APPENDIX A. St. Christopher’s
St Christopher’s is another modern Church situated less than 50 yards away from Warden Hill URC. There are 109 people on the Electoral Roll, many of whom live close by.
There is a Family All-Age Service on the 1st Sunday morning of a month with a congregation of between 80 and 100, with about 20-30 under 16s ranging from birth to 16. A music group provides the music for this service and there is also an informal group of singers.
Family Communion is held on the other Sunday mornings, again with a congregation of 80-100. There are normally 15-20 under-16s at this service and the Church is in the process of producing a service which is suitable for all ages and all traditions. Children take part in the service doing the readings, prayers and collection. All Baptised people are invited to receive Communion.
In the evenings there is a service of Holy Communion on the 1st Sunday, Choral Evensong on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Sundays and a joint Evensong with our local Anglican cluster when there is a 5th Sunday in the month.
The Church has a mixed choir with seven members aged 16 and under and six adult members. It sings at all the services apart from the All-Age service.
St Christopher’s has a ring of 6 bells, which are the lightest ring of bells in any Church in the world. There are currently 10 ringers most of whom normally stay to service.
There are several Church run groups including the Mothers’ Union, Gardening Club, Prayer and Bible Study Groups. Some of the groups cater for pre-school children, ladies and senior citizens.
Signing of the Declaration of Intent 22 January 2005
DECLARATION OF INTENT FOR THE CREATION OF A LOCAL ECUMENICAL PARTNERSHIP
IN WARDEN HILL
In God, and in Jesus Christ, unity has been offered to all people. Through
him we are called into a new relationship with God and with one another as
the children of God. It is a relationship inaugurated by God in Christ through
the Holy Spirit, appropriated by faith and baptism, nurtured and deepened
through the ministry of word and sacrament, and expressed in a confession
of one faith and a common life of loving service.
“We understand the mission of the Church to be:
(i) to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom;
(ii) to teach, baptise and nurture new believers
(iii) to respond to human need by loving service
(iv) to seek to transform unjust structures in society
(v) to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew
the life of the earth.” *
“We, therefore, now declare together our readiness to commit ourselves
to each other under God. Our earnest desire is to become more fully, in God’s
own time, the one Church of Christ, united in faith, communion, pastoral care
and mission. Such unity is the gift of God. “ #
“With gratitude we have truly experienced this gift growing amongst
us in these past years.
We affirm our openness to this growing unity in obedience to the Word of God,
so that we may fully share, hold in common and offer to Warden Hill those
gifts which we have received and still hold separately. In the unity we seek
we recognise that there will not be uniformity but legitimate diversity.”
#
*Lambeth Conference 1988 + Anglican Consultative Council 1990 and Churches
Together in England Forum 1997. See also URC report “Growing Up”
– the five marks of mission.
# Swanwick Declaration 1987
AN ACT OF COMMITMENT
In response to God’s call, and accepting the challenge to be pilgrims
together, committed to God and to each other, we the Churches in Warden Hill
hereby publish our intent to constitute a Local Ecumenical Partnership.
We commit ourselves to sharing together in the ministry of Christ to the world,
and within this context to explore together the meaning and possibilities
of unity for worship, evangelism, mission and service.
We commit ourselves to assessing the resources of Church and community in
terms of people, money and buildings, and to deploying them in the best way
in relation to the aspirations and needs of people both local and worldwide.
We commit ourselves to maintaining and developing relationships with our parent
bodies and with the Gloucestershire Churches Together
We pledge ourselves to this agreement for an initial period of two years from
the date of designation.
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May Plant Sale at Warden Hill |
Cake Stall at St Andrew's |
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APPENDIX B. Ministerial Terms of Settlement
Stipend- The stipend is paid direct by National Church in
line with agreed national rates.
No supplements are at present paid by the local Church.
No payment is made by the local Church for additional work.
Housing- A manse will be provided in line with guidelines
laid down by Synod and the National Church. At present there is one manse
is in the Pittville area of Cheltenham and another in Hatherley, but this
latter will almost certainly be sold and replaced as it does not come up to
the required standard.
The Pittville manse is brick built and has gas central heating and a burglar
alarm. The loft is partially floored. It has 4 bedrooms, a lounge, dining
room, kitchen, study and a downstairs toilet. There is a separate garage,
and a greenhouse in the spacious gardens. It is situated on the NE side of
Cheltenham between the St Andrew’s and Prestbury Churches.
Travel- It is envisaged that the Minister will own his/her
own car and a mileage allowance will be paid at the rate of 40p per mile for
the first 10,000 miles per annum, and 25p per mile thereafter.
A fixed car allowance is paid monthly via the payroll - at present the annual
sum is £1,200
Personal mileage will not be paid for.
Book allowance-
A book allowance will be paid up to £100 pa. – reimbursed on actual
purchases.
Administration-
The Minister is expected to pay for personal telephone calls. Broadband will
be paid for in proportion to its Church / personal use.
The Church office is based at the Warden Hill Church and has a photocopier,
two computers, telephone, fax and answer machine facilities. Ministers usually
meet at the office each Tuesday and Friday mornings when there is a volunteer
in attendance to help with and carry out administrative and typing duties
as required.
The Sunday handouts are produced each week at the office. The monthly magazine
of the URCiC, ‘In Touch’, is also prepared there.
The office is available for small meetings, as are the premises at Warden
Hill – it has easy car parking facilities.
Other- Holidays, further training and sabbaticals are in line with National Church guidelines. One day off per week will be given.
APPENDIX C. Procedure for Calling the New Ministers
The procedure for calling a new Ministerial Team to the URCiC pastorate will be as follows:-
The Vacancy Committee will receive the Personal Profile of any interested applicants and will match the applicants’ details against the Pastorate Profile. The Vacancy Committee will decide whether to proceed to arrange a formal discussion between the Elders and an applicant, and such informal meetings with groups as may be deemed desirable.
The Eldership/Vacancy Committee will decide whether or not to request a Minister to preach with a view.
The URCiC Church meeting held on the 12th February 2006 agreed that the URCiC will vote together as one church for the calling of a Minister.
This Meeting also agreed that an initial vote of 85% or above of the membership is required to call a Minister. If this is achieved then a second vote will be taken in order to try and achieve 100% consensus on the calling of a Minister.
Prospective Ministers will be contacted with the decision of the church meeting as soon as possible.
Ideally we would like to appoint the Ministers simultaneously to avoid one
minister being seen as senior to the other.
APPENDIX D. Agreed Resolution on Unity
Tony Jeans proposed the following Resolutions of Intent for the Elders to consider:
1. Elders re-affirm their commitment to lead the three churches into becoming a single church, worshipping and witnessing in three locations in Cheltenham.
2. Elders will establish task groups to develop policies and procedures for all practical matters including premises and finance.
3. Elders will engage in discussions and conversations within the three congregations to encourage understanding, to develop a commitment to visible, organic unity and common purpose while preserving local identity in the three locations to enable witness, mission and service.
4. Elders will bring forward as soon as is practicable, a formal resolution for consideration in each church meeting and united church meeting, to establish a single united church
5. Elders welcome the developments in Warden Hill involving St Christopher’s Church of England and agree that any ecumenical partnership should involve the whole United Reformed Church in Cheltenham.
It was agreed that Item 5 should be divided into 2 parts
(a) welcome the developments in Warden Hill involving St Christopher’s
Church of England and
(b) agree that any ecumenical partnership should involve the whole URCiC.
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[ Local Church Life ] | [ Statistics ] | [ Appendices ]