Job Description - Person Specification

and Appendix

 

JOB DESCRIPTION:

 

All Saints Church Council have an exciting opportunity for a Christian with experience of working with children and young people. This is a spiritual leadership role for an individual who understands and personally models Christian commitment and values.

 

The Children and Families Minister will enjoy building relationships with young families and have an affinity for working with children and young people of all ages.

You will be supported by the District Church Council and wider church community to strengthen the existing ministry and develop and extend this work, with the objectives of creating a more robust and sustainable ministry.

 

Job Context

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All Saints Whitstable has a vibrant and extensive community presence , which in normal times before the pandemic attracted large numbers of families through weddings and baptisms. Community events and Christmas services still attract large numbers of young families and children and we have began to see a return of these families at Harvest, Remembrance Sunday and at Christmas in the autumn and winter of 2021 . We also have the presence of  All Saints nursery school and Uniformed organisations (Cubs, Scouts, Brownies, Guides etc) on our campus which both create significant opportunities for mission.

 

To understand All Saints and the role of the Children and Families Minister it is important to read the Appendix “Understanding All Saints and its Missionary Environment” which should be downloadable via a link at the foot of this page. Alternatively it is available from our vicar, Simon, at simon@teamvicar.org or 07833 448287 . It is important that the Appendix is read alongside this job description for a full understanding of the nature of this appointment.

 

We believe as a church that we should invest in strengthening our children and family ministry in order to build on our community presence and increase the spiritual engagement of our church family, which includes a number of young families with children who are very committed to All Saints. To support these aims a Children and Families Minister role has been developed to strengthen this section of the church with the aim of helping it to grow in numbers too as well as in depth of faith and spirituality.

The specific aims would be to work with our Team Vicar, Church Council and team of volunteers to achieve the following:

 

1. Lead the following groups towards growth both spiritually and numerically with the following groups:

• Sunday club Adventurers on Sunday morning

• Monday evening Shine youth group

• Wednesday morning Tiny Singers Parent and Toddler group

• Thursday afternoon Holyballoo club for parents and children

 

(Currently both Tiny Singers and Holyballoo are suspended and will be relaunched under your leadership)

 

1. Strengthen our links with the All Saints Nursery school and the uniformed organisations on our campus and find ways of engaging with both groups

2.  Develop Fun Days, trips out and other community and outreach projects to run during the school holidays.

3.  Use social media as a form of communicating and publicising the various events and activities

4.  Network with other children and youth leaders in the area and diocese in terms of mutual sharing of ideas of best practice and with a view to possible future joint events.

5. Attend church council meetings, supervision meetings, co-leaders meetings and other such meetings

6. Occasionally take school assemblies at schools in the parish

 

 

HOURS AND DESCRIPTION OF WORK

 

Hours will be 20 hours per week.

You will have a base in the Church office to do administrative and preparation work.

The central objective is to start new ministries and strengthen the existingministries.

 

Outline of Hours relating to above

 

1. On Campus Ministries time allocation:

 

Sunday morning Adventurers                  Arrive 9.30am  Leave 12.30pm

Monday evening Shine youth club          Arrive 5pm leave 7.30pm

Wednesday morning Tiny Singers          Arrive 8.30am leave 11am

Thursday afternoon Holyballoo               Arrive 2.30pm leave 5pm

 

                                                                                      = 10.5 hours per week

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NB Some of these sessions could possibly be changed to different times of the week if the right candidate could not make them due to other obligations 

 

1. On site  (Church office)  preparation for these groups and social media promotion and networking

 

                                                                                       = 5 hours per week

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These can be at a time that suits you. We are aware that some admin and social media engagement will be done from home but as much as possible we would like you to be based in the church office.

 

1. Networking with Nursery school and Uniformed organisations/ School Assemblies/ Attending meetings (church council etc) 

 

                                                                                   = 4.5 hours per week

 

 

Hours when these clubs do not run in school holidays can be put cumulatively towards holiday clubs and other such events which run out of term time.

 

Some weeks the work may slightly exceed 20 hours, and others will have less than 20 hours. You will provide a monthly timesheet showing how over a month you have balanced this as an average of 20 hours a week.

 

We would ask that you submit a report to the Church Council every two months and attend Church Council meetings when required.

                                                                                         

Probationary Period, Supervision and Training

There will be a probationary period of 3 months.

 

Your line manager will be the Team Vicar, Rev Simon Tillotson. You will meet with your line manager at least weekly during the probationary period of 3 months and thereafter once every month. You are encouraged to have a spiritual director.

 

You will be encouraged to seek further training for skills relating to your role within your hours from the Diocese and from possible in house training events that we may be able to organize with our wider Whitstable Team and ecumenical partners in Whitstable.

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We will also provide training in your first year in First Aid and Food Hygiene if you do not already hold suitable certification in either – again within your hours.

 

There is an established network of Children and Families ministers and youth workers within Whitstable. In this role you will develop and extend these relationships to benefit the church family and enable and support your own delivery of this role.

 

Remuneration 

 

1. Remuneration

 

From (Date of start of work)  to (364 days later) your pay will be £11,347  (0.53 FTE with 1 FTE of 37.5 hours a week based at £21,275

 

Full details of expenses, pension, tax, holiday allowance  and other matters will be included in your contract which will be sent to you on an offer of employment but is also available in advance of an interview if requested.

 

 

Safeguarding

 

You will be required to undertake a a DBS check at the outset of your employment and to be fully cognisant with Child Protection and Vulnerable Adult policy and guidelines. There is also a requirement that you will seek continued Safeguarding training whilst in post. Any matters of concern should be reported to our Children's Safeguarding Officer (Peri Hawkins)  and our Vulnerable Adults Safeguarding Officer(Julia Seath).

 

 

The job will be a one year contract for the first two years which will be renewed depending on the impact the post is having on Children and Families work at All Saints. Thereafter it will become a permanent contract but may be limited in its duration by funding constraints.

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PERSON SPECIFICATION

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Person Specification All Saints Children and Families Minister

Personal Attributes

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:

• An ability to inspire, equip and lead others including volunteers

• An ability to build excellent relationships with both adults and children

• A capacity to be creative in showing new ideas to help with outreach

• An enjoyment of learning new skills

• Confident in sharing the Christian faith

• Able to respect matters of confidentiality and sensitivity

• Self-motivated, able to work flexibly and to prioritise

• Able to organise self and others

• Able to monitor and evaluate own and others’ performance

• Demonstrable presentation skills to adults and children

• Capable IT skills, general office and clerical skills

• Competent understanding and knowledge of social media platforms

• Knowledge of safeguarding, with the capacity to demonstrate clear thinking and application in this regard

Qualifications and experience

Essential

• Experience of working as part of a team

• Experience of working with volunteers

• Experience of being involved with church and/or community children’s groups

Desirable

• Musical and/or sporting gifts

• Experience of working with children and young people

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UNDERSTANDING ALL SAINTS AS A MISSIONARY ENVIRONMENT 

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It is helpful to read this document to gain a deeper understanding of the job before applying

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Understanding All Saints PDF Document download

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APPLICATION FORM

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Application form download 

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(let us know if you cannot download the form and we will send you an email attachment of it)

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