Ministry Lead: Emerging Generation

Ministry Lead for Emerging Generation

Job Description

Job Title: Ministry Lead – Emerging Generation (Children and Young People 0-25s)

Reporting to: Lead Pastor

Location: Based at Creech Baptist Church, Creech St Michael, Somerset

Salary: £28,000 – £32,000 per annum (based on experience)

Hours: Full time, 37.5 hours per week. You will need to have a flexible approach to the working week, understanding that evening and weekend work is required on a regular basis as part of the role.

Annual Leave: 25 days (plus bank holidays)

Package Details: A generous pension contribution will be provided, and reduced-rent accommodation may be available as part of the overall salary package dependent on need and circumstances.

This post carries a Genuine Occupational Requirement that the post holder should be a practising Christian, in accordance with Schedule 9 of the Equality Act 2010. In particular, the role involves representing and communicating the Christian faith, discipling young people, and contributing to the spiritual life of Creech Baptist Church.

The Heart, Values and Vision of Creech Baptist Church

Creech Baptist Church is a large (approx. 250 gather regularly on Sundays and 190 in membership), growing and family-friendly evangelical church set in a village to the east of Taunton. We are passionate about Jesus and He is at the centre of everything we do. We love to have fun and celebrate together and are so blessed with many children, young people, and folks of all ages.
As a church the values we treasure are a Passion for the Presence of God, Compassion for our Communities, Church as Family, Spirit-filled Worship, Prayer and the Word of God. In everything we do, we do not always take ourselves too seriously, but always take following Jesus really seriously. We know we have a long way to go and don’t claim to be the perfect church, but through the work of the Holy Spirit among us, we love to learn and grow together in our discipleship, our worship, our love and our service to one another and to our communities around.

 Over the last few years God has really spoken to us about being a people who see lives transformed by Jesus all around us, and as such we are excited to be living out the following vision:

‘To be a welcoming community of Spirit-filled worshippers, where everyone plays their part in seeing individuals, families and our communities transformed by the presence and compassion of Jesus.’  

At the heart of it all we believe Jesus came to transform lives. He came to bring life-transforming forgiveness, freedom and joy to the broken, the hurting, the forgotten and all who would put their trust in him. He came to help the blind see, set the captives free and to declare the year of the Lord’s favour. He drew near so that by his beautiful presence and his self-giving compassion, ordinary people like you and me might be introduced to a real relationship with a heavenly Father who loves us more than we could ever know.

Jesus came to do this 2,000 years ago, and he is still doing it among us and around us today. Whether it’s our families, our communities, our workplaces or individuals, we believe Jesus wants to bring his life-changing transformation through us as a church family as we carry his presence by the Holy Spirit and love practically with his heart of compassion. And all the while we know he hasn’t finished transforming us yet - we long to see Jesus take each one of us deeper into prayer, worship, freedom and obedience as we all play our part alongside Jesus in seeing his Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

So if your heart is stirred by a church community centred on Jesus, with a passion for the transforming presence of God and compassion for our community then you’ll find it’s a really exciting time to join us.

What are we Looking For?

We are looking for a warm, capable and engaging individual who is passionate about Jesus and young people for this key role in our church. This dynamic and self-starting person will hold the broad strategic oversight of all our ministries to ‘the next generation’ (0-25 year olds). As such you will meet with, encourage and have oversight for the leaders, teams and ministries to our children, youth and young adults. However, more than half of the time given to this role will be the practical day-to-day ministry among our 11-18 year olds. We’re looking for someone who is fab at youthwork and really engages, cares for and inspires our youth and other young people to discover, love and follow Jesus more.

As you can see, this is a wonderful opportunity for the right person to grow and develop in the role, and to use their combined gifts of ministry, strategic thinking, creativity and youthwork to make a big impact and shape the future of this important area of our church life. You will also be a key member of our broader leadership team (non-trustee), with the opportunity to contribute to the wider strategic and vision discussions and decisions of the church.

We hope you’ll work hard and be excited to give your very best to this role, but we don’t expect you to be perfect - we also want to love you and look after you. As such, you will join and become a cherished part of our caring and supportive staff team, and we’re looking forward to having fun, serving Jesus and doing life together. 

What our Young People are Saying

We are so blessed with our current young people (11-18), and at least half of your working week will be engaging with them. So we thought we’d ask them their thoughts on what they’re looking for in the right person for this role:

• Able to go deep in faith but also have fun
• Understands our needs and helps everyone feel included
• Able to connect with us
• A good leader who is easy to talk to
• Trustworthy, organised, honest, nice, kind and fun!

What the Role Looks Like

This role will involve working closely with our 2 Ministers and volunteers to develop and grow our existing ministry among the ‘next generation’(0-25), with a special focus on our youthwork (11-18). You will be an integral part of our staff and ministry team.

• To oversee and develop our ministry to children and young people (ages 0 to 25 years old) in line with the vision and values of the of the church
• To give at least half of your time to the day to day practical youth work among our 11-18 year olds.

Leadership and Oversight of Ministry to ‘the Emerging Generation’

• To work alongside our current ministers in discerning and serving the mission, ministry and fellowship of Creech Baptist Church.
• To specifically think strategically about our ministry to 0-25 year olds as a church, and to champion and develop this area
• Assuring that there is a clear pathway between the ministries to each age group, and that it feels like they are connected as part of one ministry to our children and young people.
• To be an engaged pastoral presence, a point of contact across all our children's and youth ministry events, regularly present and available for volunteers, young people and families. You are not expected to attend every children’s, youth or young-adult event.
• Communicate with the wider church about the children and young people’s work
• To be a role model to children, young people and young adults, and to come alongside them and encourage them in their faith.
• To support and encourage the current volunteers in children’s, youth and young adult ministries, and to inspire and recruit further volunteers from within the church community to be leaders and role models for children and young people. We love the idea of helping apprentice people into new ministries!
• Inspire, support and recruit further children's and youth team members.
• Develop relationships with schools and existing children’s and young people's organisations and other local youth groups and engage with joint events (e.g. Movement https://www.wearemovement.net/ and Moving Up Celebrations).
• Regular involvement in the leading of some aspects of the Sunday morning worship services e.g. youth services, all-age worship, all age slots, as part of the wider ministry team.
• Be an active part in planning and running our annual holiday club and assemblies in local schools
• Be an active part of staff team meetings, for planning, personal encouragement and prayer together
• Be part of the church leadership team meetings (twice a month)
• Manage the broad administrative tasks, e.g. rotas, budget managing, resources, term plans, keeping parents informed
• A commitment to pray for Creech’s children and young people
• Support an excellent safeguarding culture
• Champion and model a loving, inclusive and Jesus-centred approach to ministry.

          Youth (11-18)

• Oversee, plan and lead our practical youth work among 11-18 years old.
• Plan an overview of termly teaching for our youth work and plan weekly sessions that enable you or other leaders to lead well.
• Regularly lead engaging and creative Bible teaching sessions for youth on Sunday mornings 
• Plan and regularly lead our current Tuesday night youth group, exploring the possibility that this could split into 2 youth groups in the future
• Co-ordinate and lead our monthly Youth Café on Fridays (situated in our Life Cafe area)
• Organise and facilitate a summer camp (recently this has been Satellites)
• Potentially organise an annual youth weekend away.
• Seek opportunities to engage with and support the students at Monkton Wood Academy school (our local secondary) and at Richard Huish (sixth form).
• Meet individually with the youth to mentor and disciple them from time to time (within our safeguarding guidelines).
• Encourage and support young people to use their gifts and talents in the broader church
• Encourage and inspire our current youth volunteers and recruit new members as needed.
• Alongside the existing team, pioneer new youth events/ideas/clubs as you feel led
• Take our young people to wider church events in the local town and Somerset area
• Communicate well with the youth and wider church
• Engage with and encourage the parents and families of our youth
• Set a great example of a passionate Jesus-follower for the youth to look up to

Children (0-11) and Young Adults (18-25)

• Encourage and support our existing children’s ministry and their leaders, meeting with, inspiring and helping with planning and oversight as necessary (Sunday Cosmic Groups (3-11), Creche, Mid-week Parents and Toddlers, Holiday Club, Primary school clubs) (You are not expected to do all of these!).
• Support the recruitment and development of new children’s team members and a possible new mid-week children’s club.
• We are exploring a new paid children’s worker with whom you would work and encourage as part of your oversight role
• Support and have oversight of the young adults group by encouraging the leaders and helping the transition for the youth into this group. Currently, this meets as a weekly Life Group

Who You Are

As you can tell from above, we are looking for a committed Christian with a living faith, who doesn’t take themselves too seriously but takes Jesus seriously. You will be a godly, approachable, creative person, experienced in Christian service, with a heart for reaching and discipling children and young people and seeing them grow in their faith in and be transformed by Jesus. You will know and love your bible and have a genuine heart for outreach. It’s also important to us that you are someone with a pastoral approach who can inspire and empower both children and young people and the volunteer teams that work with them.

You must have

• Accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and be willing to be an active member of Creech Baptist Church fellowship
• A passion for our vision with an openness to the gifts and ministry of the Holy Spirit and a desire to show the compassion of Jesus to all
• A genuine desire to bring youth to a faith in Jesus Christ
• Recent or current experience of working with young people in Christian or other settings
• Ability to lead safely and sensitively, dealing with pastoral concerns appropriately and maintaining a strict level of confidentiality within our safeguarding guidelines
• Excellent communication skills both interpersonally and in a group setting.
• Good relationship building skills with youth, parents and adults in small or large groups
• Good administrative and IT skills
• Ability to work on your own initiative, but also as part of a team
• Flexibility to adapt and manage varying workloads and prioritising tasks
• DBS and Safeguarding Training (can be acquired through us)
• And finally, a character of integrity, patient in dealing with challenges and people, able to self-reflect and grow through mistakes.

We’d love you to have

• Some theological training or a willingness to undertake some (relevant to children/ youth work)
• Lots of energy and passion (it can often be physically demanding)
• First aid training
• Experience in intergenerational church
• Experience of recruiting, developing, and managing volunteers
• A full driving licence and use of a vehicle