St Mark’s Church Profile

Summary of the Profile

St. Mark’s is housed in a

truly beautiful 130 year old

church well placed within

the centre of St.Helen’s

town. We are part of a town

steeped in industrial

heritage: our church bearing

historical links with the

famous Gamble and

Pilkington families proudly.

Whilst our Parish faces

some challenges with a fast growing population and some areas of deprivation, St.Mark’s strives to

continually widen its reach with a dedicated, hard-working family of volunteer mission leaders.

St.Mark’s Church is a member of the St.Helens Team Ministry. We hope that as part of a team,

St.Mark’s has mastered the ability to accept others kindly, share thoughtfully and care sincerely for

those in and amongst us.

We need greater outreach around quite a widespread population of the Parish. We want the

church to be a spiritual beacon at the top of the hill again.

We are proud of...

Our three church buildings affording us the scope to reach many diverse groups in our

community both socially and spiritually

A regular and committed congregation

Our Bible-based services

Yet we recognise the need to...

Develop our mission by working towards more family-friendly church

Address areas of our Parish that have perhaps been neglected

Take some risks!

We pray for the confidence to take those risks.

We hope to grow our mission and to deliver with the guidance and example of Jesus’ love.

We welcome the right person who will help to share this load.

Who are we looking for?

We want a Vicar who:

Feels called to this Church’s challenges and will be present for the long

term

Is young at heart and can relate to all members of the congregation

regardless of age. Will be pastorally caring themselves and ensure good

pastoral support is in place for the congregation.

Is a Bible based, inspirational leader who will in turn inspire leadership

within members of the congregation and enrol/involve others in our

growing parish

Will be dynamic and come to fully understand the area and its people

Is missionary minded in their approach considering the challenges of

Merseyside and specifically the parish (we have a great variety of old and

new housing estates with some poor areas)

Within time constraints will make an effort to be visible in the parish and

also make themselves available to the wider community.

Demonstrates empathy with all age groups. Our growing parish needs

more family friendly worship

Is interested in the music of our church.

Could this be you?

If you feel that you could become part of St. Mark’s family, please contact us.

About the Parish

We are a North St. Helens church with a growing population. Our Parish consists of a mixture of residential

and industrial properties. It includes two public parks: Haresfinch and Victoria Park. The latter has recently

been restored with money from the Heritage Lottery Fund to include a Victorian style bandstand, tennis

courts and improvements made to the wildlife and duck pond areas. The population of the Parish is currently

approximately 6,500 and is set to grow with the building of much new housing in the old part of the Parish.

There is also on-going building development in the region of City Road (the newer part of the Parish). Clearly

the right Vicar would ideally enable the

new and old elements of our Parish to

flourish together.

The population live in a mixture of council

and private accommodation and a

complex of sheltered housing which is

mostly situated to the west and south of

the church and to the north east some

distance from St. Mark’s. Within the

Parish there are churches of the United

Reformed and Roman Catholic traditions,

the latter with its own primary school.

The Parish is an urban district with a

moderate percentage of the population of

low to middle income. Our congregation is largely between the 60-90 age range which reflects the static

population of the town as a whole.

In 2010, St. Mark’s formally became a member of the St.Helens Town Centre Team Ministry which comprises

St.Helens Parish Church, St.Thomas’ and St.Andrew’s also. Adjacent to St.Mark’s Church is the Verger’s

house, which amongst our list of priorities for the year ahead, requires some refurbishment.

The town centre boasts a highly respected industrial history with the Gamble and Pilkington families of note

playing a considerable part. Our church hall, Gamble Memorial Hall, is named after the Gamble family who

famously set up a chemical works in 1828. The Pilkington family, whose name is synonymous with quality

glass production, fittingly bequeathed a number of stained glass windows which are a reminder to our

congregation of the town’s hard-working values. Nowadays, St.Helens RLFC places our town in the limelight

from time to time!

Our Parish is within easy access to the town centre: the journey from St. Mark’s itself is less than ten minutes

on foot. In recent years the town centre has suffered a high street decline in line with towns of a similar size

across the country. However, efforts are being made to increase diversity, for example with the introduction

of a Makers’ Market and family arts activities linked to ‘The World of Glass’ museum.

The Church and its People

Our churchmanship is of the evangelical tradition although the pulpit, lectern and communion table frontals

are changed according to season. We like Clergy and Readers to robe at most services. Currently we have

two Lay Readers and one Reader Emeritus

qualified to take services in the absence of

Clergy. Our congregation is mainly female and

the age range is almost entirely in the 60-90 age

range. We have a congregation of between 45 to

60 people each Sunday morning.

There are 15 members of the PCC who meet

regularly. There are two Wardens (Don Hayes

and Neil Fowles), a Treasurer, a Standing

Committee and Health and Safety Officers who

work extremely hard. Of course, there are many

others without a special ‘title’ who add to the

working of our Church, such as Jennifer who

ensures the Church has glorious floral displays each week, Cath, Norman and Carole who clean the Church

regularly and Cath who ensures the tea is hot and the biscuits plentiful and so many more.

Music is important to us at St.Mark’s and our

experienced organist, Ian Grimshaw, leads us in our

praise at Sunday morning services. We hope that a

new Vicar would share this love with us and assist us in

developing the music ministry taking into

consideration what our congregation feels

comfortable and enjoys. We have not had a formal

choir for some years now. Perhaps widening our reach

to younger families could go hand in hand with the re-

establishment of a musical group, whether formally for

the benefit of Church services or informally for social

reasons.

We hold Sunday morning services (45-60 attendees) and Thursday morning services (15-25 attendees) in the

church building each week. We use Common Worship for services and Mission Praise books for hymns and

songs. Sadly we no longer have an evening service on Sundays or the need for a Sunday school which used to

take place in the Vestry during the 10.30 service. However, we have recently introduced our own Messy

Church group which runs on Saturday (every 6-8 weeks) in the Gamble Hall. This group has attracted on

average 40-50 people and feedback has been extremely positive. The emerging picture seems to be that

there is some cross-over with Tots and Toys and also Cafe Church all of which run at Gamble Hall and have

quite a social flavour. We are very pleased to have new – many very young – faces among our extended

congregation.

Presently our service programme is as follows:

1st Sunday 10.45am Holy Communion

2nd Sunday 10.45am Morning Prayer

3rd Sunday 10.45am Holy Communion

4th Sunday 10.45am Morning Prayer

5th Sunday 10.45am Morning Prayer

Weekly Thursday Morning Prayer 10.45am at St. Mark’s

Weekly Wednesday Bible Study Group 2.00pm at St. Thomas’

Cafe Church is taking place on a monthly basis on Sundays, 10.30am in Gamble Hall.

Messy Church is on a Saturday (every 6-8 weeks) from 11.30 – 1.30pm in Gamble Hall with

lunch provided.

Ladies’ Coffee Break Group is held on the 2nd Monday of each month in Gamble Hall.

Weekly Wednesday 6 o’clock Club (term time youth group), 6pm in Gamble Hall.

The Church and the Community

We firmly believe that it is our group efforts that make us strong. We have a number of dedicated mission

leaders, selfless volunteers amongst our congregation and skilled and talented PCC members. Here is a

flavour of what we achieve.

As a number of our congregation live outside the Parish boundary, or are old or infirm, we have a Parish

minibus service organised by Norman Roughley. Each week he ensures that everyone who needs help in

getting to church can get there safely and in all weathers. There is a great social aspect to our church which

begins with tea and biscuits after our Sunday service and extends to frequent days out, bussed by Norman,

to the Trafford Centre or Cheshire Oaks for a shopping day and a spot of lunch.

Many local organisations are supported through our Centurion Centre, which has been refurbished to a high

standard. Regularly the centre is used to support ex-service personnel in the form of a drop-in cafe on

Tuesdays between 10am and 2pm. ADDACTION service users also frequent the centre and can make use of

computer and photocopying facilities as well as accessing help and advice. The centre is a great space for a

local Dance group who meet each Tuesday night. Of course, the possibilities for the centre will, we hope,

continue to grow.

Our Gamble Hall is a lively venue! We hold 6 o’clock club here each week for children aged between 4 and

11 years. They enjoy varied activities, some circle time and prayer and snacks and drinks. In the Summer, the

attached field becomes the football pitch and the gymnastics stage for our young members! Cafe Church is

also bustling at Gamble Hall. Here we share endless home-made cake and enjoy having a chat before an

interactive Bible based discussion. Tots and Toys is another of our new ventures which is a playgroup for

babies and toddlers and their Carers. Feedback from all sessions is positive and praises the organisation and

quality of provision.

Each week we hold a Bible Study group at St. Thomas’ church. This group is open for anyone across the four

town centre team’s church congregations. It attracts a faithful core of people and gives us the chance to

discuss and pray together in some depth.

Throughout the year we hold joint services with St. Andrew’s. During the last year we shared a Christmas Eve

service and a Good Friday service. These services are always well attended and enjoyed by all.

We give support to various Missionary agencies including TEAR fund, Open Doors, Stamps for Leprosy

(Corpus Christi in Rainford have helped us with this) and Toys at Christmas. At present we are attending

training to collaborate with St. Andrews’ on the Make Lunch project to help to feed youngsters during the

school holidays. Of course, we collect to support the local foodbank which helps people closer to home. We

are aware of another project called X-cite that aims to bring youngsters to our church. Hopefully with some

guidance we could be involved with this in the future too.

One of our readers is a Lay Chaplain at Whiston Hospital. In the past we have held a Holy Communion service

at Pyes Gardens Sheltered Housing with approximately 15 people in attendance.

Historically we have had civic links within our Church with Rev. Bill Mathews as Chaplain to the Air Cadets. At

present, Paul Johnson serves as the Saints RLFC Chaplain and works closely with the local ASDA choir who

perform for us at events such as the Summer Fair.

The Church and its Buildings

St. Mark’s has three buildings in regular

use which are all in good condition. The

general fabric of our buildings are

maintained by skilled volunteers, our

Health and Safety Officers, Alec Roberts

and Dennis Fairclough. The Church

building was consecrated on 25th May

1886. The west end of the building was

latterly remodelled to contain a lounge

area with toilet and kitchen. In recent

years a ramp for disabled access via the

north Memorial door was added. After

the quinquennial inspection, all areas

requiring attention have been dealt

with within the specified time scale.

On the Church site a fourth building, a detached house which used to be the Verger’s residence, still stands

but in some disrepair. Although this house requires some modernisation (it dates from 1898), it could in time

provide a good source of income.

The Church

Our Church is very

attractive and

traditional inside with

original pews, however

we are open to

suggestions about

simple modernisations.

For example, we have

discussed removing

the pews from the

north side and

replacing those with

comfortable seating,

chairs and tables.

Unfortunately a new

central heating system

and its maintenance is

now at the top of our priority list as the Church is regularly used for at least two services per week. Ideally

our toilet facilities also require improving and possibly extending at the back of the church.

The Gamble Hall

The Church’s Gamble Memorial Hall

is situated about 800 yards to the

north of the church across Victoria

Park. The hall is in a good state of

repair having recently benefited

from new kitchen appliances and

work surfaces. A coat of paint and a

recent floor polish have really

livened up the main hall making it a

cheerful space for all the groups

that take place there. Sue Corner

runs Messy Church, Tots and Toys

and the 6 o’clock club here weekly

with the help of countless others!

Cafe Church also runs in the

Gamble Hall as well as the groups

who rent the space, for example

Slimming World and a troupe of Morris Dancers. This hall has become a good source of income for our

Parish.

We have consulted with The Conservation Volunteers about

making simple improvements to the Gamble field, which is a

fabulous open space. We are looking to plant more trees and

plants to encourage wildlife and to install some seating for

those who simply wish to sit and think in peace.

The Gamble field is the location for our outdoor Summer Fair

each year. The fair allows us to work collaboratively with

St.Thomas’ and with the groups associated to that parish such

as Brownies and Rainbows who contribute to the stalls on offer.

Last year we had entertainment from the ASDA choir and from

a local young band too. It is a well attended event in a great

location.

The Centurion Centre (Parish Hall)

The Centre is directly adjacent to St. Mark’s church positioned just behind the old Verger’s house: a gravel

drive allows access between the buildings. A great deal of work has been carried out to modernise and

create good access for all

to the Centre, which was

until recently minimally

used. The centre has an

impressive kitchen,

excellent toilet facilities, a

large hall space, computer

and photocopying facilities

and a full sized snooker

table. At the moment it is

used weekly to hold a drop-

in cafe for ex-service

personnel and is hired

privately for dance. The hall

could generate a good deal

of rental income to

improve our finances – we

need to explore and take

advantage of this.

The Wider Context

We are praying for a new Vicar to love the aspects of our Parish that we love and to push us in the right

direction in dealing with matters that are failing. At St. Mark’s , we know that our priorities for mission

should be to bring families into our church regularly and it is fair to say that we are really trying here. It is

vital that we become more team focused in the future: our PCC voice can be heard saying this even if we do

not always know how to do it.

With regard to finance, the Church is currently in a stable position. We have no liabilities, but require an

increase in voluntary giving to secure a safer future.

We fully support the ministry of women priests at St. Mark’s.

We are committed to supporting our team vicar, to make sure that they get regular days off and holidays.

We also would encourage them to take opportunities for training and retreats. We also think it important to

cover reasonable expenses.