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THE PARISH OF ST AGNES & ST PANCRAS

TOXTETH PARK

LIVERPOOL

PARISH PROFILE

2017

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CONTENTS

Introduction

1. Spiritual Life

1.1 Weekday services

1.2 Sunday services

Parish Mass

Evensong and Benediction

1.3 Seasonal services

1.4 Women’s ministry

2. Environment

2.1 Geography

2.2 Congregation

2.3 External relations

3. Church Activities and Organizations

3.1 Governance

3.2 Finance

3.3 Social Activities

3.4 Music and Choir

3.5 Servers

3.6 Sunday School

3.7 Friends of St Agnes

3.8 Catholic Societies

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3.9 Ministry to Asylum Seekers, and Foodbank

3.10 Walsingham

4. Buildings

4.1 Church

4.2 Church restoration project

4.3 Church hall

4.4 Vicarage

5. Other Christian communities sharing the church

5.1 Ethiopian Orthodox Parish of St Tekklehaymanot

5.2 Coptic Orthodox Church

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Introduction

St Agnes’s is an Anglo-Catholic parish, which passed the resolution seeking

alternative episcopal sacramental and pastoral ministry in October 2015. This

ministry is provided by the Right Reverend Glyn Webster, the Bishop of

Beverley, who is an Assistant Bishop in the diocese of Liverpool. It is a Society

parish.

The parish is situated in the southern suburbs of Liverpool, about a mile and a

half from the city centre. The parish has a broad social and ethnic mix, which is

reflected in the make up of the congregation.

The church building is Grade 1 listed, and is part way through a major

programme of renovation, funded largely with a grant from the Heritage Lottery

Fund. It is expected that actual work on site will commence in January or

February 2017. There is a project manager.

The hall and the vicarage are on the same site. The former is Grade 2 listed, and

the vicarage Grade 2*.

Following the retirement of Canon Cook the Parish of St Agnes and St Pancras

seeks a priest who will be:

A pastor of the traditionalist integrity, committed to teaching the

orthodox catholic faith

Rooted in prayer and the sacraments, and maintain the daily Mass

Able to communicate with a wide variety of ages, ethnicities and social

background

Supportive of the church’s musical tradition. Ideally he should be able to

sing the liturgy, but this is not absolutely necessary.

Tenacious enough to carry through the restoration of the church building

to completion.

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1. Spiritual Life Throughout its 131 year history the parish has been firmly within the Anglo-

Catholic tradition.

Mass (or a Eucharistic Service in the absence of a priest) is celebrated

regularly during the week, normally on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays

and Saturdays.

There is one Sunday celebration, the 10am Solemn Mass, and in the

evening at 6-30pm there is Evensong and Benediction. A Sunday School

meets during the Parish Mass.

There are solemn celebrations on Holy Days of Obligation and major

Solemnities, and each day of Holy Week. There is also Stations of the

Cross weekly during Lent, and daily in Holy Week.

Confessions are by appointment, except on Ash Wednesday and during

Holy Week, when definite times are advertised.

There is an annual pilgrimage to Walsingham each year in June.

Normally about a dozen people go on this.

The parish regularly hosts local and regional events of the various

Catholic societies, such as the Society of Mary, Confraternity of the

Blessed Sacrament and the Society of the Holy Cross.

The PCC passed the Resolution seeking alternative episcopal pastoral and

sacramental ministry in October 2015.

1.1 Weekday Services

Missa Normativa (revised, corrected version) is used.

Mass is celebrated in the Lady Chapel, at 10am on Tuesday and Saturday,

and at 12 noon on Wednesday and Friday.

Attendance is not good, but there are invariably four or five people

present at the Friday Mass. The custom has been that when the Parish

Priest is away the only weekday Mass will be the Friday one.

Confessions are by appointment.

1.2 Sunday Services

1.2.1 The Parish Mass

The Parish Mass at 10am is a solemn celebration of the Missa Normativa,

following the latest corrected version. It is a westward facing celebration,

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using the nave altar, though there a four occasions during the year when

the High Altar is used, Epiphany Sunday, the Assumption (nearest

Sunday), Christ the King and the Patronal Feast of St Pancras (nearest

Sunday). Whenever possible the Masses at the High Altar are High

Masses with three sacred ministers.

Two hymnals are used: the New English Hymnal and the Celebration

Hymn for Everyone.

Musically we alternate between congregational and choral settings of the

Mass.

Members of the congregation read the first two readings and prepare and

lead the Intercessions.

Psalmody is mostly responsorial.

Two of the Eucharistic Ministers normally administer the chalice.

Communicant numbers average 45-50.

A Sunday School meets in parallel in the Church Hall. It joins the adult

congregation at the beginning of Mass and for the Liturgy of the

Eucharist.

Baptisms can take place, as and when requested, at the Parish Mass, but

sometimes it is more appropriate to held the baptism separately,

immediately after Mass, at noon, or later in the afternoon.

About three times a year the Parish Mass includes the Ministry of

Healing, with Laying on of Hands and Anointing. Lay members of the

congregation normally perform the former.

Refreshments are served in the Church Hall after the Sunday Mass.

1.2.2 Evensong and Benediction

Evensong and Benediction take place every Sunday evening at 6-30pm,

except when there is no priest. The service is entirely sung, with

plainsong used for the canticles and psalms. There is no musical

accompaniment. Numbers attending are very small.

Three or four times a year there is fully Choral Evensong and

Benediction, with settings of the responses, psalms and canticles and an

anthem. Attendances average 22, including choir and servers. On these

occasions the custom has in the past been for the parish priest to host a

reception in the vicarage after the service.

The Book of Common Prayer Order for Evening Prayer is used, and the

Common Lectionary.

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1.3 Seasonal Services

There is a Solemn Sung celebration of Mass on St Agnes’s Day (21st

January), Ash Wednesday, each day of Holy Week and All Soul. In

recent years Epiphany, Candlemas, St George, the Ascension, Corpus

Christi, St Pancras, the Assumption have all been transferred to the

nearest Sunday.

A Carol Service is held at 6-30pm on Advent IV. At the Parish Mass on

Advent IV the crib is built.

1.4 Women’s Ministry

The Parish is supportive of women’s ministry in the Church. Women

serve as servers, as Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist, and in the

choir.

The Parish had previously passed Resolutions A, B and C. In October

2015 the PCC passed a Resolution unanimously (except for one

abstention) asking the Diocesan Bishop for alternative episcopal

sacramental and pastoral ministry.

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2 Environment

2.1 Geography

The parish is situated in the south of Liverpool, about one and a half

miles from the City Centre. It is a designated UPA.

It has a population of 5,500, comprising a wide variety of social and

ethnic backgrounds.

The housing stock is mostly privately owned. To the south of the parish,

close to the church and on the edge of Sefton Park, is a number of high

rise tower blocks.

The parish is bisected by the A562, Smithdown Road, one of the major

arterial routes into the city.

o The southern part, around the church, consists mostly of late

Victorian/Edwardian villas, whose value has increased as a result

of the city’s increased prosperity over the last fifteen years. There

is one Care Home, on Ullet Road.

o The northern part consists of smaller terraced houses of the same

period, where there is a high concentration of students and

members of the various ethnic communities. Until 1937 this area

was served by a daughter church dedicated to St Pancras.

2.2 Congregation

St Agnes’s is an inclusive church and the make up of the congregation reflects

the diversity of the community it serves. It contains:

A wide variety of social backgrounds and occupations

A good spread of age ranges, with none being predominant

A sizeable membership of Afro-Caribbean origin

A mixture of church backgrounds. Some former Roman Catholics have

made it their home.

A large eclectic element; because of the smallness of the parish, only

about 20% of the Electoral Roll membership of 68 reside within its

boundaries. The eclectic members include both Anglo-Catholics from

parishes whose catholic tradition has been lost, and people from middle

of the road backgrounds who are attracted by the church’s lively but

dignified worship and spirituality.

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2.3 External Relations

St Agnes’s is part of the Toxteth and Wavertree Deanery. Pastoral

reorganisation within the Deanery resulted in the suspension of the living

in 1998, but this was restored in 2007 . The diocesan strategy had been to

merge the living with that of St Margaret of Antioch, Toxteth, a non-

contiguous parish with a distinguished catholic past up until the late

1990s. That plan has been abandoned, and the church provides now a

base for university chaplaincy.

The living is under the patronage of St Chad’s College, Durham.

St Agnes’s enjoys a strong relationship with the other traditionalist

Catholic parishes in the city and in the wider diocese, through support of

one another’s patronal festivals and collaboration in events promoted by

the Catholic societies. The clergy from these Resolution parishes meet

together regularly and have been helpful in providing cover during the

current interregnum.

There is one other church in the parish, the RC Church of St Clare, with

whom the parish has cordial relations. We each send the other parish

flowers on our respective patronal feasts. The parish priest is Fr Aidan

Prescott. There is a Unitarian chapel further along Ullet Road.

There is one school within the parish, St Hilda’s Church of England High

School. Traditionally it was a girls’ school, but they have recently started

admitting boys. There is a female chaplain, but every year the head of

Religious Studies arranges for all the forms in a particular year to visit the

church. St Agnes’s also maintains a presence in the wider community

through its Facebook page and its website at www.stagnes.org.uk.

We plan to enable the development of new congregations, especially

supporting the proposal for a new evening congregation led by Fr Richard

Peers.

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3 Church Activities and Organizations

3.1 Governance

St Agnes’s enjoys the services of two experienced Churchwardens, both

of whom are committed to the maintenance of the Catholic tradition of

the parish.

They are supported in this by a PCC of similar mind-set. There are about

a dozen members, and they meet normally four times a year.

Additionally a Standing Committee, consisting of the Wardens, Parish

Secretary and Treasurer, meets in advance of each PCC meeting to assist

the Parish Priest in setting the agenda for the meeting. There meetings are

usually preceded by Mass in the Lady Chapel.

3.2 Finance

* The church has an annual unrestricted income of around £40,000, of

which £35,000 comes from regular giving by parishioners, including

income tax recoveries. Social events bring in a further £1,000, and the

remainder of the income is from donations, sale of votive candles,

donations for the use of the hall, and similar.

* The expenses have exceeded that income over the past year by around

£1,000. The Diocesan Share accounts for over a third of the total

expenses. Insurance of church and hall costs around £8,000, and the

organ, choir and music cost around £4,500. About £2,000 is spent on altar

supplies, and the balance on general running costs, including clergy

expenses.

* The church has two endowed funds, one for the upkeep of the garden,

and one for support of the clergy, with less than £5,000 capital between

them, and producing less than £150 of income.

* Clergy travelling expenses are paid at the standard rate (currently 45p

per mile), and other expenses are paid in full in accordance with normal

practice.

* The diocesan quota of around £18,000 has been met in full.

* A copy of the 2015 Accounts is attached at Appendix A.

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3.3 Social Activities

The Social Committee was originally established to provide catering for

St Agnes’s Day and other major church events. It also organises Parish

excursions and raffles.

Each year a Cheese Tasting evening is held, which draws people in from

the surrounding area and generates income. This was initiated and has

been organised and run by two parishioners who run the Liverpool

Cheese Company

Each October or November an Autumn Fayre is held.

In the past the Social Committee has also organised themed parties in the

church hall (eg: Dickensian Christmas). These generated substantial

income and were also effective in building links to the wider community.

3.4 Music and Choir

St Agnes’s has throughout its history enjoyed a strong musical tradition:

There is a mixed voice adult choir, currently of ten singers. The choir is

rehearsed and conducted by a stipendiary Director of Music, who plans

and administers all music for the liturgy

There are various relief organists, who are rostered by the director of

Music and paid on a per service basis.

The repertoire includes

o Appropriate anthems, motets and occasional items for all seasons

and feasts of the Church’s year

o Ten mass settings, a mix of congregational and choral, including

plainsong

o Ten settings of the Evensong canticles.

3.5 Servers

There is an MC who supervises the team of five servers. In his absence a former

churchwarden and MC, who has moved away from Liverpool, returns and

assists.

3.6 Sunday School

A Sunday School meets in the church hall during the Parish Mass on

Sunday

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It is staffed by several adult members of the church, mostly parents of the

children, who meet together regularly to plan activities. CRB clearance is

held.

The children are present at the start of Mass and for the Liturgy of the

Eucharist.

Each session consists of opening prayers, a bible story, an activity and

finally closing prayers, after which the children re-join the congregation

in church. The programme is largely based on Forward Teaching.

3.7 Friends of St Agnes

The Friends of St Agnes is an independent charity which exists to fund

purchases for the church which are outside the scope of routine

expenditure.

Its principal source of income is a monthly draw, the 100 Club.

3.8 Catholic Societies

The parish has a branch of the Guild of St Raphael, actively supports the work

of ACS and is closely involved with the Society of Mary and the Confraternity

of the Blessed Sacrament, on occasions hosting meetings.

3.9 Ministry to Asylum Seekers & Foodbank

Over the last few years there has been an active ministry to asylum

seekers, especially those from Iran who have converted or wish to convert

to Christianity. Though some have since moved to London there is still a

good number who continue worshipping at St Agnes’s.

The parish collects produce for the local Foodbank.

3.10 Walsingham

A candle for the parish burns at the Holy House, Walsingham. Every year in

June there is a parish pilgrimage to Walsingham, normally from Monday to

Friday. There are usually about a dozen people who go on this.

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4 Buildings

The Church, church hall and vicarage are all located on the same site.

4.1 Church

The church is a Grade 1 listed building designed by JL Pearson and

consecrated in 1885.

During the previous incumbency one major project was completed, the

complete reroofing of the north nave and transepts. In the last but one

incumbency the east end and apse were reroofed and the church electrics

and lighting were renewed.

The remaining problems, including the reroofing of the south nave and

transepts, are now being addressed. See para 4.2 below.

4.2 Church Restoration Project

We have known since the October 2013 Quinquennnial Inspection that our

church building has some serious structural faults which, if left unremedied,

could cause catastrophic damage and enormous expense. This was

acknowledged officially in 2015 when Historic England added St. Agnes’ to the

Heritage At Risk Register.

We were awarded a “First Round Pass” by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in

September 2015 for £197,800 towards the estimated £303,000 cost of carrying

out the necessary repairs. We are now nine months into a year-long

Development Phase in which we are required to find the remaining funding (at

the time of writing we need about another £6,000), produce full specifications

for the work to be done, secure the necessary permission to carry out the work

and design a programme of “heritage engagement” activities in order to

showcase the HLF’s investment.

The Delivery Phase of the Restoration Project will include the complete re-

roofing of the SW Porch, SW and SE Transepts, the S slope of the Nave and the

S Aisle, the replacement of the life-expired rainwater goods to these sections of

roof, some repairs to high level external masonry including the apex cross and

two buttress tops, repairs to some of the most badly-corroded internal stonework

and repairs to the uneven sections of flooring in the S aisle.

A system will be installed to monitor the structural cracking which is evident

throughout the interior of the church. This is now thought to be caused by the

Caen stone of the interior expanding and contracting at a different rate to the

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brickwork of the exterior, rather than by subsidence as had been previously

thought. Investigations are ongoing, and we now have experienced Structural

Engineer Fred Tandy on board to lead these.

It is likely that the work will start early in 2017 and take six to eight months to

complete. We anticipate that the church will remain open and available for

worship throughout this period but there will be some areas which require

cordoning-off from public use whilst stonework and flooring repairs take place.

The Restoration Project is led and managed by a member of the Parish who has

considerable experience in the care and repair of historic church buildings,

supported by a first-rate team of professionals and volunteers.

4.3 Church Hall

We are extremely fortunate to have a generously-sized Church Hall on the same

site as the Church (and Vicarage). The Hall, a Listed building in its own right,

was added by our Founder Douglas Horsfall in 1887 to the design of the

eminent Architect Norman Shaw and was originally used as a Gymnasium for

the boys of the Parish. It is of brick with a red tiled roof and has a large expanse

of wood-block flooring. It has a kitchen and servery and some storage space;

updated toilet facilities were introduced during the 1990s.

The Hall is well used for both Church activities and community groups, the

latter including such diverse activities as puppy training, Russian dance classes

and yoga. It is also used twice monthly as a place of worship by Liverpool’s

Coptic Christians.

The Hall is in need of repair due to water ingress damage. It is estimated that

some £11,000 is needed for urgent repairs and a further £70,000 for a full

refurbishment and we will be turning our attention towards raising this money

once the repair works to the Church are completed.

4.4 Vicarage

The vicarage is a Grade 2 listed building contemporary with the church

and hall.

It is accessed from a drive which runs past the church garden to the hall

and sacristy/song school entrance to the church.

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The accommodation was built for occupation by a vicar and his curates,

and comprises four substantial ground floor rooms (drawing room, dining

room, study and kitchen), with a number of bedrooms upstairs.

5 Other Christian Communities Sharing the Church

Two other Christian communities use the church, Ethiopian and Egyptian. This

is valued very highly as it brings an elements of richness, diversity and

oecumenism to our church life.

5.1 Ethiopian Orthodox Parish of St Tekklehaymanot

A canonically constituted parish of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, with

its own parish priest and parochial structure, uses St Agnes’s, both the

church and the hall.

The north chamber of the western gallery houses the Holy Tabot, the

consecrated replica of the Ark of the Covenant, which every Ethiopian

Orthodox church has to have. The chamber is kept locked.

The parish holds one Mass a month, on a Saturday morning, and on all

the other weekends they have a non-eucharistic service from ca 12-30pm

on the Sunday.

After all their services they meet socially in the hall, and on Thursday

evenings they use the hall for a choir practice.

5.2 Coptic Orthodox Church

For eight years, right up until Autumn 2016, the Coptic Orthodox Church

in Liverpool met at St Agnes’s for a Mass twice a month. For logistical

reasons they now worship at St Columba’s, Anfield, but this parish

continues to have close and friendly relations with the Copts.

At the moment the Copts are negotiating with the Diocese of Liverpool in

order to obtain a lease on St Paul’s, Stoneycroft.