St Catherine’s in Vacancy

The Appointment of a New Vicar

The formal process to appoint our new vicar is well underway.

The Bishop, in consultation with the Deanery and Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Care Committees, have determined that our new vicar will hold the post as incumbent, just as Gill Rowell did, with full rights of ownership of the church, churchyard and vicarage and the right to remain in post until 70.

This enabled the PCC to hold a meeting (formally called a Section 11 of the 1986 Measure meeting!!!) on February 23rd 2023 to appoint its 2 representatives to participate in the appointing of the new incumbent and to review progress to date.

The PCC, in common with most parishes, appointed us, the 2 churchwardens, Lynn Stevens and Caroline Heron, as the 2 representatives.

Production of the profile, which potential candidates will use to understand what we are looking for as we seek to serve God, our community and our church, is underway. Its production is managed by a subset of PCC members, Sonia Ludford, Stuart Poore, Lynn Stevens and Caroline Heron.

A listening exercise is being undertaken to assist in identifying who we are at St Catherine’s and the direction we are headed, which will feed into the profile. 30 church members attended a meeting on 11th February to review that approach which led to the identification of those that should be included in the listeningchurch members, those using church facilities and those in the community the church serves.

This led to the production of 2 questionnaires to support the listening, one focussed on church members, the other for those less familiar with church services. A big thank you to all those who have participated in this listening which completed on March 6th.

We have received a great response, with over 50 Church member responses and 22 other responses so far, including church groups, schools, church/hall hirers and shops.

These are currently being analysed, with a parish session planned for March 26th, led by Rhodri Bowen, Diocesan Parish Development Advisor, to work through what this is telling us about ourselves and our direction.

Meanwhile the daunting task of actually writing the parish profile has started with very welcome help from a number of people!

We are hoping to speed up progress so that we can use April as the opportunity for the PCC and diocesan representatives to review it so that a reasonable draft is available by early May, in time for the formal meeting with the diocese (known as a Section 12 meeting!) to largely finalise the document.

The activities then turn to finalising the profile, advertising and interviewing candidates.

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The aggressive target timeline that has been agreed with the diocese is as follows:

Section 12 meeting 09th May 2023

Advertising deadline: 16th May 2023 (requires final profile, person specification and advert)

Advertising start date: 28th May 2023 (Church Times, Pathways and Oxford Diocese website)

Closing date: 25th June 2023

Shortlisting: 29th June 2023

Interviews: 18th July 2023 (just before the summer holidays)

Should an appointment be made in the first round of interviews, and it is assumed that person will require 3 months before taking up the post, October/November is the likely appointment date.

Clearly it cannot be assumed we will be successful in the first round and the vacancy may continue beyond that.

Whilst the main focus is currently on the profile, as it is produced we are identifying the sorts of things that we want to find out from any prospective candidates.

The format and content of the interviews will need to be carefully considered and the intention is to involve a range of church members and the PCC in the interview activities.

The Vicarage

The diocese has arranged for the vicarage to be rented during the vacancy and we welcomed the tenants on 23rd February.

Ongoing Church Activities

We have been blessed with the support of a number of visiting clergy for our services, including Adam Carlill, Polly Falconer, Alan Gates, Mike Smith, Judith Sumner, and Tracy Watkins. With all the arrangements in place until the end of April, the Leaders and Preachers Action Group are currently planning the services in May and June, with Chris Stratta from the Leprosy Mission on June 25th and the Bishop of Reading on June 4th already booked and a Christian Aid service planned for May 14th.

A stewardship campaign is taking place during Lent. It is also planned that between Ascension and Pentecost (18th –28th May) we take the opportunity to focus on prayer and join the Thy Kingdom Come initiative, including a short daily opportunity to come together to pray at 7pm.

The APCM is looming on 23rd April, after our 10am Sunday service. Serving on the PCC is an important role and new members are appointed at the APCM. We would ask you to prayerfully consider whether God is calling you to stand, and if so to put yourself forward for nomination.

Our hope is that during this time of vacancy we are all growing in our faith, in our love for one another, and in the knowledge of our God, supported by the many activities that you all so faithfully run.

Many, many thanks for all that you do in support of the ongoing life at St Catherine’s.

Lynn Stevens and Caroline Heron Churchwardens