Benefice of Didcot All Saints’ (All Saints’ Church, Ladygrove Church and
Great Western Park Church)
Priest-in-Charge for All Saints’ Church
&
Bishop’s Advisor for Didcot Garden Town
Parish Profile 2019
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Contents
Welcome to Didcot All Saints’ Church ________________________________3
Foreword by the Bishop ___________________________________________4
Introduction and Overview _________________________________________5
Where are we now? ______________________________________________7
Our strengths and our weaknesses __________________________________9
Our new Priest-in-Charge _________________________________________ 11
Support we can offer ____________________________________________ 13
Deanery and Diocesan perspectives ________________________________ 15
The Rectory and Church Hall ______________________________________ 17
Appendices
Appendix 1: Draft Role Description ________________________________ 19
Appendix 2: The Churches of our Benefice _________________________ 22
Appendix 3: Benefice finance ____________________________________ 26
Appendix 4: Town information ___________________________________ 28
Appendix 5: The Didcot area ____________________________________ 29
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Welcome to
Didcot All Saints’ Church
Open to God
Open to Everyone
Open to Change
Thank you for looking at our parish
profile.
We are the historic Anglican Church in
Didcot, a growing town with
designated Garden Town status,
situated in the south of Oxfordshire.
We are looking for a Priest-in-Charge,
who can share and inspire our daily
Christian life, as well as help develop
and execute a plan for renewal and
growth within the parish. We are also
seeking someone who can serve as
the Bishop’s Advisor, to help the
Diocese determine the Church of
England response to the growing town
of Didcot, as a whole.
If this is the kind of challenge you are
seeking to step up to, read on – our
prayers are with you.
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Foreword by the Bishop of Dorchester
17th December 2018
Along with other Oxfordshire towns like Bicester and Banbury, Didcot is growing very
rapidly at present and there is a huge challenge, and opportunity, as the churches of the
town seek to respond to this highly significant growth. The benefice of All Saints, with its
two parishes of All Saints and of Ladygrove, is in a key position to work with colleagues in
responding to these opportunities and the post of Priest-in-Charge combined with Bishop’s
Advisor is a demanding and exciting one.
I will leave you to discover more both about the spiritual life that already exists in the town
and its neighbouring villages, and through our ecumenical colleagues, by reading the
pages of this profile but one of the things it perhaps underestimates is the wonderful way
the town and its churches have responded to times of tragedy in recent years. For
instance, their response to the deaths at the power station was quite remarkable. But let
me say too, a few more words about the post of Bishop’s Advisor for the Didcot Garden
Town.
The Garden Town was designated just over three years ago and the area it covers
includes a substantial number of different civic and ecclesiastical areas. Large new
housing areas are being built that cut across all sorts of parochial and other boundaries.
In recent years both an LEP and another church plant have been established in different
parts of the town and I would expect the Priest-in-Charge of All Saints to be establishing
relationships with the developers, councillors, planners, ecumenical colleagues and others
to think strategically about the best ways to respond communally and spiritually to the
challenges being presented to us whether or not they were ‘Bishop’s Advisor’.
However by designating the new Parish Priest as my Advisor, and without in any way
usurping the authority and process of the local parishes and deanery, I am asking for
someone to take the time to develop these relationships and to foster the strategic thinking
that is needed about the best ways to move forward.
This is something, together with the Archdeacon, the Area Dean and Lay Chair and other
senior colleagues, I greatly look forward to sharing in and I shall continue to give it a high
priority in my own thinking as well.
My prayer is that it may excite you as much as it does me.
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Introduction and overview
Didcot All Saints’ Benefice is large and diverse, with two centres of worship:
All Saints' Church
Didcot Ladygrove Church
In addition, it has legal and financial responsibility for Great Western Park (GWP) Church,
in a housing area currently spread across four parishes (with which it shares responsibility
for the cure of souls).
We are seeking an individual to take on the ministry of Didcot All Saints’ Church, as Priest-
in-Charge, and to take the lead role in our faith journey in the benefice as a whole, to
shape the future of our churches. Additionally, a significant aspect of this incumbency will
be to fulfil the role of Bishop’s Advisor, a vital element in the continuing growth of the
Anglican faith population in the town and its environs.
This introduction and overview aims to help you understand this Benefice in the context of
our expanding town and its designated ‘Garden Town’ status. We hope that it will inspire
you to want to learn more about us.
Our Deanery
The Deanery of Wallingford is one of eleven deaneries in the Archdeaconry of Dorchester
(see page 17). The area is predominantly rural, with Wallingford and Didcot being the only
towns. The Deanery is home to one of the most significant science communities in the
United Kingdom with notable UK space, medical and research facilities, including the
European Space Agency, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and Diamond Light Source.
Our Benefice
The benefice comprises three congregations:
Didcot All Saints
Didcot Ladygrove, a Local Ecumenical Partnership (LEP) with the Baptist Church of
Great Britain. Although an LEP in its own parish, the Ladygrove Church is currently led
by a sole Anglican Minister.
There is also a new church plant, situated on the Great Western Park housing
development, which forms part of our parish and is administered by our PCC, but also
includes parts of three other parishes. Great Western Park Church is led by a New
Communities Missioner, who is also an assistant priest at All Saints’. The church on
GWP operates out of the University Technical College (UTC). The New Communities
Missioner is supported by a support group chaired by the Bishop of Dorchester with
Deanery representatives and clergy from the four parishes.
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Our sister Anglican Church in the town is St Peter’s, a church of a more catholic tradition,
currently with Rev. Hannah Reynolds as incumbent. With the headquarters of the Baptist
Union and Baptist Mission Society (BMS) based in Didcot, the Baptists are well
represented with two churches as well as the LEP. There are also Methodist, Roman
Catholic and Brethren Churches, as well as several community and Pentecostal churches.
Our Worship and Services
Across the three congregations, different Anglican service styles are offered. Every
Sunday, there is at least one service in each church and a weekday Eucharist is offered in
All Saints’ every Tuesday. In addition to the Priest-in-Charge, there is an existing Ministry
Team (see page 13) and lay members who help lead the services. Our core services at All
Saints’ are Holy Communion (Common Worship), at both 8am and 10am. We also offer
midweek Eucharist (or Morning Prayer, during the interregnum). We nurture our
congregation with activities such as monthly Quiet Space and two different Fellowship
groups. We offer a Sunday School at our main (10am) service, although we have
struggled to attract families to populate it recently – one of the challenges facing our new
Priest-in-Charge.
All Saints’ Church
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Where are we now?
Didcot began life as a small Berkshire village and remained so for centuries. Growth was
spurred around the time of the First World War owing to its nexus in the rail network, and
became a base for munitions stores for the Army and RAF. Good road and rail links,
together with high-tech industry and scientific research, continue to drive the growth of the
town.
All Saints’ Church (a Grade 2* listed building) is a small, medieval parish church building
and the only ancient church in the town – our Parish Patron is Brasenose College, Oxford.
Our church can hold approximately 120 people and has been extended many times over
the centuries, most recently in the early 1980s when a kitchen, a toilet and a larger vestry
were added. To the north west of the church is the All Saints’ Youth & Community Hall,
which was opened in April 2012 (see p19 for further details).
Didcot All Saints’ Benefice and St. Peter's operate together as a Group Ministry (currently,
in name only); they serve the rapidly-growing town, as shown in the diagram below:
Didcot All Saints’ and St Peter’s parish have a common working arrangement in place, to
accommodate the fact that part of St Peter’s parish, is served by GWP Church.
Didcot Group Ministry
Didcot All Saints' Benefice
Didcot All Saints Parish
Great Western Park Church
Parish of Didcot Ladygrove
St Peter's Parish
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As the Parish of Didcot All Saints’ we are a warm, friendly and active community of people
who care about each other and the people of the town.
Known as a welcoming church, our
doors are open to newcomers from all
walks of life, to all of our services and
activities. Our services are liturgically
focused and our clergy and choir wear
vestments and robes. We welcome
Christians of all traditions and those
with no church background at all.
We aspire to be outward looking, showing practical concern for the marginalised: our
congregation has residents from HFT (a national charity providing services for people with
learning disabilities) and we support substantial pastoral activities to our local care homes
and hospital.
The four focus areas of our Mission Action Plan are:
Worship, prayer and faith development
Mission and outreach
Sustaining the work of the church
Maintenance and development of the church buildings and environment
Each year, we commit 10% of our
income to a range of national and
international charities, with a particular
focus on one local charity, TRAIN, that
works with young people in the town.
We are building on our visibility in the area by growing existing links in the community from
involvement in local events, the creation of Prayer Spaces in Schools and use of the
Diocesan labyrinth by the congregation, local schools and the general community.
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Our strengths and
weaknesses
Each congregation in the benefice has conducted a classic SWOT analysis:
All Saints’ Parish
Strengths
Established ancient church, the only traditional church building in the town
A committed ‘core’ congregation
Welcoming congregation
Many of the congregation involved in other local organisations, exerting Christian influence
A strong and committed choir, led by talented music director, which contributes extensively to the wider life of the church
Active fellowship groups
Weaknesses
Physical 'invisibility' of the church within the town
An ageing congregation
Many of the congregation involved in other local organisations, reducing their availability to contribute to the practical life of All Saints’
Opportunities
Rapid growth within the town, bringing new talent into our congregation
Photogenic ‘established ancient church‘ – good for weddings
Default ‘Civic Church’ for the town
Outreach through users of the Youth and Community Hall
Threats
Many pensioners of limited incomes
High maintenance costs of an established ancient church
Lack of younger people and families
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Ladygrove Parish
Strengths
Parents/carers & toddler groups
Messy Church
Monthly shared lunches
Kitchen Table – 20-30’s meetings
Our ecumenical nature and 'Come as you are' attitude
Weaknesses
'Invisibility' within the town
Lack of own building
Lack of engagement by members as a whole body rather than separate subgroups
Very transient parish and community
Opportunities
North and East Didcot Development with 2,000+ further houses
Invitation by developers for church to manage the new community facility when built (in 2022-23?)
Becoming a training parish
Our recognition of our need to grow
Threats
Increasing demands of life on members
Implications of our reducing income
Ladygrove Church
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Great Western Park (GWP) Church
Strengths
GWP weekly service, meeting in a college café; relaxed, informal ‘church’ welcoming everyone
Everybody encouraged to play their part and to contribute to the service
Monthly shared breakfast
Weekly House Groups
Monthly Pizza & Prayer evening
Strong links with the local community – weekly Community Café, seasonal community outreach celebration
Weekly Holy Communion service at Williams Place retirement village
Men of GWP meeting informally each month
Activities’ Week - a week-long programme of fun family activities for all the community
Incarnational ministry; working out our faith where we are
Weaknesses
Lack of a building; although this can also be seen as liberating – ‘a church without walls’
A growing church but infrastructure to underpin this is ‘thin’
Growing sense of stewardship but not yet financially viable
Opportunities
Growing population comfortable hearing Good News
Building relationships and trust; being involved in and bringing Christian influence to the wider community.
Extending God’s Kingdom on GWP
Children & Families’ Worker – to build links between community and church
Further housing development of 4,300 homes in Valley Park adjacent to GWP
Threats
Being too busy; finding more time to listen to what God is saying to us
Trying to do too much too soon
Self-reliance; we need always to act in faith
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Our new Priest-in-Charge
We are looking for the 'right' person to lead us forward, so creating a prescriptive list of
qualities feels as if it would undermine the work of the Holy Spirit in the process.
However, it's only fair that potential applicants understand the qualities that we value.
Essential
A person of prayer whose personality reflects their relationship with God
Someone for whom pastoral care comes naturally
Someone committed to outreach and mission
A 'people person', capable of making members of all stratas of society feel at ease in
their presence
Someone who can embrace a wide range of liturgies
A teacher who will nourish spirituality and discipleship amongst the congregation
Substantial experience of driving through change and improvement
An experienced strategist capable of seeing the big picture and identifying new
directions
Collaborative and ecumenical
A sense of humour
Someone with plenty of energy and enthusiasm
Desirable
A strong administrator capable of managing the many strands of the church's life
Someone with experience of the challenges presented by medieval church buildings
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In addition to possessing the qualities above, we expect our new Priest-in-Charge to hold
the following responsibilities in creative tension:
a) Priest-in-Charge
To exercise the cure of souls shared with the Bishop in this Benefice in collaboration
with colleagues
To serve as senior colleague to the clergy in the Benefice
To work collaboratively with the Church Wardens, PCC and other lay members of the
church in the life of the parish
b) Bishop’s Advisor
To hold, on behalf of the Deanery and the Bishop, the brief of oversight of the changing
face and nature of the designated Didcot Garden Town. This will involve:
o Engagement with those planning the future of the town
o Working with fellow Anglican and other denominational clergy and leaders in
developing and promoting joint missional and ministerial initiatives
The post will have a Support Group, whose members will include representation from
the Deanery, the Bishop’s Team, the Department of Mission and the civic authority
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Support we can offer
The Benefice Team
There are three established posts – the current vacancy, an associate minister who is
responsible for the Ladygrove Church and an associate minister responsible for the Great
Western Park Church. The Ladygrove post is held by a former Church Army Evangelist,
Rev. Hugh Boorman. Hugh is ex-officio Governor at All Saints’ CE School and Chair of the
Ladygrove Community Centre Management Committee. For 2018/19, he is also unofficial
Chaplain to the Mayor of Didcot. The Associate Minister for GWP Church is Rev. Mark
Bodeker. Mark is also a Foundation Governor and Chair of the UTC, Trustee of the GWP
Sports Association and member of the Deanery Standing Committee.
We also have a Licensed Lay Minister (Reader), Nick Hards, while Stuart Roberts is
Emeritus Reader, together with substantial other lay involvement. Tim Scane is an ‘LLM in
Training’ and is due to be licensed in 2019.
We are also grateful for the support from clergy around the town in particular, and the
Deanery and Archdeaconry as a whole. We are also fortunate to have the support of a
number of retired clergy both within the town and from the surrounding area.
The Parish Pastoral Care Team who visit the sick and the elderly. They also take
communion to those who are unable to attend church and to those in our local care homes
and hospital.
All Saints’ PCC consists of the Priest-in-Charge, the associate priest for GWP, the
licensed lay minister, two churchwardens and 10 committee members, plus three Deanery
Synod representatives. The PCC and the Standing Committee both meet six times a year,
while our Annual Parochial Church Meeting is held in April.
For the year of 2017, income for the All Saints’ parish was approximately £75k, in
comparison to expenditure of £72k. There was also an in-year legacy of £19k. Further
information may be found in Appendix 4. The PCC holds a number of Restricted Funds
valued at approximately £11k and Unrestricted Funds valued at £40k. There is also a
residual legacy, administered by the Priest-in-Charge and Church Wardens, of £31k.
For 2017, the benefice met its Parish Share of £95k, shared equally between the two
parishes. Didcot All Saints’ signed up to the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) at the beginning
of the year and most planned giving is now received by this route. In 2017, there were 29
baptisms, 11 marriages and 15 funerals at All Saints’ Church.
Employed staff
The All Saints PCC employs two staff: the Parish Administrator (23.5 hours a week:
divided between All Saints’ [5 hours], GWP [6 hours] and the Community Hall [12.5 hours])
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and a cleaner for the Youth & Community Hall. GWP has a vacancy for a Children &
Families’ Worker (10 hours a week, initially).
Enthusiastic volunteers
Among our congregation, we have teams of volunteers covering various activities:
Bell ringing team
Choir, Music Director and Organists
Church cleaning
Churchyard working party (see picture below!)
Driving the elderly to church
Flower arranging
Fundraising events
Intercessors and lesson readers
Servers
Serving refreshments after services
Social events
Sunday school leaders and helpers
Welcomers
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Deanery and Diocesan
perspectives
Our Diocese
The Diocese of Oxford is the Church of England in Oxfordshire, Berkshire,
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.
Together, we are the Church, called and sent by God as disciples of Jesus Christ and filled
with the Holy Spirit. We are a living, growing network of more than a thousand
congregations, chaplaincies and schools.
Together, we are called to be more Christ-like: to be the Church of the Beatitudes:
contemplative, compassionate and courageous for the sake of God’s world.
Together, we work with God and with others for the common good in every place in one of
the great crossroads of the world.
Together, we are called to proclaim the Christian faith afresh in this generation with joy
and hope and love.
Together, we are called to dream dreams and see visions of what could be, and see those
visions come to birth. [Taken from the Flourishing in Ministry Booklet.]
The common vison focal areas currently are:
Making a bigger difference in the world and serving the poor
Growing new churches and new congregations
Serving every school
Putting discipleship at the heart of our common life
Sharing faith and growing the church
Celebrating and blessing Milton Keynes
Children and young people
The Reverend Charles Chadwick - Parish Development Advisor
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Our Deanery
All Saints’ Benefice forms a substantial part of the Wallingford Deanery. This Deanery is
one of eleven Deaneries in the Archdeaconry of Dorchester which covers most of the
county of Oxfordshire, apart from the City of Oxford itself. There are 16 parishes, with
twenty churches in our Deanery, arranged in eight Benefices with eight stipendiary clergy,
one stipendiary New Communities Missioner and one house for duty priest. As with most
parts of Oxfordshire the whole area is seeing the development of significant areas of new
housing. This is particularly marked in Didcot and the Deanery recognises as a priority
both the challenges and opportunities which this brings.
The Deanery Synod meets three times a year, usually a few days after the Diocesan synod meetings. The Clergy Chapter meets about 10 times a year. Most of these meetings include an element of business; sometimes there is a speaker but an important function of the Chapter is the provision of mutual support. In 2019, the Chapter is thinking particularly about the various chaplaincies in which we are involved. Over the last 18 months, the Synod has been evolving a Mission Action Plan (MAP) and we have identified the development of the following areas as our key priorities:
Ministry to children, young people & families Outreach to new & settled communities Appropriate patterns of worship Ministry in the Greater Didcot Garden Town area, both financially & structurally
In common with Deaneries throughout the Diocese, the Deanery Synod also has a
designated role of allocating parish share to the Benefices and of allocating a small annual
grant from the Diocese to assist mission projects across the Deanery.
The Deanery Synod is co-chaired by the Lay Chairman (Gordon Gill) and the Area Dean
(the Revd. David Rice), who also have a number of responsibilities across the Deanery,
including carrying out inspections of churches on a triennial cycle.
The Revd. David Rice (Area Dean) Gordon Gill (Lay chair)
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The Rectory
This is a modern 4-bedroom detached house immediately adjacent to All Saints' church.
The property offers generous living accommodation, with a sitting room, dining room and
two additional downstairs rooms which could be offices or playroom. There is an en-suite
to the master bedroom. There is also a family-sized rear garden and ample car parking at
the front for several cars.
The Diocese has undertaken substantial work on the Rectory to ensure it meets the latest
standards for clergy accommodation and it is not anticipated that any more modifications
will be necessary during the current interregnum.
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All Saints’ Youth &
Community Hall (ASYCH)
A spacious and multifunctional building, All Saints Youth & Community Hall was opened in
2012 to replace a smaller, old and deteriorating prefabricated building, that was eventually
only used by the uniformed organisations. Now an essential community facility, even at 7
years old it remains a huge untapped opportunity for the church to impact the population of
Didcot.
The new building was deliberately designed to be environmentally-friendly with plenty of
natural light, rainwater harvesting and heated using a ground source heat pump to supply
hot water to the underfloor heating. It comprises:
main hall (11m x 7m) which can hold 76 users seated around tables, with large
storage cupboards for regular users
meeting room which can hold up to 24, fewer when seated around tables
kitchen with oven and hob, stocked with 80 sets of crockery, cutlery and glassware,
plus a serving hatch to the meeting room
large storage room for the uniformed organisations
smaller meeting room seating 7 in easy chairs
Parish Office where our administrator works and contains an up-to-date colour
copier/printer, for hall and church use
Password-protected Wifi is available for hirers throughout the building.
Construction funding came from amongst others, South Oxfordshire District Council’s
Capital Grants scheme and landfill tax grants, but the biggest single sum was a legacy
from a parishioner.
The building is hired by both regular and one-off users. The Administrator is constantly
challenged to minimise the regular user waiting list and maximise the booked hours.
Repeat users are as diverse as Thames Valley Police, U3A, Age UK exercise classes, a
writers group, a toddler dance group, Pilates and yoga groups, rape victim counselling, a
legal advice clinic, martial arts classes, Scouts & Guides. Examples of one-off bookings
are birthday parties, post-baptism family gatherings, job interviews and training, show
rehearsals and baby showers.
The management committee have a policy of biannual redecoration for the areas subject
to the most wear, in order to keep a fresh and clean appearance and to maintain the hall’s
appeal.
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Annual booking income for 2017-18 was about £32,000 and the 2018-19 budget is slightly
higher. Although the facility is not run for profit, the management committee aims to
maintain a substantial reserve, as significant maintenance bills are expected in the next
few years.
Website
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Appendix 1: Draft Role Description
Details of post
Role title: Priest-in-Charge, Didcot All Saints
Type of Role: Full time stipendiary
Benefice: Didcot All Saints’
Episcopal area: Dorchester: Bishop – Colin Fletcher
Deanery: Wallingford; Area Dean – David Rice
Archdeaconry: Dorchester; Arch Deacon – Judy French
Conditions of Service:
Please refer to Statements of Particulars document issued in conjunction with this role
description (after appointment).
Key contact for Clergy Terms of Service:
Archdeacon of Dorchester. This role falls within the Clergy Terms of Service formally
known as Common Tenure. The Archdeacon of Dorchester is the designated person by
the Bishop of Oxford to issue the Statement of Particulars for the post holder.
Accountability:
Priests share with the Bishop in the oversight of the church. Whilst, as an office holder, the
individual is expected to lead and prioritise work in line with the purpose of the role, they
are encouraged to inform the Archdeacon and Churchwardens about any issues
exceptional or otherwise that have the potential to affect ongoing delivery of ministry.
Additional responsibility:
Bishop’s Advisor on mission to the designated Didcot Garden Town (see below).
Wider Context
The Diocese is working on its Common Vision to become a more Christ-like church for the
sake of God’s world. Its core values are being Contemplative, Compassionate and
Courageous.
We want all our priests to flourish in ministry and to deepen their enjoyment of God.
Role purpose and key responsibilities
General:
A. To exercise the cure of souls shared with the Bishop in this Benefice in collaboration
with colleagues, including the praying of the Daily Office, the administration of the
sacraments and preaching
B. To have regard to the calling and responsibilities of the clergy (as described in the
Canons, the Ordinal, the Code of Professional Conduct for the Clergy) and other relevant
legislation including:
Bringing the grace and truth of Christ to this generation and making him known to those
in your care
Instructing the parishioners in the Christian faith
Preparing candidates for confirmation
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Diligently visiting the parishioners of the benefice, particularly those who are sick and
infirm
Providing spiritual counsel and advice
Consulting with the parochial church council on matters of general concern and
importance to the benefice
Bringing the needs of the world before God in intercession
Calling your hearers to repentance and declaring in Christ’s name the absolution and
forgiveness of their sins
Blessing people in God’s name
Preparing people for their death
Discerning and fostering the gifts of all God’s people
Being faithful in prayer, expectant and watchful for the signs of God’s presence, as he
reveals his kingdom among us
C. To share in the wider work of the deanery and diocese as appropriate, for the building
up of the whole Body of Christ.
Key responsibilities specific to the local situation:
As outlined in Parish Profile. The key responsibilities listed there will be supported by long
and short term objectives to be agreed between the post holder and the Archdeacon and
Churchwardens after appointment.
Other responsibilities:
Participate in the Bishop’s Ministerial Development Review scheme and engage in
Continuing Ministerial Development
Carry out any other duties and responsibilities as required in line with the benefice
needs
Take care for their wellbeing including health and safety and building a good repertoire
of spiritual and psychological strategies
Benefice summary
Benefice: Didcot All Saints’
Patrons: Brasenose College
Churchwardens: Alastair Adams, Brenda Andrews, Pat Clay, Charlton Hoadley
Other ministers: see page 14
Parish Safeguarding Officer: Eleanor Hards.
Benefice paid staff: Parish Administrator, Cleaner, Children and Families Worker (GWP
vacancy)
Buildings: All Saints’ Church
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BISHOP’S ADVISOR ON MISSION TO THE DESIGNATED DIDCOT GARDEN TOWN
This role recognises the important strategic location of All Saints’ parish close to the
heart of the Designated Garden Town, an area served by a complex combination of
parish, town and district councils, as well as the County Council.
The South Oxfordshire District Council website states that, “Didcot was first
designated as a growth area in 1979 and has been developing ever since. In 2015,
the town was awarded Garden Town status by the government to help plan for the
expected 16,000 homes due to be built over the next 20 to 25 years." The town's
population increased from 15,000 in 1981 to over 30,000 residents by 2016. As
shown in the graphic below, taken from p. 288 of the Didcot Garden Town Delivery
Plan of October 2017 : http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/business/support-
business/supporting-our-town-centres/didcot/didcot-garden-town-0 , by 2031 the
expected population of the area designated as Didcot Garden Town will be 62,000.
It is acknowledged both locally and by the Area Bishop and Archdeacon, that for the
Anglican church to make the best use of the potential that this very significant
population growth offers, there needs to be a designated member of the clergy to
hold, on behalf of the deanery and the bishop, the brief of oversight of the changing
face and nature of the Designated Didcot Garden Town. This will involve:
o Engagement with those planning the future of the town
o Working with fellow Anglican and other denominational clergy and leaders in
developing and promoting joint missional and ministerial initiatives
The post will have a Support Group, whose members will include representation
from the Deanery, the Bishop’s Team, the Department of Mission and the civic
authority. It is anticipated that this group will meet three times a year.
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Appendix 2: The Churches of our Benefice
Established in the 12th century, the benefice of Didcot All Saints was enlarged in the
1990s, to include the then 'new' Ladygrove development, which itself became a
Conventional District in December 2008. In 2015, the benefice grew again, this time to the
west, to include most of the new Great Western Park development. Following a review in
2017, the benefice was expanded and divided into 2 parishes: the Parish of Didcot All
Saints' (which includes GWP Church) and the Parish of Didcot Ladygrove (which will
include the North East Didcot expansion, currently underway).
Key:
Parish boundaries
Garden Town boundary
‘Area of influence’
Didcot Garden Town and Parish Boundaries
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Didcot All Saints
We are a very welcoming congregation, blessed to be able to meet in a beautiful Church
building which has origins back to approximately 1170 AD. We have a wide age range in
our congregation but predominantly in the 50-80 years cohort, and are caring and
supportive both within our church family and within the community of Didcot. Our parish
roll is 98, with approximately 60 regular congregants on a Sunday.
Prayerfully, we value all of our congregation and are inclusive, striving to be true to God's
word in His worship and in our own lives. We celebrate weekly Eucharist at 8am and 10am
on Sundays, together with a weekday Eucharist on Tuesday mornings. We run a Sunday
School which meets at the same time as the main (10am) service. We are supported by a
very able and enthusiastic choir, which is led by a talented music director and
accompanied by a well-maintained Compton organ. The choir supports our main services,
as well as concerts and special Christmas and Easter services. It is also often requested
for weddings and funerals.
We offer a monthly Quiet Space and occasional times for contemplation, such as the Good
Friday 'Hour at the Foot of the Cross'. We have benefitted from running Emmaus courses,
Communion preparation classes, marriage preparation sessions and service for specific
festivals, such All Souls’ and our patronal All Saints’ services: we actively support
admitting children to communion and have run preparation classes for this jointly between
the Sunday School and the Priest-in-Charge. We also have an active Healing Ministry,
which not only supports our congregation but also embraces the local care homes and
Hospital, with the provision of weekly 'Communion by Extension'. We have a good
relationship with the Vauxhall barracks (home of 11 Explosive Ordinance Disposal and
Search Regiment) which is on our doorstep, and host their annual Remembrance and
Carol Services.
Socially we have organised events such as Harvest Suppers, quizzes, Burns’ Night
Suppers and Good Friday frugal meals. We also have a Fellowship Group, Knitters and
Natters, and Young at Heart (a fellowship group for the older members of our
congregation), as well as a bell ringing team and an enthusiastic churchyard working party,
which is fortunate as the churchyard is extensive and requires considerable maintenance.
We are whole-hearted supporters of the 'Prayer Spaces in Schools' (PSiS) initiative,
organised under the auspices of Churches Together in Didcot and District (CTDD). These
events usually last a week and are organised in both primary and secondary schools
around the town and surrounding villages: Typically we support between 3 and 6 such
events every year.
For the future, we would like to expand our faith development courses, building on our
positive experience with Emmaus courses.
Website
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Ladygrove Church
The church is an Anglican/Baptist Local Ecumenical Partnership which has sought to
develop an atmosphere of 'come as you are', drawing people from a variety of
understandings of faith and life. We hold a monthly communion which alternates between
Anglican and Baptist liturgy. The other services are simply morning worship which draw
from both traditions. We have children’s groups except when we hold our monthly 'worship
all together' services. We also hold Messy Church once a month on a Saturday afternoon
which draws about fifty people, many of whom have no other connection with Church.
We run a parents/carers and toddler group two mornings a week. Not having a building
and with a lack of community space in the parish, most other activities (Emmaus, prayer
meetings, committee meetings, youth group, etc.) take place in the minister’s or other
members’ homes.
The church has a membership roll of 64 and average church attendance is about 60
including children and young people. 40% of the membership live outside the parish.
Preparation work has been initiated on North East Didcot Development which will create a
further 2,020 homes. It is expected that the first house will be completed by the beginning
of 2019. The Diocese plans to move the minister’s home to the development as soon as a
suitable house is built and the minister intends to use the home as a community meeting
place until the community facility is built. In addition, a further 700 houses are expected to
be built in the area defined as Ladygrove East with an outline planning application about to
be submitted.
Administratively Ladygrove Church is fully autonomous, with its own PCC. All the church’s
income comes from the giving of our congregation. We receive no fees and have no
means of fundraising. So far we have always paid our parish share. However, due to a
number of people moving out of the area or moving to other churches in the town, in 2018
we had a deficit of just over £10K and had to draw from our limited reserves.
Great Western Park Church
We are a lively church based in the new housing development to the west of Didcot.
Initiated in 2016, with the desire to serve this new community and to share our faith, we
now meet weekly in the UTC Café. Great Western Park Church is loosely described as a
‘Fresh Expression’ of church, growing organically out of local needs. We are open and
welcoming, focussing on hospitality. We welcome many young families and children and
have grown from an original core of just 8 adults to around 40 adults and children
worshipping regularly together. We are a charismatic, evangelical church open to the Holy
Spirit. We want to hear what is on His heart and to this end encourage prophetic ministry.
We exist to make Jesus known and to do this by serving and supporting our community for
the benefit of everyone.
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Our Small Groups meet on a weekday evening for bible study, prayer, coffee and
company. We also meet monthly to pray as a church, recognising this as foundational for
believers and the growth of our church.
The Community Café, open each Thursday from 10am – 12noon at the GWP Northern
Community Centre, brings people together for coffee, tea and homemade cakes. Run
entirely by volunteers, we seek to provide a place away from busy lives to chat and catch
up. We are child friendly, offering lots of things for little people to do and providing soft-play
on the first week of each month.
Recognising the age diversity in the new estate in GWP, we have recently started a
weekly service of Holy Communion in a retirement complex, Williams Place, administering
to their needs and as outreach work for the elderly.
Men of Great Western Park, meets every fourth Tuesday at 7.30pm for a drink and a chat.
This usually includes food and normally meeting at the Station Garden Grill on GWP.
Working with Schools and Colleges: Our volunteers lead assemblies, read with students,
run Prayer Spaces and support the endeavours of schools to make them the best possible
places to learn.
We run many community events each year from single events such as an Easter
Celebration on Easter Saturday to a week-long programme of activities in the school
holidays – Activities’ Week in Great Western Park. These are put on entirely for the benefit
of our community, enabling us to get to know each other and have fun.
Recognising the need to engage more deeply/build relationships with residents of GWP,
we are seeking to employ a part time Children and Families’ Worker.
Administratively GWP Church is overseen by the umbrella of the PCC of Didcot All Saints,
although it operates its own leadership team. The GWP development, as a whole,
currently overlaps 4 parishes and 2 District Councils.
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Appendix 3: Benefice finance
Full accounts for the 2017 financial year are available on request.
£53,275.23£24,785.36
£10,370.00
£160.56£5,463.21
All Saints' PCC Income 2017
Regular Income from Donors One Off Donations & Legacies Fees
Income from investments Other income
£58,587.14
£88.69
£6,598.44
£6,624.52
All Saints' PCC Expenditure 2017
Running Costs Fund Raising Expenses Church administration Grants
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The financial position for Ladygrove Church is shown below:
Ladygrove Parish is fully autonomous and operates its own PCC and finances.
Ladygrove Church Committee Income 2017
Regular giving Income
Income form Investment
One Off Donations
Fees
Other Income
Ladygrove Church Committee Expenditure 2017
Parish Share
Running Costs
Church Administration
Grants
£3,205.01
£63,590.19
£65.12
£0.00
£0.00
£45,650.86
£12,426.98 £1,319.88
£10,056.02
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Appendix 4: Town information
Schools
Primary
All Saints’ C of E (Aided) School
Aureus Primary School
Gems Didcot Primary Academy
Ladygrove Park Primary School
Manor School Didcot Academy Trust
Northbourne C of E School
Stephen Freeman Community Primary School
Willowcroft Community School
Secondary
Aureus Secondary School
Didcot Girls’ School
St Birinus School (a boys' school)
UTC Oxfordshire
Town and local authorities, and local services
Didcot Town Council
South Oxfordshire District Council
Oxfordshire County Council
Didcot First
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Appendix 5: The Didcot area
Didcot lies at a strategic road and rail junction in the south of Oxfordshire with easy access
to Oxford, Reading, Birmingham, Bristol and London: by train it is only 45 minutes to
London and 15 minutes to Oxford and Reading. These excellent links ensure a high rate of
employment and there are many commuters amongst its present population. This
population will increase with the completion of the GWP housing estate and possibly up to
60,000 in the next twenty years with the adjacent development of Valley Park. Current
plans indicate that the housing will cover three adjacent parishes, as well as All Saints'.
Ladygrove Parish is a 1990’s estate on the north side of Didcot, separated from the rest of
the town (and churches) by the railway.
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In 2015, Didcot was designated a 'Garden Town', the area bounded by the inner boundary
on the map below. Potentially its 'area of influence' is far wider, encompassing the Science
Parks around the town along with the neighbouring villages. There is scepticism locally
about the timeframe for implementation.
The continued growth of the town of Didcot and of the surrounding villages and business
areas will impact significantly on the Benefice and the role of the new Priest-in-Charge as
Bishop’s Advisor.
Social Geography
Didcot is at the centre of Oxfordshire's Science Vale with the Harwell Campus (home to
the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and Diamond Light Source) and the Culham site
(home to the JET nuclear fusion experiment) all close by. Milton Park lies between Didcot
and the A34, housing many national courier/distribution companies and spin off companies
from Oxford University and the other nearby science centres.
The majority of Didcot’s housing is post-war and owner occupied, with around 15% social
housing. The town has a small community hospital, several care homes and sheltered
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housing facilities. We also have a thriving new shopping centre which includes a cinema,
arts centre, restaurants and cafés. There are also two leisure centres and easy access to
the countryside via paths and Sustrans cycle routes.
The Government updated its geographical deprivation figures for Oxfordshire in 2015 and
these can be found here:
This aggregates multiple measures of deprivation and uses the data to rank an area
between 1 and 10, where '1' denotes the most deprived 10% (decile) of areas across
England and Wales and '10' denotes the least deprived 10%. Obviously the area
boundaries used by the government areas do not coincide with Parish Boundaries, but
using some approximation the conclusions are as follows:
• All Saints' Parish is a mixture of 3rd and 8th deciles.
• Ladygrove Parish is a mixture of the 9th and 10th deciles
• Great Western Park was built too recently for the 2015 data to be valid, but the
demographics are probably of lower socio economic groupings with one third of the
estate social housing
