Do you have a heart for the community and vision to lead us forward in the plans God has for us?

We are a small but diverse and growing church, deeply engaged in serving a socially deprived area of Middlesbrough. The parish is adjacent to the more obviously town-centre parishes and the community is in an extended phase of change and re-establishment.

In the midst of this change, the Church is a lifeline and a beacon of hope, love and purpose. Following the retirement of the previous incumbent, the assistant ministers and many of the parish's lay people have worked hard to reach out to the community, growing their activities in varied and imaginative ways set alongside faithful prayer and worship.

This is a post for a priest who is committed to the value of the church's present in a setting that is poor in material terms but rich in faith and the transformative power of the Gospel.

We hope you sense you are being called to this ministry and welcome enquiries and applications.

For an informal chat please contact:
Archdeacon of Cleveland, The Venerable Dr Amanda Bloor | adcl@yorkdiocese.org | 01642 706 095

Bishop of Whitby, The Rt Revd Paul Ferguson | bishopofwhitby@yorkdiocese.org | 01642 593 273

Closing Date: 09:00am Monday 30th October 2023

Interviews: Monday 13th November 2023

• To encourage continuing collaboration and cooperation between the parishes whilst respecting their individual characters.
• To help strengthen confidence, support outreach and help the congregations to grow.
• To work with the Deanery Leadership Team and other parishes in order that gifts and skills may be shared across the Deanery.
• To be involved in the life of the local community and to be fully supportive of the various social action projects.
• To encourage and enable lay ministries of all kinds.
• To help t build up effective and confident PCCs and Church Officers.
• To welcome and encourage links with other denominations, other churches, charities and community groups.

Blended with the basic requirements on the calling to be a Priest, we pray that our next Vicar will have:

• A sense of God's calling to this post
• A pioneering heart, building relationships with families
• A heart for community and being amongst us
• Passion to grow and evolve the congregation
• Desire to understand us, where we are at this time of growth and to build on what we have and is working
• An expectation of the work of the Holy Spirit
• Vision to lead the church forward in the plans we believe God has for us

The Diocese of York, led and guided by Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, takes in much of North and East Yorkshire. As the largest diocese in England, geographically, the area is very diverse, featuring a multitude of needs and opportunities. This includes the bustling urban centres of York, Hull and Middlesbrough, the beautiful North Yorkshire Moors National Park, and the incomparable Yorkshire Coast; as well as areas of deprivation in some of our urban and smaller rural and coastal communities.

Our mission and ministry relies on thousands of people - lay and ordained, volunteer and paid. Our diocesan teams provide a wide range of support services to our mission and ministry, including lifelong learning for ministry, the care of church buildings, and safeguarding. Together, we are striving to be a people who are ‘Living Christ’s Story’. We want to be a simpler, bolder, humbler church which in its diversity reflects the communities it serves. We are bringing renewed focus and fresh energy to achieving our aims:

• Becoming more like Christ

• Reaching those we currently don't

• Growing in discipleship, influence and numbers