Parish of St Paul with St Luke
Tranmere
Parish Profile
September 2015
Contents
Page No
1. Overview
1
2. Activities
5
3. People
10
4. Finance
10
5. Facilities
11
6. Location and Surroundings
12
7. The Future
15
2
1.Overview
a) Vision and Mission
St Paul with St Luke’s Church Tranmere is part of the Anglican Communion within the
world-wide Christian Church. We understand ourselves to be called to:
 Gather together to worship as the body of Christ in this place
 Serve our parish and congregation in ways which show the love and compassion of
Christ
 Create a space where people of any faith, or none, can question and discover the
sacred in life
b) Strengths
St Paul’s people have a very strong commitment to their Church, which plays a big part in
their lives. It has:
Sunday morning 10am service


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A community presence
Commitment to pastoral care and support for those in need
Strong ecumenical links
Social life: ability to laugh at ourselves
c) Opportunities for the future
 Integrating newcomers and those on the fringe more fully into the life of the church
3
 Reviewing our activities
 Strengthening our outreach
 Developing further our mission to the people of Tranmere and Rock Ferry
d) Theological Position
The dominant tradition in St Paul with St Luke’s is the modern Catholic tradition of the
Church of England.
e) Who we are looking for
The appointment of a new Vicar marks an important point in the life of our church. The
congregation is involved in all aspects of church life and in a new Vicar we look for
someone who will provide leadership and support us in areas which offer opportunities for
development:
 Enabling the whole church to share the love of Christ with all through our worship,
teaching and life together
 Widening our relationships in the parish: with other Christian churches, people of
other faiths and no faith, local institutions, involvement in community activities
 Proclaiming the word: teaching and encouraging, preaching, leading and organising
study groups
 Pastoral care: including baptisms, weddings and funerals, caring for the sick through
visiting homes and hospitals, working with older people, working with the young and
preparing people for marriage.
 Enabling ministry by members of the congregation: getting to know new members,
keeping in touch with existing members, finding ways in which members can serve
 Fulfilling a caring pastoral role, nurturing the present congregation and reaching out
to parishioners who are not regular members of the congregation
 Helping make St Paul with St Luke’s a lively and welcoming church to the glory of
God
 Leading and encouraging parishioners in the areas of nurture, outreach,
development of worship and faith
 Co-operating with the PCC in seeking to balance outgoings and income
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We look for a priest who:
 has a firm grounding in the liturgy and traditions of the Church of England
 has good management and communication skills; with the ability to inspire and
motivate others
 will develop our children’s ministry
 is willing to be adaptable and able to dedicate time to the Open Door@St Paul’s:
 to invest in individuals personally
 to train leaders
 to encourage growth
 lead our church community with prayer and vision in developing worship and mission
to a diverse local community
 have an active interest in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue
o feel at home amongst his/her people and have the energy, ability and self-belief to
give spiritual leadership
 has well developed people skills, fostering teamwork within the PCC and
congregation, enabling individuals to utilise their gifts in serving the church or
community
 is a good listener and communicator, who can engage with people of all ages and
backgrounds and reach out sympathetically to many different worlds in and around
the parish – other Christian denominations, other churches in the Deanery, relatively
deprived communities, people of other faiths or no faith
 has pastoral gifts to engage with and support individuals in the congregation and the
community at significant points in their lives
 is of modern Catholic tradition with evangelical tendencies
 is open, approachable and enthusiastic, with a sense of humour
Little Rockers
Coffee after 10am Sunday service
Whilst maintaining the current initiatives and the variety of services we need to seek:
 ways and means of reaching out to parishioners who are not regular members of the
congregation – particularly in respect of young people and their families
 active participation with other churches in the Birkenhead Deanery and Rock Ferry
 to develop and nurture contacts with people involved in baptisms, marriages and
funerals
This is a demanding job but a highly rewarding one for someone seeking a new challenge.
We look for someone who will lead us energetically and explore with us what it means to be
the Body of Christ in this time and place.
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Garden with War Memorial
Church Font
2. Activities
a) Church Services
View from rear towards High Altar
Service
Type
Average
Attendance
Sunday
10am
Parish Sung Eucharist – the main parish service, every
Sunday for 60 mins. A traditional Eucharist using Common
Worship Liturgy. The service usually includes 4 hymns ad
a sermon. There is a gospel procession and incense on
high days and holy days
Sunday
11.30am
Community Worship – led by the previous incumbent
and his wife and included all age worship with projector to
which baptism families are invited
6
30 - 40
15
Weekday
Monday
6pm
Open Door @ St Paul’s – fellowship, worship and
refreshments for 2 hours. For all the family run in
conjunction with the help of other local evangelical Church
of England parishes, St Peter’s Rock Ferry, St Catherine’s
Tranmere and St Andrew’s Bebington.
15 - 20
The idea was conceived by a previous incumbent of the
parish in 2008 and is probably unique in the diocese.
It is a church for people who don’t like or don’t come to
church and the purpose is to grow a vibrant Christian
community to reach and serve the people of Tranmere. It
is simple and different in character to other services which
take place within St Paul’s to encourage people to attend,
being more accessible to children and families.
Friendship
Open Door meet in fellowship to praise God in a very
evangelical café style of worship. They share good food,
offer prayers and sing praise.
Open Door is run by Sister Val Legg CA. The new
incumbent will have oversight of Open Door but it is the
vision to continue to develop lay leadership.
Wednesday
10.30am
Holy Communion in the Lady Chapel – 30 mins, a simple
service followed by Community Drop In in the Church Hall
6 - 12
Wednesday
7.30pm
A simple service of Holy Communion held in the Lady
Chapel
4-8
Additional
Services
Advent and
Christmas
Traditional Carol Service held on Sunday before
Christmas
7
2014 – 19 Adults,
5 children
2014 – 37 Adults
28 children
2014 – 44 adults
2 children
Christmas Eve Crib Service usually held a 4pm
Midnight Mass 11.30pm
Lent, Holy
Week and
Easter
Services each day of Holy Week, Wednesday – Stations
of the Cross, Maundy Thursday – washing of feet,
devotion on Good Friday
Variable
All Souls
Day
A service of remembrance
Variable
Confirmation This also includes candidates for affirmation
2014 - 4
Weddings
2014 - 3
Funeral
Services
2014 – Funerals in church – 6
2014 – Funerals at the crematorium – 16
School
Carol
Services etc
Well Lane Primary School holds their Carol Service in
Church
The High Altar and Triptych
The Lady Chapel
Remembrance Sunday
Harvest Festival
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b) Robes
Clergy wear cassock, alb, stole and chasuble at the 10am services. Servers wear cassock
albs at 10am. Those who assist with the chalice are not robed. The Community Worship,
when running, is informal and robes are not worn.
c) Ecumenical and Multi –Faith Worship
St Paul with St Luke’s works to keep links with other churches. At the moment Churches
Together in Rock Ferry and Tranmere is in abeyance until another chairperson can be
found, although it is agreed to advertise events at our respective churches. There are
seven churches in this group including St Paul with St Luke, St Peter’s Church, St Peters
Road, Rock Ferry, St Catherine’s Church, Church Road, Tranmere, Highfield URC,
Highfield Road, Rock Ferry, St Anne’s RC Church, Highfield Road, Rock Ferry, Tranmere
Methodist Church, Church Road,Tranmere and The Salvation Army, Old Chester Road,
Rock Ferry.
Church Spire
Church Spire from Well Lane
Sunday morning service choir and servers
Church entrance
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d) Church Management
The PCC meets monthly, except August and December. The Vicar is chairperson and
there is an elected Vice Chair. There are, at present, 9 members, including two Deanery
Synod lay representatives. The PCC Secretary is Mrs Dorothy Thompson.
e) Communications
A weekly pew sheet newsletter is prepared for those attending services.
An annual report of all church activities is produced for the Annual Meeting in April.
We are at present looking into building our own website. We are at present on
www.achurchnearyou.com/tranmere-stpaul. There are only basic detail on this website at
present due to the interregnum.
f) Community Activities
Monday – Little Rockers (Mums and Tots) – meets in the Church Hall in term time.
Alanon – meets in the evening in the Mudie Hall
Tuesday – Whitehead School of Dance – meets in the evening in the Church Hall
Wednesday – Majorettes – meets in the evening in the Church Hall
Thursday – Majorettes – as above
Saturday – Second of each month Coffee Market in the Church Hall, fundraiser run by
Church Members. It does not usually run in July and
August due to holidays. The second Saturday in June is the Summer Fair
and the first Saturday in December is the Christmas Fair.
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3 People
a) Church Electoral Roll
April 2015 there were 86 on the Electoral Roll, 46 are not resident within the parish.
b) Church Wardens
Mr Walter (Wal) Randle and Mr George Roach.
4 Finance
The Financial Statements of the PCC are available on request to the PCC Secretary.
These have been prepared by the Honorary Treasurer to the PCC Mrs Jenny Randle. Total
income across all categories of funds in 2014 was £32,906.75.
We have been paying half the Parish Share, with agreement from the Diocese. But from
August 2015 it is our intention to pay 55%.
5 Facilities
a) The Church Building
The church building is Grade 2 listed; its most striking features being the war memorial, in
the form of a Calvary Cross on the outside of the east end and the church spire that rises
above the local housing and can be seen from a number of points around the area.
Incorporated in the church building are:
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The large hall – Church Hall
The Mudie Hall
Kitchen
The Church Office. This contains the photocopier.
Church hall kitchen
Church Hall
11
b) The Vicarage
Front view
Rear view left side
The Vicarage is a modern 4 bedroomed detached house built in 1991, next to the church.
On the ground floor, it has a lounge, study, spacious modern kitchen, dining room and
wc/cloakroom. It has four good sized first floor bedrooms, bathroom with shower over bath
and a further shower room. The house has a large garden to the rear and off street parking
with a double garage. The Vicarage is within walking distance of Tranmere Urban Village
and has bus and train links into Birkenhead, Liverpool and Chester.
Part of rear garden
Rear view towards right
c) Car Park
The church has a car park.
6 Location and Surroundings
a) General
Tranmere is a suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula. Administratively, it is also a
ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation in April
1974 it was part of the County Borough of Birkenhead within the geographical county of
Cheshire. At the 2011 Census, the population of Tranmere was 11,924.
Tranmere is made up of industrial building, Victorian terraced houses and modern housing.
There has been some property development in recent years in the area.
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b) The Parish
The parish is located on the east coast of the Wirral Peninsula facing the River Mersey. It
was formed in 1971 by the amalgamating of the Parish of St Luke’s Church Tranmere and
St Paul’s Church Tranmere. It covers Lower Tranmere and parts of Rock Ferry. St Luke’s
Church was demolished in the mid-1970s.
Until the middle of the 19th century Wirral was an agricultural community but when the
docks and shipyards in Birkenhead began to thrive there was a massive influx of people.
Workers lived in mean terraced streets, many of which have been pulled down. There were
houses too for the merchants and professional people who moved to the area. Today,
some of the Cammell Laird’s shipyard is in the parish and after years in the doldrums, ship
repair and employment are slowly returning to the area.
St Paul’s Church was dedicated in 1856, when churches were at the forefront of social
change. They provided education long before the Board School arrived in 1870. St Luke’s
had a church school which continued well into living memory. St Paul’s history was also
intimately tied up with the provision of libraries that allowed people to better themselves.
Today the parish has some parts with very high indices of multiple deprivation please see
Church Urban Fund website www.cuf.org.uk
Located very near to the church is a modern centre with a library, one stop shop for
accessing council services, also the new community Police Station is to be located here,
some small shops and on the opposite corner a Lidl supermarket. One of the primary
schools, Well Lane is located nearby. Thus giving rise to a feeling of ‘Urban Village’.
Tranmere Urban Village
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The church has had an eclectic congregation, over 50% travelling from the suburbs to
participate in a modern catholic style of worship. Efforts are being made to try and identify
much more closely with local residents, many of whom have no experience of church or the
gospel.
c) Residential and Nursing Homes
The parish has a number of residential and retirement homes. There are also some
sheltered accommodation homes.
d) Schools
The parish contains one all girl’s secondary school and two mixed sex primary schools.
Prenton High School for Girls
Hesketh Avenue
Birkenhead
714 pupils on roll an all ability school
11 – 16 years
Bedford Drive Primary School
Bedford Drive
Rock Ferry
Birkenhead
402 pupils on roll a 2 form entry community
school
3 – 11 years
Well Lane Primary School
Well Lane
Tranmere
Birkenhead
190 pupils on roll a 1 form entry community
school
3 -11 years
There are already links between St Paul with St Luke’s and Well Lane Primary School. We
see an opportunity for expanding our links with the school eg collective worship. The
school visits the church where it holds carol services and concerts. Past incumbents have
been governors of the school.
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e) Industry
The parish has part of Cammell Laird Shipbuilders within its boundaries. It was one of the
most famous names in ship building in the past two centuries. Sadly the yard went into
decline and closed in 1993. It was then used as a ship repair yard by North Western Ship
Repairers. Cammell Lairds in recent years has re-emerged as a ship building yard again.
There is a potential for our links with the shipyard to be re-established.
7 The Future
St Paul with St Luke’s PCC and congregation are excited about this new phase in the life of
the Church and parish. They look forward to a new vicar who will develop ministry and
mission in the community as we build on past experiences.
Church and grounds north side
Our happy gardeners, Wal, John and Dave
Community Worship
East windows behind High Altar
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