St Lawrence Barnwood

Welcome to

To know and share the love of Jesus

Church Lane, Barnwood, Gloucester, GL4 3JB

Telephone: 01452 372731

Email:vic-barnwood@supanet.com

Website: www.stlawrencebarnwood.uk.eu.org

September 2017

St Lawrence Church at a glance

We are a Eucharistic community, rooted in the weekly celebration of

Holy Communion

We value our strong ministerial team

We hold a variety of services based around a traditional format

Averaged across all services, around 70 adults and 8 children worship

on Sundays

We are a broad church, allowing expression of a variety of opinions

and ideas

We are a welcoming and friendly community

We enjoy spending time together and having fun

We are well-organised in our every-day activities

Contents of the Parish profile

1. The Parish Page 3

2. The Church Page 3

3. Church Life

3.1 The Ministry Team Page 4

3.2 Sunday Worship at Barnwood Page 4

3.3 Our Other Church Activities Page 6

3.4 Church Organisation Page 6

3.5 Church Administration Page 8

4. The Church in the Community

4.1 Church Events Page 8

4.2 Barnwood Primary School Page 9

5. The Future

5.1 Our Strengths Page 10

5.2 Areas to Consider Page 11

5.3 Aspirations for the Future Page 12

6. Person Profile Page 13

Page 14

Appendix 2: Details of our services Page 15

Appendix 3: Additional information Page 16

Cover photographs

Centre: St Lawrence Church, Barnwood

Clockwise from top right hand corner:

Walking group on the Parish weekend at Lindors, near Lydney

The church bells

Monday morning coffee shop

1. The Parish

Barnwood lies two and a half miles south-east of the centre of Gloucester. Now a

suburb of the city, it was for hundreds of years a village just south of the Roman

Ermin Street. It is a single parish benefice, one of the largest in the Diocese of

Gloucester. There are no churches belonging to

other denominations in the parish. There are good

bus routes into the city and the M5 is reachable

within 10 minutes. The Forest of Dean, Cotswold

Hills and Severn Valley are all within easy reach,

providing a setting of outstanding beauty for

Gloucester and Barnwood.

Today around 14,000 people live in Barnwood, in a

mixture of accommodation including 19

and 20

century residential streets and newly-built estates,

including the large Abbeymead and Abbeydale

estates in the south of the parish. Barnwood

retains a substantial amount of green space, with

several parks and a small arboretum, and the

newer parts of the parish are well supplied with

foot and cycle paths. There are two primary

schools (one of them a voluntary aided Church of

England school), a secondary school and an independent junior-senior school within

the parish. There are several day nurseries in the local area. A community centre,

large GP surgery, care and nursing homes, shopping areas, trading estates, hotels,

pubs, leisure centre, and some light industry premises make Barnwood a diverse

area within a suburban setting.

There is a variety of large medium sized employers in the Gloucester area, including

EDF Energy, Unilever (Walls) Ice Cream, GCHQ Cheltenham, Ecclesiastical

Insurance and Bond Aviation Services, for example.

The age profile of the parish mirrors that of the national population, on the whole.

There are slightly more children and young people and slightly fewer people aged

over 65 than nationally. Deprivation is low: the parish is in the lowest 12% of Church

of England parishes for deprivation

2. The Church

The church in Barnwood, originally dedicated to St Lawrence around 1150, has been

the spiritual home of the parish for over 900 years. Added to over the years, it has a

variety of architectural styles. The tower houses a ring of eight bells, and an active

band of bell-ringers rings at every main service and on special occasions.

The interior of the church is set out with wooden pews and choir stalls. While there

has been some talk of reordering the church in previous years, this is not currently a

matter under active discussion.

The church is surrounded by a beautiful churchyard and a green area adjacent,

known as Church Field. Kept in order by a paid grounds-man and teams of

C of E Research and Statistics 2015

Barnwood Park and Arboretum

volunteers, the churchyard provides a tranquil and beautiful resting place in the midst

of busy suburban life, and as people pass through from various parts of the parish

there have been opportunities for moving

conversations and making contacts.

Just over 15 years ago the church made the decision

to build a new parish centre alongside the church.

mission statement for the year 2000 and represented

a commitment to outreach within the parish. The faith

of those responsible for taking this forward has been

well rewarded as the Centre has become a lively hub

for various activities within church and parish life.

The centre houses modern meeting rooms and a

well-equipped kitchen, is provided with wifi and is

fully accessible.

The Vicarage is close to the church, across the churchyard. A 4-bedroom (one en-

suite) bungalow with study and dining room, it was custom-built in the 1970s and

extensively refurbished in 2006. Solar panels were added about seven years ago.

The Vicar t of the house.

It has a large garden where, in recent years, we have enjoyed activities such as the

parish barbecue and open-air Songs of Praise.

3. Church Life

3.1 The Ministry Team

priest-in-charge together with a

curate. Our curate left in May to become Vicar of a neighbouring benefice, and our

priest-in-charge retired in July. The living of the parish is no longer in suspension and

we are, therefore, now hoping to appoint a Vicar to lead us.

The church is fortunate to have the services of two Honorary Associate Priests, three

readers, and a Local Minister. Other members of the congregation also assist in

informal and non-Eucharistic services. The Worship Team (see next section)

assisted the priest-in-charge with the planning and organisation of worship activities.

The diverse gifts of the ministry team are greatly valued by the church and the

congregations have come to appreciate the position where no one service is lead by

a sole minister, but rather by a team of people working together. The introduction of

the role of Deacon to our Eucharistic services has allowed the non-ordained

members of the ministry team to play an appropriate and welcome part.

The ministry team, senior parish administrator and churchwardens meet together as

for those who need support. In 2014 a review of pastoral care was carried out,

leading to actions such as introducing prayer/visit request cards in the pews, making

a prayer tree, and setting up an email prayer distribution list. It is possible that the

church would still benefit from a more strategic approach to pastoral work, with

opportunities for more members of the congregation to be involved in a more

structured way.

3.2 Sunday Worship at Barnwood

Currently there are 106 members on the church electoral roll, 29 of whom live outside

the parish. Averaged across all services, about 70 adults and 8 children attend

St Lawrence Parish Centre

Sunday services weekly, rising to over 300 over the Christmas period. We are a

broad church which allows various ideas and opinions to be expressed.

Our main Sunday services are Communion at 8.00 a.m. and Parish Eucharist at 9.45

a.m. Once a month we hold a family-friendly non-Eucharistic service at 11.30 a.m.

and a smaller, more reflective service at 6.00 p.m. (Details of services

can be found in Appendix 2 and at

http://www.stlawrencebarnwood.uk.eu.org/services).

All Eucharistic services are Common Worship

Order One modern language used in booklet

form. There is a full choir and servers who also

lead the Gospel procession. There are sets of

i.e. Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, Lent,

Eastertide, Ordinary Time.

There are also sets of booklets for most special

occasions to include e.g. Midnight Mass,

Candlemas, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday Liturgy

of the Last Hour, Easter Paschal Candle Ceremony, Ascension, Pentecost and

Patronal Festival. Other special services are re-created annually e.g. All Souls

service, Advent Service of Light, Christmas Carol service, Crib service, Christingle

workshop and Family service, Good Friday workshop and Family Service.

The church has vestments. i.e. chasubles with matching burse, veil and altar frontals.

albs and stoles are worn. There are seasonal altar frontal changes and an all season

set of frontal panels. Clergy Choir dress is worn as appropriate.

open table. This has been the tradition now for some years. Any adult present who

wishes to receive the sacrament is given the bread and wine without question, or if

he or she would prefer, to receive a blessing. Children from around seven years of

age and upwards have teaching sessions concerning Holy Communion after which

they receive Communion in both kind. With the discretion of parents and priests,

younger children from an early (toddler) age are given the bread at Communion. The

Sacrament is reserved for taking to those who are house-bound.

We are used to a varied delivery of worship

activities, benefiting from the different styles and

backgrounds of members of the ministry team.

Music plays an important pa

activities. The choir sings at almost every Parish

Eucharist, and will prepare for special services

such as Christmas and Easter, and occasionally

Evensong or a concert. It is led by our Director of

Music (who is also organist).

In recent years, on average, about 5 children have

attended the weekly 9.45 service, and about 18 the

. Until June 2017 we

ran a Sunday Club for children during the 9.45

a.m. service. Because of low numbers of older

children at this service, young children now stay in

morning to your beautiful

church I have enjoyed your

service immensely and most

of all your wonderful choir

and music

Visitor, August 2017

The chancel at St Lawrence

the service and we offer activities for them in the Lady Chapel.

3.3 Our Other Church Activities

Teen Talk was set up a few years ago after a number of our young people were

confirmed. It meets monthly, with about half a dozen teenagers attending. The

Barnwood Family Fellowship (held once a month on Saturday morning) was set up in

2016 and provides a relaxed setting for church families with young children to meet

up and have brunch. Numbers fluctuate but up to seven families have attended.

A lay-led home study group with about 12 members meets from time to time and a

few members of the church meet together for a fortnightly prayer meeting.

In the last five years we have held three weekends away, in which about 25

members of the church have participated. At Lee Abbey in 2012 we joined in a

programme provided by the community there. In 2014 and 2017 we went to Lindors

in the Wye Valley, with no specific programme but to relax and enjoy

company. A small group of people organises walks in the Gloucestershire

countryside from time to time, at which all members of the church family are welcome.

3.4 Church Organisation

-to-day activities are organised by several teams which report to the

PCC. Churchwardens are ex officio members of all teams.

Worship Team: the team consists of the Ministry team plus representatives of the

choir. It meets 3 or 4 times a year and has helped the priest-in-charge to plan the

on.

Social Team: the Social Team normally plans and organises activities which do

not have a fund-raising focus but are designed to provide opportunities for the

congregation to spend time together. These are as diverse as skittles evenings

and picture, poetry and prose teas. The Social Team also organises refreshments

for special events at the church. During early 2017 the team decided that it was

time to review its role and has currently taken a sabbatical from organising new

initiatives, although it will continue to support regular church activities such as

Harvest lunch.

Fund-Raising Team: as

the name implies the

focus of this team is

fund-raising! It usually

organises up to two

major events a year,

such as autumn and

spring fayres, as well as

several smaller events

such as quiz evenings.

As well as making

income for the church,

these events are an

opportunity for the

church to welcome all

members of the parish

as part of a community

event.

Afternoon Tea event 2017

Charitable Giving Team: this small team canvasses ideas for and provides

suggestions to PCC for charities to which the PCC may donate, if funds permit.

The church is involved every year with Christian Aid collecting and also has a

weekly food collection for the Gloucester Foodbank.

Communications Team: the Communications Team is responsible for overseeing

all communications media: weekly news sheet, monthly magazine, website,

Facebook page, and so on.

services around Easter and Christmas, are delivered to houses in certain parts of

the parish.

Finance Team: the Finance Team currently includes the Treasurer, Assistant

Treasurer, Gift Aid officer and churchwardens. The priest-in-charge was also a

member. The team oversees the churc Over the past few years the

have been reasonably robust. In 2016 income and expenditure

were balanced. We have reserves which would enable the church to operate for

3-4 months, including some restricted funds for special purposes. The church

pays its parish share in full (£63,089 in 2016) and in 2016 made an extra payment

to the Diocese, as well as making charitable giving donations. In 2016 the

registered with the Charities

Commissi

giving and Gift Aid. The church is part of the diocesan Parish Giving scheme.

Parish Centre lettings and parochial fees are the next largest sources. More detail

of the budget is available in the Annual Report (A Year in the Life).

Buildings Team: this team has oversight of maintenance of the fabric of the church,

church centre, and of the graveyard. The church and parish centre are in good

order. A quinquennial inspection of the church was held in 2016 and reported that

all important works noted in the last inspection had been carried out, and no

significant major works were necessary.

In 2016 the church lighting was completely overhauled, both improving the lighting

and providing a saving on electricity costs. A significant fundraising campaign in

2013 made it possible for the bells to be taken down, retuned and rehung: the first

major work to be carried out for over 100 years.

Further details of team activities can be found i A year in the life of St. Lawrence

Church 2016-17 .

The current structure was set up some years ago and we are currently thinking about

In particular, we have

decided that charitable giving can now be dealt with effectively at the PCC, and we

are reassessing the roles of the Fund-Raising and Social Teams. We are keen to

have a structure that is fit for church life now, but we are also mindful that it is the

same set of people who carry out many of the day-to-day activities. We are faced

with the challenge of how we encourage a wider and more diverse set of members to

take part in the activities which are necessary to ensure the smooth running of

church life.

Safeguarding activities in the church are managed by the Safeguarding Officer. The

church has the requisite policies in place and DBS checks for all necessary staff are

up-to-date.

3.5 Church Administration

The Parish Office is housed in the Parish Centre and the administration of the parish,

as well as of the parish centre, is carried out by the Senior Parish Administrator and

the Parish Administrator, both part-time paid posts. The administrators worked

closely with the previous priest-in-charge on all matters of church and parish

administration, including diocesan business and Centre lettings. The administrators

are also often the first people whom

those outside the church have

contact with, and they provide a

caring and compassionate welcome

to parishioners and visitors alike.

The Parish Centre is cared for by a

part-time paid Care-taker who is

responsible for cleaning and general

upkeep and making sure that the

needs of those who hire the Centre

are catered for.

4. The Church in the Community

4.1 Church Events

The church building itself is a visible presence in the wider parish. It is open for

visitors most weekday mornings and the church yard is a quiet space for those

tending graves or just passing from one part of the parish to another. The church is

popular for weddings and has its share of baptisms and funerals. In 2016, 44

baptisms, 4 weddings and 27 funerals were conducted. Services attract large

attendances at Easter and Christmas. The Crib Service held on Christmas Eve is

probably our biggest service of the year, with over 200 attending in 2016.

The Parish Centre hosts a variety of events, both

connected with church and the wider community, and

is in use most of the time. Its regular hirers include

Barnwood Model Railway Club, sewing groups, Baby

Massage, an AA Group, Young GODS

, and men

and ladies Probus Clubs. It is also a popular venue for

parties and celebrations. Due to its successful

operation hundreds of people a month visit church

premises and are exposed to our ethics and beliefs.

In a similar way many of the activities held at the

church attract people to events which, while not

overtly Christian, exemplify Christian values in the

way visitors are treated with kindliness and

hospitality. In the past few years we have held a

very successful Flower Festival (with Gloucester

Flower Arrangement Society), autumn and spring

fayres, talks on local history, and fund-raising

concerts both by the church choir and by other

Gloucester Operatic and Dramatic Society

The Parish Office

St Lawrence Coffee Shop

consistently been very

kind to us, and we

wonderful

Long-term user of church

centre

local musicians. The church is well regarded by those who come through its doors on

these occasions indeed some stall holders at the fayres return time after time even

though their sales are low, because the occasions are friendly and welcoming!

The weekly Monday morning coffee shop is another venue where a regular clientele

enjoy meeting together and catching up. Most attenders also come to a church

service, but the coffee shop has in the past been a venue where local councillors

meet and community police officers have held drop-ins. It has a regular attendance of

about 30, is staffed by volunteers and serves fair trade coffee and home made cakes.

An idea that arose from a previous Vision Day, it is generally regarded as a valuable

room where we hold it, and by ensuring that we have a large enough rota of

volunteers.

In 2016 the church carried out Posada for the first time during advent figures of

Mary and Joseph spent each night at a different house in the Parish, and visited

school, supermarkets, a garden centre,

cinema and many more. We had a lot of fun with the activity and also helped to

communicate the meaning of Advent throughout the Parish.

The perception of the church in the wider Barnwood community is a very positive one.

The church is generally highly thought of and the way church members get involved

in the community is valued. There are, of course, those who have no involvement

with the church and know nothing of its activities.

The church is part of a local cluster which also includes the churches of Christ

Church Abbeydale (itself part of a Local Ecumenical Partnership)

and St. Philip and St. James

Hucclecote. We normally meet together with the other churches in the cluster for

Sunday evening worship during Lent and in August. In the last year three of the four

churches in the cluster have appointed new incumbents, and the LEP will undergo its

quinquennial review this year, so this is obviously a time of change in the cluster.

From a cluster persp

expression of Anglican worship and, while clergy have participated regularly in

meetings with the other incumbents, attendance at cluster services by members of St

atively small.

4.2 Barnwood Primary School

The most formal arrangement that the church

has with the community is through Barnwood

Church of England Primary School: a

relationship that is highly valued by both sides.

The church supports the school financially with

an annual donation. As a voluntary-aided

school a majority of the members of the

governing body must be appointed by the diocese and currently seven such

foundation governors are from St Lawrence. A member of the church is currently

chair of governors. During 2017 membership of several foundation governors has

come to an end, and it has not proved easy to replace them.

The incumbent of St Lawrence is an ex officio member of the governing body ex

officio, and our last curate also served as a governor. They played an active part in

the life of the school, visited regularly, led worship every fortnight, and were

part of our school so I know it

is important to school. So it

means a lot to me.

Pupil, Barnwood C of E, Age 9.

instrumental in the organisation of events such as the school prayer day. A group of

Tuesday morning: a significant commitment, where again it has proved quite difficult

to recruit members, although the presentations are greatly enjoyed by the children.

The school comes to church to hold its own services during the year: harvest,

Christmas, M , and it has become tradition that

the church presents every Year 6 leaver with a New Testament. The church also

organises a team of volunteers to put on the Experience journeys (Experience Easter,

Christmas, and so on), where every class of the school comes into church for small

group sessions on the relevant Christian festival. This takes

up a good part of a week, and again, in recent years, it has

proved difficult to encourage members of the congregation to

take part, although we have not yet had to cancel it.

In 2017 we held church in school: a family friendly service

was held in the school hall and attracted members of school

families, staff and church members. This was the first time for

several years that such a service was held; it was greatly enjoyed by all and provided

a good opportunity for school and church to meet.

In July 2017 we asked school pupils from Reception to Year 6 what St Lawrence

means to them, and what they would like the new vicar to be like. Their responses

were typically straightforward, imaginative and perceptive. Some of them are given in

Appendix 1.

5. The future

5.1 Our Strengths

Our patron saint, Lawrence, is famously said to have presented the

authorities when they demanded that the treasure of the church was

handed over. We recently asked our congregations what they would

identify as the churc Many lovely and

touching features were put forward: the welcoming people, the choir,

bells and music, the contribution of the clergy and readers, the

spiritual refuge which the church

offers, friendships, and a sense

of belonging.

We have much to be thankful for

at St Lawrence. Our finances

and buildings are in good order

smoothly. The number of adults attending weekly

Sunday services and the number on the electoral

roll have been more or less stable over the last

five years. The number of children attending the

having increased slightly in the last year.

Under the leadership of our last priest-in-charge,

over the last few years we have made efforts to

ensure that the church is friendly and welcoming,

wonderful place

where we go to have

Experience Easter and

Christmas

Pupil,

Barnwood C of E, Age 10.

Summary of our strengths:

Strong ministry team

Robust finances

Well-kept buildings

Effective administration

Numbers of adult

worshippers stable

Friendly and welcoming

Community spirit

Part of the wider

community: school,

coffee shop

Sense of fun

A broad church

Variety of services

especially to newcomers and those who visit events held at the church, and we feel

that this has borne fruit and that the church is known as a friendly and hospitable

place. As a church we feel like a community, and have a place in the larger

community. Our firm links with our church school are one indication of this, but so are

our other connections. When we asked people outside the main church congregation

what St Lawrence meant to them they often mentioned community, friendship and

welcome as key characteristics.

In addition, events organised by the Social and Fund-Raising Teams indicate that

members of the church enjoy spending time together and are largely comfortable in

The three church weekends-away that we have held in the

last five years have been very enjoyable times together. There is a sense of fun in

what we do.

While we see ourselves as a Eucharistic community, rooted in the celebration of Holy

Communion every week, we are a broad church. The services which we hold provide

some scope for different styles and content of worship. For example, the 8.00 a.m.

said Holy Communion Service is quieter and more reflective than the 9.45 service

where there is a greater emphasis on s

rather than hymns and a more flexible liturgical format. While we hope that this

provides opportunities for enhancing the worship of all members of the church, there

is also a risk that the choices offered lead to distinct congregations emerging which

have little to do with each other.

We consider that the weekly coffee shop has been a success in attracting some

people outside the congregation. Numbers attending are stable at around 30, but so

far this has not translated into people wanting to know more about other activities of

the church, or of our Christian faith.

5.2 Areas to Consider

On the other hand, we obviously have issues to consider: the number of children

attending the 9.45 Sunday service has been low for several years and Sunday Club

has recently been replaced, we hope temporarily, by activities for younger children in

the church. The main regular

service and, while there are possibly some encouraging signs of growth here, there is

little overlap of attenders with those of the other Sunday services and so no obvious

opportunity to celebrate the presence of

children and young people in the wider life of

the church. The Toddlers and Tinies group

which ran at the church, with some church

oversight, has recently closed because no

one could carry on the leadership.

One of our challenges is to seek a clearer

in the parish. We need to discover how we

can best plan our activities to ensure that we

provide opportunities for children and young

people to encounter and grow in the love of

Christ.

While the stability of attendance numbers

could be seen as a positive, the numbers

worshipping with us are still a tiny fraction of

the number of people living in the parish.

Summary of areas to consider:

Children and Youth work

Limited reach into the parish

No clearly articulated vision

for mission

Encouraging all to use their

gifts and talents

Structured approach to visiting

and befriending

Keeping the three main

congregations together

Exploring change in the way

we do things

Broadening spiritual

engagement

Even taking into account the numbers of people who come to the church or centre for

fund-raising events, or as hirers, or for weddings, baptisms and funerals, our overall

reach into the parish is relatively small. Our contacts with the parish depend currently

on attracting people to the church, rather than events where we take our witness out

into the community. At the moment we have no clearly articulated or agreed vision for

mission in the parish, and no clear strategy on how to capitalise on our strengths to

extend our witness to the parish.

While the day-to-day activities of the church currently run smoothly, the majority of

the effort is carried out by a small proportion of the congregation. If such activities are

to continue we need to think of new ways to encourage and enable more members to

take part in activities as diverse as school governorship, providing music for services,

supporting fundraising and social activities, joining coffee shop rota, taking part in

evening services, and so on.

Although levels of deprivation within the parish generally are low, this does not mean

that there is no need for pastoral care: our regular pastoral team meetings give

evidence of need for support both within the congregation and further afield. With

ageing congregations come increased risks of ill-health, isolation and loneliness. At

the moment anyone who needs pastoral support is referred to a member of the

ministry team through the Parish Office. We would like to increase the team of people

who can provide pastoral support and are thinking about organising an in-house

Visiting and Befriending workshop. However, we are wondering whether a more

structured approach to visiting and befriending within the parish would enable us to

more effectively support those around us, especially those who may feel lonely or

isolated.

As we noted above, currently the congregations of the three main Sunday services

We may

meet together at certain social events, such as the parish barbecue, but there are

few structured opportunities to meet and get to know each other as a worshipping

community, or to ensure that the gifts of all three congregations are harnessed to

make our witness in the parish more powerful. We need to ensure that the

constituencies.

The format of the three services has changed little over the past ten years and for

many members of the congregations this has provided a valued stability and

consistency of experience. It is true to say that some members are wary of change,

while others value the traditions that we have and at the same time are keen not to

close the door on change. This may be a good time to consider whether the way we

do things is still as effective as it might be, and whether changes should be

sensitively explored.

While in the past we have organised Alpha and Christianity Explored courses, and

we normally run a series of Lent house groups, currently our corporate spiritual

engagement is largely confined to what we do together on Sundays. It may be time to

consider whether a greater emphasis on prayer, study and discipleship is needed.

5.3 Aspirations for the Future

We know that there are many opportunities for us in the parish and we have been

h here over the last few years. We have held two

members of the congregation opportunities to talk about

their understanding of where we should be going.

for us will continue, nevertheless we have identified some priorities that we think

should be kept in sight.

Our aims are to

ensure that all members of the congregations feel valued and welcomed,

whatever age, background or maturity of their faith

remain a church that welcomes all, and is appreciated for its hospitality

ensure that the gifts of members of the congregations are identified and

harnessed so that the work of being witnesses in Barnwood is spread as

evenly as possible and members pull together using their different strengths

and abilities

maintain our identity as a church community, ensuring that the

congregations do not diverge, that we continue to enjoy being with one

another and having fun

engage with the whole parish in a way that is outward-facing, identifying

new partnerships and networks, and enhancing the ones we have, to allow us

love and also respond to need by loving service

explore change sensitively to find new and imaginative ways of helping

people to worship, to deepen their spirituality and to grow in their faith.

6. Person Profile

We are looking for a person who will encourage us cheerfully, joyfully and

enthusiastically to reach our aims; a person who will lead us prayerfully into greater

spiritual growth We

expect that person to have respect for the place of scripture, tradition and reason in

our understanding of faith.

The profile of skills and attributes that we are looking for in our Vicar which would

allow her or him to help us pursue our aims include:

the ability to lead us in discerning God our church

the skills to develop and communicate a shared sense of where the church is

going, especially with respect to mission and outreach

the commitment to encourage us into a deeper experience of faith and

spirituality

the skills to manage change in a way that is sensitive to the needs of the

various congregations

the skills to help us discern and encourage the gifts of every member of the

church, and the ability to foster an attitude of self-giving within the

congregation which ensures that all contribute according to their talents

the skills to help us explore the needs of children and young people and the

part the Christian faith has in meeting these

a desire to engage with the activities of Barnwood Primary School and

enhance the relationship between church and school

s continues to

enhance our worship.

I would like our new vicar to

be someone who makes the

church the church.

Pupil,

Barnwood C of E, Age 7.

Appendix 1: In

We asked children from Reception to Year 6 at Barnwood C of E Primary School

What St Lawrence church means to me Our new Vicar how I would like

. Here are some of their responses.

the bells

God and Jesus

inds me of my great grandma

How I would like our new vicar to be

frightening

the church

responsible

teaches us about values

Appendix 2: Details of our services

Sundays:

Each Sunday 8.00 a.m. Said Holy Communion

Sundays 9.45 a.m. Sung Parish Eucharist with choir

Sunday 11.30 reative Family service using

power point

Sunday 9.45 a.m a shorter sung Eucharistic service

with choir

6.00 p.m. Evening service: innovative free worship - often lay

led.

Occasional sung evensong (BCP) with choir.

Sunday 9.45 a.m. Sung non-Eucharistic Service: e.g. Morning Prayer

and 3

Sundays 11.30 a.m. Baptisms with hymns and address

Sunday evenings in Lent and during August:

6. 00 pm. Evening serv es.

Mondays 3.00 p.m. Holy Communion with hymns followed by afternoon

tea

(A service principally to enable individuals to meet together

who are able to be transported, who would otherwise need to

receive home communion; volunteers provide lifts and

organise tea)

Special weekday services:- e.g.

Ash Wednesday: Eucharist with imposition of Ashes

Holy Week: Daily evening service

Maundy Thursday: Eucharist with hand or foot washing and altar stripping

Good Friday: Morning Prayer, All-age worship,

Liturgy of the Last Hour

Other services

i) A monthly Holy Communion service from the reserved sacrament in Woodstock

Nursing Home

ii) A full service of Holy Communion with hymns at Manor Gardens sheltered housing

development.

Average weekly attendance at main services, September 2015 September

2017

8.00 a.m

9.45 a.m.

Monday 3.00 p.m.

u16

o16

u16

o16

u16 o16 u16 o16

2015-16

0 12 5 54 13 15 0 15

2016-17

0 11 4 54 18 19 0 14

u16 = under 16

o16 = 16 and over

Appendix 3 Additional information

A. St Lawrence Barnwood

Website

http://www.stlawrencebarnwood.uk.eu.org/Welcome

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/stlawrencechurchbarnwood/?ref=page_internal

Statistics

http://www.gloucester.anglican.org/parish-resources/church-buildings-and-

churchyards/parish-data/

Map of the Parish

https://www.achurchnearyou.com/parishfinder.php?GL4+3JB

A year in the life of St. Lawrence Church Barnwood 2016- . PCC Annual Report

including Financial Statements and Review.

http://www.stlawrencebarnwood.uk.eu.org/information/the-parochial-church-council

St Lawrence Church Bells

http://www.v-cyclesolutions.co.uk/Barnwood_Ringers/Barnwood_bells.htm

B. Barnwood Church of England Primary School

Website

http://www.barnwood.gloucs.sch.uk/

Ofsted and SIAMS reports

http://www.barnwood.gloucs.sch.uk/our_school/ofsted_diocesan_report/ofsted_dioce

san_report.html

C. Gloucester and Gloucestershire

The city

http://www.thecityofgloucester.co.uk/

News

http://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/

The Cathedral

http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk/

City Council

http://www.gloucester.gov.uk/

Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds

http://www.cotswolds.info/gloucestershire/