Central Telford Parish

• Dawley Holy Trinity
• Ketley St Mary the Virgin
• Lawley St John the Evangelist
• Malinslee St Leonard

Training Incumbent
The Revd Preb Jo Farnworth

Trained: St John's College, Nottingham. Deaconed: 1999 Manchester

I served my curacy, and held posts as incumbent of various urban parishes and Young Adults Archdeaconry Missioner in Manchester Diocese. In January 2022, I was licensed as Team Rector of Central Telford Parish and Associate Archdeacon of Salop. I love ministry in Telford - challenging but deeply rewarding. The mix of traditional parish ministry with possibilities of new missional opportunities, working collaboratively with laity/clergy, provides an environment in which I thrive. I have been a TI previously.

The context

Ministry in Central Telford Parish is best described as urban/suburban but Telford is a unique place! Originally developed as a new town in the 1960s, incorporating many of the original villages, it continues to grow rapidly and the parish is large (c 60K population, and growing). We are a single parish with four churches, served by the Team Rector, Team Vicar, a Reader, locally commissioned lay leaders and a good number of willing volunteers.

Our Sunday worship is mainly eucharistic and services are held weekly in each church exept on a 5th Sunday when we gather together as a parish to worship. We have a monthly Messy Church which is lay led.  Occasional services are held throughout the year and there is an openness to different styles of worship.

Our buildings are in good condition and two have been reordered with flexible seating and digital projection systems.  One of our missional aspirations is to use the building more for community activities, particularly St Leonard’s church which is set in an area of significant social need.

We have connections with many of the 15 Primary Schools in the parish, and some of the Secondary Schools.  Each church is working to develop a strong relationship with the school located closest to it, as an important mission priority.  We run tots groups, are involved in local food banks, and other activities take place during the week. 

Occasional offices provide missional opportunities: there is a large funeral and baptism ministry, and we also have some weddings. There seems to be much good will towards the churches, and a desire from community partners to work together for the common good. We are starting to work towards becoming eco churches and we belong to the Inclusive Church network.

There are challenges, common to many churches, and we’d love to see our churches grow and our finances to be stronger. We have developed a mission plan to help us address these issues, and have been excited to see new people joining us, and an increase in diversity.

Both our Team Rector and Team Vicar would be open to using the Prayers of Love and Faith as part of our ministry here at Central Telford. 

Mission statistics (2024)