Children, Youth, and Schools Leader

Role Description: Children, Youth, and Schools Leader

Role: Children, Youth, and Schools Leader

Salary: £23,000 - £30,000 depending upon experience.

Hours: Full Time (38 Hours) to include Sunday, and one full rest day a week. Working pattern is negotiable.

Length of Contract: Three years. (With a view to make it permanent dependent upon funding.)

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: Accountable to the Incumbent.

Supported by: Supported by the Incumbent, the PCC, and the wider church family.

Areas of Responsibility

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. To identify, train, and equip other children’s and youth leaders.
5. 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.

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.

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.