the parish church of st giles, aintree...st giles, aintree, liverpool page 1 parish profile 2017 our...

The Parish Church of

St Giles, Aintree within the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool

ParishProfile2017

StGiles,Aintree,Liverpool ParishProfile

Ournewpriest

StGiles,Aintree,Liverpool ParishProfile2017

Contents

OurNextPriest........................................................................................1

OurChurchToday...................................................................................4

OurServices............................................................................................7

OurSupportingClergy...........................................................................10

OurCongregationandOfficers.............................................................11

TheVicarage..........................................................................................13

TheStGilesCentre................................................................................14

AboutAintree........................................................................................17

FacilitiesinAintree................................................................................19

GettingAbout........................................................................................21

StGiles,Aintree,Liverpool Page1 ParishProfile2017

OurNextPriestAtStGileswehaveaclear,butchallenging,agendaoverthecomingyears.Inparticular,ourvisionrequiresthatwe:

• reachouttoyoungerfamilieswithintheparish,particularlythosewhohavetheirchildren baptised at St Giles, bringingtheseintothecongregation;

• engage with the wider parishcommunity, including the local schools,tocreateournextgeneration;

• further develop and deliver missionactivities;and,

• encouragegivingtosupportourwork.

Thekeycharacteristicsidentifiedbythecongregation.

Weare, therefore,seeking forapriestwhoisenthusiasticandenergeticwhoiskeentoworkwithustomeetthesechallengesheadon and to grow our church, drive ourmissionandsupportourjourneyinfaith.

Specifically,weare lookingforapriestwhowillideally:

• proclaimthefaithofChristand,throughprayer and teaching, nurture anddevelopour faithandhelpusalong theroadasdisciplesofChrist;

• inspireandempowerourpeople tousetheir gifts in the service of the churchand the community and be a visiblepresenceinandaroundtheparish;

• be a person of spiritual inspiration andvisionforthefutureofStGiles;

• lead our worship, thoughtfully drawingon Scripture and the rich tradition ofAnglicanLiturgy;


• serve and lead us with understandingand compassion and will value thesacramentallifeaswedo;

• be a strong, experienced, energeticleader with a passion for worship andmission;

• encouragefurtherinvolvementofyoungfamiliesinchurchlife;

• be someone who will uphold theposition of our Church as the centre ofthe local community, continuing itstraditions and providing care and well-beingforall;

• beabletocommunicatewithyoungandoldalike;

• be a person who loves and mixes wellwith people and who has a sense ofhumour;

• behappytoco-operatewithchurchesofotherdenominations;and,

• value the place ofmusic as part of ourworship.

In return, St Giles hasmuch to offer to anincoming priest. This profile describesmany aspects of the church and the parishbut more important is our commitment tothe pastoral care and personal andprofessionaldevelopmentofourpriest.

Aswellasbeingacommittedandengagingteamthatwillsharetheload,thepressures,andthehighandthelowswithourpriestwestrongly believe that our priest must havethe time and space to relax, recharge andrefocus. To this extent we believe that isimportantthatourpriest:-

• ensuresthattheytaketheirdayoffeachweek;

• fully utilises their annual leaveentitlement;and,

• attendsanannualretreat.

In addition, we believe that the personaland professional growth of our priest isimportant.Weseesupportingpersonaland


careerdevelopment,andgrowthinfaith,aspart of our responsibility as a good“employer” but also see that it bringsbenefits to us through the tenure of theincumbent.Tothisend,westrivetoprovidean annual budget of £1,000 towards thepersonal and professional development ofour priest which can be expended uponapprovalbythePCC.


OurChurchTodayStGilesChurchandtheStGilesCentrehavebeen completely refurbished over the past15 years. This has been financed by asubstantial legacy, grants from the BigLottery, Living Spaces regular income andgenerous donations from the congregationandwidercommunity.

Mostrecently,areasofthechurchbuilding’sroofwere replaced to prevent leakage anddamage,bothofwhichhadbeensufferedinrecenttimes.

Whilethebuildingswillrequireonlyroutinemaintenance in the immediate future thereisan immediateneedtoundertakeamajorprojecttocompletelyresurfacethecarpark.Anexpensiveproject,wehaveworkedhardtoraisethefundsrequiredandhopetohavetheworkscompletedbylatesummer.

TheChurchbuildingitselfcontainsTheLadyChapel, aGodlyPlayRoom, theVestry, theSt Peter chapel, a “kids’ corner”, an officeandadisabledtoilet.

The Lady Chapel is where our week dayservicesareheld. Havinghadthenewroofinstalled, the Lady Chapel has had a newceiling,newlightingandhasbeenrepainted.

It is awonderful roomwhere small groupscanmeettogetherandworship.

OurserversandSundayschoolchildrenatChristmas

The Godly Play Room has become ameetingplaceforvariousgroups.Ithasalsobeen visited by a number of organisationswhohaveused it as inspiration to remodeltheirownfacilities.


The main use has been for the Sundayschool. Itwasoutofuse for some timeasthechildrencoming toStGileswere ratheryoung;howeverrecentlytheSundayschoolhasre-started.

For those children who do not go to theSundayschool,orindeedbeforetheygo,wehaveakids’corneratthebackoftheChurchwhichhasBible story picturebooks, paper,crayonsandarangeoftoys.StGilesChurchhasbeenawardedtheChildFriendlyAwardbut a greater endorsement of ourcommitment to the children is the obviousenjoymentthattheyhaveattheChurchandthe way in which the congregation havetakenthemtotheirhearts.

StPeter’sChapelwascreatedinJune2005,when the former Baptistry at St Giles wasconvertedintoanewchapeldedicatedtoStPeterinremembranceofourmotherchurchwhichusedtobelocatedatChurchAvenue,WarbeckMoor.

Within the chapel are the ropes to ourchurchbells.StGilesisunusualforchurches

built in more recent times, in that it isequippedwitha‘carillon’or‘chime’ofeightbells rather than the single bell that manymoremodernchurchestendtohave.

OurorganwasbuiltbyHenryWillis&SonsLtd.attheirLiverpoolWorksandwehavearegular organist who plays at the ParishEucharist and several other services. He isalso available to play at weddings andfunerals.

Situated just behind St Giles Church is ourtranquil Garden of Rest. It is a place ofpeaceandsilencewheretheashesof lovedonescanbeinterred.

Thegardeniswellmaintainedandcaredforandoffersafittingsettingforafinalrestingplace.

Our church celebrates diversity and iscommitted to equality, ensuring that allcomers receive a warm welcome in afriendlyandaccessibleenvironment.


Inparticular:

• Disabled access is provided forworshippers with easy access to thechurchanddisabledtoiletfacilities.

• Babychangingfacilitiesareavailableforthosewithyoungchildren.

• Ahearingloopisprovidedforthosewithhearingdisabilities.

• Largeprint service andhymnbooks areavailableforthosewithsightproblems


OurServicesOurmainservicesare:-

• Sundayo 8.30amSaidEucharisto 10.30amSungParishEucharist

• Wednesdayo 10.00amSaidEucharist

• Fridayo 10.00amSaidEucharist

After our Sunday morning servicerefreshments are served so thecongregation can share “coffee andconversation”. There is also a coffeemorningaftertheWednesdayservice,inthesmall hall, which is organised by theWomen’sFellowship.

Our congregation worship in the modernCatholic tradition. Our focus is Eucharisticandvestmentsarealwaysworn.AtpresentourhymnbookisHymnsOldandNew.

Wehaveaservingteamofadultsandyoungpeople and members of the congregationreadthelessonsandleadtheIntercessions.

We acknowledge, however, that there areother views and approaches andwewouldwelcomeapplicationsfrompriestsfromanytraditionwithin theChurchofEnglandwithavisionfortheparish.

Baptisms at St Giles take place during ourParish Eucharist and are, typically, on thefirst Sunday of the month. Over the pastfour years we have seen an increase inbaptismswith,onaverage,onepermonth.

Oneofourfamiliescelebratingthebaptismoftheirdaughter


There are relatively few weddings at StGiles,2-3peryear,butthereisanincreasingcall for funerals in church as well as forpresenceatcremationservices.

AtStGiles,wehaveanumberoftraditions,including:-

• An Easter children’s event includingcrafts,gamesandabouncycastle.

• Lights of Love, where people make adonationtowardsaChristmastreelight,andwriteabriefmessageinmemoryofadepartedlovedonewhichisplacedononeofourChristmastrees.

• Carols by Candlelight, a very popularservice that brings in a wide crosssectionofthelocalcommunity–notjustournormalcongregation.

• A Christingle and Nativity Service forthechildrenoftheparish.

• The Christmas Tree Festival, whereapproximately 30 local businesses andcommunitygroupsdecoratetreeswhich

remain on display throughout theChristmasperiod.Lastyear, for the firsttime, we successfully engaged withAintree Racecourse who, rather thandecorating a tree, allowedus todisplaytheir Grand National themed 6ft duckandalsoallowedustorunacompetitionto name it. Captain Beaky was thechosen name and the winner receivedtwo£100tickets fortheGrandNationalfromtheracecourseasaprize.

CaptainBeaky,onloanfromAintreeRacecourse,inChurchlastyear.


• Our Christmas Concert, which for thepast several years has featured SarahChidlow,apastMerseysideSingeroftheYear,whosingsavarietyof“songsfromthe shows” and festive favourites towhatisalwaysapackedhouse.

SarahChidlowperformstoapackedchurchsurroundedbythetreesofourChristmastreefestival

We have also approached AintreeDavenhillwiththeprospectoftheirchoiralsoperformingattheeventnextyear.

• Our Christmas Fayre, incorporating avariety of stalls selling gifts, cakes, andjamsetc.plusagrottowhichhasavisitfromFatherChristmas.

SantaandhishelpersatourChristmasFayre


OurSupportingClergyAt StGileswe areblessed tobe supportedby two members of the clergy who havechosen to make our church their place ofworship.Theyhavebecomeverymuchpartof our lives, providing cover for our priest,and we are keen that they continue tosupport our worship when our new priestarrives.

ReverendSueSmith

Rev Sue is a retiredparishpriest,previouslyhaving served in twoparishes in theLiverpooldioceseandalarge parish in

Manchester. Originally from SouthYorkshire, she moved to the south ofEngland with her husband Roddy and wasordainedinOxfordin1997.

Looking for a church to settle in after herretirement last year, they found thewelcomeatSt.Gilesirresistibleand,keento

contribute to our worship, we have beengratefultoherforherleadingserviceswhilewehavebeenwithoutanincumbent.

MotherRowenaPailingMother Rowena isDirector of PastoralStudiesattheCollegeofthe Resurrection,Mirfield, but is with usduring her vacations

from College. She is originally fromBirmingham, and was ordained there in2003.

Her husband, Fr Crispin, is Rector ofLiverpool,andtheylivejustsouthofthecitycentre.


OurCongregationandOfficersThere are approximately 80 people on theElectoralRollandtherearealsoanumberofregularattendeeswhoarenotontherole.

The congregation averages in the region of65 on Sundays (15 at the early morningserviceand50atthemainParishEucharist),18 atWednesday’s celebrationof EucharistandsixonFridays.

OurcongregationreleaseballoonslastPentecost–twooftheballoonswerelaterfoundinOxfordshire.

Our congregation is not representative ofthe parish demographic, with a significantbias towards the more senior members.Indicatively,thebreakdowniscirca:

70years+ - 60% 30–69years - 20% coupleswithchildren - 20%

There are two Church Wardens, HazelDickinsonandTonyCobain,whohavebothbeen in post for three years. There is aVerger, Richard Lavery, and Parish Clerk,DorothyCharnock.

There are a team of sides persons and ofEucharistic Ministers; the latter who havebeen licensed to administer the Chalice atservicesand,anumberofwhom,takeHolyCommuniontothesickandhousebound.

In addition to this there are a number ofindividualswho,thoughtheyhavenoformalrole, are heavily involved in preparing forservices.


There is a Church Treasurer and assistantwholookafterouraccounts.

Ourcongregationisalsoactivelyinvolvedintheupkeepof thechurch includingagroupofmen,whomwerefertoasour“GSquad”,whousetheirtalentstohelpcutthecoststothe church by doing much of themaintenance and many of the repairsthemselvesratherthanemployingothers. TheG-Squadhardatwork

ThereisalsoagroupofladieswhodecoratetheChurchwithflowers,withtheirdisplaysregularlypraisedbyvisitors.


TheVicarageThe brick built vicarage dates from the1960sand isagoodsized, family,detachedhome,well-secludedbehindthechurchwithitsowndrive.

Upstairs, there are four good sizedbedrooms and one small one. The masterbedroomhasasmallwalk-inshowerbuiltin,and three of the other bedrooms have ahandbasin in them,with twoof themalsohaving built-in wardrobes. The bathroomand toilet are separate rooms and thebathroomhasanover-the-bathshower.

Downstairs, the large, well-fitted kitchenleads into a reasonably-sized utility room,comprisingasinkwithsingledrainingboard,plus plumbing for a washing machine andtumble dryer. There are two receptionrooms,onetothefrontandoneoverlookingthebackgarden.

A hallway, cloakroom and toilet completethe personal area of the vicaragedownstairs.

The small entrance hall between the frontdoor and inner door leads into the good-sizedstudywhichfacesthechurch.

TheStGilesvicarage

The rear garden is large, but fairly lowmaintenancebeingmostlylawnandshrubs.It backs onto the canal and overlooksAintree Racecourse and this creates abeautifulvistafromthemasterbedroom.

The Vicarage has recently had new outerdoors, privacy fencing and CCTV fitted.


TheStGilesCentreThe St Giles Centre is a sizeable multi-purposecomplexwithin thegroundsof theChurch which is run by volunteers fromwithinthecongregation.

We are constantly working to improve thefacilities and the Main Hall and Small Hallhave recently been upgraded and aredecoratedonanannualbasis.

TheMainHall has an excellent dance floorwith mirror ball and disco lights, andcurtained stage facilities with separatedressingroomandtoilet.

AbbatributeactABBAALERTperformingataSocialCommitteeeventinthehall.

TheSmallHallisacompletelyself-containedunitandistheidealvenueforsmallerfamilyoccasionssuchasBaptismpartiesorFuneralluncheons.Thisvenue isalsowell suited toseminarsorsmallergroupmeetings.

A licensedbar isavailable inbothhallsandalldrinksaresoldatclubprices.

In addition to these facilities, a dedicatedandself-containedareaof thecentre is thehome to the privately-owned Bumbles DayNursery, with whom we have a long-termleaseagreement.

The main hall is, from Monday to Friday,home to the Old Roan Play Group, withwhomwearecurrentlynegotiatingalicenceagreement.

Thereisalsoincomefromavarietyofothergroupswhouseourfacilitiesincluding,

Adanceschool;

Streetdancingclasses;


FootballTots;

Alocalguitargroup;

TheAintreeWineSociety;and,

OurSocialCommittee

These provide an annual income ofapproximately£40,000.

In addition to these regular bookings therecan be private bookings for events such aschildren’sparties,baptismcelebrationsandweddingreceptions.

Aswellasbeinghiredout,StGilesCentreismuch used by church groups andorganisations including; bingo, darts,Helping Hands, short mat indoor bowls,Women’s Fellowship, coffee mornings, the“G”Squadetc.

OnthesecondFridayofeachmonththereisa lunchwheremembers of the church andothers can meet together and sharefellowship over a simple lunch, the profitsgoingtowardschurchfunds.

Indoorbowlsinthemainhall.

Three times a year there is a Parish Lunch.This is a three course lunch following aSunday service; these are usually held atEpiphany, Easter and Harvest. Again anyprofitsmadegotochurchfunds. Themainaimoftheselunches,however,isfellowshipandfriendship,notprofit.

The Social Committee arranges a variety ofevents including quizzes, and dance/musicnights in the Church Hall, as well as the


monthlyhomemadecakesalesafterchurchonSundaymornings.

There is alsoa social clubwhichprovidesabar for thechurchsocialevents, forgroupsusing the centre and for private bookings(acting within the Licensing Laws and ClubRules).AllmoniesraisedafterthepaymentofrunningexpensesgoestothePCC.

The Social Club is a members’ club and assuch does not require a licensee, the fiveclubofficials being responsible for ensuringtheLicensingLawsareobserved. TheVicaris,byclub rule, theClubPresidentandoneoftheofficers.

Profits from the social club are donated tothe PCC, these being on average around£9,000pa.

St Giles Centre is also used for localelections and the local doctors’ surgery,Aintree Park Group Practice, has used thecentreasavenuefortheannual‘flujabs.

One of the great advantages of St GilesCentre is our large car park which isavailable to everyone using St Giles Centreandwhile this isneedofmajor repairs, thecongregationhaveworkedhardtoraisetherequiredfundsanditistobecompletelyre-laidlaterthisyear.


AboutAintreeAintree is a village and civil parish in theMetropolitan Borough of Sefton,Merseyside. It lies between Walton andMaghull on the A59 road, about 6.5 miles(10.5 km) north of Liverpool city centre, inNorthWestEngland.

Aintree Village was first documented as'Ayntre', meaning 'one tree’ or 'treestanding alone’, in a charter of CockersandAbbeywrittenabout1200AD. It remaineda small village until the late 19th centurywhen industrialisation brought with itpopulation.

Thevillagenowconsistsofmainlypostwarhouses; there are some 3,500 homes,mainly privately owned with little socialhousing, and a population in the region of8,000. The population of Aintree has anaverageageof36,youngerthanmostareasin the vicinity, though it also has asignificantlyhigherthanaveragepopulation

of pensionable age residents compared totheLiverpoolcityregion.

Employmentisatapproximately94%,higherthantheaverageacrossthecityregionwitha diversity of industrial, commercial,financialandpublic/healthsectoremployerslocallyandacrosstheNorthWest.

Memorialtotheoriginal"Ayntre"


Aintree has been the home of the GrandNational, an internationally renownedhorserace, since 1839. Each April some150,000 racegoersvisit thecourseover thethree days of the festival while 10 millionpeoplewatchthebigraceonthetelevision.

The course also includes a motor racingcircuit, which has hosted the British GrandPrix and is now home to local car andmotorcycle racing clubs, a nine hole golfcourseandagolfdrivingrange.

TheparishisalsowithinthreemilesofbothEverton and Liverpool football clubs,stalwarts of the Premier League, with a

number of cricket and rugby clubs withineasyreach.

TheLeeds-LiverpoolCanal,whichlastyearcelebrated its 200th anniversary, runsthrough the heart of the village and isdirectlyat the rearof theStGiles’ vicaragegarden.

LocationoftheparishofAintree

TheGrandNational–approachingtheworld-famousBecher’sBrook


FacilitiesinAintreeThevillagehastwoprimaryschools,bothofwhich perform significantly higher thannationalaverages.AintreeDavenhillPrimarySchoolisaLocalAuthorityschoolwhichhasapproximately 500 pupils andwas rated as“good” by OFSTED during its latestinspection. It has recently undergone amajor building programme to create amodernplace forchildren to learn. Ithasalargefieldwhichisusedforsportsofvariouskindsandwhichhoststheschoolfayresandanannual“partyinthepark”.

HRHTheCountessofWessexattheopeningoftherebuiltAintreeDavenhill

Holy Rosary, the local Roman Catholicprimary school, has approximately 450pupilsandwasratedas“outstanding”atitslatestOFSTEDinspection. Itwasasplit-siteschool until 2008 but after substantialbuildingwork the schoolmoved on to onesite. The school has a large field, used forevents such as their sports day, and an all-weathersportspitch.

Local secondary schools are located inMaghull,approximately2½milesaway.Thethree schools, Deyes High School, MaghullHigh School and Maricourt Catholic HighSchool each perform at, or above, nationalaverages.

There are three further education collegesandthreeuniversitieswithin10miles.

In addition to St Giles, there are anotherfourchurcheswithintheparish;HolyRosary(Roman Catholic), Old Roan MethodistChurch, Old Roan Baptist Church, andAintree Village Family Church (a Baptist


church, meeting at Old Roan MethodistChurchHall).

Inaddition,theLiverpoolPrayerFellowship,a Malayalam Pentecostal Christian Church,meet in the St Giles Centre each Sundaymorning.

There are three small local shopping areas;on Altway, at the Old Roan and inHomestead Avenue, and there is a largeretail park on Ormskirk Road which hasbrought a significant number ofmajor out-of-townretailerstothearea.

There are three public houses, the BlueAnchor (which backs onto the Leeds andLiverpoolCanal),theValentine,namedaftera fence on the racecourse, and The Oldy,named after the original Old Roan publichousewhichclosedseveralyearsago.

Those wishing to eat out are served by arange of independent Chinese, Indian, andItalian restaurants as well as many of thelargechainestablishments.

HealthcareiswellprovidedforlocallywithaGP practice,with recently rebuilt premises,withinthevillageandthereareanumberofhospitalswithineasyreachincluding:

• AintreeUniversityHospital,withoneorthe largest accident and emergencydepartmentsinEurope;

• the world-renownedWalton Centre forNeurologyandNeurosciences;and,

• Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, thebiggest dedicated children’s hospital inEurope.

HerMajestyTheQueenopeningthenewAlderHeyChildren’sHospital


GettingaboutThemain road from Liverpool to Aintree istheA59-knownasOrmskirkRoad.TheM57andM58meettheA59,andA5036atSwitchIsland, between Aintree and Maghull,providing easy access to the major localconurbations and the national motorwaynetwork.

There are regular bus services through thevillage;abusevery30minutestoLiverpoolrunsthroughthevillage,whilevariousotherroutes to Liverpool and destinations to thenorth - including Maghull, Ormskirk, andSouthport-stopneartheOldRoan.Thereisalso a regular bus service to AintreeUniversityHospitalevery30minutes.

TheOldRoan station is on theMerseyRailNorthern Line andprovidesquick access tostations across the Mersey Rail network.JourneytimefromtheOldRoantoLiverpoolCityCentreisonly18minutes.

Liverpool is also serviced by John LennonAirport, located in Speke about 15 milesaway,andisonly45milesfromManchesterAirport.

YokoOnoarrivingatLiverpoolJohnLennonAirport

In addition, ferries to the Isle of Man andBelfastdockwithin10milesofAintreeandthere are, of course, the world famousMersey Ferries which travel betweenLiverpoolandWirral.

StGileswithStPeter,AintreeLane,Aintree,Liverpool

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