A short Parish Profile

St. John The Evangelist, Charlesworth (edited 22:25 Feb 12th 2022)

1. CHURCH AND COMMUNITY

The church and adjoining school were built in the mid-19th Century long after the Independent Chapel and Baptist Chapel were established. The church is Grade II listed and in good repair. An area at the back of the church has been cleared of pews for flexible space and community use. In the north transept there is a servery area and WC with plans for upgrading. The church yard was closed in 2016 and is now the responsibility of High Peak Borough Council.

Charlesworth is a traditional Derbyshire village of around 3000 inhabitants including the hamlet of Chisworth and 13 miles east of Manchester with easy access by train. Currently there is one public house, a village club, four shops, a garage, a Rugby Club, a Cricket Club, an Equestrian Centre and a split-site primary school and a nursery. There is also an open recreation field. Charlesworth has a broad mix of housing types that enables a wide range of people to make a home here.

Simmondley is a suburb of Glossop, with a population of around 5000. It is a large housing development, including the small original village, a mile to the east of Charlesworth but partially within both Charlesworth and Dinting Parishes. Many of the occupants commute to work within Greater Manchester. It has a shopping parade including doctor’s surgery, dentist and chemist together with a large Primary School. Active Christians attend churches across Glossopdale.

Gamesley Is an area of predominantly social housing with St John’s sister church, the Bishop Geoffrey Allan Church and Centre as described in the Gamesley profile.

Patterns of Worship: Our church tradition is Open Evangelical and open to the Holy Spirit. The main service comprises Morning Prayer, Holy Communion or ‘All Age Worship’, or a shared service with Gamesley. Our expectation has been that we will have sung worship led by a music group. 

Currently our Children and young people's Sunday Group ‘Kidztime’ is not running as part of the 10am service as currently there is no regular need to cater for young people separately. We will gladly re-instate Kidztime as soon as this changes.

Home Groups: Prior to the Covid pandemic we had two home groups, one meeting in the afternoon the other ‘Life-Link’ in the evening (with inclusive social media support) and monthly Saturday morning 'Prayer Breakfast’ all meeting in church- member’s homes. These groups are currently suspended due to life style changes caused by the pandemic.

Church Membership: The combined electoral role for Charlesworth and Gamesley is just over seventy five. Currently, usual service attendance at Charlesworth is around 25. 

2. MISSION OPPORTUNITIES

We support the Christian Community Café in Gamesley, RAHOCA (a community HIV/AIDS project in Uganda). Other charities receive support as and when the need arises. Church members are active in a number of local and international charities.

Current missional activities include:

1. The Brownies meet in both church and school are very much part of our family

2. A recently established ‘Tea, Toast & Talk’ Group meets in church which provides companionship for people in Charlesworth

3. There is also a Food Bank drop-off in the church, well supported by church members.

4. Monthly ‘Open the Book’ assemblies and termly Messy Church in Charlesworth Primary School

5. Annual Easter Activity for all of the Primary School, who also come into the school for special services.

6. Carols round the Tree in the centre of the village has become a well attended tradition

7. St. John’s holds an outdoor service at the annual Well Dressing

8. A team from St. Johns leads Marriage by design also offered to couples getting married in other churches

9. Families coming for Baptism are welcomed to the service on the day and offered support in their spiritual journey both before and after the service.

10. Unofficial but effective missional activities are the men’s walking group, coffee mornings, all arranged and led by church members but open to all. 

3. FINANCE AND THE WAY AHEAD

Regular giving reduced throughout 2020 and into 2021 and the church faces a challenging time to balance income and expenditure so as to not eat into savings designated for further work on the church including an accessible toilet, redesigned servery area and opening up the chancel worship area by the removal of some front pews

Charity giving has remained steady over the last four years. RAHOCA and Café Jericho being supported by quarterly/monthly donations respectively.

(Edited Feb 14th 2022)