Parish profile

Saint Paul Landore with Saint Alban Treboeth

Agreed by PCC 15^th July 2007

Parish Group

Saint Paul Landore with Saint Alban Treboeth is in the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon of the Church in Wales. This is a newly formed benefice (2007), bringing together two parishes which until 1965 had formed a single parish. More of the history of the two churches can be found in two booklets: -

· The parish of St. Paul Landore – celebrating the centenary

· St Alban Treboeth – 75^th anniversary

Copies of the 2006 parish reports for both churches are available.

Whilst Welsh is not generally used in services, it would be useful for the appointed priest to at least be confident in reading from the Church in Wales liturgy when occasionally required at weddings, baptisms and funerals.

O/S references

St Alban’s – SS650964 Llangyfelach Road, Treboeth

St Paul’s – SS657950 Cwm Level Road, Plasmarl

Benefice number S625

Church tradition

Both churches are modern anglo-catholic, with a strong emphasis on Eucharistic devotion, spirituality and prayer life. The parish has traditionally supported the Swansea cell of Our Lady of Walsingham and has visited the Shrine for many years on annual pilgrimage. The parish, until recently, would also support the Glastonbury pilgrimage, but the change of programme at this event and the travelling distance involved has made the journey impractical for a large group. There is generally a one day retreat to a local retreat house in the autumn. The parish uses the weekly Redemptorist Publications readings leaflet. Eucharist and Office service books follow the approved Church in Wales liturgy. Vestments are worn. Incense is used at festivals, Benediction and at the Sunday Eucharist on the last Sunday of the month. There is a mix of hymn books available, basically, the congregation will sing whatever is required and if it’s relevant it will be used, be it traditional or contemporary.

There is a Eucharist on Sundays and also throughout the week and which are consistently supported.

· Monday 7.00pm

· Wednesday 9.30am

· Thursday 7.00pm

· Friday 12.15pm

Baptisms are generally held during the Sunday morning Eucharist or at Evening prayer. Other than when there may be a baptism, Sunday evening will normally be Evening prayer with Benediction or a Healing Service.

Interior of St Alban’s Church, Treboeth.

Lay participation is actively encouraged in the services through Eucharistic assistants, readers, intercessors, leading the office at Evening prayer and taking the lead in special services (e.g. Good Friday ecumenical walk and service).

Ecumenical relationships

There are good relationships with the local Methodists, Free Church, Gospel Hall and Welsh Chapel. There is also dialogue with the local RC parish. Several joint services and social events are held each year, especially pre-Christmas and Good Friday. Other local ecumenical events include the Remembrance Day service at the local war memorial, this event is organised by the local veterans association which includes members of the congregation.

The local Methodist church meets at a building in Penlan where historically St Alban’s provided a Sunday and Wednesday morning Eucharist. The building had to close due to Health and Safety problems in 1998 and there were problems in identifying living trustees for the building. The Methodist church has now appointed new trustees and has invested considerably (including accessing grant-aid) in the building. Whilst the Anglican services have not recommenced following the reopening of this building, there is now an opportunity to formalise the existing relationship by establishing an ecumenical partnership in the Penlan community. The current Methodist Deacon is to move to a new appointment in autumn 2007.

Setting

The parish of Landore with Treboeth Swansea, consists of the electoral wards of Landore, the southern half of Mynyddbach and the eastern half of Penderry, within the City and County of Swansea. The parish consists of two large post-war council housing estates, together with privately owned properties (consisting of a mix of Victorian terraced housing, post war semi and detached properties and some small modern in-fill estates). The setting is overlooking the lower Swansea Valley, which has undergone much regeneration following the demise of the heavy metal industries which were to be found there pre 1970. The scars of industrial dereliction are slowly disappearing as new developments move into the area.

Schools within the parish are: -

· Welsh medium primary – 1

· Welsh medium secondary – 1

· English medium primary – 3

· Special needs school – 1

· RC Secondary – 1

· English medium secondary – 2

Swansea Liberty Stadium, adjacent to St. Paul’s in the lower Swansea Valley, is also within the parish.

The parish has a Civil Electoral Roll of approximately 20,000, being the largest parish population in the Swansea and Brecon Diocese.[1] Penderry ward is number 12 on the 2000 Welsh Assembly Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and number 8 on the 2005 IMD.[2] This measure is a means of identifying the most deprived areas in Wales and is used by the Welsh Assembly to target social needs funding. Swansea has three further wards listed in the 100 most deprived areas within Wales, all of which border on to the parish. The parish is within the European Union (EU) Convergence Funding area (prior to April 2006 this was referred to as EU Objective 1 funding).

The following statistics taken from the 2001 census are indicative of a below average income for the area, compared with Swansea as a whole.[3]

· Approximately 48% of the employed population work part-time, which is slightly higher than the Swansea average (47%).

· 40% of households do not have a car or van which is considerably higher than the Swansea average (28%).

· 44% of the population aged 16-74 have no qualifications, compared with the Swansea average of 30%.

· The rented housing stock of the area (37%), is higher than the Swansea average (26%). The owner occupied housing stock for the area (58%) is correspondingly lower than the Swansea average (70%).

The Free School Meal (FSM) statistics for the parish[4] (45%) are 2½ times higher than average for Swansea (18%) which is itself higher than the Welsh average (16%). FSM statistics are accepted as an indicator of social need.

The average Sunday congregation ranges in age from pre-school children to retired, consisting of approximately 45% families with a single income, 5% families with dual income and 50% single persons. Average weekly attendance approximately 65 (excluding regular home communicants, both in their own homes and residential nursing homes).

Number on Electoral Roll – 105

West Entrance to St Paul’s, Landore

Occasional offices August 2006 to July 2007

· Weddings – 21

· Funerals – 75

· Baptisms – 28

· Confirmations – 10

There is a single PCC for the newly formed benefice.

Finances

The parish share for 2007 is £33,988. There is an outstanding payment on St. Paul’s parish share of £5,397, making a total share for 2007 of £39,385.

Where possible, parishioners contribute through planned giving, either by the traditional envelope scheme or by standing order. There has been an emphasis on encouraging tax payers to sign gift aid forms to maximise income from this source, however, only 50% of regular givers are in a position to make gift aid declarations.

Clergy expenses are paid in accordance with Church in Wales directives.

The buildings and fixed equipment

The Vicarage is a modern detached 4 bedroom property, which is in the grounds of St Alban’s and has recently been refurbished by the Diocese,

St. Alban’s church is in a reasonable state of repair, the last quinquennial inspection identified minor elements of good housekeeping and work required to paths etc. There are no outstanding major DDA issues. The organ is in a good state of repair. The heating system was completely renewed in spring 2007.

St Alban’s Hall is extensively used by the local community with regular bookings for a nursery group, dance club, Guides, parties as well as parish functions. Whilst the building is generally sound, well maintained and the equipment (including furnishing) is in good order, it is not fully DDA compliant and is in need of some refurbishment. A parish group led by a lay Chairman is actively seeking funding streams to upgrade the building, provide new toilets and kitchen facilities on the same level as the main hall and to refurbish the lower hall. When refurbished this would make an ideal venue for small wedding parties. There is also a community hall approximately 100 metres from the church, which is also extensively used by the local community. Members of the parish are actively involved in this hall’s management committee. There is no conflict here, as the two venues complement each other and it is a useful means of publicising parish events and services. Parishioners are responsible for running the successful library at the community hall.

St. Paul’s was closed for Health and Safety reasons in October 2006. Electricity, gas and water have been disconnected. The quinquennial inspection in summer 2006 revealed several structural problems and identified safety issues with the electrical systems. As would be expected the congregation were upset over having to make this decision on advice of the architect and insurance company, but to some extent were relieved that the decision had been effectively taken out of their hands. There is a determination to see something arise from this upset. A local Housing Association is currently preparing project plans and grant applications to convert part of the church to social needs housing (flats) and provide a smaller worship area and a community facility. Initial indications are that funding may be forthcoming in the 2008/10 financial years. No planning applications, faculty applications etc, have yet been submitted. The new parish priest will have the opportunity to directly influence this development, engage with the local community and use this as a spring board for rebuilding the worshipping community.

The undercroft at St. Paul’s had been extensively used by the Scouts and other community groups and it was a focus for local community activity. Many of the Chapels have closed in the area and St Paul’s positioned on a major road junction adjacent to the Liberty Stadium is a beacon for a living faith. There is much love locally for this building and the historic connections with its priests and community outreach.

As the construction plans have not yet been agreed, the congregation have not formally started to reflect on the layout and furnishing of the worship area. They have however been encouraged to consider what is required for the liturgy in the 21^st century and are considering issues of church layout as described in Richard Giles book, ‘Re-pitching the Tent’. There is here an opportunity to directly involve the parishioners from St Paul’s in considering the question ’What it means to be Church in 21^st century?’ The congregation is used to experimenting and in the main, is excited by the prospect of what this sad closure of the building offers.

There are no burials in the grounds of the two churches.

Church organisations

In addition to the groups which use the hall the following meet on a regular basis:-

· An informal men’s group at a local public house

· St Alban’s church group, in St Alban’s hall

· Weekly drop-in group in St. Alban’s hall

· Monthly Deanery prayer group in St Alban’s church

· Ecumenical study groups especially in Lent

· Ecumenical monthly prayer group, rotates to the various churches

· The local Free Church runs a successful youth group in partnership with other local agencies

There is currently no Sunday School. This is a great matter of concern for the parish as everyone agrees there is a proven need to provide one and there is also an identified demand. Research identified better course material available etc., and whilst there are several people prepared to act as supporters on a rota basis, no one has come forward to individually or in partnership act as co-ordinator. It is considered that this is an area which the appointed priest needs to prioritise. Young people are not ignored and there are children’s services held before Christmas and in Holy week, and children are actively encouraged to take part in services through roles as servers etc. Local primary schools make regular use of St. Alban’s and St. Paul’s when it was open.

Staff

There are no Licensed Readers.

There are 7 Licensed Eucharistic assistants which assist in services and take sick communion to the house bound and the 3 nursing homes in the parish.

There is a strong servers team of mixed age and gender.

There is one organist and a small choir mainly consisting of St. Paul’s congregation members and they are open to trying anything new.

There is one assistant curate NSM, who is in full time secular employment and lives 10 miles outside the parish.

Plans and priorities

There is currently no formal, written, long term development plan for the parish. The appointed priest will need to consider the following: -

· Building works at St. Paul’s

· Developing on the existing good ecumenical relationships and the potential for a formal ecumenical partnership with the local Methodist church

· Fostering the existing relationships with local schools

· Identifying how best to get a Sunday School up and running

· Through the PCC establish a formal development plan (short-term, medium-term and long-term)

The priest appointed will be a modern Catholic with a strong spiritual prayer life, who will inspire others to follow in developing their own spirituality and prayerful devotion. They will need to be able to prioritise and to motivate the congregation in recognising their own role in being the living Body of Christ in the local community. This will require gifts of discernment, love, patience and the ability to provide encouragement.

Other information

There is currently no parish magazine or web-site for the parish. There is an occasional news bulletin produced for the major festivals.

There are strong child protection arrangements in place.

The local council web-site is www.swansea.gov.uk

The parish actively supports the Archbishop of Wales social responsibility fund, the Bible Lands Society, USPG and local homeless charities.

There are good strong relationships with other churches in the Deanery. St. Alban’s generally hosting the two joint services in Advent and Lent and a social event in November.

Enquiries should be addressed in the first instance to the Area Dean Rev’d Mark Williams 01792 581514.

Potential candidates are welcome by arrangement to have an informal visit and may also have an informal discussion with the assistant curate Fr. Nigel Doyle (home tel 01792 850659).

---

[1] Swansea and Brecon Diocesan Handbook

[2] City and County of Swansea, This is where we live p31ff, www.swansea.gov.uk

[3] 2001 Census – economic profile www.swansea.gov.uk

[4] Excluding the eastern half of the Penderry ward and the northern half of Mynyddbach ward