Pastoral Assistant/ Ministry Trainee

We are seeking to appoint a pastoral assistant at St Mary's for up to two years, while studying at the Cornhill Bible training course. You would be involved in all areas of church ministry with a focus on one or two areas e.g. children's ministry.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include: 1. Sunday services – for example teaching Sunday School, music, praying, practical tasks 2. Preparation to teach/lead in a variety of contexts (services, children's work, bible studies, 20s & 30s etc) 3. Other talks, in and out of church life (eg at schools or Christian Unions) 4. Leading and supporting midweek groups e.g. Friday Club youth group, Little Lambs toddler group 5. Bible study group membership, possible Bible study leading 6. Personal pastoral work e.g., 1 to 1 Bible reading, visiting the elderly 7. Leading/involvement in youth/children's work and different aspects of Word ministry 8. Staff meetings and prayer meetings 9. Admin/practical tasks: a. Ongoing areas of individual responsibility – e.g., supporting publicity, admin tasks, or the website b. Supporting the running and upkeep of the church practically e.g. set-up/set-down, gardening, building-maintenance type activities c. Sunday jobs: helping set up/tidy up after Sunday services/meetings d. Other regular jobs: e.g., building maintenance, supporting Church Administrator e. One-off jobs as required by the Vicar or somebody deputed by him. e.g., occasional opening of the building, weddings, funerals, putting up banners, moving furniture in church etc. 10. Attending church events/background staff work as needed and required by the Vicar or somebody deputed by him.

Required skills

We are looking for: - Someone who loves Christ and is seeking to grow as his disciple. - Someone with a passion to serve Christ's church in a variety of ways (including apparently mundane tasks). - Someone considering set-apart gospel ministry at some point in the future and ideally who has had opportunity to begin to put that desire into practice in the past, even if in only a small way. - Someone who is willing to learn and seeking to grow in their ministry gifts. - Someone who is able to demonstrate that they will be a collaborative team member and also comfortable working independently when needed. - Someone committed to our Statement of Faith You will need to have a cleared Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (we will discuss this at interview).

Other

- The pastoral assistant reports to the Vicar - We hope the pastoral assistant will begin at the start of September 2025. - As a pastoral assistant you will be provided with free accommodation nearby the church, so you can carry out your role - Your salary would be at the national living wage - The church will also fund your training at the Cornhill Training Course for up to two years - Holidays are 5 weeks pro rata Please contact the Vicar, James Fletcher, if you would like to find out more about the role or have an informal discussion about it: james@summerstown.org.uk