Children, Youth, and Schools Leader

Full Time (38 Hours) to include Sunday, and one full rest day a week. Working pattern is negotiable. Three year contract. (With a view to make it permanent dependent upon funding.)

Responsibilities

To lead and develop the discipleship of our church children and youth by: - training, equipping, and supporting parents in the discipleship of their own children. - communicating an exciting vision for youth discipleship and evangelism to the church family. - leading our 10:30 Sunday morning kids group. - contributing to our Sunday morning ‘kids spot’. - leading our youth bible study group, Endure. - planning and leading our annual youth camp. - visiting children and families in a pastoral capacity. - preparing youth for confirmation through appropriate discipleship sessions. To lead and develop our church evangelism to youth and children by: - planning, leading, and developing our evangelistic youth group, Rock Solid. - planning, leading, and developing our evangelistic parent and toddler group, Pitter-Patter. - planning and running annual seasonal evangelistic family events such as our Light Party, and Easter and Christmas Events. - pioneering new evangelistic opportunities. To lead and develop our work in our two schools by: - planning and leading regular biblical and evangelistic collective worship (assemblies) in our two church schools. - planning and leading occasional school services at the church, as well as school visits. - alongside the incumbent, developing and delivering a systematic worship strategy with members of the Senior Leadership Team at both schools. - exploring other opportunities as they arise with the schools such as afterschool and lunchtime clubs. To identify, train, and equip other children’s and youth leaders. Additional Responsibilities: - Performing the required administrative tasks for your role. - Provide a regular report to the PCC on children, youth, and schools activities. - Manage the youth budget and claim for relevant expenses. - Undertaking regular safeguarding training when necessary. - Other relevant tasks required by the incumbent. - Attend ongoing training as required and financed by the church.

Required skills

The successful candidate will be someone who is: - prayerful and commits to pray daily for each of our children and youth. - diligent in personal bible reading, and submits to the authority of the bible in all matters of life and doctrine. - displaying the fruit of the Spirit, and is of godly character. - holding firmly to the CEEC (Church of England Evangelical Council) basis of faith, including the two additional declarations. - an evangelist with a deep sense of urgency for sharing the gospel with others, particularly children and youth. - experienced in, and demonstrates a gift for, working with children and young people within a Christian context. - able to communicate and teach the bible in an engaging way to all ages. - self-motivated and able to work creatively and imaginatively on their own as well as part of a team. - committed to take an active role in the wider life of the church and the community. The successful candidate may be someone who is: - a qualified Christian youth worker. - lacking in experience but keen to be trained, and willing to be mentored through GYD (Growing Young Disciples). - interested in contributing to our International Student work. - able to play a musical instrument

Other

Context St. Peter and St. Paul’s Cranfield is a growing evangelical parish church. Cranfield is a unique village in Central Bedfordshire situated halfway between Milton Keynes and Bedford, and a short train journey from London. It has a postgraduate university with many international students, an airport, and two Church of England schools. By God’s grace, over the past year we have seen our church congregation grow from a regular congregation of 40 to 65. We have grown sufficiently to begin to run a Sunday morning kids group, and now regularly have between 10 and 15 children on a Sunday. In September 2021 we started an evangelistic youth club, Rock Solid, for school years 5-8, and each week 20-25 youth come to this, the majority do not currently go to a church. We also started a weekly parents and toddler group, Pitter-Patter. We have very strong relationships with the two schools (Pre-school – Year 4 and Year 5 – Year 8), and our minister is a governor at both schools and regularly assists with collective worship. You would be joining us at a very exciting time in the life of the church, and would have the opportunity to shape our vision for children and youth in this new phase. Accountable to the Incumbent. Supported by the Incumbent, the PCC, and the wider church family. It is a Genuine Occupational Requirement that the person appointed is a committed practising Christian. The Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003 Section 7.2 applies. Any appointment will be dependent upon successful DBS checks and references.