Author: jenny gaffin

Hayling Anglicans Parish Profile October 2018
St Andrew—St Mary—St Peter
Welcome to Hayling Island!

Photo courtesy of Vince Lavendar.

“All I longed for I have found by the water.
At your side I will seek other shores.”
“Tu has venido a la orilla “ by Cesareo Gabarain, trans Robert Trupia
Welcome to our parish profile
Welcome to our island!
We are a friendly group of three parishes,
drawing ever closer to each other in God’s service.
We are looking forward to welcoming a new priest who will walk alongside us.
Could that priest be you?!

We are looking for an outward-looking priest who will feel at home among us, work alongside the Priest in Charge in the oversight of the parishes and be a focus for our mission.
Our ideal candidate will have experience of overseeing community engagement, a pastoral heart, excellent organisational skills, and the tenacity to enable mission and outreach on the island.
We are three churches each with a distinctive identity and mission, working collaboratively under the umbrella of “Hayling Anglicans”. Having previously operated as two distinct benefices, over the last two years we have come together under one leader and combined our administrative systems and communications structures. Having done the necessary practical work, we now look forward to working ever more closely together, particularly in relation to mission. This is an exciting time to join the team – we feel that God is drawing breath for a new phase of our mission and growth.
Hayling Island
Hayling Island lies off the south coast of England between Chichester and Portsmouth. Shaped like an anchor, it is 4 miles long, 4 miles wide in the south, and approximately 700 yards wide at its narrowest point. It is connected to the mainland by a bridge, and a foot ferry gives cycling access to Portsmouth in the South West. Our location gives us swift access to the motorway network, to cross channel ferries departing from Portsmouth, and to Havant railway station which offers direct access to London and local cities.
Hayling has a population of approximately 18,000 people. The north of the island is relatively affluent and rural, while the further south east you go, the more urbanized it becomes. There are pockets of deprivation, with the 2011 census identifying 18% child poverty in the area. The proportion of people over the age of 60 on Hayling is estimated to be almost double the national average, with many care homes and places of supported housing. In terms of schooling, we have two infant schools, two junior schools and Hayling College for 11-16 year olds, all of which are located at the centre of the island within ten minutes’ walk of St Mary’s Church. The nearest sixth form college is in Havant. There are eight churches on Hayling including the three Anglican, with a thriving Churches Together group which runs Lent Lunches, barn dances, a Good Friday Walk of Witness, and various events through the year.

Hayling College celebrates success

Hayling has significant leisure and tourist facilities – blue flag beaches great for swimming, several caravan parks, 2 golf clubs, a 5 racquets centre, water sports in all their variety, a funfair, a thriving hospitality industry, a thriving amateur dramatics society with its own theatre, a horticultural society, several sailing clubs, riding stables, a bowls club, a community centre, a WI, and a U3A branch, to name a few! All of these interests are represented in our congregations. The island has its own Health Centre, the nearest hospital being the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth.
The Anglican Churches
The three Anglican Churches share a love of God, an Anglican heritage in its diversity, a heart for mission, and a deep commitment to the island. Until 2016, we had two full time Vicars serving two separate benefices – St Andrew’s with St Peter’s, and St Mary’s. We now all share a full time Vicar and a half time Associate Priest. While this represents a reduction in clergy numbers, we have worked hard in the last two years to remove labour-intensive duplications from our working practices so as to free up clergy time and improve our practical efficiency. We now have one parish administrator (currently 22 hours) based in the Parish Office in the Vicarage. All the necessary internal systems – such as calendar, safeguarding, data protection, communications – have now been set up and are run from the Parish Office.
Having worked hard on our infrastructure in recent years, we are now in a position to develop our mission, and we very much hope that our new Associate Priest will help to take a lead in that. Each church has distinctive gifts to bring to mission, and our goal is to operate as one body in mission, each church bringing complimentary and mutually enriching insights and resources to the task.
Collaboration between the churches.
There is already significant collaboration between the churches in terms of mission and spiritual growth. The three churches hold an annual joint service and social on Trinity Sunday each year. We also hold monthly joint lunches for older people, which takes place at St Mary’s hall. Every August we organise a Three Churches Fete, which is both a fabulous community occasion and a major source of funds. Our members regularly take part in “Open the Book” presentations in the schools. We also have active links with Ghana through the diocesan IDWAL connection. Bible Study groups across the parishes are overseen by our PTO Reader Jenny Salisbury. We also participate in Ride and Stride every year.
We are on a journey towards understanding the best structures to enable us to work together and also maintain our distinctiveness. At present, our vicar and churchwardens meet on a regular basis, and this helps decisions to be made jointly.
Each church participates fully in the life of whole island, while celebrating its own distinctive gifts, as follows.

Summer Fair

The vicar’s 40th birthday! - at St Mary’s hall.

Tea and carols at St Andrew’s

St Andrew’s is modern in both outlook and in building. It started out as a daughter church of St Mary’s in the 1960s to reach out to people in the developing community that was then being built in the South East of the island. It is down to earth and flexible in its outlook. The sea looms large in our imagination - we have a new boat stern-shaped altar to match the bow-shaped font, setting sail together in worship as befits a creative seafront church under St Andrew’s protection. Worship is enriched by organists, a music group and a small choir. St Andrew’s has a hall which is hired out for children’s activities, support groups, exercise classes and other community functions. The PCC have recently identified a calling to ministry among older people, and we are in the early stages of exploring what that means for us. We currently run a thriving “film and tea” afternoon for older people on a monthly basis, which, at Christmas, becomes an over-subscribed “tea and carols” afternoon. We also run scrabble evenings and other social gatherings. In terms of children’s ministry, we run Girls Brigade, a Tuesday lunch for parents and toddlers, and weekly parent and toddler group as well as occasional activities such as an annual Light Party. St Andrew’s shares its premises with the Hayling Island Baptist Church, with whom we enjoy strong links and work collaboratively on the Light Party, Messy Good Friday and social events. We hope that our new Associate Priest will be a focal point for our mission.
The Priory Church of St. Mary the Virgin, is geographically and spiritually at the heart of island life. Begun in around 1250s and a Grade 2 listed building with a historic connection to Jumièges Abbey, it is the largest building of the three and has fully flexible internal space thanks to a recent internal reordering. The extensive open churchyard surrounds the church building and burials and interments take place regularly, with people also regularly visiting as they cross the island on foot and pause for reflection. We have a Church Hall across the road which is extensively used by the wider community. Work is well underway to build an annex which will include toilets, storage and a small break out space. The church is within walking distance of all the schools on the island, with which we enjoy active and growing links. Hayling College Orchestra rehearses at St Mary’s and hold regular afternoon concerts with us. We have a committed church choir in the choral tradition, and an active social calendar including regular concerts, skittles and social evenings, adult colouring sessions, activities and worship for children every Friday, churchyard working parties and an after school club on Mondays. The church is open daily and is well visited. We hope that our new Associate Priest will help us to develop the use of the church and annex particularly in relation to our work with schools, concerts and the arts, build on our existing community links and develop closer connections with the many baptism, wedding and funeral families who pass through our doors.

Our new altar being made at the boatyard.

The annex takes shape.

St Peter’s North Hayling, in the North of the Island, is a traditional village church with a hospitable heart, sharing the love of Christ by serving the parish of North Hayling and beyond. Built in 1140 and Grade 1 listed, it is the oldest remaining building on the island. It has an open churchyard where burials and interments take place and has an extension called “The Ark” which includes toilets, a galley kitchen and a meeting room. We enjoy an active social calendar of events open to church and community, and we have a regular Sunday school and a strong Pastoral Group with regular home visiting. The St Peter’s Singers rehearse in the Ark and sing regularly at concerts and at special services. The church is open daily, and has a Father Willis organ, which expert performers travel to play. St Peter’s is a place of quietness and also of real creativity, with people skilled in music and arts and crafts. The current ongoing project at the time of writing is a poppy cascade, in conjunction with the local community, which consists of over 17,000 poppies made by members of the community across the island and beyond, together with a war exhibition. We have a strong presence in Northney itself and, as we begin to explore a calling to becoming a focus for retreats and spirituality, we particularly hope that our new Associate Priest will help us reach out to the north west of the island and help us to develop the use of the Ark.
Service Pattern
Weekdays:
Tuesday 10am BCP Eucharist at St Mary’s.
Tuesday 7pm Compline at St Andrew’s with monthly Eucharist
Wednesday 10am BCP Matins at St Peter’s with monthly BCP Eucharist
Wednesdays evenings: Prayer and Praise monthly.
Sundays:
St Mary’s – 8am Eucharist, 10.30am Eucharist (All Age monthly), 6.30pm Evensong
St Andrew’s – 11am Eucharist (style varies from Order 1 to Iona to Healing Eucharist to All Age).
Bi-monthly Service of the Word.
St Peter’s – 9.15am Eucharist. 8am Monthly BCP Eucharist. All Age Eucharist monthly.
Nursing homes – at present we offer services in nursing homes 3 times a month, and carol singing takes place in many of the homes at Christmas time.
Occasional Offices
Funerals – Approximately 70-80 funerals per year, over half at Havant Crematorium, others mainly at St Mary’s, St Peter’s.
Weddings – 25- 30 weddings per year, mainly at St Mary’s and St Peter’s with very occasional services at St Andrew’s.
Baptisms – 25 in 2017, Mainly at St Mary’s and St Peter’s, mainly through the summer months.

Poppy Cascade launch, October 2018

Ministers
Our Priest in Charge, Revd Dr Jenny Gaffin, is supported by two Readers in Training and an able circle of retired lay and ordained ministers, as well as a whole army of lay volunteers who participate in pastoral care and worship. Between us we visit care homes, participate in the life of the local schools, and are actively developing links with other community organisations including the RNLI.
Vicarage
The Associate Priest’s Vicarage is at 29 Selsmore Road. It is an attractive, purpose-built property with four bedrooms, well maintained with a substantial garden.
Role of the 0.5 Associate Priest
The Associate Priest will assist the Priest in Charge in overseeing the ministry of the parishes, taking an appropriate share of Sunday and weekday services including baptisms, weddings and funerals, and helping to ensure the provision of appropriate pastoral ministry. The Associate Priest will be required to deputise for the Priest in Charge and their particular focus will be to help the Priest in Charge oversee and develop mission projects across the three parishes. There is genuine scope for the Associate to be creative and use their own gifts and interests in developing mission.
We seek a priest who will complement the skills and experience of the Priest in Charge, and who will:
be a person of prayer, who relates easily and pastorally to a wide range of people – someone resilient who will share in our joys and sorrows with empathy, good humour and confidence.
Be an integrated person whose personal and professional experience will help to move us forward.
help nurture the younger generation whilst loving and understanding the older generation.
delight in the diversity of our congregations, thriving on the variety of our worship and of our people.
be willing to immerse themselves in island life, and learn and grow with us.
have experience of oversight and leadership in ministry so as to be able to support and deputise for the Priest in Charge, and to use own initiative when taking a lead particularly in relation to mission.
bring energy, intelligence and good communication skills to the role.
Be IT literate and administratively competent, with a clear understanding of Church of England systems and structures.
In turn we can offer you:
a warm Hayling welcome, in a loving and supportive community.
a beautiful and vibrant place to live.
scope for both creativity and tradition in ministry and the freedom to develop your own interests.
We ask you please to be aware that owing to weddings, baptisms and socials, we will often call upon you to work on Saturdays. We are happy to negotiate other working days.
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If you feel you are called to serve among us, we look forward to meeting you!
Please feel free to contact Revd Jenny Gaffin, Priest in Charge, informally for a chat—02393 070178.

Girls’ Brigade on residential

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