- St Matthews A Church Near You or website
Tradition:Evangelical |
Monthly services:4 services each Sunday (term time) |
Schools, colleges:Very strong links with:
Other schools in the parish (some links): Annual visits/talks for other local schools in the area including Chuckery Primary School, Palfrey Infant and Junior Schools, Whitehall Junior School, Abu Bakr Boys School (secondary). |
Archdeaconry:Walsall |
Training Incumbent
The Revd Jim Trood
Trained: St John's, Nottingham. Deaconed: 2002 Blackburn
I've been Rector of St Matthew's for 10 years (currently the Acting Archdeacon of Walsall). Before ordination I was a maths/ PE teacher before a curacy in Blackpool and being a team vicar and Rural Dean of Tamworth. Mission is a strong part of my calling and features in my ministry in a number of different ways both formal and informal. My wife and I have two married children and four grandchildren. I have an interest in men's gymnastics and sport in general and enjoy visiting historic houses and castles.
TI/parish stance on LLF
We would not be looking to use the Prayers of Love and Faith as part of our ministry here at Walsall St Matthew.
The context
Walsall is one of the largest towns in the county and St Matthew's is the oldest and most significant building for many.
Our motto/strap line is: Worshipping God, Equipping His People, Growing His Kingdom, Serving Walsall and this informs our calling as a church.
Our context is a 'city centre' ethnically diverse, located in a UPA setting but with a mix of socio-economic strata in the congregation. There are some civic aspects to church life and lots of education links. We have three church schools within 100m of the church with 1,000 secondary school pupils attending church assembly every Friday. School ministry is a big part of church life. In the bottom 5% of most deprived parishes, our church has about 15 languages spoken by members from many countries and four continents. Due to the nature of our area, we say 'hello' and 'goodbye' to about 15% of our church membership each year.
In additional to 'normal' parish ministry St Matthew's offers a unique variety of services (BCP; traditional; contemporary; service in Urdu; Fresh Expression; civic services and pastoral offices). We have strong ecumenical links. Our 2023 church membership age profile was: 0-10s (25), 11-17s (18), 18-35s (36), 35-55s (60), 56-69s (37), 70+ (70) TOTAL = 246; 2024 average attendance is currently: 169 (+39 online).
We have a church with a long history that's in the process of crafting and building on its past to create a new legacy for the future. There is excitement at being part of a church that's always changing and is visionary by nature.
We currently employ an Operations Manager, Asst Caretaker, Director of Music, Finance Officer, Family and Under 5s worker, and an Under 11s worker.
Mission statistics (2023)
| Electoral Roll | Usual Sunday Attendance Adults | Usual Sunday Attendance Children | Thanksgivings | Baptisms | Marriages | Funerals (church) | Funerals (crem) |
| 183 | 127 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 5 |