Living God’s Love - Diocese of St Albans · Living God’s Love 10 The estate was built as a...

St John the Baptist Church

Farley Hill, Luton

Profile

Called to be a thriving worshiping community bringing transformation and

restoration to the people of Farley Hill.

Living God’s Love

St John the Baptist Church Profile

Living God’s Love 2

Contents

Message from the Minister ......................................................................... 3

St John the Baptist Church......................................................................... 4

A potted history................................................................................... 4

Our Church Life and Mission .................................................................... 5

‘Kids Can Cook’ ................................................................................. 5

Garden Project ................................................................................. 6

2014 Peace Walk ............................................................................... 6

Schools ........................................................................................... 6

Refugee Aid ..................................................................................... 7

Other ministry and mission opportunities .................................................. 7

Eden Team Leader Accommodation ........................................................... 8

Farley Hill Estate .................................................................................... 9

Location ............................................................................................ 9

Amenities ........................................................................................ 10

Schools ........................................................................................... 10

Ethnic Mix ........................................................................................ 11

Challenges ....................................................................................... 11

Churches ......................................................................................... 12

Welcome to Luton! ................................................................................ 13

Overview ......................................................................................... 13

Transport ........................................................................................ 14

Education ........................................................................................ 15

Employment ..................................................................................... 15

Town Centre ..................................................................................... 16

Hospital .......................................................................................... 16

Conclusion .......................................................................................... 17



Message from the Minister

Thank you for taking time to read this parish profile for St John’s, which I hope will give

you a flavour of our church community and what God is doing amongst us.

St John’s is a ‘work-in-progress’ and we feel privileged to be part of God’s plan for

Farley Hill.

Over the past three years, we have seen the Lord moving in exciting ways as we try to

listen to his voice and do what he says. Hopefully, some of that will come through this

document. The next phase in the life of our church community is to host an Eden team,

for which the funding is now in place.

You are possibly reading this because you feel the Lord may be nudging you to be part of

this new Eden team on the estate. If that’s the case, please read this parish profile

prayerfully, listening to what the Spirit may be saying to you. Is God calling you to

incarnational ministry, being deeply embedded in a local community? Is God calling you

to make a difference in the lives of children, teenagers and young families in Farley Hill?

We have tried to pre-empt any questions you may have but if you would like any more

information, or simply to talk through any questions you may have, please do contact

me by email or phone. If you live close enough for a visit, I’d be very happy to meet you

and take you on a tour around the estate.

Every blessing,

Revd Rob O’Neill, Vicar.

01582 731692

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



St John the Baptist Church

A potted history

Post WW2: The Farley Hill estate was built.

1949: A new congregation was planted in the living room of one of the newly-

erected houses. The ‘mother church’ was St Saviour’s, down the hill on the

edge of the town centre. St Saviour’s was then, and continues to be, an

high Anglo-Catholic church.

1951: A new church building had appeared and this is now used as the church

hall. The church was named St Michael & St George.

1965: The church became independent from St Saviour’s and became the parish

church of the Farley Hill Estate.

1967: The name is changed to St John the Baptist church.

1969: The current church building was erected.

2011: The church had, by this time, been in steady decline and embarked on a

journey of renewal, which continues to this day.

2012: A small YWAM team came to join us in our ministry on the estate and one

of them still remains, exercising a ministry of peace and reconciliation

among the different communities in Farley Hill. This team is more widely

known as the Reconciliation Walk Community.

2012: St John’s became a member of the New Wine network of churches.

2015: The Lord led us to make contact with the Eden Network and an extended

period of prayer and preparation was entered into, bring us to where we

are now…

2016: We will welcome a new Eden team leader and volunteer team members

and work together to live and demonstrate God’s love to the young people

on the estate.



Our Church Life and Mission

We have seen significant spiritual growth over recent years as we seek to know God

more and experience him in our daily lives. Net numerical growth has been modest but

people continue to be added to our number. St John’s is a very friendly and

unpretentious church, welcoming of anyone regardless of age, ethnicity or background.

Our Sunday worship is fairly informal. We have become quite ‘liturgy-lite’ and we have

a small band to lead us in our singing. We regularly experience the presence of the Holy

Spirit during our meetings and have seen a couple of significant physical healings over

the past 18 months which have encouraged everybody in our church family. Our

meetings are unrecognisable from what they were three years ago but the Eucharist

continues to play an important part in the spirituality of the church. We share bread

and wine most weeks, deepening our unity and allowing the sacrament to feed us. St

John’s is also a Word based church and our preaching and teaching is rooted in scripture.

A regular ‘Sunday Club’ is run by a small team of dedicated volunteers and we regularly

see a group of children coming alive in their faith as they learn bible stories in an

atmosphere of prayer and worship.

We gather for occasional prayer walks and there is a weekly home group meeting in the

vicarage.

Our philosophy of doing ministry and mission is simple: we move in faith. If we sense

God is prompting us to do something, we do it with the people and resources we have

and expect to see God provide more people and resources as they are needed. God has

been very generous in this regard and has enabled us to do much more than we ought,

considering we are a relatively small church.

‘Kids Can Cook’

The child poverty index for Farley Hill is the highest in

Herts and Beds at 35%. This means that at least that

amount get free school meals and many don’t get to eat

regularly during school holidays for a variety of reasons.

One day each week during the school holidays, we run a

lunch club called ‘Kids Can Cook’ and this is attended by

around 40 children. They come to play games, do craft

activities and, most importantly, learn how to make a

simple but nutritious meal that is cooked for them on

the premises. This empowers young people to become

more self-sufficient in often chaotic households.



Garden Project

We began our garden project to teach local

people how to grow, harvest and prepare

fresh vegetables at affordable prices. Public

health and obesity are issues in Farley Hill

that have been highlighted by the NHS.

Our response is modest but we believe this

will grow to be a significant ministry and

opportunity for mission over the coming

years.

2014 Peace Walk

St John’s is committed to building

peaceful relations with our neighbours

on the estate and in 2014 we hosted the

annual Luton Council of Faiths ‘Peace

Walk’. This was a great success and we

continue to support this activity each

year in different parts of our town.

Our thanks go to the Reconciliation Walk

Community for making this happen!

Schools

Our relationships with the local schools are

very good and we host yearly carol services

for all the pupils at Farley Junior School. We

also work with the Gideon Society to hand

out bibles at the Stockwood Park Academy

high school.

These relationships will hopefully be

developed further when an Eden team is

living on the estate.



Refugee Aid

Some people at St John’s were instrumental in

raising awareness and funds to help refugees in the

Jungle Camp in Calais. Three trips have been

undertaken to deliver winter clothing, medicines

and over 1,000 blankets.

This is something we are keen to build on in the

future.

Other ministry and mission opportunities

The above activities are only a taster of what we get up to in Farley Hill and we

thank God for his faithfulness as he continually leads us forward into new

opportunities. We are currently planning to run a regular ‘Start’ course and

increase the levels of discipleship among our church members.

Money management courses and parenting courses are prayerfully being considered

and could provide a wonderful opportunity to bless the local community and share

the Gospel.

We would welcome new opportunities to develop our ministry among young people.



Eden Team Leader Accommodation

47 Rotheram Avenue, Luton,

LU1 5PP.

The Eden team leader will have the

option of living in the Vicarage

which is situated next door to the

church hall. The house is spacious

and comfortable and has a large

driveway for at least 3 cars. The

garden to the rear is mostly laid to

lawn and backs onto the area

where we run the garden project.

The house is on Rotheram Avenue

and is just around the corner from

St Margaret of Scotland junior

school and Stockwood Park

Academy high school, making it

ideally located to engage with

young people.

Upstairs: 4 good sized

bedrooms, bathroom and

separate toilet.

Downstairs: Sitting room,

dining room, study, hallway,

kitchen, shower room/toilet,

utility room, garage.

The Vicarage is an ideal family

house but is also suitable for

multiple occupancy.

The owner of the property is the Diocese of St Albans and they are well known for being

an excellent landlord!



Farley Hill Estate

Location

Farley Hill is situated on a hill top plateau at the southern end of Luton, about a mile

from the town centre. It is adjacent to Stockwood Park and junction 10 of the M1.

The Diocese of St Albans records the population of the parish to be 6000, whereas the

electoral ward (Farley Ward), of which the parish is part, has 11000. Stockwood Park

forms the eastern boundary of the parish; it is a spacious park containing a municipal

golf course, rugby and football pitches and an athletics track. A few years ago the

Stockwood Discovery Centre opened, a free museum and activity centre for families.



The estate was built as a local authority estate just after the Second World War.

However, whilst some properties are still council owned, a fair proportion are now in

private ownership. Apart from a few blocks of flats, the houses have large gardens as

was the custom for properties built in the late 1940s. The layout of the estate is of

generous road widths and being on a plateau is flat although there are two hills, one at

each end, to reach it from the town centre.

Amenities

There is a local authority Community

Centre but there are few other

amenities; the sole remaining pub was

recently bulldozed to make way for a

health centre and affordable housing.

The market square contains a few shops

including a Cooperative store, fish and

chip shop, post office, pharmacy and

community café.

There is a second, smaller shopping area on the estate with a convenience store and

some takeaway outlets.

Schools

Education on the estate is provided by Whipperley Infants School, Farley Junior School

and Stockwood Park Academy for 12 to 18 year olds which opened in 2011. These three

schools have recently been inspected by Ofsted and were deemed ‘Good’. The Academy

is located in Rotherham Avenue 100 yards from the church. A Roman Catholic Infant and

Junior School is also located in Rotherham Avenue almost adjacent to the church.

http://www.whipperleyinfantacademy.co.uk

http://www.farleyjuniorschool.org.uk

http://stockwoodpark.thesharedlearningtrust.org.uk

http://www.stmargarets.luton.sch.uk

The King’s School, an independent Christian school to the north of Harpenden, also takes

children from Luton catchment areas and educates children to GCSE level. ‘A level’

studies can then be pursued at one of the Harpenden schools if so desired.

http://www.thekingsschool.com

http://www.whipperleyinfantacademy.co.uk/

http://www.farleyjuniorschool.org.uk/

http://stockwoodpark.thesharedlearningtrust.org.uk/

http://www.stmargarets.luton.sch.uk/

http://www.thekingsschool.com/



Ethnic Mix

Farley Hill is reflective of the wider town in that the ethnic mix is very diverse:

There have been some social tensions on the estate in the past and Farley Hill was the

birthplace of the English Defence League. In response to this, local agencies including

Luton Borough Council, schools and faith groups have been at the forefront of tackling

community cohesion issues but there is much more that needs to be done.

Challenges

Most people living in Farley Hill are proud of their estate and are keen to see

improvements made to the community. There are many who have worked all their adult

lives in local industry or in the armed services and are now enjoying a reasonably

comfortable retirement. Despite relatively high levels of unemployment, most adults

hold down permanent jobs and there is a small influx of young professionals moving onto

the estate, attracted by the affordable rents and house prices.

ETHNICITY - all residents Number - Farley % Farley % Luton

White: English/Welsh/Scottish/N. Irish/British 5,595 46.60% 44.60%

White: Irish 566 4.70% 3.00%

White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller 19 0.20% 0.10%

White: Other White 1,290 10.80% 7.00%

Mixed/multiple: White & Black Caribbean 268 2.20% 1.90%

Mixed/multiple: White & Black African 49 0.40% 0.50%

Mixed/multiple: White and Asian 135 1.10% 0.90%

Mixed/multiple: Other Mixed 119 1.00% 0.90%

Asian/Asian British: Indian 403 3.40% 5.20%

Asian/Asian British: Pakistani 1,151 9.60% 14.40%

Asian/Asian British: Bangladeshi 500 4.20% 6.70%

Asian/Asian British: Chinese 108 0.90% 0.70%

Asian/Asian British: Other Asian 261 2.20% 2.90%

Black: African 652 5.40% 4.50%

Black: Caribbean 474 4.00% 4.00%

Black: Other Black 131 1.10% 1.30%

Other ethnic group: Arab 86 0.70% 0.80%

Other ethnic group: Other 189 1.60% 0.70%



However, despite the many positives to be found in the local community, a look at the

poverty indicators provided by the Church Urban Fund show many challenges that we

experience daily:

In order to break generational cycles of poverty on the estate, we feel the most pressing

need is to engage with children, teenagers and young families to raise aspirations and

provide coaching/mentoring to enable them to reach their God-given potential. Young

people need to be released from the lie that they will never succeed and be told

unequivocally, “YOU CAN!!”.

Churches

There are three church buildings and four church groups: Anglican, Roman Catholic,

Methodist and an independent evangelical church that uses the Methodist church

building. The Roman Catholics are fairly high in number as many of the residents are

Irish or Eastern European.

The ongoing presence of an Anglican church on the estate is important and St John’s has

seen a lot of support and encouragement over recent years from Luton Borough Council,

the police and the local schools.

INDICATORLOWEST IN

COUNTRY

LOWEST IN

DIOCESE

THIS

PARISH

HIGHET IN

DIOCESE

HIGHEST IN

COUNTRY

Child Poverty

(% of children in poverty)

Pensioner Poverty

(% of pensioners on low incomes)

Working age poverty

(% of adults receiving key out-of-work benefits)

Life expectancy (boys)

(life expectancy at birth)

Life expectancy (girls)

(life expectancy at birth)

No qualifications

(% of working age adults without any qualifications)

Social housing

(% of households living in social rented housing)

Lone parenthood

(lone parent families as % of all families with children)

Ethnic diversity

(% of population who are not white British)

Older population

(% of population who are aged 65 and over)

1% 3% 51% 91% 97%

1% 5% 14% 30% 59%

0% 1% 42% 43% 87%

0% 5% 31% 37% 67%

70 yrs 76 yrs 81 yrs 95 yrs 99 yrs

1% 8% 39% 39% 63%

1% 2% 23% 23% 60%

66 yrs 72 yrs 74 yrs 83 yrs 88 yrs

65%

0% 2% 28% 34% 69%

0% 3% 35% 35%



Welcome to Luton!

Overview

Despite some bad publicity over recent years, the people of Luton love their town and

rightly so. There is so much good happening here that never gets publicised. People

who minister in Luton churches often stay for long periods because of the vibrancy of

the town and the many opportunities to see God’s kingdom come in wonderful ways.

Luton has often been described

as a Northern town in the Home

Counties. It is a post-industrial

town, having been built around

hat making, car manufacturing

and other industries. It is a town

in the process of modernisation

and is served by a growing

international airport that

provides the possibility to expand

its influence well beyond its local

borders.

The town is located 30 miles north of London, just off the M1 motorway (Junctions 10 &

11). It merges with Dunstable and their combined population is over 200,000. Luton is

very multicultural, which you can see from the statistics taken from the 2011 census

data:

St George’s Square and Town Hall



Despite being quite a built –up area, there are plenty of open spaces and parks.

Museums, libraries, entertainment venues and a wide variety of restaurants serve the

needs of our diverse community.

Luton Town FC is an added bonus for the town and will soon be relocating to a state of

the art stadium, thereby increasing its revenue and, hopefully, its success!

Transport

Luton has excellent transport links. In addition to the motorway, there is the East

Midlands railway running from Sheffield to St Pancras and the local First Capital Connect

line from Bedford to Brighton.

The airport has grown considerably over the

last 20 years or so and is now the fifth busiest

in the UK. It is the home of Easy Jet, Monarch

and Tui (Thomson) and many of its flights are

for package holidays. A new £200 million

tube-style link from Luton Parkway station to

the airport has just been announced, making

the airport even more attractive for

holidaymakers and business people alike.

ETHNICITY – all residents Number – Luton % Luton% East of

England

% England and

Wales

White: English/Welsh/Scottish/N. Irish/British 90,530 44.60% 85.30% 80.50%

White: Irish 6,126 3.00% 1.00% 0.90%

White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller 198 0.10% 0.10% 0.10%

White: Other White 14,225 7.00% 4.50% 4.40%

Mixed/multiple: White & Black Caribbean 3,831 1.90% 0.60% 0.80%

Mixed/multiple: White & Black African 915 0.50% 0.30% 0.30%

Mixed/multiple: White and Asian 1,805 0.90% 0.60% 0.60%

Mixed/multiple: Other Mixed 1,730 0.90% 0.50% 0.50%

Asian/Asian British: Indian 10,625 5.20% 1.50% 2.50%

Asian/Asian British: Pakistani 29,353 14.40% 1.10% 2.00%

Asian/Asian British: Bangladeshi 13,606 6.70% 0.60% 0.80%

Asian/Asian British: Chinese 1,497 0.70% 0.60% 0.70%

Asian/Asian British: Other Asian 5,871 2.90% 1.00% 1.50%

Black: African 9,169 4.50% 1.20% 1.80%

Black: Caribbean 8,177 4.00% 0.60% 1.10%

Black: Other Black 2,563 1.30% 0.20% 0.50%

Other ethnic group: Arab 1,646 0.80% 0.20% 0.40%

Other ethnic group: Other 1,334 0.70% 0.30% 0.60%



A 24 hour coach service from the town centre and airport takes passengers to London,

terminating near Victoria station, and other destinations around the UK.

A frequent bus service from the town centre serves Farley Hill and there is a stop next

to St John’s church.

Education

Luton operates a two-tier education system. Youthscape, founded in 1992 as ‘Luton

Churches Education Trust, is a charity that does a lot of good work in the secondary

schools around the town, including Stockwood Park Academy in Farley Hill.

Pupils who wish to study ‘A’ levels go on to Sixth Form College.

The University of Bedfordshire has grown

over recent years and is now an

established feature of the town centre.

Other campuses exist as far afield as

Bedford and Milton Keynes.

There is an Anglican chaplain at the

university who runs the Treehouse, a safe

place for foreign students who are here

alone to make friends with others from

different cultures and faiths.

Employment

Employment is undoubtedly a challenge within Luton! Following the demise of Vauxhall

and other manufacturing industries within the town, and with the on-going austerity cuts

within Luton Borough Council, the town is working hard to attract inward investment to

restructure its economy.

Luton Airport and the university are increasing in size, thereby offering more

employment opportunities.

Many people within Luton travel to surrounding towns where employment is more

plentiful.

University of Bedfordshire, Luton Campus



Town Centre

There is a large shopping complex in the centre of the town, the Mall, formerly called

the Arndale.

A town centre chaplain was appointed in 2011 and has since

developed a large team of volunteer chaplains that serve in

numerous locations.

‘Street Pastors’ also operate in the town centre on Friday and Saturday nights, providing

security to vulnerable people until 4.00am.

Numerous Christian charities operate within

the town centre, reaching out to those at

risk of homelessness, street workers, and

many others on the fringes of society.

Hospital

The Luton and Dunstable Hospital is located just off junction 11 of the M1. The ‘L & D’,

as it is known, is a training hospital for London University and has very good medical

facilities. It is currently going through a significant expansion programme.



Conclusion

The leadership and congregation of St John’s church believe that we are a ‘work-in-

progress’ and that we have only just seen a glimpse of what God has in store for us if we

remain faithful to his guidance.

The last three and a half years have seen significant spiritual growth and openness to

God’s presence in our midst. We have seen modest numerical growth and we are aware

that we need to reach a ‘critical mass’ before we are ready for a larger influx of people,

many of whom would be quite needy. Nevertheless, we continue to move forwards,

always trying to be faithful in the small things…

We are convinced that God has called us to work in partnership with the Eden Network

and have been prayerfully discerning this for over a year. Our desire is to host a team to

begin a process of proactive engagement with children, teenagers and young families on

our estate. This would happen with the full support of the whole congregation and

would be considered part of the overall ministry of the church.

In addition to the Vicarage, accommodation on the estate is varied and quite plentiful.

There is the prospect of buying a house, which would be a good financial investment,

but there are also plenty of houses and flats around the estate to rent privately. If God

is calling you to come here, accommodation won’t be something you’ll have difficulties

with.

We continue to pray for everyone reading this profile and who may be considering

applying to be part of the Eden Network on Farley Hill, either as the full-time leader or

a volunteer member of the team.

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