ST ELSEWHERE METHODIST CHURCH
IN THE
PLEASANTVILLE METHODIST CIRCUIT
The churches of Pleasantville Methodist Circuit represent a wedge fanning out from the centre of
the 250,000-population city of Gotham. Like most such circuits, it has a variety of churches:
a ) Elm Street Mission
A Victorian, inner city building with a small congregation, largely made up of older people
who drive in from the suburbs. It has a long history of involvement with social service and
community development, and its minister (who is partly supported by a connexional grant)
devotes a lot of his time to this aspect of the mission. For the remainder of the Circuit, Elm
Street is a bit of a nightmare.
Membership: 70
b ) Brookside Church and Community Centre
Brookside is a large, postwar housing estate. The church was built as a multi-purpose building
and is widely used by community groups, though vandalism is a constant problem. The
congregation has struggled to replace the original members who have died or moved away, but
they remain extremely loyal. Recently they have held an Alpha course in the home of one of
the members and some of those who come to community activities at the church have
attended.
Membership: 55
c ) St Elsewhere Methodist Church
Set in a suburb of Gotham, this has traditionally been the strongest church in the circuit. It has
a strong lay leadership, well-maintained premises and a good mix of ages in the congregation.
Its relationship with the rest of the Circuit has sometimes been strained. On the one hand, it
has appeared too proud of its success, on the other, it has resented having to may an unequal
share of the Circuit budget. The congregation especially resents the recent development of
sharing their minister with other churches. Ecumenical relationships are healthy but not
spectacular; shared Lent groups, Lenten lunches, occasional joint services (Easter and Unity
Sunday), and a faltering youth club.
Membership: 150
d ) Neighbourhood Methodist Church
Set in the market town of Queen’s Heath it is now also a dormitory town for Pleasantville.
There is a historic Anglican church, and the Methodists have always felt themselves to be poor
relations. Relationships between them have at times been difficult, and although successive
ministers have tried to move things along ecumenically, there has always been resistance from
the lay leadership. They have had little success with the incomers into the town and almost the
only sign of life is the annual children’s holiday club. It is run by an enthusiastic, but virtually
fundamentalist couple, Per and Rose Blossom.
Membership: 40
e ) Emmerdale Chapel
Emmerdale is a large village, now much enlarged with new housing, but with picturesque
buildings often filmed for TV. The Methodist church has been able to take advantage of this
expansion, perhaps because the lifestyle of the Anglican vicar has raised eyebrows.
Membership: 45
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f ) There are six other village churches (among them, Ambridge and Penny Hassett), all of them
with fewer than 20 members.
The total membership of the Circuit is 500
The Circuit Staff & Mission
1.
Geraldine Wright
Superintendent Minister, with pastoral care of, Brookside, Emmerdale and the other villages.
Hospital Chaplain. She is an experienced minister, but this is the first time she has been
Superintendent. She finds herself envious of her colleagues more exciting ministerial situations
and resents having to spend so much of her time keeping the Circuit together.
2.
Dave East
Minister of Elm Street. Prison Chaplain.
Dave, now in his late fifties, trained for ministry in the late sixties and has been a specialist in
inner-city ministry ever since. He is adept at applying for government grants for projects and
spends much of his time working with other community leaders, including other ministers.
3.
Mike Bond
Minister of Neighbourhood Methodist, and St Elsewhere. (see further below)
4.
Local Preachers
There are 20 in the Circuit, fifteen of them members of St Elsewhere.
5.
a)
b)
c)
d)
The Circuit Mission Statement
To share the love of God in Christ through the worship, witness and mission of the churches.
To challenge injustice
To support smaller churches
To build up the ministry of the whole people of God
St Elsewhere - the Focus Church
1.
The Neighbourhood
St Elsewhere is a thriving middle class suburban church 8 miles from the centre of Gotham. The
suburb houses nearly 10,000 people mostly of white British origin. The community has a small
core of elderly people born and bred in Gotham many of whom are now in rest homes in the
area. Their children make up half of the middle-aged section of the population. The other half are
workers who have moved in for employment reasons particularly centred round the defence
establishments. There is a good mixture of all age groups within it due in part to being in the
catchment area for schools with good reputations.
The neighbourhood consists mostly of residential housing. Houses closer to the centre are mainly
terraced and date to Victorian times or earlier. Gotham expanded during the 1900s and there
were significant developments in the 1920s & 1960s. Nevertheless the price range ensures that
most are well kept and privately owned or rented except for a few council estates nearest to the
Centre. Further from the Centre 3-bedroom semis predominate and some newer developments
with both starter homes and executive-style houses. There are a surprising number of blocks of
flats and apartments 5-6 storeys high on the further limits of area but these are set in landscaped
gardens and hidden by trees.
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Employment is usually found outside the neighbourhood in a wide range of occupations in
Gotham City, or with the defence contractors on the outskirts of Pleasantville. White collar and
service professions predominate. It is usual for both partners to work at least part-time. As a
result most people are middle class in lifestyle and ethos. Although unemployment figures are
below the national average nevertheless a significant minority of people in the area have been
made redundant in the last 10 years or now face the possibility of redundancy. This has led to
quite a few becoming self-employed and starting their own business and trades.
There is one small shopping centre in the middle of the neighbourhood containing a newsagent,
off licence, green grocer, Co-Op, Post Office, bank, florist, bakery, couple of hardware shops,
hairdresser and restaurant that keep changing hands. Not far away sports playgrounds have been
recently turned into a large Waitrose. There are several newsagents dotted throughout the area,
remnants of previous shopping centres that have now been converted to homes. The centre of
Gotham is within easy reach by bus (buses coming in from the outer parts of Gotham are
frequent). Larger shopping centres are available at the out of town hypermarkets. Other
amenities include a village hall, sport's centre with playing fields, several small parks with
imaginative children's playgrounds.
There are two Primary Schools and one Secondary School. None are church schools and Mike is
made welcome and invited to take assemblies or special services from time to time. There is no
hospital in the area but there are 2 Residential Homes – Onefut Ingrave Nursing Home and
Carryon Rest Hone.
It is in this area that 95% of St Elsewhere's congregation lives.
2.
The Building
The church itself is set in a quiet street; just off the main shopping street in the middle of the area
described. Although the buildings are without architectural merit, they have been well
maintained and carefully adapted for modern worship. There is a carpeted floor and interlocking
chairs; a central communion table and a small pulpit. Banners around the walls draw attention
away from the high-Victorian kitsch. There is a good p/a system and a welcoming narthex area
where people can meet before and after the service.
The rest of the premises include a hall, used for Boys Brigade and Girls Brigade, as well as for
the Youth Club. There is also a modern kitchen and two small meeting rooms, one of which has
just been converted into a church office.
3.
The Membership
The congregation, whilst weighted towards the 60 plus, contains some middle-aged and younger
families and young adults. Most are white and from a professional background.
4.
The Worship
i) Sun. 8.00 Holy communion 3rd Sunday in month (Attendance: 10-15)
ii) Sun 10.30 am - main service. (attendance 100-120)
1st Sunday Communion,
2nd Sunday all-age service (Attendance 150-200)
iii) Sun 6.30 Evening service (attendance 20-25)
iv) 4th Sun 7.30 prayer and Praise Service (attendance 50-60)
v) Midweek communion once a month
5.
The Activities
i) Young church - meets Sun am and comes into last part of service
ii) Boys/Girls Brigade
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iii) Youth Fellowship
iv) Youth Club – an ecumenical venture – struggling for numbers and interest.
v) Women’s Bright hour
vi) 5 House groups
vii) Annual Alpha course
6.
The Presbyter
Mike Bond (41) is married with three children and in his second station as a minister. He has
been in the Pleasantville Circuit for two years. He was flattered to be invited to a situation with
considerable responsibility and although he is the least experienced in ministry in the circuit he
reckons (and his colleagues would agree) that he has the most promising "section" of the
Circuit. Mike is a gifted preacher and has a good rapport with the younger members of the
congregation. His rather informal style does not suit some of the members, however, and he is
sometimes frustrated by what seems to be unreasonable opposition to his ideas for change.
One of Mike’s greatest frustrations is the Neighbourhood Methodist in Queen’s Heath. On the
face of it, it seems a dead loss and Mike would much rather be spending his time with the
livelier church of St Elsewhere. Queen’s Heath members, however, insist that they see Mike
taking services and visiting the town. After all, they argue, they’re paying for him.
7.
8.
The Leadership
a ) Judith Baker is the senior steward at St Elsewhere. A down to earth character, she has
teenage children and is delighted with the way Mike has encouraged the younger members of
the Church. However, her marriage is breaking up and she has become quite dependent on
Mike’s pastoral support.
b ) Marjorie Howe is secretary to the church council. An older woman, she has never quite got
over the departure of Mike’s predecessor, Hugh. There is some tension between Mike and
Marjorie and Mike feels he never gets things right with her.
c ) Graham Evans is new to the Christian faith. A gifted musician he heads up the music group.
He is not always sensitive to the well-established organist and Mike frequently has to sort out
disputes between them.
d ) Fred Summers is Captain of the Boys Brigade. He is concerned that the Church is too
middle class and that his boys, most of whom come from a nearby housing estate, are not
made to feel welcome.
e ) Daphne and Herbert Suet have been Church steward and property steward of Queen’s
Heath for as long as anyone can remember. Daphne deeply resents the local Anglican Church
as her mother had a row with a previous vicar over a headstone for her grandmother.
f ) Per & Rose Blossom, blessum (see above)!
The Problems
Tension over worship - especially music.
Alpha and banners are OK, but is this making the church too exclusive?
Traditional Methodists and new Christians find it hard to understand each other.
Some members are deeply opposed to the defence works. Others derive their livelihood from
it. There are often passionate debates in the church council on this.
e ) The Blossoms (see below)
a)
b)
c)
d)
Queen’s Heath
1.
The Neighbourhood
Queens Heath is a town of 3,670. Traditionally it served as a market town for its rural hinterland
but more recently it has been swallowed up by Gotham - or nearly so! It still likes to think of
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itself as a separate town although there is no longer a dividing line between Gotham and Queen's
Heath. The market closed in the early 1960's and that was the death knell for the independence of
the town. Most of the people are now employed in the defence works in blue collar and semi
skilled jobs.
In demographic terms, the town has grown rapidly, especially in the 1960s and 1970s when
population grew by 27% and 46% respectively. Quality housing was built closer in to Gotham in
the area that St Elsewhere now draws its congregation. Closer to Queen's Heath the houses were
built for builders of the defence works and its employees. Despite this veneer of growth, it has
been recognised that the town has still suffered from considerable deprivation. In 1988 a report
noted that in Queens Heath:
 25% of the population were retired;
 40% were without a car;
 10% of working population were unemployed;
 There was no evening bus service to Gotham, no Job Centre, no community centre;
 Little rented accommodation, little private investment
 Significant debt problems and low paid works;
So, while Queens Heath shows a veneer of growth, it faces serious socio-economic challenges.
Casualty Community Hospital was opened in 1980. It was jointly funded with Social Services,
providing a Residential Home on the same site. The Local Vicar is chaplain, but Mike is invited
to share occasionally in the ministry there. Most people from the area go to Gotham Hospitals.
2.
The Building
Neighbourhood Methodist church is a small Victorian church dating from when the town was an
independent market town. It is in good repair, with an attached and well appointed hall – which
can accommodate 40-50 reasonably comfortably.
3.
The Membership
The Membership is elderly but committed, but with only a few active middle-aged and younger
members. The congregation is therefore unable to engage with too many activities other than
maintenance and supporting the few ecumenical activities.
Among its members the most active are Per (named after his great-grandfather a Swedish
Lutheran Pastor) and Rose Blossom and their two late teens children. They are deeply committed
to a weekly children’s club, held in the hall to which 20+ children between 5 and 11 come each
week. The climax of their year is the two-week holiday club which draws on many children from
the town.
4.
Ecumenical Relationships
The Church has strong links with the Parish Church St George's. St George's is numerically
much larger and the congregation more evenly balanced in age groups. Mike would like to
discern some way of establishing the church over and against the parish church as an attractive
alternative for Queen's Heath people. However he is working with people who are 'willing' but in
the main 'not able'. The notable exception is the Blossoms, with whom Mike has a troubled
relationship, describing them to colleagues as 'loose cannons.' Their brand of near fundamentalist
teaching, charismatic worship and inability to share leadership sits uncomfortably with both
Mike and the rest of the congregation. Yet their contribution to children’s work is the only
growth point in the church and no one feels able to do anything but applaud it. Mike and Hugh
the Vicar of St George's get on reasonably well although don’t meet all that often.
A notable ecumenical activity is the 'Bits and Books' Christian Bookshop established ten years
ago. It offers Christian books, literature, tapes, Traidcraft and Tear Fund products. It has a drop-
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in centre at the back, where people can chat and make drinks. It also has an informal library of
Christian books. This was an Anglican initiative and an Anglican Reader now runs it but with
help from volunteers from all the churches in Queens Heath. This is something the congregation
of Neighbourhood Methodist feel they can help out with.
Other joint activities include:
 an annual children's holiday club (although this is more the initiative of the club
 leaders than a truly ecumenical event) at Methodist Church Hall.
 an annual service at the Parish Church on Unity Sunday.
 An annual (midweek) service at the Methodist Church in One World Week.
 Civic service for the mayor at the Parish Church.
 Annual Remembrance Day Service at the Parish Church.
 Palm Sunday Service (procession from Methodists to the Parish Church).
It would be fair to say that the Methodists feel overwhelmed by St George's and perceive the
Anglicans as apathetic towards ecumenism.
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