We are seeking to import ordinands to serve their curacy within the Diocese of Chelmsford.
This Hub is designed to provide information and resources for those interested in applying to be considered for these title posts.
Application process
-
Click here to find out how to apply
For an initial informal conversation please call the DDO, Rev Tim Goodbody on 01245294421 or 07485308735 or email ddo@chelmsford.anglican.org. Please do not contact parishes directly.
Applicants will need to provide:
- a release letter from their Bishop
- a personal profile and CV
- their BAP report, college reports and other associated documentation of the discernment process
- a covering letter outlining the applicant’s calling to serve in the Diocese of Chelmsford.
Initial applications must be submitted as soon as possible for shortlisting. Applicants will be contacted for initial interview by the DDO and potentially subsequent interview by an Area Bishop.
Background reading
-
Click here to read a message from the Bishop of Chelmsford
Covering Essex and East London, Chelmsford is one of the largest, most diverse dioceses in the Church of England. We are home to more than 3 million people representing many socio-economic, ethnic and faith groups and a fantastic variety of cultures and traditions.
We have enormous opportunities for mission and service and considerable challenges to face and resolve as we continue to deal with the local, national and global challenges that have a direct impact on our parish churches, schools, chaplaincies and the communities we serve.
It is within this context and following a period of listening and discernment that started when I became Bishop of Chelmsford in 2021, that we set out a future direction of travel as a Diocese with a focus on travelling well together:
- Our purpose is to love God and to love our neighbour; to worship faithfully and empowered by the Holy Spirit, witness to the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ as we serve the extraordinarily diverse array of local communities in Essex and East London.
- Our approach is to enable and empower parishes and worshipping communities to discern how they are to be God’s people in their own very different local contexts and as part of one diocesan family.
- Underpinning our approach is an invitation to a way of being articulated by shared diocesan values which might shape how we travel together, support each other and provide mutual accountability.
The Diocese of Chelmsford offers a wide variety of exciting and demanding contexts in which our curates can learn and develop. Curates can be assured of support and guidance from our senior clergy, IME2 and DDO team and our training incumbents.
Since I became Bishop of Chelmsford, I have witnessed people’s great warmth and I have seen first-hand, the wonderful things going on in our parishes and schools. Anyone joining us does so at a time of challenge, a time of change and most significantly a time of hope for our Church in this most diverse and vibrant of dioceses.
-
Click here to read The Bishop of Chelmsford's Travelling Well Together Resource
Applicants may find it helpful to view the Bishop of Chelmsford's Travelling Well Together resource.
The contexts we seek to import curates for include:
(Click on the links below for more information)
-
1. Ingatestone with Fryerning, Margaretting with Mountnessing and Buttsbury
Ingatestone with Fryerning, Margaretting with Mountnessing and Buttsbury
An opportunity to serve in an active and engaging parochial context with an experienced Training Incumbent
This is a five parish benefice between Brentwood and Chelmsford with easy rail and road access to London. Ingatestone the largest of the five villages has a population of 4,000 with 3 schools, a vibrant High Street with shops and restaurants and attractive open spaces. The other four villages of Fryerning (pop 500) ,Mountnessing (pop 1100), Margaretting (pop 800) Buttsbury (pop 30 ) are more rural. Within them are 2 church of England Primary Schools, pubs, community halls and beautiful surrounding countryside.
The Parishes are not easily labelled in terms of Church tradition. Alb and Stole is worn for Eucharistic Services and Choir Dress for other services. A range of music is used including accessible sung settings for CW Eucharist , Merbecke for BCP Sung Communion with a flexible approach to hymnody. We are well served by able organists.
The Parishes are unequivocally supportive of the ordination of women and many women priests have served here as curates and incumbents. We offer marriage to couples who have been divorced and there is little opposition to the current proposals for Prayers of Love and Faith and we would be open to offering them upon request. In all things we are supportive of the Diocese, seek to play a full role within the Deanery and are committed to pay our Parish Share in full. We seek to be church for all who live within the parishes and respect differences of theological perspective.
Each Church has a varied worship pattern, three offer worship at the same time each Sunday, one offers fortnightly services and the remaining church about 6 services a year on a Festival Church basis. The churches range in style from BCP Communion and Mattins, Common Worship Communion and Services of the Word , Rural and Agricultural Services and Family Services. Worship is overseen by a mixed Clergy and Lay Team. The Current Service Pattern is
First Sunday
- 0845 BCP Communion @ Buttsbury
- 0930 Agricultural or Country Service @ Mountnessing Lay minister led
- 0945 All Age Communion @ Ingatestone
- 11.15 BCP Mattins @ Fryerning (lay led)
Second Sunday
- 0930 Morning Prayer @ Mountnessing (Lay minister led)
- 0945 Parish Communion (CW) @ Ingatestone
- 1115 BCP Communion @ Fryerning
- 1800 BCP Evensong @ Fryerning (lay led)
Third Sunday
- 0930 Parish Communion (CW) @ Mountessing (Lay minister led)
- 0945 Service of the Word @ Ingatestone
- 11.15 BCP Mattins @ Fryerning (lay led)
Fourth Sunday
- 0930 Morning Prayer @ Mountnessing (Lay minister lay)
- 0945 Parish Communion (CW) @ Ingatestone
- 11.15 Family Communion @ Fryerning
Every Wednesday
- 11.00 BCP Communion and Drop In @ Ingatestone
Average Sunday Attendance
- 30-50 @ Ingatestone
- 14-20@ Mountnessing,
- 14-18 @ Fryerning
- 12-15 @ Buttsbury and
- 4-8 @ Margaretting.
Each Church is very well attended at Harvest, Remembrance and Christmas, with Ingatestone having 250 at the crib Service, 120 at the Carol Service, 400 at Remembrance. Our Wednesday Service has grown from 5 attending to 20 people and includes a close link with our local Residential Home.
-
2. St Mary’s, Loughton
St Mary’s, Loughton
St Mary’s Loughton is a vibrant, evangelical charismatic church that is full of life. We are part of the New Wine network and believe in the ministry of the Word and Spirit. We believe salvation is only found in Jesus Christ. The Bible is God’s inspired word and we are committed to ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our vision is ‘Every Person, Every Place, Saturated with God’. Our values are 1) Encountering God 2) Living for the Kingdom 3) Loving Deeply 4) Sharing Jesus.
We believe that the Lord has put us in Loughton to see many people come to know and follow Jesus. We long to see transformation and revival in the local area. Find out more on our website: https://www.stmarysloughton.com
We are also deeply committed to church planting, sharing the gospel, serving the poor and engaging in active community ministry and justice issues. We have lots of children and youth and three services each Sunday. We are committed to word and Spirit ministry, without hype. Just seeking to be passionate for Jesus in Epping Forest.
-
3. Holy Trinity South Woodford
Holy Trinity South Woodford is a growing church with the community at its heart. We are an evangelical charismatic church and long to see Jesus lifted high in all we do.
We are a single parish benefice, with one church on a large site. One of our main projects at present is to redevelop the site to create a new hall, a café, church offices, a playground and housing. We have been awarded Planning Permission for this and we hope to start work in 2026. It’s a really exciting time for us! The church congregation is growing, with many people finding Jesus through being in the open building midweek or through our children and youth ministries.
We are linked with the New Wine network and work closely with All Saints Woodford Wells minster group of churches.
Our regular services are Sunday 9am – traditional Common Worship Eucharist; Sunday 10:45 – family celebration (usually with Holy Communion) with Sunday school groups; and Wednesday 10am (Book of Common Prayer Communion). We are growing teams in all areas and particularly working on leadership development, prophetic ministry and prayer.
We are creative and entrepreneurial, and there is scope for a curate to pioneer new ministries and try things out. Our vision is to bring the transforming love of Jesus to South Woodford, with the core values of courage, compassion and creativity. We aim to be Spirit-led, Christ-centred and Bible-based.
Our aim is to see:
Numerical Growth
We want to see new people coming to faith and submitting to the lordship of Jesus. Numbers matter because numbers represent people and people matter to God.
Spiritual Depth
We want to see people growing in their knowledge and love of God, seeking the presence of the Holy Spirit and prioritising prayer, worship and mission.
Community Renewal
We want to see the kingdom of God bringing restoration in our local area with the church at the centre, blessing the community and forging new relationships.
-
4. Parish of the Harwich Peninsula
Parish of the Harwich Peninsula
This is a compact parish with three parish churches. It was formed twenty-one years ago but has only just begun to function as a unit. It is a peninsula parish and so surrounded by sea and water with longish travel to get outside. Occasional offices are still plentiful in the parish and the style of worship central.
The population is 22,500, mostly urban. This is a working port and a place of history and big distinctions of well off and poor. Lots is going on and it feels like a parish from a bygone age; warm and welcoming.
The Usual Sunday Attendance across the three churches is 25, 40, 20 (total 85).
We are not touching many of the people who live here, but are exploring LYCIG and will begin to implement it in 2026 we hope. The parish is used to curates and we currently have a Team Vicar (Pioneer); a PTO priest; part time Children and Families Worker; two LLMs, three ALPs and four more exploring ministry, both lay and ordained.
The mission priorities of the churches are:
- To grow numerically, spiritually and in service.
- To function as a single parish with three centres.
- To restore our finances and ensure buildings fit for very good worship and preaching.
- To establish pathways to explore the Christian faith and progress within it.
- Rebuild and strengthen the links with the two church schools.
- Inhabit with grace and confidence our stakeholder role in the community.
- To be a gracious facilitator of ecumenical life in the town.
- To see ourselves as abundantly provisioned with ministers compared to other Anglican churches in the deanery and be a resource and encouragement to them.
-
5. The Church of the Good Shepherd Collier Row, Romford
The Church of the Good Shepherd Collier Row, Romford
At CoGS our strategy can be no other than God’s strategy! That is for the Holy Spirit to send us to join in His mission to proclaim and demonstrate the Kingdom of God. Members of CoGS are sent individually and collectively locally, regionally, national and internationally to discern where and how the Holy Spirit is at work, and to join in.
We can know that the Holy Spirit will send us to those in need, to those on the margins, to those who are sick, to the oppressed, to those suffering from injustice to those in conflict and to places where the environment is in danger. We carry God’s presence to proclaim and demonstrate the Kingdom of God and to make more disciples of Jesus.
At CoGS we have drawn up some guidelines to help us. Our underlying calling as a church is:
For each person individually to be an influence for God’s Kingdom in their daily lives and spheres of influence.
As a church we shall identify and engage with a transformational issue which affects the whole nation.
We shall support people called to other nations on short- and long-term missional engagement.
For us corporately (together) to cooperate with the Holy Spirit for God’s Kingdom to come in the community with which we identify as a local church* in Collier Row**. We have identified five aspects, for which we are praying and participating to be transformed, in order to be more like heaven on earth. These are:
- Strong Families - We will support the local community to build and maintain strong families. (Ephesians 3:14-15)
- Healthy Community - We will support local residents to be healthy - physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. (1Thessalonians 5:23)
- Positive Environment - We will work with residents the and local community in the vicinity of CoGS to ensure it is a safe, clean, healthy and happy place to live with a thriving community life. (Romans 8:21)
- Overcoming Loneliness - We will support and befriend those living locally to ensure that people don’t feel isolated and lonely and have people with whom they can socialise. (Hebrews 13:1-2)
- Thriving Businesses - We will work with local shops and businesses both practically and prayerfully in Collier Row so they can thrive. (Psalm 112:5)
For more information please visit our website.
-
6. St John's Stratford and Christchurch Three Mills
St John's Stratford and Christchurch Three Mills
St John’s Church has stood at the heart of Stratford since 1834, and remains a thriving parish church at the centre of one of East London’s most dynamic and diverse communities. With people of all ages and backgrounds from across the globe, our congregation reflects the vibrancy of the city around us. Our worship is inclusive, musical and joyful, blending the traditional and contemporary, with a strong preaching and prayer life, and an emphasis on involving children and young people at every stage of faith.
We believe that the church exists not only for those within its walls but also for the wider community, and we are deeply committed to serving Stratford through mission, hospitality and partnership. Whether through our extensive children’s and youth ministries, our women’s and men’s groups, our visible presence in the town centre, or our engagement in regeneration and local schools, St John’s seeks to be a place where the love of Jesus is both proclaimed and embodied. With Westfield, the Olympic Stadium, and the Queen Elizabeth Park all within our parish, and long-established neighbourhoods around us, in a context that ranks in the bottom 15% for deprivation nationally according to the Church Urban Fund’s measures of deprivation, we are uniquely placed to bring people together and witness to the transforming power of the Gospel.
It is from this strong and established base at St John’s that Christchurch Three Mills, in partnership with All Hallows Bow in the HTB network, was pioneered, and it is in this living partnership that we now offer a curacy. This presents an exciting opportunity to be formed and to serve across two very different but complementary contexts: the life of a vibrant, multicultural Anglican parish and the energy of a pioneering missional church plant on a nearby housing estate. Together they offer a unique training ground to experience ministry that is both rooted and experimental, traditional and pioneering, preparing you to be deployed in either – or both – kinds of context in the future.
Next steps
Further details will be made available once candidates have begun the import process.
Initial applications will be sought for shortlisting. Applicants will be contacted for initial interview by the DDO and potentially subsequent interview by an Area Bishop.
