St Giles Church, Codicote · church such as contemplation. Has a pastoral heart for people wherever they are in their Christian journey of faith, have doubts or attend St Giles. Willing

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St Giles Church,

Codicote

As a church we seek to be

Christ centred as we worship

together, grow in our faith

and reach out to the world

around us both locally and

further afield.

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Codicote is a vibrant, energetic, and welcoming semi rural commuter village. St Giles church

has been part of the community for 900 years and there is a strong sense of identity with

the church among those who live in the village. The church has a committed congregation

across the ages and very active lay involvement in all aspects of the life of the church.

We are looking for a Vicar who

Is prayerfully dependant on God in all areas of their life.

Is comfortable with, and able to keep a good balance between all our styles of worship. Is

experienced in being part of a team, encouraging both lay and licensed people in a variety of

ministries. Happy to use multimedia in worship and also the more ancient traditions of the

church such as contemplation.

Has a pastoral heart for people wherever they are in their Christian journey of faith, have

doubts or attend St Giles. Willing to lend an ear, hold out a hand and direct people to others

when needed.

Is willing to engage with the rhythms and fun of village life, visiting those in need, chatting in

the street, reaching out into our community.

We will offer you

Our new vicar will receive from us energetic, generous and loving support with an openness

to new ideas and creativity. There will be a ready supply of tea, cake and prayer, with a

willingness to listen and help from across the congregations.

Full reimbursement of parochial expenses will be paid.

The Vicarage

The Vicarage is a lovely four bedroom house with a large

garden. The ground floor has a porch, long hall,

cloakroom good sized study, large lounge, kitchen diner

and utility room. There is internal access to the garage.

On the first floor there are four bedrooms, two of which

have wash basins and a family

bathroom with a separate toilet.

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Worship

In order to reflect the rich mix of churchmanship within our congregation we

have developed two streams of worship that meet each Sunday morning.

We have a dedicated team of bell ringers who call people to worship each week.

We use multimedia in all our worship services and have two screens in church and one in

the parish centre which enable us to be flexible and make use of images and videos.

At 8.45 there is either a Sung or Said Communion service using common worship with the

liturgy changing with the seasons.

There is a strong tradition of lay

involvement in this service with a rota

of people reading the lessons

including the gospel, leading

intercessions and lay assisting with the

chalice. At the sung service there is

robed choir to help lead the worship.

Pattern of worship through the month 1st Sunday 8.45 Said Communion 9.30 W4U

2nd Sunday 8.45 Sung Communion 10.30 Informal Worship

3rd Sunday 8.45 Said Communion 10.30 Informal Worship with Baptism

4th Sunday 8.45 Sung Communion 10.30 Informal Worship

5th Sunday 8.45 Said Communion 10.30 Informal Worship

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At 10.30 there is a service of Informal Worship, this takes the

form of readings, sermon and worship led by a music group.

During this service children’s work takes place in the parish

centre.

We are encouraging young people to be

involved with the music, sound and

refreshments. Baptisms take place on the

third Sunday in the month at this service as

required. We give each child baptised a copy of A Child’s Bible.

There is a dedicated team who work with the children; they provide continuity for the

children while they have fun together.

The children are encouraged to participate during the

services with streamers, or helping receive the collection,

holding candles at baptism services.

The average attendance over both services each week is

around 60 with 10 – 15 children taking part in the children’s

work.

“St Giles enables me to worship

close to home in an informal style”

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On the first Sunday of the month we have a change of pattern.

We start the day with said communion at

8.45 in church. At 9.30 we open the doors

of Worship for You (W4U) our fresh

expression cafe style church held in the

Peace Memorial Hall in the centre of the

village. We serve a continental breakfast of

freshly baked Danish pastries, lattes,

cappuccinos, teas and hot chocolates.

At around 10.30 there is a short worship slot using video and songs and a time for reflection.

We try to link something that is current with the Gospel, either an item in the news, or a

recent film or event such as the Olympics, in order to help people see that faith in Christ is

relevant to their everyday lives. On the tables there is a sheet of questions, some light and

fun and some a little more thought provoking linked to the theme which people can use if

they wish.

We provide a craft activity that is linked to the theme for the children, though sometimes

adults enjoy getting involved! There is always a prayer box for people to leave their own

prayers which are then put in the prayer chapel. W4U is a marvellous outreach into the

community.

“The terrific thing about St Giles is that we

truly are a church family, since GCS and W4U

started the village has a church in its centre.”

Recent themes @W4U

Hope, You are Amazing, Pentecost, Fairtrade, Generosity, Foundations

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Members of the congregation serve, support and express their faith in a wide variety of

ways that enhance the life of the church. We have flower arrangers, a team of cleaners,

mowers of grass, sides people, cake bakers for baptism services, providers of refreshments,

screen/sound operators, washers of linen, gardeners, bell ringers and many who quietly

straighten chairs, tidy things up and pray for the life of this church and community.

There is a small sewing group who have recently

been inspired to create several banners which

enhance the church and are used at W4U.

Five times a year the church Brownie pack will

attend a parade service, these take place on the

Sunday nearest St George’s Day, Harvest,

Remembrance Sunday, Christingle and a Sunday

in July.

About 25 people meet regularly in home groups

using a variety of study material including

resources produced by the diocese during

Advent and Lent. These groups meet in homes

around the parish and are lay led. Once a month

many in the groups come together for a meal in

the parish centre, and are joined by others who

are not able to be in a group.

Our places of worship and meeting

St Giles is a Grade 2 listed building. Over recent years we have carried out a number of

restoration projects including work on the main roof, a new heating system, the south aisle

roof and porch. The building is in good order but as with any ancient building there are

always challenges to face.

The Friends of St Giles work hard in order to help support and finance fabric issues and

projects. We are at this time looking to redevelop the vestry and toilet area in the church in

order to provide better facilities.

We are known by many for the quality and quantity

of our cake on almost any occasion, we are a

generous and happy church.

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The area immediately around the church including

the Garden of Remembrance is well maintained by a

team of volunteers throughout the mowing season.

We have a small flock of sheep that take care of an

unused part of the graveyard.

The area of the graveyard that is still open for

burials has maintenance which is paid for by Codicote Parish Council and carried out by a

member of the fabric team.

At the end of the large car park there is a well appointed parish centre. There is a good sized

kitchen and three rooms which can be opened up into one large space with the use of

dividing doors. In the past we have run a

number of courses in the parish centre such as

Alpha and parenting and would like to do so

again in the future. There is an enclosed deck

area which makes a safe play area for young

children.

Children’s work takes place in the parish centre on a Sunday morning during the 10.30

service and refreshments are served here after the services each week.

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The parish centre is used every morning during the week by Codicote Pre-School which

provides an income to help towards costs. We have friendly links with the Pre-School, who

enjoy the sheep and lambs in the spring.

A number of other groups use the building during the week including an art group, Brownies

and occasionally other church groups within the diocese.

Although at present the main part of the church building is not open every day, the prayer

chapel is in order to provide a ‘sacred space’

within our community for people to use.

Suggestions and prompts for prayer are provided

and changed regularly, and there is an

opportunity to leave prayers. Although we can

never truly measure how much the space is used

prayers are left and it is clear that aids to prayer,

such as holding crosses are used.

How we reach out to the world around us.

The church community set up Giles Coffee

Shop a number of years ago when it saw

need for there to be a place where folk could

meet friends for coffee, cake and a natter. It is

run entirely by volunteers each Friday morning

at the Peace Memorial Hall in the centre of the

village.

We purchased a ‘bean to coffee’ machine so that we could provide a wide variety of coffee

of good quality. There is always homemade cake, teacakes from the local bakery in Welwyn,

juice, a variety of teas and snacks for the children.

“The coffee shop is a great

asset which I always liken to

the village well, for folk to

gather at and chat.”

The thoughts of a non church

attendee.

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In November 2014 we began Play and Praise a short informal time for Mums and pre-school

children. Our tag line is “kettle’s always on, the toys are always out”. We aim to provide a

warm welcome to children and their carers and opportunity to hear a bible story, sing a few

songs, and join in with a craft and to meet with God. One of our main aims is to engage with

those who do not normally come to church and this has been very successful.

One of our Lay Readers regularly takes communion to a residential home, and home

communion is provided when needed by both the Readers.

St Giles plays an important role in the community

through the pastoral services of the church

especially weddings, baptisms and funerals. We

hold an annual memorial service to remember

the departed, the church administrator contacts

the recently bereaved to invite them to the

service.

We have strong links with our village school,

Codicote C of E Primary School who come to church

for Harvest, Christmas, Easter and an end of school year

service. Individual classes come to visit the church to enhance

their learning and to see the sheep.

At the recent Christmas service all the children and members of staff wrote prayers for

Christmas which were then used to decorate the tree in church.

At Easter this year we hope to have an art exhibition of the children’s work. We go into

school every other Friday to lead assembly.

“I truly believe that the way

forward in terms of bringing

people to Christ, is by engaging

hearts, souls and minds from

the earliest stages, so that

there is a framework and a

reference point for the rest of

our lives.”

Liz Pollard,

Head teacher, Codicote C of E

Primary School

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During the summer months over the last few years we have held cream tea afternoons on a

Sunday which have been enjoyed by walkers and non walkers!

The Friends of St Giles run a very popular auction in

The Goat Inn, a local pub, around the time of the Harvest

Festival. Boxes of fruit, bags of pickling onions, pheasants

and other items are auctioned to the highest bidder.

Before the auction there is a short harvest service of

traditional hymns, readings and prayers.

We take an active part in the Village Day celebration in July.

Serving drinks and cake as the Village Day parade passes St Giles.

Communication

We communicate with people in a variety of ways, for church members there is a Google

Group, for the wider community we use the St Giles Parish Magazine which has 10 issues

each year. Each edition has an opening "Dear Friends" article by a member of the leadership

team and there are contributions from many village societies and villagers as well as others.

There is also a village diary including details of services and other church events.

We also have a Facebook page and a website both of which are maintained by members of

the congregation which we would like to develop further.

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About the parish

The village is located 7 miles south of Hitchin, 26 miles north of London with easy access to

the M1, M25 and A1. Many residents commute to work in London using local train stations

at Knebworth, Welwyn and Welwyn Garden City and we are just half an hour from Luton

airport. There are also bus links to the local towns of Hitchin, Stevenage, Luton and Welwyn

Garden City.

Codicote has a reasonable range of village shops, a post office, a good selection of pubs, a

garden centre on the edge of the village and another one a mile or so down the road. Local

doctors and dentists are in Welwyn and Knebworth where there are also banks and further

shops

The population of the village is about 3500, with a good mix of ages and those whose

families have lived here for generations, as well as those who have moved into the area

more recently. A number of new houses are being built, and there is a plan by North Herts

District Council to increase the size of the village. There is a great deal of concern in the

village that the infrastructure will not support an increase in population.

Sport plays a large part in village life with a long established Sports and Social club. There

has been very successful project to build a new facility called The John Clements Sports and

Community Centre that will provide indoor sports as well as supporting the football and

cricket teams and tennis club.

Close by the sports field are the village allotments and community orchard where a popular

apple day is held in the autumn.

Each year towards the end of July a popular village day is held on a Saturday afternoon. The

event starts with a parade through the village up to the field just beyond St Giles. Many

village groups and organisations take part in the event, running stalls and enjoying meeting

friends.

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One of the biggest local annual charity music events takes place at The Goat Inn, in Codicote,

over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Last year the money raised was donated to the local

hospice in Welwyn Garden City. Codicote has its own Community Choir which sings at

Goatfest, weddings and this year sang round the village Christmas tree as the lights were

turned on for the first time.

Codicote has three sheltered living retirement homes; a family run company based in

Codicote provides home care for the elderly or those who need some support in order to

stay in their own homes.

Codicote C of E Primary School provides an outstanding education for the youngsters of the

village, from nursery to year 6. The motto of the school is: 'Everyone shall know success' and

this is promoted through opportunities both within, and outside the school curriculum, the

school is regularly involved with community activities. Secondary education is provided in

Hitchin and Welwyn Garden City.

There are many other groups, activities and organisations meeting in the village across the

ages and catering for a wide variety of interests.

Context for ministry

The ministry team consists of the Vicar, Associate Minister, two Lay Readers, one Lay Reader

in training and an accredited Lay Minister. There is also a church administrator.

The PCC consists of twelve members and meets 4 times a year as a full PCC. Every member

of the PCC is on a team which take care of the day to day running of the church. Each team is

able to ask others to join as skills are required. These teams meet to take action on various

issues, to look at different areas and make suggestions and proposals to the PCC. This means

that PCC meetings do not have be caught up with small details.

The finance team has three members and has worked very hard with the Diocese in order to

put our finances on a firm footing and to enable us have a half- time Vicar.

The fabric team take care of the church building, parish centre, organise work days for

general tidying of the churchyard, and keep an eye on light bulbs.

The admin team provide publicity for events taking place, ensuring that visitor cards and

contact details are up to date. They also source or create posters and banners, making sure

they are distributed around the village.

The welcome team is being developed out of what used to be called the food team. The

welcome team are responsible for ensuring that all those attend any service have what they

need. In recent years they have successfully run cream tea afternoons during the summer.

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As a church we support three mission partners, Mercy Ships, The Living Room and Romania

Care. We rotate our giving to them at the three major festivals during the year, Christmas,

Easter and Harvest. After our recent Christmas services we were able to send £700 to The

Living Room, a local charity supporting those have problems with all forms of addiction.

We also support members of the congregation when they are involved in mission work. In

recent years we have supported individuals who have taken part in short term mission in

Africa and at Crisis in London.

Through Tear fund we send on off donations to crisis such as the recent Ebola epidemic in

Africa.

St Giles is part of the Welwyn Hatfield Deanery and will become part of the Welwyn Team

Ministry.

We actively engage with the Bishop of St Albans Living God’s Love vision for the Diocese.

Appendix

Financial matters

The request for Parish Share in recent years has been difficult to achieve without the help of

pastoral support. The proposal for the post of Vicar to be half-time makes this payment of

parish share achievable.

Stewardship campaigns to raise money for day-to-day and regular expenses including Parish

Share have not been our first priority while raising substantial amounts for repairs to the

church building (including roof, tower and heating). Appeals to the congregation, village and

wider community including The Friends of St Giles, have resulted in wonderful responses to

enable those repairs to be effected.

Our successful 2013 stewardship campaign coinciding with closer dialogue with the Diocese

has encouraged us. Having achieved our 2014 Parish Share target of £30,200, we are hopeful

that previous shortfalls will be written off by the Diocese this year and with the help of more

than 30 regular givers and other income we expect to achieve the £31,481 requested for

2015.

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PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST GILES CHURCH, CODICOTE RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS ACCOUNT 31 December 2013 Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total funds 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012

Receipts Gift Aid - planned giving 20,138 18,144 1,050 520 21,188 18,664 Other planned giving 3,592 747 60 60 3,652 807 Collections at services 1,579 1,436 3,380 0 4,959 1,436 All non recurring giving/donations 4,954 5,307 32 3,575 4,986 8,882 Tax recovered through gift aid 6,050 5,975 663 500 6,712 6,475 Grants 0 0 3,946 32,109 3,946 32,109 Investment income 123 130 2 3 125 133 PCC fees (NET) 5,595 2,643 0 0 5,595 2,643 From trading/other activities 4,335 4,287 9,385 9,572 13,720 13,859 Other incoming resources 6 1,512 4,243 0 4,249 1,512 Legacies 0 0 0 0 0 CWR (Net) 0 0 0 -141 0 -141 Insurance claims (net) 0 498 0 0 0 498 Total receipts 46,371 40,678 22,760 46,197 69,131 86,875 Payments Mission Giving 3,631 5,195 4,043 31 7,674 5,226 Parish Share 29,400 24,000 0 0 29,400 24,000 Salaries, wages, honoraria 974 1,170 0 0 974 1,170 Expenses of clergy and staff 1,499 1,452 0 0 1,499 1,452 Mission and evangelism projects 1,144 866 7,449 6,200 8,593 7,067 Church running costs 4,153 3,773 2,318 2,526 6,471 6,299 Church utility bills 2,770 1,692 0 0 2,770 1,692 Costs of trading (PC) 1,705 915 0 0 1,705 915 Governance costs 400 400 0 0 400 400 Major repairs 482 0 8,445 28,909 8,927 28,909 Sub total 46,158 39,463 22,254 37,666 68,413 77,130 Asset purchases Equipment purchases 0 133 383 3,537 383 3,670 Sub total 0 133 383 3,537 383 3,670 Total payments 46,158 39,596 22,637 41,203 68,796 80,800 Net of receipts/(payments) 213 1,082 123 4,994 335 6,076 Transfers between funds 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cash funds last year end 7,159 6,077 13,584 8,591 20,744 14,668 Cash funds this year end 7,372 7,159 13,707 13,584 21,079 20,744

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Codicote C of E Primary School

We asked Liz Pollard Head teacher at Codicote School for her thoughts regarding a new

vicar, she and the staff have talked together and these are the things that they feel they can

offer you and what they would like from you.

Is committed to the school and its families - who shows the core Christian values

in the way they treat others, so that children (and staff) can learn by example

Sees the school and church as a partnership - embracing the opportunities to

link worship - for example through our Christmas prayers for the St. Giles tree,

art work, some shared hymns and prayers, and the invitation to participate in

events; who in turn, brings the life and work of St. Giles into our school

Is warm and welcoming

Understands team work, so the existing strong links can be added to

Becomes a familiar adult to the children, so that they are seen as someone to

turn to at key points in their lives

Relates Christian teaching to the age of the children, so that things are

accessible to them, and from the earliest stages, children can feel God's love,

and power to change lives.

Is enthusiastic and hardworking

In return, we can offer:

A commitment from the school to work in partnership, at the very heart of the

Codicote Community

Children and staff who welcome and embrace the involvement of the vicar, into

the life and work of the school, and want to be involved in the life and work of

St. Giles

Support - a head who will work with the vicar, in a professional capacity to listen,

share ideas, thoughts and views, and try to find positive outcomes for any

challenges

A joyous, harmonious school, who welcome the opportunity to share regular

worship and celebrate key events in the Christian calendar and lives of the

children.

An openness to new ideas

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