News & Features

On 13th November 2024 the PCCs of the benefice held a joint meeting, as required, to approve the Benefice Profile to be used in the advertising for a new rector. A copy of that profile can be viewed or downloaded from HERE. It has been sent to Archdeacon Catherine for use in the advert which will appear in the Norwich diocese "Pathways" section on the diocesan website (Vacancies - Diocese of Norwich) and which will be available to anyone looking for posts in this diocese. Catherine will create a job description and some other documents will be added to the advert, with the hope of getting these in Pathways by about 25th November.

The current intention is that applications should be received by 6th January 2025 and any applicants will visit the benefice and be interviewed on Wednesday 19th February 2025.

These are the dates being aimed at currently, but they may change.

The Christmas booklet for 2024 has now been completed and sent off to the printers. At some point fairly soon we will need volunteers to take them out around the benefice. In the meantime an electronic version of it can be read HERE

Having sent off the version of the benefice profile approved by the Ministry Team, churchwardens and AWA, we have received back a helpful list of suggested amendments from Catherine, our archdeacon. Alan Cossey, as the main link, also had a phone chat with her.

The ministry team have amended the benefice profile and the latest version has this morning (Wednesday) been sent off to Catherine for her perusal and, hopefully, passing on to Bishop Jane.

If Jane and Catherine are OK with it, our intention is to have a "Section 11" meeting on Wednesday 23rd October of the PCCs together and formally sign off the profile and to appoint parish reps to take part in the interview process. Parish reps have to be members of the PCCs and it is likely that each parish will have one such rep apart from Mattishall, which will have two reps to represent two of the three congregations there. Parish reps have to be able to truly represent their congregations. Since ASM 9.00 and 10.30 congregations are somewhat different, we are looking for two reps. There will not be a rep for the monthly Oasis congregation at ASM, two reps being the maximum per parish. However, reps, including how many, will be formally decided at that Section 11 meeting.

When the benefice profile has been approved by the joint meeting of the PCCs, we will make it generally available to everyone. We have not made it generally available so far as we are up to version 10 and it might be confusing if various versions were flying around. Please be assured, though, that the PCCs have been diligent in representing their parishes and we have taken into account the things discusses and voted for at the Vision Day in July to which everyone was invited.

A very rough timescale for the continuation of the process is as follows. Please note, though, that it may well vary, particularly if Catherine or Jane need us to make any more changes to the profile.

1) Approval of benefice profile and appointment of parish reps by the end of October.

2) The post of Rector gets advertised. The joint PCCs meeting is where this will be requested (if we decide that is what we want). It will definitely be posted at Vacancies - Diocese of Norwich and we can ask for (and pay for!) it to be posted in the Church Times. There will also be word of mouth...

3) Closing date for applications would be around 6th January 2025.

4) Interview day would be 19th February 2025.

Assuming we get at least one applicant, he/she would be shown around the benefice on that interview day, meeting people at each church (and church office), would meet with the Ministry Team, have lunch and then there would be a formal interview with, probably, Bishop Jane, Archdeacon Catherine and the parish reps.

If that interview concludes positively, an offer would be made, but no-one on the interview panel is allowed to tell anyone that. The reason for this is not to be awkward, but the applicant might not then want the job, a parish rep might object or, if all goes well, the announcement of appointment would need to be done simultaneously in their current benefice (assuming they have one) and here in ours. It would not be right for news to slip out and, say, their benefice to find out from our end that they are losing their incumbent. Note that the appointee will likely have a 3-month notice period to serve out, just like Mark M. did here. Please don't ask the parish reps how things went!

Additional bit...

So, if we find someone who wants to come here, we might be talking about a start around early June. However, if they have children in school they might want them to finish their school year ... and then holiday... so we might be taking about a start of late August or early September. At least we have got some idea of what might happen.

Dear all,

The Ministry Team (Sally, Jackie Crisp, Mel and Alan) the churchwardens (Jools, Chrissie, Rosemary, Susan, Sue, Sarah, Clarke, Su and Janet), Anne Molyneux as AWA and Mandy as Benefice Administrator, have taken the information from the benefice Vision Day in July (to which everyone was invited and a good number came to), the various PCCs' suggestions  and melded them into a draft Benefice Profile. The people mentioned above met this last Tuesday and gave it their approval (so far). Copies have now gone to all the PCCs. Jackie has been the driving force behind bringing the profile together and Heather Flint has put the document together into a suitable form (and helped the churchwardens with suggestions).

This draft profile has been sent to our Archdeacon, Catherine, for her to look at and possibly make further suggestions.

Our intention is for the various PCCs to meet on Wednesday 9th October in what is known as a Section 11 meeting to formally agree the profile and appoint parish reps to represent the benefice/parishes when we get to the point of interviewing anyone who applies and is seen as a viable Rector. Once the profile has been formally agreed by the PCCs we'll make it more widely available.

FYI, there is a sort of "holding" vacancy notice about the benefice at Vacancies - Diocese of Norwich in the Archdeaconry of Lynn section, which mentions the hope of advertising the vacancy in late autumn. We will try to get it advertised as early as possible, bearing in mind that the Section 11 meeting is on October 9th.

Dear Friends at All Saints - Mattishall, 

Thank you so much for your kind gift of £302.00 to strengthen your persecuted church family around the world who are risking it all to follow Jesus. Thanks to your prayers and support, our brothers and sisters know they are not alone and can stand strong in their faith.
In 2022, Lukman* and Winda* gave their lives to Jesus, but it came at a cost: they were forced out of their family home, losing their inheritance, and they ended up being evicted from the two homes they went on to rent. 
With the help of Open Doors local partners, the couple have found a new place. “Thank you, Open Doors, for helping us secure this housing,” says Lukman. “I am very grateful because this greatly eases our financial burden, especially since I have just started a job as a mobile beverage vendor. This assistance is very helpful. Praise the Lord. Thank you so much!” 
Despite the challenges, and the need to keep their faith hidden, the couple are standing strong. “I feel peace in believing Christ that I have never experienced before,” says Winda. “Life is indeed difficult, but God always gives us strength and what we need.”

May the Lord fill you with His Spirit and surround you with His love.

Your sister in Christ,

Henrietta Blyth
CEO, Open Doors UK and Ireland

As spoken of elsewhere on this website, in our services and on the benefice Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/matvchurch) we have been without a rector since Mark finished in May. We are currently going through the process of consulting our congregations (we had a "vision day" in July) and our PCCs (parochial church councils, one for each parish) are drawing up the information they would like to go in a combined benefice profile. The benefice ministry team has been drawing up a description of the benefice as a whole.

The ministry team is aiming to meet up with all the churchwardens later this month and have the benefice profile agreed by all the PCCs by about 9th October in consultation with our Archdeacon, Catherine, and Bishop Jane. The next step will then be to make the benefice profile available to those who may be interested in joining us. We are appreciative of Catherine's proactive role in helping us, including the posting of Mattishall and Tudd Valley as looking for a new rector even before we here in the benefice got started. Please see our benefice highlighted at Vacancies - Diocese of Norwich. This was put in place back in June.

For more information about the process, please ask any of the ministry team (Rev. Sally Thurgill, Alan Cossey (LLM), Jackie Crisp (LLM) and Mel Stevenson (LLM)).

More info from Open Doors, one of the mission partners of Mattishall parish.

Why must some believers keep their faith secret – and how can we help them? - Open Doors UK & Ireland

Dear Friends at All Saints - Mattishall, 

Thank you so much for your kind gift of £462.00 to strengthen our persecuted church family around the world who are risking it all to follow Jesus. Thanks to your prayers and support, our brothers and sisters know they are not alone and can stand strong in their faith.
Lalita* gave her life to Jesus last year, exposing her to verbal abuse and physical attack from her in-laws. She and her son were later thrown out of their home after she refused to take part in Hindu funeral rites when a relative died. Her husband has been living abroad for 15 years and her local community won’t help her unless she renounces her faith.
Today, Lalita and her son live in a small house on her in-law’s land. She works as a maid. Her in-laws want her to leave, but she is standing firm in her faith – helped by you, after attending persecution survival training.
“I am very much thankful to God and Open Doors partners,” she says. “This seminar strengthens my faith. I knew that I was not alone in this persecution journey. The stories of God’s people encouraged me to depend on the Lord. This training became a cornerstone for me to stand on in the time of difficult situations. Thank you.”

May the Lord fill you with His Spirit and surround you with His love.

Your sister in Christ,

Henrietta Blyth
CEO, Open Doors UK and Ireland