Newchurch, Croft and Winwick are three large villages in a semi-rural area straddling the M6 motorway north of Warrington.

The post-holder will work closely with clergy of the Culcheth Group Ministry (which includes All Saints’ Glazebury and St Helen’s Hollinfare) and other ministers (both clergy and lay) across the five parishes to develop sustainable mission and ministry now and for the future.

We are looking for an experienced and innovative priest is required to lead the development of a new group ministry bringing together three semi-rural parishes based around the large village of Culcheth. Who will:

• plan for sustainable mission and ministry supported by the enthusiastic and diverse gifts of the lay and clergy leaders within the group.
• develop the new Joint Council of this hub to effectively plan for continued and meaningful worship in the wider area.
• embody a life shaped by regular prayer and study of scripture

The rectory is a modern detached house approximately one mile from Newchurch in the centre of Culcheth. It has four bedrooms, a double garage and a good sized garden.

Short Listing: 12th September 2022

Interview Dates: 30th September 2022

For more information please contact the Archdeacon of St Helens and Warrington the Ven Simon Fisher on: simon.fisher@liverpool.anglican.org.uk

Newchurch, Croft and Winwick are three large villages in a semi-rural area straddling the M6 motorway north of Warrington, with a mixture of commuters and retired population. Each has a parish church in good order. Church life (pre-Covid) was relatively healthy with significant congregations and strong community engagement, though with an elderly age profile. Mission will focus on turning strong community and schools engagement into real evangelism leading to real discipleship.

The Culcheth Group has a new Joint Council and one of the main tasks for the post-holder will be to work with the Joint Council on a vision for sustainable mission and ministry across the five parishes with a long-term stipendiary allocation of one-plus-one-house-for-duty clergy. There are some very capable lay leaders in all three parishes, as well as retired clergy as detailed in the profiles.

As well as your local responsibilities, as a leader in the Diocese of Liverpool you will be expected to:-

• Constantly advocate diocesan strategy
• Sign people up to the Rule of Life
• Nurture existing leaders and identify new ones
• Identify and commission teams
• Build and lead a leadership team
• Create a positive culture of accountability
• Establish connections between worshipping communities
• Attend to financial health of your worshipping communities

Our Ideal Candidate will:

• Embody a life shaped by regular prayer and study of Scripture
• Teach and proclaim the Christian faith in Winwick, Culcheth and Croft
• Encourage and embed a culture of serious discipleship and evangelism
• Develop and use the gifts of lay and clergy leaders in the mission and ministry of the group
• Lead on drawing the churches of the group together to plan for sustainable mission and ministry, and develop the new Joint Council as an effective body

Being part of the Clergy Team in Liverpool Diocese

For many years we have been working to achieve growth in our diocese. We have used different ways to express this but the aim and direction of travel has remained the same – consistent with the whole of the Church of England. Bishop Paul has articulated a vision for this growth by saying

“We are asking God for a bigger church so we can make a bigger difference”; said another way, “We long to see more people knowing Jesus and more justice in the world.”

To achieve this vision we are working to develop:

• 100 new congregations
• 1000 new leaders
• 10,000 new disciples

Further, we are asking every worshipping Christian in our diocese to:

1. Sign up to the Bishop of Liverpool’s rule of life which will encourage and support us to Pray, Read, Learn, Tell, Serve, Give, #RuleOfLife www.ruleoflife.org.uk
   
2. Bring 1 person into the regular worshipping and serving life of the church #BringOneFriend www.liverpool,anglican.org/BringOneFriend
   
3. Do 10 acts of service or find 10 new points of connection beyond the walls of the church #DoTenThings www.liverpool,anglican.org/DoTenThings