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Rector of the Parish of Keighley
Vacancy Reference cofe/TP/4482/7823
Number of Positions:
1
Contract Type:
Office Holder
Salary/Stipend:
£31093 - £31093
Location:
Keighley
Closing Date:
05/01/2025
Vacancy Category:
Clergy
Business Unit:
Diocese of Leeds
Organizational Unit:
Benefice
Introduction
We are looking to recruit an experienced clergy person to lead this new parish confidently; to embed its shared identity, vision and strategy and to build the senior staff team as well as lay leadership and discipleship to reach the whole town.
Keighley is one of the post-industrial northern towns where many people are working hard to imagine and identify a new future. High levels of deprivation characterise much of the town (the parish is in the top 5% most deprived nationally), as well as the social problems often associated with deprivation. There are many ways that the churches stand alongside the residents of Keighley and work hard for the common good, while offering the gospel and God’s love to the town. The church is also a welcome ‘player’ in both the town’s civic space and its interfaith relations.
The parish has a population of over 44,000 and now includes four parish churches: the town centre church of St Andrew’s, St Mark’s Utley, St Barnabas Thwaites Brow and (from 1 November 2024) St John’s Ingrow (with the associated building of St Michael’s Brackenbank). The Parish of Keighley was formed in 2016 with the merger of four former parishes. In 2019, the PCC accepted the challenge and invitation of being designated as a Resourcing Parish, which brought Strategic Development Funding (SDF) to add resource to the parish and increase investment in some areas of ministry.
The stipendiary clergy team comprises the Rector and three Team Vicars (two of whom have half-stipend roles in the team). Each of them holds portfolio responsibilities for different aspects of mission and ministry in the town, while also requiring them to work collaboratively with colleagues as part of a cohesive and mutually supportive senior staff team. The clergy operate in each of the churches, but each congregation has a member of the clergy who is their primary contact. Additionally, there is a self-supporting priest, a stipendiary curate, two active retired clergy, a licensed lay minister, four part-time Mission Apprentices and seven other lay staff.
From the Episcopal Area’s perspective, we see the following goals for the new Team Rector:
- To ensure the new parish’s identity, vision and strategy is widely understood and owned, building confidence and a sense of belonging to the parish as a whole;
- To lead the senior staff team, ensuring it is cohesive and mutually supportive with shared vision and values, and each member plays to their respective strengths.
- To strengthen lay discipleship, with new lay leaders being identified and developed;
- In the light of SDF support ending, to ensure mission initiatives are focused (“do less, and do it better”) on agreed priorities, such as:
- mission and ministry in and from the Town Centre;
- reaching out to the estates;
- children, youth and families.
- To develop St Andrew’s as the parish’s flagship, building up its congregation and supporting Project Beacon to make the building fit for purpose and an asset for town centre ministry;
- To ensure the parish has a good “menu” of ministry and worship which can engage with the diversity of the town.