Holy Ascension Church Upton–By–Chester

Holy Ascension Church
Upton–By–Chester
Parish Profile
Holy Ascension Church at the heart of the community
Contents
Welcome
Prayer for the Vacancy
About Upton
Lay Ministry Team
Services
Prayer
Home Groups
Children and Younger People
Church Groups
Involvement in the Community
Community Music
Upton Heath Church of England
(Controlled) Primary School
Churches Together in Upton
Staff
PCC
Finance
Church Buildings
Vicarage
Looking Forward
Our Next Vicar
What Next?
Welcome
Welcome to Holy Ascension Church and thank you for taking the time to read this
profile. We are unique as we are the only parish in Britain with a hospital, zoo and
army camp.
Holy Ascension is strongly focused on the local community in Upton, and it is our
mission to be right at the heart of the community. This is an essential part of our
growth planning and one of our principal vehicles for growth has been music. In
the last 3 years we have started a thriving Community Choir, with over 70 regular
members, a Junior Choir and Musical Tots groups which have encouraged many
more local people to use the church buildings and meet with church members.
Both choirs have also contributed to church services and worship, and the junior
choir has led to several baptisms and confirmations.
We have and are developing links with many local organisations including the
Foodbank, Save the Family, local schools, uniformed organisations and Chester
Voluntary Action.
We have also recently renamed our church hall as Upton Community Hall to
reflect its wider usage and relaunched our parish magazine as “Heartbeat” and are
starting to get it out into the wider community.
Our Patron is the Duke of Westminster.
Prayer for the Vacancy
Heavenly Father, source of all our hopes and dreams:
At the start of 2016, we pray for Holy Ascension Church as it looks to the future,
continuing its commitment to be at the heart of the whole Upton community.
During this period of vacancy, we pray for support for our Church Leaders, and ask
that You fill them with your vision.
We pray especially for the PCC and others with responsibility for appointing a new
Vicar for the parish.
Amen
About Upton
Upton was originally a small
village to the north of the city of
Chester but is now a suburb of
the historic city’s outskirts.
Chester was recently named as
the best place to live in the UK, by
Hot Housing Index.
Upton has a population of 9180,
21% of whom are aged 65 and
over. There is a mix of housing
stock in terms of both type and
tenure. 11% of parish households
live in social housing.
There are four primary schools, including Upton Heath Church of England
(Controlled) Primary School, one secondary school and a specialist SEN college for
children aged 2-19 years within the parish.
There are three separate shopping areas within Upton
providing a range of shops, post offices and
supermarkets. There is a doctors’ surgery which also
provides a pharmacy service, a library, sports pavilion
with playing fields and a golf club.
The Countess of Chester Health Park with its own
chaplaincy team is within the parish and Chester Zoo
and the Dale Army Camp are nearby.
From Upton there is good access to both the M53 and M56 making commuting to
both Liverpool and Manchester easy. There is also a railway station at The Bache,
on the Liverpool to Chester line, and the parish is well served by bus routes to and
from Chester city centre.
Lay Ministry Team
Lay Readers– During the vacancy, Barbara Capstick and Chris Reeve (Emeritus) are
responsible for arranging all services and assisting Clergy. They also celebrate Holy
Communion in the local Care Homes and individual’s homes. Collective Worship is
taken in two of the schools on a regular basis.
Sally Symes assists at services and with Holy Communion in individual’s homes.
Sacristans - Colin Foden and Sheila Taylor prepare all services.
Members of the congregation assist this team in visiting members of the
congregation in homes and local hospitals.
Services
We have three Sunday morning services:
8.00am Holy Communion.
9.00am Choral Eucharist.
10.30am All Age Worship - This service is currently organised by The 10.30 Worship
Group which plans, prepares and delivers the weekly All Age Service.
On the first and third Sundays of each month it includes a children’s bible themed
craft session and on the fourth Sunday it is a Holy Communion Service.
There is also a regular music group at this service consisting of keyboard, drums,
recorders, saxophone, flute and guitar as well as other instruments from time to
time.
We also have a Wednesday morning 10.15am Holy Communion service which is
attended by about 25-30 people.
In addition to the weekly services we hold:
A monthly Messy Church service.
A Remembrance Service and an act of worship at the Cenotaph on or around
Remembrance Sunday.
Parade Services three times a year
Christmas Eve Crib Service and Midnight Holy Communion
Major Festival Services and Holy Week Services
Prayer
A prayer group meets in church at 9.30am each Saturday morning. We have a
Prayer Corner in church which is changed monthly and a prayer request book.
Home Groups
We have a Thursday Bible Study Group which meets fortnightly in members’
homes. There are currently 15 members of this group, 12 from Holy Ascension and
3 from other churches.
The evening begins with coffee/tea and a time of fellowship, and then one of the
members leads us in prayer prior to the chosen topic for discussion. The evening
closes with prayer.
Children and Younger People
Messy Church is held on the second Sunday of
every month, except August, in church at 4.30pm.
It is currently led by Liz Foden, a volunteer,
assisted by our family workers and other regular
volunteers.
It consists of a short sermon and craft activities which invite children to consider
the messages behind bible stories. It is followed by Messy tea in the Kempe room.
During the All Age Worship services on the
first and third Sundays of every month,
children are invited to take part in bible
themed crafts organised by our family
workers.
Sunshine Tots is the Holy Ascension Church
Toddler group currently run by a small committee
of volunteers. An average of 25 – 30 children,
ranging in ages from new born to 4 years, attend
the group every Tuesday afternoon during term
time in Upton Community Hall, and enjoy playing
with a variety of age- appropriate toys.
Holiday Club
During August for the last three years we have held a
week long holiday club.
The children meet from 10.00am to 1.00pm and learn
to sing and act a short musical, play games and take
part in relevant craft activities.
Church Groups
Association of Church Fellowships
A.C.F. welcomes as members all who seek to know the
Christian faith better, helping to make the worshipping
community into a fellowship of friends and through this to
draw others into the Church Family. It also encourages
fellowship with the Church Overseas.
It meets on the 3rd Monday of the month in Upton Community Hall and has a
variety of interesting external speakers.
Caring & Sharing Lunch
On the second Wednesday of every
month, after the 10.15am Communion
service, a light lunch is served in the
Kempe room for anyone who wishes to
join us. Over the year numbers have
varied between 12 and 20.
At Christmas and on other festive
occasions we try to make the lunches a little special!
Sewing Group
Our sewing group meets every
Thursday between 10am and 12noon
in the Kempe Room. This is an informal
group of people who enjoy meeting
together to sew, knit and chat!
Wednesday Singers
Wednesday Singers meet on the last
Wednesday of the month at 3pm in the Kempe Room to share their love of hymns.
The afternoon begins with selected hymns corresponding to the liturgical year,
and over tea and biscuits each attendee chooses their favourite hymn all of which
are sung after the tea break. It is a lovely fellowship and a great way of
reconnecting with favourites from childhood and discovering new hymns.
Sunday Lunch Club
This meets on the fourth Sunday of every month, except August, in Upton
Community Hall. A group of volunteers cooks lunch for approximately 25 single
members of our community to enjoy in fellowship.
Parish Choir
The parish SATB choir sings at the 9 a.m.
Choral Eucharist on Sundays.
They have sung a broad range of music
from traditional choral works to
contemporary settings for the Eucharist.
Involvement in the Community
There is always a box in church for non-perishable
food donations for the local foodbank and this charity
was supported by our Harvest Festival when
over122.5kgs of food was donated.
Every year Messy Church supports Operation
Christmas Child by filling shoeboxes at the October
service. This year over 60 boxes were filled.
Holy Ascension has supported the Children’s Society for
more than fifty years by means of collecting boxes
distributed in homes throughout the parish and beyond.
We have more than 120 boxes on our list and in 2015 we
raised £2,305.
Heartbeat is the new name for the parish
magazine which is produced monthly by a
team of volunteers. Its purpose is to connect
the church with the local community, and in addition to regular recipients it is now
available in some local shops, the library and doctors’ surgeries. The magazine is
distributed free of charge as it is part of our outreach programme.
Community Music
The community music programme at Holy Ascension has been running for almost
three years and is at the heart of our planning to involve the whole community of
Upton and encourage all sections of the local population to use and become
familiar with the church buildings and facilities, and possibly become members of
the church.
We currently have a community choir of about
70 members drawn from all sections of the
community which meets weekly in the church.
Of that membership about one third are our
church members and there are also members of
other local churches including the URC and RC
churches as well as non-church goers.
We also have a junior choir of about 20 children aged
6-11 years none of whom were originally involved in
church but many of whom now attend Messy Church
regularly.
There are also weekly Musical Tots groups for
babies to pre-school age children, their
parents and carers which attract people from
all around the Chester area.
All these activities use the church buildings and have encouraged many nonchurch families to get involved in church life.
Both the community and junior choirs have been
involved in charity fund raising and have sung at
local secular events and various church services.
This has raised the awareness of our community
music programme and strengthened links between
the church and the local community.
Upton Heath Church of England (Controlled)
Primary School
Two Foundation Governors are PCC representatives (the third, a member of staff,
represents the Diocese). The PCC has in recent years made an annual donation to
the school of c.£300, e.g. for class bibles or other RE resources. There is a daily
assembly, with the Church leading collective worship one day per week (previous
incumbent normally led this, during the vacancy Barbara Capstick is doing so). The
Baptist church, sited next to the school, also leads worship once a week.
The School attends Church at some major festivals, most recently the end-of-term
Christmas service when all classes with the Head, Deputy, teachers, assistants etc.
were present. There was also a Lessons and Carols involving the school choir,
attended by several parents, earlier in the month.
The school has a significant number children from Service families, based at the
Dale Camp. Its most recent Ofsted grading was Good with Outstanding Features.
It is in the process of moving towards Academy status.
Churches Together in Upton
Holy Ascension, the United Reformed Church and St Columba’s (RC) churches
combine for the following services and activities:
The services/activities below rotate between the three churchesWeek of Prayer for Christian Unity
United Service of Remembrance on the evening of Remembrance Sunday
Shared worship on the evening of the 5th Sundays
Lent Course
There is also a weekly Prayer Diary which is updated annually; a monthly
Ecumenical Prayer meeting; lunches are hosted by the 3 churches for Lent,
Christian Aid Week and Harvest; Christmas and Easter services are jointly
published in inside Upton; there is a well attended weekly Monday Coffee
Morning at the local sports pavilion; at Christmas we sing carols in Residential
Homes and place a Crib Display in the Library. There is also a popular annual Quiz
Night
Staff
We have a strong team of volunteers currently administering the parish,
supported by six paid employees:
Clare Newbould - the Community and Church Musician
Clare is responsible for all music in the church. She set up and runs the Upton
Community and Junior Choirs and the Musical Tots groups.
We hope to appoint an assistant musician shortly.
We currently have two Family Workers, funded by a local charitable trust,
Margaret Adams and Ali Ireland.
Karen Evans, the Parish Administrator, works four mornings a week in the parish
office which is located in Upton Community Hall.
Mike Walker-Smith and Pat Needham are our cleaners.
PCC
We have a strong pro-active PCC which meets once a month, on different
evenings. We have 4 ex officio members, one co-opted member (buildings
maintenance) and 12 elected members. There will be elections for 9 places at the
next Annual church meeting.
The Standing committee, with 6 members, meets between PCC meetings.
Finance
Our income is currently insufficient to meet our expenditure and over recent years
we have had to utilise our reserves to cover the day to day running costs of the
church. Consequently, our reserves are depleted and we experienced cash flow
problems in 2015 which meant that we did not pay our parish share in full for the
first time ever.
Our planned giving programme is currently being reviewed with the aim of
increasing voluntary giving to the church so that we can meet our objective of
paying our parish share in full and also grow our parish.
At a recent meeting with the Archdeacon the potential and opportunities within
our parish were identified and it was concluded that these are realistic objectives.
Detailed financial information is available on request or from the Charity
Commission’s website.
Church Buildings
Holy Ascension Church was dedicated in 1854. The
transepts were added in 1958 and 1967 and the Kempe
room was opened in 2004 to provide a Sunday School
room and meeting space.
The Kempe room is currently used by many
of our church groups and is open on a
Saturday morning for anyone to drop in for
tea/coffee and fellowship.
We recently renamed our church hall
Upton Community Hall to reflect its wider
community usage.
The hall is about a quarter of a mile from
the church and is used by church members
for the regular monthly Sunday lunches, the
ACF, the Sunshine Tots and a guide group.
In addition the hall is used by a wide range
of local groups and for community events.
The interior has recently been repainted by a small
group of church members and there is an ongoing
programme of improvements, including new
windows and plans for a kitchen upgrade and new
boiler.
Vicarage
The vicarage is a modern detached house
located approximately a quarter of a mile
from both the church and community
hall.
It has an enclosed rear garden mainly
laid to lawn.
On the ground floor there is a modern
kitchen with integrated appliances,
lounge, dining room, study and wet-room.
There is also a separate utility room.
On the first floor there are four
bedrooms, the master having an
en-suite shower room, and a family
bathroom.
Looking Forward
Our purpose statement is:
'To be the people of God in this place, committed to Christ,
to one another and to Service in the community; together,
we worship God with joy and love and with openness to
renewal by the Holy Spirit'
We want to build on the Church’s aim to be ‘at the heart of the community.’
To have a thriving church with full collaborative ministry supporting a full
spectrum congregation.
This will include support groups, social events, music groups, groups for all ages of
Youth, a group for men, support for bereaved and a baptism group.
These groups will be led by parishioners under the guidance of the new Vicar.
We are planning to increase and widen our community music programme to
include other sections of the community:
 Establishing a youth choir to encourage older children, (11+) and
teenagers to become part of the programme and as a progression route
for members of the junior choir as they get older so that we maintain
contact with them.
 Start additional Musical Tots groups, as a result of demand and sessions
for pre-school age children, to maintain contact with them. A new group
is also to start in the Dale Army Camp.
 Start a dementia music scheme. The church’s Family Workers are currently
developing a dementia awareness programme with the object of becoming
a dementia friendly church.
Our weaknesses are:
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No formal support for the elderly
Finance
Declining congregations
Few formal courses to enable people to grow in faith
Lost links to older children/youth
Our Next Vicar- we would like
 A vicar who believes in collaborative ministry making the most of the
talents of our congregation.
 A team leader and enabler who is willing to delegate and encourage people
to become actively involved in the church and willing to provide and
support training.
 Someone who is approachable and has a good sense of humour and has the
skill and passion for engagement with the whole congregation and
community.
 A spiritual leader supporting the whole of the church family from the very
young to the very old.
 Someone who relates to all whether young or old.
 Someone who can bring creativity to our worship and pastoral care.
 Someone who will develop pastoral care including home and hospital
visiting.
 Someone who appreciates the role our music has in our worship and
growth.
 Someone who will help develop our youth work.
In return we offer you
 A strong administrative team and PCC with a wealth of talent, commitment
and material resources.
 A dedicated team of lay preachers to assist.
 A significant number of committed volunteers.
What Next?
For an informal discussion, please contact either of the Parish representatives:
Mike Curtis email: mikejane.curtis@sky.com
Barbara Capstick email: b_capstick@o2.co.uk
Or the Bishop of Chester
Email: bpchester@chester.anglican.org
Telephone: 01244 350864
Or for more information visit our website: www.holyascension.org.uk