Table of Worship Activities | Shared Ministry Team | Congregation | Music | Bells & Flowers | Baptism & Confirmation | Weddings and Funerals | Visiting and Pastoral Care | Rest Home Ministry | Outreach and Welcome | Children | Youth | Adults
| Aspect | St. Mary’s | St. Anne’s |
|---|---|---|
| Church Tradition | Central | |
| Services (Average attendance over past 12 months) |
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| Occasional Offices |
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| Lay Involvement | Readers; Lay Pastoral team – baptism visits / confirmation preparation / parish visiting; Intercessors, Lesson Readers and Servers; Children’s Group leaders; Sidespeople; Chalice Assistants; (see also Parish Groups) |
Readers; Lay Pastoral team; Intercessors, Lesson Readers; Sunday club leaders; Sidespeople; Chalice Assistants; (see also Parish Groups) |
| Electoral Roll | 290 (50% resident) | 106 (20% resident) |
| Music | Director of Music: (also Diocesan Music Adviser) & Assistant Director St. Mary’s Choir: (15 Boy&Girl Trebles / 12 ATB) St. Mary’s Singers: (15 strong; mixed SATB) Instrumentalists: (mainly drawn from Choir) for 1st Sunday Family Service and special occasions (eg Christmas / Easter) Hymn Book: Hymns Old & New |
Organist & Choirmaster Choir: 6 SATB (mixed voices) Hymn Book: Hymns Ancient & Modern New Standard and Songs of Fellowship. |
| Parish Groups | PCC (meeting bi-monthly); Standing and other Committees; Flower guild; Bell Ringers; Outreach & Welcome Team; Adult Prayer Group; Children’s Groups (meet during Sunday morning service) |
PCC (meeting bi-monthly); Standing and other Committees; Flower Guild; Bell Ringers; Adult House Groups; Sunday Club for Children (meets during Sunday morning service) |
| Joint Activities |
Rest Home Ministry; Youth Group; Lent/Advent Discussion Groups; Joint Social Club Lunch Club; Harvest Supper; Autumn Fair; Christmas Day Together (for those alone at Christmas); Children’s Christmas Party; Friends of Christmas Day Together monthly lunch |
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| Community Involvement |
Includes: (but see also Joint Activities) Rest Home Ministry; Coffee & Company; Representation on Birmingham13 –community magazine; Moseley C of E School (Priest-in-Charge on Governing Body); School Assembly; Interfaith Group |
Includes: (but see also Joint Activities) Rest Home Ministry; Jumble sale; Vicarage Garden Party; School Assembly; Interfaith Group |
| Communication | Weekly leaflet; St. Mary’s News (bi-monthly); Website |
Weekly pew sheet; The Spire (monthly); Website |
| Diocesan Common Fund | £77,050 | £17,610 |
| External Giving | Various local, national and international causes, incl. Diocesan link with Malawi approx. £7000 (2004) (5% of income) | Ghana, Diocesan link with Malawi (5% of income) |
| Buildings | Vicarage; Curate’s House; Parish Office; Rose Cottage (attached to Church); 3 buildings adjacent to Church – Shops together with 1 flat & 1 studio flat providing rent |
Vicarage; Large Parish Hall with ancillary rooms |
See Who's Who for details of the ministry team.
In addition to the ministry team St Mary’s has a Parish Administrator working four mornings a week (14 hours) in the Parish Office. As well as running the office and preparing the weekly leaflet and service sheets, she also acts as PCC Secretary. She is assisted by Janet Thorne who also helps with St Anne's Matters.
All Sunday and week-day services are taken by members of the Shared Ministry team. The Daily Office Pattern is:
| Day | Morning Prayer | Holy Communion | Evening Prayer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 4:45 p.m. St Mary's | ||
| Tuesday | 9:15 a.m. St Mary's |
4:45 p.m. St Mary's | |
| Wednesday | 9:15 a.m. St Anne's |
4:00 p.m. St Anne's | |
| Thursday | 9:15 a.m. St Anne's |
4:45 p.m. St Anne's | |
| Friday | 7:30 a.m. St Mary's |
4:45 p.m. St Mary's |
The congregation of St. Mary’s is predominantly white but the proportion of members from different ethnic heritages is steadily growing. It includes a number of families with young children as well as retired people.
St. Anne’s congregation is drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds with a number of retired people. Contrary to the Diocesan trend, the age profile of the congregation has reduced over recent years.
The two choirs of St. Mary’s form a lively music tradition, which is an important part of worship. The repertoire of both groups encompasses a wide range from plainchant through Cathedral-style anthems to choruses. Occasional larger scale works are used within worship: in the last year both the Fauré’s “Requiem” and Keiser’s “St. Mark Passion” have appeared, with orchestral accompaniment.
Instrumentalists, drawn mainly from the Robed Choir, play for the monthly Family Worship and for other occasions during the year.
There is a long tradition of choir holidays and training weeks at various Cathedrals and Abbeys around the country. The choirs jointly have twice visited the USA in recent years and the Robed Choir has been invited to be Choir in Residence at Washington National Cathedral for a week in August 2006. There is a long-standing exchange with the Eschersheim Youth Choir from Birmingham’s twin city of Frankfurt.
St. Mary’s 3-manual Henry Jones (1876) organ is of some national historic interest. It was renovated by Nicholson & Co in 1966. It is due for a major overhaul as part of the church’s forthcoming development plans.
St. Anne’s has a loyal four-part Adult Robed Choir. They are led by their own Organist and Choirmaster. St. Anne’s organ is a fine 3-manual Brindley and Foster instrument of 1908, refurbished in 1948 and further by Nicholson & Co in the 1980s.
The choirs of both churches join for special occasions and regularly on the fifth Sunday of the month.
St. Mary’s has a unique peal of eight steel bells dating from 1861. They ring regularly for Sunday morning worship and teams visit from around the country to experience their individual sonority.
One of St. Anne’s bells dates from 1874. The other three, which formerly hung in St. Mary’s, were cast in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A fifth bell was added when the peal was restored in 2000. Fund-raising is under way to add a sixth bell, the aim being to move to full circle ringing.
Both churches have Flower Guilds which create an atmosphere of quiet beauty within the buildings.
Our policy is that Baptisms are held during the main Sunday service. Confirmation preparation is spread over at least four months, culminating in an “Away Day” immediately prior to the joint Confirmation Service. Clergy and Laity share in Confirmation preparation.
There is no lay involvement in marriage preparation although lay people are involved in post-funeral visits to the bereaved.
St. Mary’s church graveyard has been closed by Order in Council. However, there is a Garden of Remembrance, which is regularly used for the interment of ashes. St. Anne’s has no on-site burials.
Lay people visit and give pastoral care to the sick and housebound. There are teams of visitors who are co-ordinated to visit members of the congregation identified by the clergy. Currently there is no formal training provided to lay visitors but the visiting teams are selected and many have backgrounds in healthcare. Support is given in the form of regular meetings with the clergy.
Ministry is offered to the residential homes for the elderly and nursing homes in the parishes. A service of worship or Holy Communion, using the reserved sacrament, takes place in many residential homes every month with individuals taking responsibility for particular homes. There is some pastoral visiting. At Christmas and Easter, Holy Communion is celebrated in some homes by the clergy.
St Anne's has a newly formed Pastoral Team who share in pastoral visiting to the elderly, sick, housebound and newcomers.
Supporting and encouraging those who are terminally ill or dying is a major area of our pastoral work.
St. Mary’s has a very active Outreach and Welcome Team co-ordinated by members of the congregation. Newcomers are welcomed to the church and are followed up by personal contact. The group also offers friendship and support to anyone who feels in need.
St. Mary’s has a tradition of attracting families with children. Provision for children is built around a crèche and four children’s groups during the 10.00am Parish Communion, and the Robed Choir. During the summer term of 2005, an average of 27 children attended groups. All children’s work is carried out by enthusiastic volunteers, many of whom are in full time employment or bringing up children. Children’s groups have 11 leaders generally leading once a month, and 16 helpers helping two or three times a term.
St Anne's Sunday Club is small but greatly valued.
Both PCCs have adopted the Bishop’s Policy for the Protection of Children.
The links between the children’s and youth work are strong, which allows a young person’s transition between the groups to be fluid and flexible. Children’s work is acquiring greater recognition with the establishment this year of a PCC Children’s Sub-committee.
In November 2004, Revd. Rosemary Donovan was appointed as Assistant Priest with responsibility for St. Anne’s Church (0.5) and additionally to co-ordinate youth work across the two parishes (0.5). The presence of a dedicated Youth Co-ordinator is beginning to bear fruit and activities have successfully been mounted to integrate young people from St. Mary’s with young people from St. Anne’s. Preparation of worship and involvement in youth-based activities mounted by the Diocese, among other initiatives, is developing this work.
At St. Mary’s there is a regular prayer group and a well-established House Group which meet regularly to provide forums for discussion and prayer. A new event last year was a book discussion group which has now evolved into a monthly theological study group across both parishes. There are also joint Lent and Advent groups which run each year.