congregation are involved in a variety of additional activities including:

• A Bible study group of about a dozen meet in term time at a member’s home on Friday afternoons. Each member takes it in turn to lead the study and discussion.The Lent Course encourages more people to attend. Assistance from the new Incumbent at this group would be very welcome.
• A weekly Prayer Meeting is held on Mondays for an hour to support the Rector. A shortened version of Morning Prayer is used and prayer is focused on the Mells Group and the wider world. Both these groups are positive ways in which we may find a closer relationship with God through prayer and Bible study.
• A Quiet Garden at Great Elm is open by arrangement during the summer.
• Some individuals have attended Alpha courses in the recent past and a course started in September 2015.
• For many years the previous Rector led an annual retreat to Llangasty with friends from other churches. Something similar would be welcomed if the future Incumbent was prepared to take it on.

Be committed to each other in love and encourage one another

This fundamental Christian attribute is manifested within the Benefice in a multitude of ways including:

• ‘Good neighbourliness’ - church members in the villages are active in helping each other, and non-church goers, especially in times of emergency or illness, by visits to those in hospital, house bound, bereaved, isolated or in crisis. It is one of the great joys of a small village that people still know their neighbours.
• Mells held a “thank you” mince pies and mulled wine event prior to Christmas 2014 for the many who serve the church through cleaning, distribution of magazines etc.
• Pastoral visits by the new Incumbent would be seen as an important aspect of ministry given the predominant age group.

Share our faith and encourage others to follow Christ

The task is ongoing and parishioners are active in a number of ways:

• Occasional (fringe) church goers are encouraged to attend church services such as the annual Patronal, Remembrance and Harvest Festival as well as the more popular Easter and Christmas services.It is then (sometimes) possible to encourage them to attend on other occasions.
• Churches and village halls in the Group are used for musical and other cultural events. For example, Great Elm hosted a Christmas Concert produced by Jackdaws Education Trust. Chantry hosted a classical and contemporary guitar recital on two recent occasions. A musical evening was held in Mells Church in aid of the Nepal earthquake appeal. Next year Buckland Dinham will once again run a mini ‘Glyndebourne’ with opera students performing in the church and an interval picnic on the lawn.All such events provide an opportunity for non-church goers to enjoy the use of our churches and to reflect in a moment of peace on the spiritual aspects of their lives.
• During the vacancy a small team has been formed to continue Assemblies (previously taken by the Rector) at Mells VCCE School using the Bible Society Programme of ‘Open the Book’.
• Mells School holds at least one service a term in Mells Church and representatives from the Benefice attend.
• Baptisms provide an opportunity for those helping to share their faith when the officiant may invite a “mini testimony”.
• The Parish magazine offers opportunities for “discussion” (recently featured were letters in response to the question “Why I don’t go to Church!”).
• Our Churches (less Whatley) are open during daylight hours and may attract many visitors, tourists, cyclists and walkers. Reading material is displayed (charity magazines, Diocesan and Parish magazines, Christian books, prayer cards, events, etc)
• As part of a rota with other churches in the Deanery, the Mells Group lead services at Frome Community Hospital.
• It is hoped the new Incumbent would enjoy leading and taking a full part in the sharing of our faith with others through these and similar activities.

Be involved with our local community and offer practical help

Members of our congregations are involved in the various village events and some examples are:

• Whatley and Chantry have a Community Association (WACCA) and the PCC runs one or more of the stalls at village day events.
• In 2016 Buckland Dinham is planning a village celebration of the Queen’s 90th birthday and the PCC will have at least one stall.

• During the annual Daffodil Festival (Easter Monday) a rota of “guides” are available in the Mells Church.
• Involvement in FACT (Frome Area Christians Together).Further details are given on page 16.

The Challenges/Tasks

In setting out our hopes for the future, we recognise the need to:

Widen the appeal of church services to increase the size of congregations

This may involve new forms of services.Currently Buckland Dinham is experimenting with a monthly All Age Service (Messy Sunday). We earnestly pray that with leadership and assistance further changes to our services may become fruitful.

Use our churches and churchyards for a wider range of community activities

These events attract non-church goers and provide an opportunity for the church buildings to be seen as places for all and not just the few.They also offer the opportunity for moments of quiet reflection for many who have busy lives but minimal religious beliefs. This is an area where ideas from the new incumbent would be very much welcomed.

Continue and strengthen the co-operation and fellowship within the Benefice

Good neighbourliness, persistent prayer, pastoral visits and contact with the hospitals are key. This is particularly significant given the age profile of the benefice. We hope the new incumbent will relish such involvement and develop the progress made over the years.

Role Description for the new Incumbent.

The Mells Group of five parishes has built close links since its formation over 40 years ago. Following the retirement of a long-serving incumbent, we now seek a Priest-in-Charge. Initially the role will involve only the ‘Five Alive Group’ but after a settling in period of about a year or so will be expanded to include the equivalent of a day a week of work within the wider Deanery. This is likely to involve lay training and additional pastoral work in the rural community. (Further comment under the Deanery paragraph – Page 12.)

A male or female priest would be welcomed equally and we make the assumption that the new incumbent will fulfil the accepted role of being the spiritual leader of the Benefice. The essential requirement is for someone who would be glad to work with a congregation that is predominantly over 65with an occasional sprinkling of toddlers.We look to a new priest, guided by the Holy Spirit, to continue to build on the excellent work of the Benefice of the past few years and to:

• Provide the focal point for arranging and holding regular services in the five churches assisted by Church Wardens and PCCs.

• Manage baptisms, marriages and funerals.

• Strive to expand congregations and involve the wider community assisted by the lay members.

• Provide the focal point in developing the vision for the future of the Benefice.

• Provide inspiration for new forms of service and the wider use of church buildings and grounds.

• Provide the necessary pastoral care, including home communion, visiting the sick and needy in hospital and at homeassisted by lay members.

• Be an ex-officio governor of the Mells School and continue to assist with weekly assemblies and develop additional assistance as required.

• Become engaged with prayer and bible study groups, Lent courses and with local functionssuch as FACTand possibly with retreats.

• Become involved in local and community activities such as the Mells Daffodil Day and village events.

• Become an ex-officio trustee of Mells Charities. (Further details are given on page 22).

Desirable Qualities:

-Ability to make our worship more relevant and accessible to the wider community.

-A sense of humour!

-Good IT Skills.

To help with the content of this Profile a simple questionnaire was circulated to parishioners and the following quotes give a flavour of the replies.

What we offer

We assure you of the dedicated assistance from the team that currently supports the Benefice and who intend to work hard to make you welcome as a pillar of our community and to devote the time, energy and prayer necessary to help you to achieve our mutually agreed goals.

Secretarial support will be provided and arrangement of services several months in advance will continue (just as it has been in the past).

The supporting team consists of:

Benefice Associate Priest

The Rev Barry Daviesis a non-stipendiary priest who took up holy orders in 2005 after a career in Education. He is licenced to the Benefice as Associate Priest and has assisted greatly during the vacancy. He is looking forward to the arrival of the new incumbent when he would like to play a lesser but continuing role.

Hilary Daniel

Hilary has recently retired as the Deanery Reader Warden and now takes two services each month in the Benefice.

Lay service-takers

They are experienced and trained.

Hazel Tovey, Anthea Kemp, Val Rawlins, David Rawlins, Shirley Inch, Geoff Merriden, Diana Silvester and Diana Byrne.

Group Treasurer

David Rawlins manages the group accounts. The five parishes pay by Standing Order, and David pays the Group expenses, including the incumbent’s expenses. Since these have averaged out in the past they have been paid by Standing Order and any adjustments made in January of the next year. This means that the incumbent is always paid promptly. The Group accounts are audited annually and copies sent to the parish treasurers.

Service Coordinator

When our previous incumbent had served for 10 years, some seven years ago, he was sent on a sabbatical for three months, and told that he had to go at the busiest time of the year, and to make no plans or provisions for his absence. It seemed sensible for one person to coordinate the organisation for services and to find priests, readers and laity to take them. This proved successful and we continued to hold a service every Sunday in each of the parishes.

When he returned services had been arranged for a further six weeks. He asked if the system could continue, in consultation with him, which it did. It also made the holiday cover much less stressful for the incumbent

Parish Office Manager

Shirley Inch.

Secretarial Assistance

We expect to provide the new incumbent with sufficient secretarial assistance to enable him/her to feel that his/her needs are fully satisfied.

Secretary to Group Treasurer/Benefice service Coordinator

Teresa Chapman is skilled with the use of a computer and keeps the group accounts on a spreadsheet. She also maintains the spreadsheet of services up to a year in advance. Monthly copies are sent to the magazine editors.

Sacrament Servers

There are currently seven people in the Benefice licenced to serve the sacraments.

Parish Magazine

EditorsLin Taylor and Peter Corbett

AdvertisingPeter Corbett

Collator for distribution Jenny Holmes

The unseen teams

These include church cleaners, church flower arrangers, fundraisers, parish magazine distributors etc

The Individual PCCs

Buckland DinhamChantry

Church WardenChurch Wardens

Jill WrightHazel ToveyVal Rawlins

Secretary – Susan HarrisonSecretary – Val Rawlins

Treasurer – Sara CorbettTreasurer – David Rawlins

Great ElmMells with Vobster

Church WardensChurch Wardens

Doug Gilmore Judy DuffusCori Savage Diana Byrne

Secretary – Rosalind SeegobinSecretary – Diana Silvester

Treasurer – Emma Toulson-ClarkeTreasurer – Nigel Savage

Whatley

Church Wardens

Katy Gay Jim Wykes

Secretary – Lorna Thomas

Treasurer – Mark Baber

The Rectory

The Rectory is a bungalow with a medium size garden situated in a quiet street in Mells (within easy walking distance of the church). Currently the accommodation consists of four bedrooms (two double), bathroom, two toilets, kitchen, dining room, sitting room and an office.

An architect has been appointed to produce a plan of refurbishment work and in future the Parish office/room would not be within the Rectory so if one is required it would be separate and financial approval would have to be sought.

On current plans the conversion of the Rectory will be implemented in early January 2016 and take about two months. The internal decoration will be decided by the new Incumbent and carried out by the Diocese.

Frome Deanery

The Mells Group of five parishes sits within the Frome Deanery in the Archdeaconry of Wells. Following implementation of the Deanery Plan set a decade or so ago, there are seven stipendiary full-time priests in the Deanery; four serving rural benefices and three serving the five parishes within the group ministry of the ancient Frome town parish.Ongoing work in reviewing the Deanery plan is not looking to further change deployment patterns but rather to encourage appropriate models of collaborative ministry within the Deanery. This embraces not only stipendiary ministry but also the role of Associate and House for Duty priests and reader and other Lay ministries, as well as the significant number of local retired clergy who have permission to officiate.

In looking at the Mells Group the Deanery has expressed a desire that a new priest be appointed who would have particular gifts or skills to share across the Deanery; areas such as oversight of Lay training or that of encouragement of mission and ministry in new housing areas (rural and urban) have particularly been considered. In terms of time commitment this has been felt to be equivalent to a full day per week of active ministry.

The Deanery would be looking to see a priest appointed who has recognisable gifts that the individual is willing to develop and share, just as others in the Deanery will be willing to share of their gifts in the benefice as requested.The Deanery believe that this reflects both the Diocesan policy; “no one alone” in ministry, and the witness of scripture “there are a variety of gifts, of working and of service”(1 Cor. 12).

The Clergy chapter meets most months for mutual support, encouragement, fellowship and worship and look forward to welcoming a new colleague in ministry in the Deanery.

The Diocese