The Parish of Clifton

The Parish

St Anne, Clifton and St Thomas, Clifton Green merged to form Clifton Parish. Both retain the status of Parish Church.

St Anne’s is a Victorian, Grade II listed building dating from 1874. There is a large graveyard which is now closed to burials in new graves but there is still room for interment of cremated remains.

St Thomas’ moved from a ‘tin chapel’ to its modern new building in 1968.

The parish would term itself ‘evangelical’ in outlook but worship styles differ in both churches.

Bespoke service sheets are used based on Common Worship. The hymn book is Songs of Fellowship.

All-age services are informal and have little liturgy. The Junior Church / Sunday School is involved in these services.

Joint services are held during the year and special services take place for:

Christmas (Christingle, Nativity plays, carols and lessons)

Mothering Sunday

Ash Wednesday

Holy Week (Easter Experience)

Ascension

Harvest

Remembrance Sunday

Junior Church / Sunday School Prizegivings.

Memorial Service for the families of those who have died in the previous 12 months.

We are registered for Admission of Children to Communion. Each year children from school year 3 are offered an ACE course and then are admitted to Communion at a special service.

Parish Structure

PCC

Vicar

(Vacancy)

SSM

Avis Gordon

Readers

Frank Wallace

Sharon Betton

(in Training)

Authorised Lay Minister

Mary Young

St Anne's Church

Wardens

Gary Brooks, Mark Howell

Christine Hancock

St Thomas’s Church

Wardens

Kim Ruscoe, Linda Griffiths

Parish Safeguarding

Officer

Services

• St Thomas’

• Sunday a.m.

– Holy Communion*

– Service of the Word*

– All-age worship

*with Sunday School

• St Anne’s

• Sunday a.m.

– All-age worship

– Holy Communion*

– Service of the Word*

• 1st Wednesday

– Holy Communion

*with Junior Church

Parish Statistics

St Anne

Electoral Roll 83

Average weekly

attendance 55

Average attendance

(under 16) 12

St Thomas

Electoral Roll 48

Average weekly

attendance 35

Average attendance

(under 16) 8

Parish Finances

• We have a good history in paying 100% of our Parish

Share over the last 4 years.

• About 50% of our giving is gift aided.

• Charitable giving amounts to 2% of our annual income.

• Running 2 worship centres is a challenge, however we

maintain the buildings well and have had good

quinquennial reports. ST Thomas is overdue a

quinquennial.

• Several regular fundraising events take place

throughout the year with 2 Fairs, quiz night, BBQ, etc.

Ecumenical Links

There are no other mainstream Christian churches within the parish boundary. We have

good links with the Priest of the local Roman Catholic church, which has a school within

Clifton parish. The Associate Minister regularly leads services at a local United Reformed

church.

Both of our churches are keen members of Churches Together in Swinton and

Pendlebury and take part in all joint ventures including services, prayer stations, walks of

witness, etc.

We are active members of the Salford-Lünen Churches’ Partnership which involves

exchanges between mainstream denominations in Salford and Eccles Deaneries with the

Evangelische Kirchenkreis of Lünen in northern Germany.

Young People

Both churches have healthy young people's groups / Sunday school. The Young People are represented on the PCC and regularly run all-age services.

A number of the teenagers attend Criccieth Pathfinder Camp each summer, for which fundraising takes place throughout the year.

Links to Schools

LINKS WITH THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY:

• There are no Church schools within the Parish, however

we have previously had close links with our local

community school who use the church for Christian

festivals.

• They have used the Church for curriculum based

activities.

• We are hoping to grow these links going forward.

Clergy House

The vicarage was built in 1962. It is located

at 237 Manchester Road, Clifton, M27 6PP

It is a modern four-bedroomed detached

building with extensive gardens front and

rear.

There is a single garage and driveway with

space for 2 cars.

Mission Action PlanWorshipping the Lord Jesus Christ through Loving, Sharing and Serving

• Development of Toilets & Kitchen at St Thomas.

• Explorers’ Group.– Look at developing more small groups

• Publicity - Magazine, Pew Sheets, Web Site,

Social Media.

• Young people – Technology for young people,

internet, media.– Set up a Technology group including Junior Church leaders and

young people.

The Wider Community

― We run a emergency foodbank delivering food parcels and household essentials for anyone in immediate need

― Members of the congregation volunteer at a lunch club once a week providing a hot meal and friendship for the elderly, lonely and anyone in need.

― We have close relations with local homeless charities.

In addition we aim:‾ To work closely in partnership with local groups, charities,

schools and statutory bodies to show God’s love in the world.

‾ To work out of our comfort zone with vulnerable people in our community in need of spiritual and practical friendship.

‾ To reach out to children and young people of our community to create a safe environment to develop and grow morally and socially with a spiritual foundation.

Applicant ProfileEssential Desirable

To have a deep spiritual and practical faith and

the ability to share it enthusiastically.

Experience in exploring and implementing

innovative and fresh expressions of worship

A heart for sharing the Gospel with all people, in

all situations.

Experience in and understanding of working with

a wide cross-section of society

Experience and willingness in outreach to people

within the church, the fringe and the wider

community

Willingness to take difficult decisions for the

furtherance of God’s Kingdom

Experience and proven ability in collaborative

working and developing vocations.

Ability to create working partnerships with other

voluntary and statutory bodies to ensure God’s

love is shared throughout the community

The ability to work with the church to develop

further the vision for the future and to strive

collaboratively to achieve our goals.

To lead the Church in an all inclusive pastoral

approach for the Parish.