Tradition:Evangelical |
Monthly services:We hold a service every Sunday |
Schools, colleges:Close links with: Good links with: |
Archdeaconry:Walsall |
Training Incumbent
The Revd Kate Watson
Trained: Trinity College, Bristol. Deaconed: Lichfield 2017
I’ve been vicar here since June 2020 (yes, during lockdown!) after curacy locally. I came to ordained ministry with plenty of prior life experience, varied lay church ministry and a professional career as a chartered landscape architect. I’m a ‘people person’ and love being in a lively, outward-focussed church, exploring innovative ways of sharing the Good News of Jesus in word and action and deepening and growing in faith as life-long disciples. My husband and I have three grown-up children and an increasing number of grandchildren. I love being outdoors in my veg patch or the countryside and spending time with friends and family.
The context
St Martin’s is a vibrant church family growing in the love of Jesus. Anchored in Biblical truth and inspired by the Holy Spirit, we are committed to celebrating and sharing the Good News of Jesus, reaching out and welcoming people of all ages and backgrounds. Our heart is to see people’s lives and the community of Bradley transformed by the love of Jesus. We are experiencing growth in our Sunday congregation and mid-week groups and activities are thriving, including Ignite 5:14 which welcomes 60+ youngsters on Friday evenings for fun and fellowship; and regular community events which draw 150+ into our well-equipped church centre.
Bradley is urban and predominantly residential, with 40% social rented housing and ranks among the 6% most deprived parishes in the country, although regeneration is bringing new homes, new green spaces and facilities and attracting professionals and a more diverse socio-economic mix. The older estates in particular experience socio-economic difficulties, which we encounter regularly through our community connections, giving us the opportunity to show Christ’s love in practical ways. The local community in the older housing estates, tend to be ‘Bradley born and bred’ and it is a settled, fairly close-knit community.
If you come to St Martin’s to serve your title post, you will find there is a diversity of opportunities within this parish, from pioneering community-focussed ministry alongside church-focussed worship to a congregation increasingly open to the Holy Spirit’s renewing and empowering. Come and join the adventure!
Mission statistics (2024)
| Electoral Roll | Usual Sunday Attendance Adults | Usual Sunday Attendance Children | Thanksgivings | Baptisms | Marriages | Funerals (church) | Funerals (crem) |
| 74 | 44 | 15 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 4 |