Senior Minister for Families

An evangelical church rooted in our desire to live out our faith in Jesus. A great opportunity to join the team in a senior leadership role, developing & leading our strategy for discipleship & outreach to families, children & young people in the parish.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities and Duties • Long term planning and development of Sunday groups for children and young people (including curriculum planning and development), focused around clear Bible teaching. To take the lead in implementing these groups. • To develop a parish strategy for supporting and resourcing parents. • To develop faith partnerships between households/schools/church, establishing links with schools in the parish and planning a calendar of events directed at building up links with children and young people outside the church family. This will include initiation and development of opportunities to reach out to and teach children and young people about the Christian faith (e.g. the annual summer holiday club). • To coordinate the provision of pastoral support to the families of children and young people attending clubs and events as the opportunity arises. • To oversee all teams working with families, children and young people in the parish, including organising and providing training to develop their skills and to identify gifts which can be used further to extend the ministry. • To enable greater participation by children and young people as equal partners in the life of the church. • To line manage, lead, appraise and provide support to staff employed to work with children and young people. • To build a resource hub for other churches in the locality and develop local church networks. • To prepare and manage the budget for the ministry to families, children and young people across the parish. • To take on wider leadership responsibilities in the parish as appropriate, for example preaching or leading at services, particularly when there are opportunities for children and young people to take part in services, and to represent the needs and views of families, children and young people within the church leadership. • To research and develop new opportunities and expressions for ministry to families, children and young people, serving both the church family and local community; and to evaluate the potential and effectiveness of these in the life and ministry of the parish. • To be responsible for developing and reviewing all policies relating to the parish ministry to families, children and young people. • To comply with the church's policy on safeguarding and to work with children and young people in a way that meets and develops their personal, spiritual and social needs, exercising active pastoral concern. • To undertake any other duties as deemed reasonably appropriate by the Vicar to support wider ministry and mission of the Parish.

Required skills

In carrying out the role, the Senior Minister for Families will: • Attend staff team prayers and meetings as requested by the Vicar. • Work their regular hours across weekdays, weekends and evenings, as required. • Have regular planning meetings and termly review meetings with the Vicar. • Arrange and carry out regular planning and review meetings with those involved in work with families, children and young people. • Ensure that policies affecting staff and volunteers involved in the ministry to children and young people are known, understood and put into practice (including specifically welfare, safeguarding and health & safety) • Take a lead in the training of staff and volunteers involved in the ministry to families, children and young people to help them develop their skills and to expand the work. • Undertake training as part of continued professional development. • Be responsible for maintenance of records of attendance at clubs and other activities and storage of those records and other materials produced for the purposes of this ministry in the church's shared on-line folders. • Ensure all staff and volunteers involved in teams working with families, children and young people have clear roles, that registers are completed, an up to date list of the volunteers and their roles is kept, and to ensure that rotas for those running the groups are prepared and distributed in a timely manner. • Through regular worship, prayer, reflection and study, help develop the faith of children and young people within the parish church family, as well as your own. To make time for yourself and God, and for yourself and your family. To maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle by attending to personal physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing needs. Additional skills, experience and person specification. The successful applicant: • Will be a committed Christian (a genuine occupational requirement of the post), demonstrating evidence of personal spiritual growth, and able to affirm the CEEC (Church of England Evangelical Council) Basis of Faith, here: ceec.info/basis-of-faith.html • Will have a heart for local church ministry and play a full part in the life of our worshipping community across the parish. • Will have formal theological education. • Will have proven experience in local church ministry to families, children and young people. • Will have the ability to think and plan strategically as well as operationally. • Will be a self-starter, proactive and self-motivated to take initiative. • Will have good personal and communication skills, and a proven ability to build strong relationships in a range of contexts, including as a team leader and as part of the wider staff team. • Will be able to demonstrate collaborative leadership skills, including developing, delegating and working alongside staff and/or volunteers. • Will be well-organised and have basic administration and computing skills, including familiarity with standard MS Office packages. • Will be able to use appropriate judgment in the areas of discretion, sensitivity, safeguarding and confidentiality. • Will have a strength of character to stand firm as a leader where needed, combined with a willingness to be flexible and a pastoral heart to show love and compassion to others. • Will ideally hold a full UK driving licence and own a vehicle in order to travel to various locations for visits and meetings (to include insurance cover for business use).

Other

A full-time post. Salary c. £27,000 plus accommodation (a four-bedroom church-owned house available). For further information or an informal conversation about the role, please contact Ben Thorndike (Vicar) ben@tonbridgeparishchurch.org.uk 01732 770962 x23 For an application pack, please contact Jane Higgs (Parish Administrator) parishoffice@tonbridgeparishchurch.org.uk 01732 770962 x24 Deadline for applications: midday Monday 16 May Interviews: Tuesday 24 May