St Jude’s Church is self supporting. Many people think the Church of England must be funded in some way by the state, but this is not the case. Almost half of the funds we raise locally go into a Common Fund run by the Diocese of Exeter who pay for our clergy and their housing. (The following is a short 5 minute video explaining the funding of Exeter Diocese)
The other half is fully used each year as we pay for a full time Youth & Children’s Minister to oversee the very full young people’s programmes of the church (up to 170 under 18′s use the site each week!), our Administrator and a full time OFSTED approved Pre-School. The direct costs of the Pre-School are met by fees, but the building it occupies and our other hall, Youth & Children’s Minister house and not forgetting the Grade II listed church and grounds all need to be heated and maintained.
And all the funds for this come from the congregation.
But St Jude’s tries hard not to suggest that is only interested in money. For instance, we no longer take a collection at our Sunday morning service as it can make guests and visitors uncomfortable – we’re really pleased they have come to spend some time with us and we certainly don’t want them to have to pay for the opportunity! But to allow this to happen, to enable our share of the common costs of the Diocese to be met, to maintain these buildings and fund all the fantastic ministries we support we do ask those who attend regularly to think about their giving as part of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
If you want to know more about this apect of life at St Judes, please click here to download our Guide to Giving.
This is what the Lord says, “make this valley full of ditches”
2 Kings 3:16
St Jude’s has big plans for changes to their site.
In December 2011 we got Planning Permission from Plymouth City Council for Phase 1 – the Church Building. Church of England permissions will now be applied for over Spring 2012. This step gets us ready for Phase 2 – the final re-organisation of the site.
The changes are needed to enable this church to do all it can to help its community. Without them the church and its people will eventually fail. With them we believe both we and our area will be blessed.
And therefore this year is important and will be difficult as we will be challenged in fundraising followed by a clear out of the buildings and maybe a move out of a building to allow the works to begin.
Therefore, 2012 is St Jude’s year to “dig ditches”. To understand the principle behind our verse for this year, read the story of God’s promised blessing to the people of Israel and Judah in 2 Kings 3 and see why verse 3:16 is our chosen text to keep us focussed.
What is the Church’s teaching on divorce? The Church of England wishes all who marry a lifetime of love that grows within God’s protection. But we recognise that some marriages do fail for all sorts of sad and painful reasons.
As someone who is divorced, can I marry in church? There may be a way forward for you to be married again in church. The Church of England agreed that divorced people could remarry in church under certain circumstances. However, because the Church views marriage to be lifelong, there is no automatic right to do so and it is left to the discretion of each Parish Priest. That will mean that you will need to have a conversation with the Vicar about the circumstances behind your divorce before it will be possible to confirm if a marriage can be proceeded with.
Also, while most weddings take place under banns it will also be necessary to send a notification of the proposed wedding to the Bishop using a standard form which must have the Vicar’s support. The guidance notes that includes an application form are here to download. Once you have arranged a time and date to meet the Vicar by phone or e-mail just bring it along having completed it.
If you want any further clarity, please do just contact us.
Most marriages in Church of England Churches require “Banns” to be called. That process entails, over three consecutive Sunday services, a leader of a church standing in front of a congregation and saying something like: ”
I publish the banns of marriage between John Smith of St Ethelburts Parish and Mary Jones of St Simon’s Parish, both with a qualifying connection to St Jude’s Parish. If anyone knows any reason in law why they may not marry, you are required to declare it now.”
Banns need to be called in the church where you will marry AND in any parish you may each live in. Thererfore it is quite important to discover which parish you do live in. We would recommend following this link to a Church of England Parish finder web site.
If you both live in the parish where you are marrying, then your marriage application form given to you by that church will give them all they need and you do not need banns calling anywhere else. But, if one or both of you live elsewhere and just have another qualifying connection to the church in which you will marry, you will need Banns calling in your home parish.
The national fee for 2011 to call Banns is £22. For a certificate to prove they have been called the additional fee is £12. Therefore, if you marry in one church and both live in two other parishes you will need to pay £22 for the banns of the church where you marry and £34 to each parish you live in for the calling of the banns and for a certificate from each. You must give to the minister who will be marrying you that certificate to legally enable him to hold your wedding.
If you have checked via the link above that you do live within St Jude’s Parish Boundary and require your banns to be read in this church, then please download a form here. Once completed and signed, please post it together with your cheque for the fee, made out to St Jude’s Church, to:
St Jude’s Church, St Jude’s Vicarage, Knighton Road PLYMOUTH PL4 9BU
If you do download the form and post it to us, please do send an e-mail as well via our contact us page so that we can look out for your form and let you know we have received it. (We have had one case of a form being posted, not received and therefore not known about. The banns for that marriage were only chased the week before their wedding and had not been called. It then became urgent, different and a more expensive method then became necessary for them to marry on their chosen date.) Please do not leave it too close to your wedding date to ensure we have your application form as there must be a minimum of three Sundays available BEFORE your wedding day for banns to be valid.
OUR ORGAN IS NOW UNDER CONSIDERATION BY A CHURCH ELSEWHERE AND A FACULTY HAS BEEN SUBMITTED FOR THE MOVE, THEREFORE IT IS CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE. (MAY 2012)
St Jude’s Church in Plymouth, UK, is needing to refurbish their buildings. As part of that refurbishment (Our Next Era Project can be seen here) the generally unused Chancel area needs to be fully utilised and our Organ sits within that area. In any future design, the Chancel will always therefore be acoustically seperate from the main assembly area of the Nave and the organ is just too large for the new seperated Chancel space to be used again.
The Organ is a large, spectacular and very early example of Hele & Co of Plymouth’s grand organ design. It is approximately 4m by 4m in plan and about 6.5m in height before any access space is required. There is not another space within our church complex it would fit! (Click here for a dimensioned sketch)
Therefore, we want to help find it a good home where its wonderful range and character can be used. So our Church organ is for sale – but where it goes and who can hear it is far more important than the price.
Among organs, this has an interesting pedigree. Its modest historicity arises from its build date. We understand that in their early years, Hele & Co of Plymouth assembled organs. Then, in 1875, they came up with their first grand design. Our organ was built in 1878 with seemingly the fullest specification they could offer.
It was originally a two manual instrument of 20 speaking stops that we understand are mechanical action. Then in 1920 a third manual was added, again by Hele’s, with their unique patented pneumatic system taking the speaking stops to 24 in total. (All of the stops and controls are listed as they appear below with photos)
The organ is built of very good materials and works beautifully – and moving it would mean it would be fully restored. It would need to be dismantled by an organ builder ready to ship and be rebuilt by them, replacing any smaller components that may need refurbishment. Once in its new situation it could be a fully restored perfectly operating organ with another 130 years ahead of it.
The Church Faculty process is now beginning with our detailed site design work initially, prior to submission around May 2012. ( A faculty is a type of Church of England Planning Application.) We were pleased to be given initial permission to find a home for the organ worldwide subject to important conditions – more information can be found here.
We would also be very pleased to work with anyone on grants to help. If you are an end user reading this, we believe you would need to engage an organ builder to dismantle, pack and rebuild it in its new location. If you are an organ builder looking at this page it is also being advertised on the Institute of British Organ Building website where some information is available and there are a few extra photographs lower on this page.
We would love to talk to anyone who thinks they can give it a good home where it will be able to be played and heard.
We have been priviledged to inherit a Church and two halls on our site from late Victorian and early Edwardian benefactors. But the buildings do need upgrading and St Jude’s has spent more than 3 years working on a design brief. That brief resulted in some initial concept drawings from our architects, ADG in Plymouth.
On the 15th Sept 2010 our Parochial Church Council decided we would begin the process to get the design developed to allow us to make applications for Planning Permision and a Church of England Faculty (a sort of Church Planning Permission). Planning Permission was achieved in december 2011 and we are now working towards the detail design work needed for the Faculty that we hope to submit late Spring 2012.
The concept is based around a brief that defined all the types of ministries St Jude’s already does, and aspires to do, within the community. Times such as our Boys and Girls Brigades or our Pre-School, evening groups, a cafe etc etc. In essence our brief basically said, “This is what we want to be able to do, these are the buildings we already have. How can we get them to do what we want to do?”
That resulted in a set of concept drawings that the church has become excited by this last year. We hope the community will do too. It will allow St Jude’s to continue being a significant provider for its local community. For instance, over a week we currently see up to 170 children and young people from 0 to 18 – every week! To continue that work alone, we must expand and improve our buildings.
Below is one of the original concept plans showing how the church building will be changed over two phases of work. The Church first with the links to the Hall later. But the whole site will be needed to achieve the result we hope for. These drawings were the initial concept ones and many changes will happen to them before they come to be submitted for any Planning Applications. Full public consultation will happen in time and we look forward to hosting you on one of those days in the near future and hearing any suggestions you may have to help us improve our provision for you into the Next Era of St Jude’s.
Part of our plan will also mean the Church Organ will have to be moved offsite to another venue. We like the organ and it works really well, but fore the site to work it will unfortunately have to be moved. As we progressed the designs it became apparent that there wasn;t anywhere on site it would fit other than its current position. If it doesn;t move it means this church will not be updated for all the great community and faith based work it already does and it will stop it eventually from being healthy. As the organ and is slightly historic frombeing locally built we have initial approval to find a new home for it in a public building, rebuilt as it is, somewhere in the world. We are now looking for a suitable venue where she could be re-built. The organ would need to be carefully dismantelled by an organ builder, transported to its new venue and rebuilt replacing all the ‘consumable’ items and making any minor repairs, so that it can be rebuilt and used as a fully restored, unique and powerful instrument. If you want to look at any of the details of the organ, click here, where we have given over a page to the instrument for anyone who may want to enquire about its use on their site. We can promise it will be made available for use of future generations in a new and fully restored situation.
It is an exciting time to be a part of this church community. We now have the honour of investing in the buildings for the Next Era of churchgoers and community.
We believe we are taking the buildings into the next era of their lives as good stewards to provide sustainable and adaptable community buildings. Our hope is not based on a dream, but on the necessity of needing to move on and adapt buildings that would need significant improvement just to stand still. Poor heating and lack of toilets are just the tip of the site’s needs and standing still is no longer an option for a vibrant and growing community moving into the 21st century. Dreaming of the unatainable would be nice, but these designs have come from several years of working at what we need to be able to do.
We think that we are also being responsible over the heritage of the site and its links to the city. So, in the end, our plans are fairly modest – especially when compared to the following design for the First Baptist Church of Dallas new entrance plaza design…
St Jude’s tries to be relaxed and friendly. We don;t use hymn books, but instead project all the words you will need to take part onto our large screen. If you think church is somewhere you can’t smile and where you have to know what to do to join in, you will have a nice surprise with us. We really do want you to feel welcomed and comfortable the moment you arrive.
Our main family worship time on Sunday mornings is at 10.30am. With Kids Church for school ages & Starfish for older toddlers running at the same time in the Lower Hall except for the second Sundays each month when we get together for All Age services.
There is also a crèche area at the back of the church, were you can supervise your child and still partake in the service.
The service talks sometimes follow the readings from the Church of England lectionary and other times themed weeks. We have a number of speakers on a rota, each with their own style. We take Communion together on alternate Sundays. Kids Church rejoins the main service towards the end in order to share in communion and the final part of the service.
After the service Refreshments are available with time to stay and chat.
Our Prayer Ministry Team is available to pray for people after each service, in confidence and with some privacy if you wish.
If you are looking at this page – Congratulations! (We guess you’re reading it because you’re thinking about getting married. If you are just looking for information on Banns of Marriage click here . Also, if either of you have been married before and are divorced, please follow this link).
IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE FOR IMPRITANT INFORMATION ABOUT POSSIBE CLOSURE OF THE CHURCH SOMETIME IN 2013 FOR REFURBISHMENT
This is a big step that you both need to think through – how it will work out – how you will both care for each other after the first rush of love, wedding and honeymoon. So just to get you both thinking – here’s a comic video with a strong message – just for you…
If you want to talk through these things before the big step – do take the opportunity to do so. You can speak with the Vicar or show the video to close friends and ask them to chat about their experiences and you both need to find time to speak honestly to each other about how you would deal with these and other situations before you commit to marriage. Marriage is a big step, but so worth it if its right and you can get God at the heart of it.
Weddings in churches of the Church of England are covered by the law of the land and the local clergy operate as ‘Clerks in Holy Orders’ which gives them authority to marry folk under certain controlled circumstances. The rules for who local clergy can marry changed on the 1st October 2008.
An early step you’ll need to take if you want to get married at St. Judes is to contact the vicar, Tim Smith, to arrange to meet him for an intitial discussion. Before you do that, please take the time to read the information below to see if you are eligible to be married at the Church. The vicar will need to see certain formal documents, details of which can be found on the application form you can dowload below.
You have a right to marry under Banns (Churches involved read out your names in Church over three Sundays to make sure you meet the criteria below, in the hope that someone who may know you would confirm any irregularities – such as you’re married already etc!) in your local parish church if:
• You are both over 18 (or over 16 with parental permission)
• One of you has a qualifying connection (see below for what they are) with the Church and the Church’s geographic parish boundary. (If you want to check which Church of England Church parish you live in now, or have lived in, and know the postcode, follow this link to check.)
• Neither of you has been married before. If one of you has and is now divorced, there is no right to re-marriage, it is at the sole discretion of the minister. If this applies to you then we need to have a conversation about the circumstances of the divorce to see if re-marriage is possible at St Jude’s Church. Follow this link for more information that you will need to consider before you proceed any further.
After the 1st October 2008 you can marry in a Church of England church of your choice, subject to the conditions above, if you can prove one or more of the following connections:
1. You were baptised in the church.
2. You were confirmed in or from the church.
3. A Parent or Grandparent of yours was married in the church.
4. You have had your usual place of residence in the parish of the church for at least 6 months.
5. Your Parent has had their usual place of residence within the parish of the church for at least 6 months during your lifetime.
6. You have habitually attended public worship at the church for at least 6 months.
8. Your Parent has habitually attended public worship at the church for at least 6 months during your lifetime.
If you are thinking about getting married in Church, but you don’t go to one – why not look into why we find St Jude’s a great place to be part of by joining one of our Alpha Courses? Maybe the video above raised a question for you about faith and its impact for a relationship? We have discovered a very real relationship that’s available with God through Jesus and lives filled with hope and purpose. Ask about going on one of our Alpha Courses. Then if you did discover something new and exciting, you might want to join us anyway!
Fees for weddings are set by the Church of England nationally and in February 2012 a change to the structure of the fees was agreed to include more of the variable costs that can sometimes be confusing. The full details are not yet known, but it would seem if you are marrying at the Church in whose parish you both live and only one set of banns need to be called, then the cost for a 2013 wedding would be £405.50 and in 2014, £417.50 excluding things such as an organist or special requirements. If one or both of you live outside the parish boundarioes the cost may rise a little as banns will need to be called in those parishes too. This is only a guide and we can give you further details when we meet and the actual fees will always be those in force the year you marry, not when a wedding is booked.
If you want to know more about this or any of the things mentioned here, please initially contact the Vicar before you book anything to make sure a marriage is possible on the dates you prefer in St Jude’s Church (there is a ‘contacts’ link at the top of the page). Even if you qualify to get married in St Jude’s Church, it may not be possible to hold a wedding on a particular date or time – therefore it is crucial you do not book any other venues until you check with us that the date you require is available in the Church.
If you wanted to look at some general ideas about a service, hymn selections etc, why not try the Church of England’s ceremony planning web site. (The site is really helpful and gives some ideas on planning your service, but the actual service at St Jude’s might be in a different order to the way the site shows its results - so please don’t get anything printed until you speak with the Vicar!)
SPECIAL NOTICE
St Jude’s Church has plans for a building project. We do not yet know timings (the earliest will be a Spring 2013 start, and it could be closed for up to 12 months) so it is possible the Church may be closed for those works. If that happens at the date of your wedding we will still be able to hold your marriage ceremony, but it will instead be under a licence we obtain to carry out a wedding in an adjacent parish.
We hope we have everything you may be wanting to find linked from this page or above – please do explore!
We also love to showcase good videos ( there are several in different parts of this site) and this next one gives a great insight into humanity’s problem and the cost of the solution to our broken relationship with God.
At our Sunday morning services we offer worship suitable for all with Kids Church most weeks too (except some of the main school holidays and a monthly All Age service normally on 2nd Sundays of the month). Kids Church is at the same time as the adult gathering, a different group for the toddlers called Starfish and a creche in the church for the youngest members of the community.
Our Sunday evenings are at 6.30pm in our Upper Hall – see here for more!
We’re also going through lots of changes – buildings and services, small groups and kids. It isn’t just blind busyness, but we are following a firm strategy based on outreach and discipleship – C4. And all this pressure this year is reflected in our chosen verse for the year – check it out here.
We have great childrens’ times across the week – not just Sundays – see whats on offer here. Families can find space, Youth can gather in different ways, folk who want to grow more in their relationship with Jesus often meet up Sunday evenings and our older community are encouraged, especially at our Midweeker. A new after school drop in is up and running too, do check out our Roots Cafe
Parking is easy in our own car park and nearby streets. We hope to keep up lots of social activities. All folk of any age or background can find friendship here. Together we try to follow Jesus, welcome the Holy Spirit and bring glory to the Father.
We encourage members of the community to support ministries in the city, not just in the church. And it isn’t uncommon for individuals and families to feel a call further afield and we have several of our church family in overseas ministries and missions.
If you want to know more about giving at St Jude’s, have a look here.
This is what the Lord says, “make this valley full of ditches”
