Children's Pastor

Located in the heart of central London, we are looking for a Children's Pastor with flare, enthusiasm and experience who will develop our growing Children's and Families ministry.

Responsibilities

The primary vision for the Children's Pastor is to oversee, develop and strengthen the children's ministry at St Michael's. Currently, 35–40 children come to Children's Church on any given Sunday, and there are around 70 children on the database. Helping to run Children's Church are a Children's Team of 25 enthusiastic volunteers. This year, the Children's Pastor has been assisted by two Childrens Ministry Assistant's (2.5 days per week total). Details about the Children's Ministry can be found on the church website. A key part of the job is recruiting and training the leaders and helpers and equipping them with the necessary teaching material for them to lead well on Sundays. There are regular all age services through the year, in school holidays. Experience in leading services and giving all age talks will be an advantage. In recent months we have held children's parties and events to which families can invite their friends and these have proved popular and fruitful. Encouraged by this, we believe this could develop into an ongoing source of outreach and evangelism which can be developed. Recent events have included an Easter Bake along, a GLOW party and an interactive Nativity. On Monday mornings, the Children's Pastor attends a small Bible Study for parents with pre-school age children. This is a great way to develop friendships with parents and the children themselves. The Children's Pastor is the Children's Champion for St Michael's children and would work with the Safeguarding officer to ensure St Michael's is a safe space for all children and the Children's team, following up on DBS checks and safeguarding training and policies.

Required skills

The successful applicant will: - Have a strong personal Christian faith. - Enjoy children, getting to know them, and helping them to grow spiritually. - Have a heart for developing leaders and volunteers. - Have a good understanding of family life. - Have experience of working with children. - Be a good communicator, both in writing and in person. - Have an understanding of Safeguarding responsibilities, how to keep Children Safe and be familiar with the Church of England safeguarding policies and handbook. - Be comfortable and at ease relating to parents. - Be familiar with the Alpha Course and fully endorse its teaching. - Have proven organisational and management skills. - Be reliable and appreciate that this work involves working odd and sometimes long hours. - Be an inspiring leader.

Other

The successful applicant will: - Be approachable, and have excellent social skills, able to engage and lead children, Children's Church leaders and parents. - Be calm under pressure. - Be enthusiastic and full of initiative. - Have a sense of humour and enjoy laughter. - Be flexible in his/her approach to work, since no two days are the same. - Have an optimistic, buoyant character. - Be able to maintain confidentiality and discretion. - Enjoy working with a team of volunteers. - Have a vision for being part of a team. - Be robust as the work requires stamina and energy during term times.