Families' Worker

·    Pioneering new activities to promote the well-being – spiritual, mental, emotional, financial, physical – of families in the community, including working with other community groups to do so.

·    Equipping Christian parents to disciple their own children.

·    Helping the church to become more intergenerational in its services, ministry and mission.

·    Overseeing and developing the ministry of our Toddler Group and thriving Messy Church.

·    Overseeing and developing the ministry of the Sunday & mid-week groups for children.

·    Being involved in our community events eg Easter Funday, Light Party, Holiday Club, Summer Family Fun sessions.

DETAILS

Role:Families’ Worker

Hours:full time – approx 40 hours, flexible to include Sundays, with at least one day full day off per week

Contract:fixed term 3-year contract (initial review after the first 6 months) with the option for review and possible extension

Salary:£29,000 + mileage allowance & other expenses, with the possibility of help with accommodation

Holiday:25 days + bank holidays

Responsible to:the pastor

Support: we will

·    arrange for a monthly meeting with a small group within the church for prayer, support and encouragement;

·    encourage the post holder to join outside support groups such as the local BUGB Strands group, Paraklesis;

·    encourage and pay for ongoing CPD (books, courses etc.) as agreed with the church leadership team

·    provide some admin support from our church admin staff.

General Responsibilities

·    To be involved in the leadership and ministry of the church, working with the pastor and leadership team.

·    To build good relationships with parents in the Sunday morning church community so as to encourage, support and disciple them.

·    To build good relationships with other parents already part of the wider church community so as to encourage, support, present the gospel to and disciple them.

·    To oversee SBC’s ministry to families and children, including supporting the volunteers involved.

·    To pioneer fresh expressions of ministry to families in the church and in the community.

·    To advocate for families and children to help SBC become a more family-friendly church.

Person Specification

The successful candidate will be someone who:

·    is a Spirit-filled believer who nurtures his/her own relationship with God through an openness to the Holy Spirit and His gifts in prayer, Bible study and Christian living;

·    has experience in families’ ministry in a local church context (relevant qualifications desirable but not essential);

·    exercises his/her ministry as part of a team;

·    becomes a church member, fully part of the Stoneleigh Baptist Church family;

·    is relational, innovative and pioneering.

Given the nature and context of the work, it is an occupational requirement of this role that the post holder is in agreement with the aims and beliefs stated on our website and the Evangelical Alliance’sBasis of Faith,and holds a traditional view of marriage.

ABOUT STONELEIGH BAPTIST CHURCH

Overview

At Stoneleigh Baptist Church we value the difference that knowing Jesus through Word and Spirit and belonging to a worshipping, praying, supportive church family makes. We seek to grow in that and to share it with those in our largely middle-class, suburban community. The church has a weekly congregation of 60-80.

Our Local Community

Stoneleigh is a suburb of south-west London with a community feel due to obvious geographical boundaries provided by main roads and the railway. It is 11 miles from the centre of London and many people commute there to work. Within a mile of the church building there are about 9000 residents, two primary schools and a parade of local shops. The population is 80% white British with a variety of other nationalities represented. Although not all of the congregation live within Stoneleigh itself, few travel more than a couple of miles to church. Age ranges in the area are quite mixed with both families and older people. There are fewer people in their 20s due to the high cost of housing and the type of housing available.

Our Church

We are an evangelical church with a mixed worship style. We expect Bible-based, Spirit-inspired preaching from our minister and long for more use of spiritual gifts in our public worship. Our congregation is about 25% 75+ and 40% 65+. Although we have fewer young families worshipping with us than we would like, we have been encouraged to see some new families join us in the last year.

Most people in the fellowship experience good pastoral care, formally and informally, by our pastoral care team and through the small groups in which they are involved. Evening and afternoon home groups encourage Bible study, prayer and mutual support.

We are members of BUGB, LB and EA.

Evangelism and Outreach Serving the Local Community

We are involved in both local primary schools and put on seasonal events: an Easter fun-day, a holiday club, family sessions in the summer holidays, a light party and Christmas events. We run a thriving monthly Messy Church, a weekly Babies & Toddlers group and a small children’s group. We have a weekly café ministry welcoming adults of all ages (and their pre-school children) into a relaxed environment.

Each month we go door-to-door with a Prayer for the Street ministry and at Christmas and Easter we visit the homes closest to us with gifts in addition to leafleting all the homes in the area and partnering with another local church in community outreach.

Friendship evangelism is encouraged and facilitated by the men’s and ladies’ ministries through breakfasts, meals out and other events. We occasionally run  Alpha courses.

We have a weekly friendship and ESL teaching session reaching out to those of other nationalities who have been in UK for a number of years as well as those recently arrived.

Challenges

Compared to population statistics for the (varied) borough as a whole we have half as many children (6-13) and half as many 26-40 yr-olds as one would expect. If we were to add in the 50+ young families who would consider SBC as their church because they come regularly to children’s groups / messy church / toddlers then the figures would be very different. These are largely non-Christian families who are nevertheless very committed to attending those aspects of church community life with which they are involved. If we saw a spiritual harvest following the regular seed-sowing into this group, SBC would be transformed!

HOW TO APPLY 

To discuss any aspect of this role please contact Pastor Gavin Hunter:

gavin@stonechurch.co.uk

07533 375582

To apply, please senda CV with a covering letter including a reflection on an experience of families’ ministry in which you have been involvedtogavin@stonechurch.co.uk.

We invite applications from those eligible to work in UK. It is a genuine occupational requirement that the post-holder is a practising Christian in agreement with the aims and beliefs stated on our websitewww.stonechurch.co.ukand the Evangelical Alliance’sBasis of Faith,and holds a traditional view of marriage.

The first stage of the interview process will be an in-person interview. Appointment will be subject to three satisfactory references and an enhanced DBS check.