Parish Profile
for
BRACKNELL TEAM MINISTRY
Holy Trinity Church
Bracknell
“Called Together to Make Christ Known”
Anglican Congregation at St.
Paul’s URC, Harmans Water
Mosaic Fresh Expressions
Congregation in Town Centre
www.bracknell-parish.org
Parish Office, The Ring, Bracknell, RG12 1HD Telephone: 01344 867 383
Email: btm-admin@tiscali.co.uk
Facebook: Holy Trinity Church Bracknell
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Content
Foreword from The Bishop of Reading
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Vision, Context for Our Post
4
Person Specification
5
Our Challenges as a Parish
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Who BTM are
Our Congregations
Our Strengths
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9-10
Buildings
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Support we will Offer
The Vicarage
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Detailed description of the Parish
13
Parish Organisation and Finance
Key Internal & External relationships
Financial Overview
14-15
Deanery Perspective
Note from the Area Dean
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Foreword from the Bishop of Reading
This vacancy for an interim minister presents an opportunity for someone to make a real
difference at a time of radical change.
Bracknell Town Centre is undergoing a major re-development and, since last year, when
St. Andrew’s Priestwood was transferred to the parish of Warfield, the Bracknell Team
Ministry [BTM] itself is in need of a major re-think.
We are looking for a priest with the right combination of experience and personal skills to
seize this opportunity to help us discover new ways to engage with God’s mission in
Bracknell.
In the Oxford Diocese, our purpose is to create a caring, sustainable and growing
Christian presence in every community. This requires our clergy to have faith, creativity,
flexibility, vision and a real desire to work in partnership with all God’s people.
What is needed here is someone with a real heart for mission who can not only see
possibilities, but is able to articulate a compelling vision. We are looking for someone
who is creative and not afraid to innovate, but will not just go-it-alone; we would like
someone who enjoys seeing others flourish and will value the lay people and small
ministry team. She or he will probably have experience of community engagement and
will be comfortable working with local authorities. They will also need to value the
traditional and the contemporary in worship: to be as comfortable in a Fresh Expression
as they are with choral tradition.
The congregation here is committed, energetic and full of ideas and are waiting to be
encouraged, equipped, enabled and led.
This post has been time-limited, initially for a period of three years, and will be reviewed
after 2 years, to assess progress and to identify the next steps.
Please pray with us as we take this exciting step of shaping something new and beautiful
for God and for the people of Bracknell.
+Andrew
16/4/15
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Vision, Context for our Post
Vision
Called Together to Make Christ Known
Why we are appointing an Interim Minister
The Bracknell Team Ministry PCC have chosen to appoint an Interim Minister to help us
create an engaging forward focused vision which embraces the current changing face of
Bracknell. These changes include:
 Parish boundary changes
o This included the transfer of a church (congregation and building) to a
neighbouring parish in April 2014.
o
http://www.achurchnearyou.com/parishfinder.php
 Changes in congregation worship centres
o BTM moved the Anglican Sunday congregation of St. Paul’s, Harmans
Water to Holy Trinity Church in January 2014.
o Mosaic fresh expressions congregation had to leave the decaying British
Legion building in the town centre and took up residence in a local pub
while they wait to move to a more permanent home in a new community
hall in The Parks, a recent housing development. This move is imminent.
 Redevelopment of the town centre that we serve
o Holy Trinity is the civic church on the edge of the town centre. Within all the
redevelopment there is an opportunity to redefine this civic role.
 Extensive new housing developments
o There is a housing plan for more new homes in Bracknell, many being
within our Parish Boundary. With this will come the challenge on
infrastructure: roads, schools, services and resources. It will also provide
an opportunity for outreach and mission.
 Renewed Deanery Mission to work collaboratively across Deanery parishes to
deliver four priorities:
o Youth and Children’s Work
o Worship, Leadership and Discipleship
o Community Engagement and Social Action
o Church Growth and Church Planting
Change has been a defining feature of our Parish over recent years. Some change has
been painful for some, e.g. redefining of the Parish boundaries. We now recognise lots of
the ‘good’ change has come from the ‘bad’, e.g. after the ‘bereavement’ of St. Paul’s
Sunday service there is positive ‘new life’ at Holy Trinity, especially in the children’s work.
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We wish to work with an imaginative individual who can help us create a vision in the
midst of change in a defined period of time so that we will be in a better position to recruit
a leader to help us to develop God’s congregation in Bracknell, both in numbers and
spiritually.
Person Specification
Interim Minister, Bracknell Team Ministry
Essential:
 A prayerful sense of calling to this post

A man or woman in Holy Orders in good standing

Personal resilience founded on a commitment to prayer

Ability to work collaboratively to develop a vision for the next phase in the life of
BTM in a rapidly changing urban context

A strong strategic thinker who will actively engage the community in partnership

Confidence and facility in engaging with Local Authority Structures and officers,
and with community based organisations

Experience of urban ministry

Good manager with sensitivity when making change

Ability to negotiate and mediate in difficult situations

A good eye for opportunities and possibilities

A proven ability to lead a team successfully in a church or secular context

Familiarity with a broad range of church traditions; liturgical ability and flexibility;
able to maintain traditional structure and encourage fresh expressions of church

Ability to communicate in different forums

Ability to discern gifts and ministry in others, and experience in nurturing such
gifts. Willing to encourage more lay involvement in worship

Confidence in matters of parish finance and organisation

Commitment to the Diocesan Vision of Living Faith and to the Bracknell Deanery
Plan

Strong IT skills, including the ability to use standard office applications
competently

A sense of humour
Desirable

Experience of encouraging good stewardship and Christian giving
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Our Challenges as a Parish
The BTM PCC wish to work with a leader who can both nurture the current talent in the
Parish and sustain the current congregations whilst embracing the challenges that we
feel constrain us today.
 Clarity of Purpose – with all the changes described earlier and the change in
leadership, we need to renew our vision, hopes and sense of direction.
 Sense of Identity – drawing on our purpose, we wish to define the character of the
Parish to deliver that and fit within the bigger Deanery plans. We want help to
grow in confidence in this.
 Encouraging wider involvement in Parish life – we need to engage the untapped
gifts available, so that it is not the same people on every committee, and change
the perception of what it means to be involved.
 Lots of fairly new people – we want to follow on from welcoming people through
the door to the next level and nurture them so that they become more involved.
 Communication – ensure a flow of appropriate information so that people
understand and support our mission.
 Gathered congregation – 54% of our electoral roll come from outside the Parish.
People may only meet once a week within their congregation. This makes it
difficult to ‘know’ people and is a challenge to ensuring pastoral care.
 Pastoral care – We need to improve our pastoral support, including for elderly
people in our congregations.
 Buildings – Holy Trinity is over 150 years old; we have completed the first phase
of our roof project but more funds are needed to complete this. The Parish hall is a
1970’s flat roof building that struggles to adapt to the demands of the 21st century.
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Who BTM are:
We recently asked everyone in our 6 congregations to share one word that described our
Parish – this is the resulting Wordle where the dominance of the word indicates the
frequency of the word. The PCC feel that this is good reflection of who we are.
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Style of Worship of the Various Congregations
HOLY TRINITY: Regular Congregations are:
Sunday
Style of Worship
8.00 am
9.15 am
Said Communion: BCP (1st and 3rd), CW (2nd, 4th, 5th)
Morning Praise (2nd, 4th), All age Communion (3rd) or
Holy Communion (1st, 5th)
(Worship band led music)
Children's Club during 9.15am; Children’s Church 1st
Sunday.
Youth Breakfast 2nd and last Sunday of the month
10 - 11am
Coffee & fellowship
11.00 am
Sung Morning Prayer (1st), otherwise Sung Eucharist
(Choir and Organ)
Regular Midweek services:
Th-Fri 9am
Morning Prayer
Sat 8.30
Thur 10am
Holy Communion, followed by coffee & Bible study
Friday
Let’s Go
Ave Weekly
Attendance *
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93
29
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13
25
* All average weekly attendance from Dec 14 – Feb 15 statistics
St. Paul’s Harmans Water: An active congregation meet at
10am on a Wednesday (*average attendance 20).
Mosaic: A typical Mosaic Sunday morning service includes
children’s activities, videos, prayers, a talk and worship and
also plenty of time for people to eat, drink coffee and chat.
(*Average attendance 31)
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Snapshot of Attendance:
Christmas Services 2014
Nativity Service – 121
Nine Lessons and Carols – 60
Children’s crib service - 117
Midnight Mass – 115
Christmas Day, Holy
Communion – 64
Easter Services 2015
Palm Sunday:(8am) 11,(9.15am) 137,(11am) 40
Maundy Thursday: (10am) 13, (8pm) 25
Good Friday Children’s activities - 33
Good Friday Reflective time with music -13
Good Friday Service with choir - 50.
Easter Day:(8am) 25, (9.15am) 135, (11am) 62,
Mosaic - 40
Other Services in 2014
Baptism – 35, 4 of which
were adults
Weddings – 3
Funerals - 24
The Parish electoral roll has 366 members (March 2015).
Making a difference in the world – our Strengths
The Parish is divided into three ‘departments’ – Discipleship, Mission and Evangelism,
and Community (this being matters such as volunteering, stewardship, finance,
buildings). The Stipendiary clergy team take responsibility for leading one of the
departments. Here are examples of our work in these areas:
Discipleship:
Celebrating first communion
Life (Home) groups - well established
small groups who meet fortnightly in
a home for bible study and reflection.
Bible study: After midweek service &
evening home study. Bible reading notes.
Children ministry from tots to teens:
Children’s Church, Children’s Club and
Youth Breakfast
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Mission and Evangelism
Outreach in the Community:
Mosaic Drinks Give Away in town;
Songs of Praise at Farningham House
sheltered accommodation
Parent / carer toddler group
Community: working together on volunteering, stewardship, finance, buildings etc.
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BUILDINGS
Holy Trinity Church
The Parish Church. It was built in 1851 and is a Grade 2 listed building. The Church has
a capacity of around 350 people seated in pews and chairs. The South and North Aisle
have been cleared of pews to create space for the music group, children’s play area and
providing hospitality. It is located in the town centre and plays the role of a civic church
for the town.
A full history of the church is on our website.
Langley Hall
Named after Frederick Langley, a previous verger, the Hall is used for a variety of
meetings and lettings. There is an administration office, where the Parish and Finance
Administrators work. There are two additional offices, enabling clergy and lay ministers to
hold meetings, work remotely and conduct pastoral and business meetings (including a
Saturday morning Clergy Surgery). The hall is adjacent to Holy Trinity in the town centre.
Built in 1975, the main hall can seat 100 people. The kitchen was fully refitted in 2006,
and the toilets, lighting and general décor upgraded in 2008.
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Support we will offer
 Encouragement to maintain a sustainable ministry, including days off, holidays,
retreats, opportunities for learning and development, adequate time for family life,
friendship and recreation.
 Shared commitment to meeting the challenges identified
 Prayer, friendship, fellowship
The Vicarage: Old Lands Hill. Bracknell.
The Vicarage is a four bedroomed detached house with lounge, dining room with doors
to back garden, new fitted kitchen and utility room leading off the kitchen and doors to
back garden, downstairs cloakroom and study off the entrance hall. 1st floor has 4
bedrooms (Master with en suite and fitted storage, 3 further bedrooms all with fitted
wardrobes), family bathroom. There is an enclosed rear garden with side entrance and
small front garden. Double garage and off road parking for two cars.
While the Vicarage is geographically outside the Parish, it is 1 mile from Holy Trinity
Church which can be reached in 5 minutes by road or a comfortable 15 minutes walk on
main footpaths.
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Detailed description of the Parish
Bracknell is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire. The
town (Parish) itself has a population of 52,696.
In 1949 Bracknell was designated a Post War New Town and in the 1960s major
developments led to a new town centre being built along with a large increase offices and
housing. It was around this time that many IT companies moved into Bracknell and the
Thames Valley. Today, IT companies continue to be one of the major employers in
Bracknell and the surrounding area. In 2014, a major part of the 1960’s town centre was
demolished to make way for a major re-building project, to build the new shopping
centre, restaurants, town square and many other amenities. The project began in March
2015 and is expected to be completed in Spring 2017.
Bracknell Parish currently has 6 schools and the local college:
 Crown Wood Primary
 Holly Spring Infant & Nursery
 Holly Spring Junior
 Harmans Water Primary
 St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary
 Ranelagh Church of England Academy (Secondary)
 Bracknell and Wokingham College
In addition to these schools within the Parish there are several other local primary and
secondary schools in the immediate vicinity, including St Michael’s CE Aided Primary
close that has the whole of Bracknell as its catchment area.
Bracknell has the usual range of facilities including doctors’ surgeries, dentists and an
Urgent Care Centre for those not needing A&E. There is a library, cinema, several hotels
and health & fitness clubs. There are a range of indoor and outdoor leisure facilities:
sports centre, skiing and skating centre, Coral Reef pool, Look Out Centre and local art
centre and theatre (South Hill Park). Bracknell railway station provides good access to
London (60 mins) and Reading (20 mins).
The unitary local authority is Bracknell Forest Borough Council:
http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/home
Issues and concerns
Bracknell and the surrounding area continues to expand with many vacant office blocks
in the town being converted to flats and major house building starting in the adjacent
Parish of Warfield. House prices in Bracknell are well above the national average which
makes it difficult for young couples and people new to the area to find somewhere to live.
The Worshipping Community
Within Bracknell Parish there is a thriving Catholic Church (St Joseph’s) in the town
centre and also the Kerith Community Church, a large independent church with its own
building and facilities on a site just north of Holy Trinity. St Paul’s, in Harmans Water, is a
United Reformed Church.
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Parish Organisation and Finance
INTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS:
MINISTRY TEAM
Clergy team and lay ministers meet regularly and pray together. A full clergy team
currently consists of one Team Vicar, a Priest holding an Archdeaconry post, and a
Retired Priest with Permission to Officiate. Lay ministers preach, lead worship, undertake
pastoral ministry and lay funeral ministry. There are 10 people with permission to preach
and lead services of the word (7 at Mosaic and 3 at Holy Trinity) and 17 lay ministers of
Holy Communion. There is one person training for Communion by extension at public
worship.
PCC
Bracknell has a single PCC which meets on average six times a year. An active
Standing Committee meets in the intervening months and various PCC sub committees –
Finance and Administration, Fund Raising and Buildings Committee meet regularly to
focus on those areas of PCC business.
Office staff
There are two paid part-time administrators dealing with Parish and financial matters
respectively.
EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS:
There are a number of key contacts the Interim Minister would be expected to interface
with:
Council leaders
Regeneration Partnership
Faith forum
College Principal
Head teachers
Healthcare providers
Deanery + Bracknell cluster
Financial Overview 2014
Our total income for the 2014 period was £347k – a large part of this - £200k – was due
to the income from a one off legacy received in the later months of 2014. If this is
removed for a true performance insight then our actual income was around £147k versus
a budget of £121k which was still an excellent performance. There is still work to be done
in building sustainable income from income donations and the PCC have plans in this
area, particularly in maximising donations by standing order and ensuring we fully utilise
the benefit of Gift Aid.
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Expenditure for 2014 was a total of £119k versus a budget of £135k which means we
spent circa £16k less than we planned, much of this was realised from the excellent work
the wardens and finance admin teams have put in controlling costs, particularly within the
administration and buildings costs. Note there are some medium size projects that will
require attention in 2015/16 that should be considered.
Our reduced committed Parish share responsibility was fully recognised for the period
with a total contribution of £55k being paid. We are on a negotiated glide path to reach
our target parish share contribution.
Langley Hall had an income of £12.2k and total expenditure of £11k thus posting a profit
of £1.2k.
The net result shown in the final accounts including the legacy payments shows a total
profit on the year of £230k with a carried forward funds balance of £438k. £240k of this is
restricted funding.
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Deanery Perspective
The Bracknell Deanery comprises nine parishes from Sunningdale to Binfield. They fall
into two informal clusters (Bracknell and Ascot) based on geographical area - Bracknell
Team Ministry is in the ‘Bracknell Cluster’ with Binfield, Easthampstead and Warfield.
The Bracknell Deanery Synod holds five meetings annually, all of them now in the
pleasant and convenient venue of Ascot Priory. Two of these meetings are now Deanery
Gatherings, recently addressed by Bishop Andrew and Archdeacon Olivia; their talks
were followed by discussion groups on topical matters including one on the
redevelopment of Bracknell Town Centre and the opportunities and challenges thus
presented. The Synod has this as part of its strategic review. With the completion of the
Deanery Mission Plan, the Synod’s aim is now to take forward some of the issues
highlighted in this.
The next Deanery Gathering, on Saturday June 6th has the theme of Outreach, with
Bishop Andrew as the speaker. Discussion groups on Growth, Community, Children’s
Work, Youth Work, Discipleship, Music and Leadership will follow.
A note From: The Revd H David Uffindell (Area Dean)
As Area Dean, the Bishop of Reading has invited me to take the role of Priest-in-Charge
until a permanent priest is appointed in Bracknell.
It has been a great pleasure to get to know both members of the PCC and members of
the congregations (both at Harmans Water and at Holy Trinity). It has also been a
pleasure to work with the two serving clergy, Les Jesudason and Alan Bradford and with
the Churchwardens, Shirley Taylor and Russell Goodburn.
Our pattern has been to meet together once a month to keep in touch, to monitor and to
review the day to day ministry and mission in the Parish together.
It is my sense that there is much to be pleased about and much to be thankful for – even
in a time when there is no obvious senior leader in play. People are taking their
responsibilities very seriously and some have stepped up to new levels.
At the same time, there are challenges to face: the mission imperative is being taken
seriously knowing that finance, worship and outreach are key factors in the growth
agenda.
The recent PCC decision to begin to look for a transitional minister seems to me to be a
very sensible one. This will allow the reviewing of ministry and mission in Bracknell to
take place at the same time as plans are drawn up for next steps both in the church and
in the community.
This is therefore a very exciting time for Bracknell town, for the Deanery and for
ecumenical colleagues, as together we can begin to imagine and create a future built on
shared vision and practical partnerships.
I feel certain that the post of transitional minister will be a critically important element in
this equation and look forward to working closely with the man or woman of God’s
choosing to fulfil this demanding role.
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