CAP Debt Centre Manager and Community Evangelist (Lay Pioneer at St Thomas’ Blackpool)

Role Description

Tackling UK poverty through the Church and Sharing the Good News of Jesus to all. Blessing our Community.

Welcome

Thank you so much for considering joining us at St Thomas’ as our Lay Pioneer working as a CAP Debt Centre Manager and Community Evangelist in Blackpool. This is your opportunity to be part of a rapidly growing movement of people who are working together to tackle one of the biggest social problems facing us today. We’re so excited for you to be considering joining St Thomas’ family working in collaboration with CAP. This is a highbred Lay Pioneer part time role for 21 hours a week. The Lay Pioneer will be trained by CAP as a debt centre manager and based within St Thomas and supported by the Diocesan Lay Pioneer network.

Who is CAP?

We’re on a mission to set people in our nation free from a life sentence of debt, poverty and their causes. Our Debt Centres, Job Clubs and Life Skills groups, are all run in partnership with local churches, meaning we can offer our clients not only expert practical support, but companionship, hope and a chance to hear the gospel too.

CAP Debt Centres

All CAP’s services are run in partnership with local churches to engage and support people in their communities. CAP Debt Centres provide practical and holistic support for people struggling with debt, as well as offering them the opportunity to hear the gospel. At St Thomas’ we take wellbeing seriously and whilst we facilitate community support groups here we work in close partnership with other service providers and can signpost where this is appropriate.

Lay Pioneer CAP Centre Manager Role

Your role as a CAP Debt Centre Manager will be to set up and manage the running of the Debt Centre in partnership with CAP and your church. You will support clients on their journey to becoming debt free through home visits and ongoing support. All of this must be done in a way that positively reflects the Christian faith and the core values of the charity.

The minimum time commitment is 14 hours per week, comprising four sessions of four consecutive hours, with at least two sessions being within normal working hours of 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Because this role can involve working with vulnerable people, you’ll need to have a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. If you’re working in England, Wales or Northern Ireland this should be an Enhanced Disclosure. For staff based in Scotland, it should be a Basic Disclosure. Your church will need to apply for and fund this.

We ask you to commit to a minimum of two years in this role due to the level of specialised training required and the time it takes to complete.

Please note, as part of this role, we ask that you have access to the internet and an active email address.

Who is St Thomas’ Blackpool?

We are a growing church community with a desire to make lifelong followers and disciples of Jesus. St Thomas’ is an Evangelical Charismatic Anglican church devoted to the teaching of the Bible and an openness to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. You will join a committed team and regularly attend the Leaders Prayers on a Monday. We specifically meet to intentionally pray for the growth of the church and afterwards catch up with news or pastoral issues. The team presently consists of Revd Dave O’Brien, a church wardens team of 6, 2 Licenced Lay Leaders, a community engagement worker, 1 Anna Chaplain, a worship team and many other volunteers.

St Thomas’ Blackpool’s mission is to be a Blessing to our Community. We base this on Numbers 6. 24- 25 through sharing the Good News of Jesus in word and social impact. For context Blackpool has a population of 150,000 people, out of which 19,000, 17% are in need of regulated debt advice. As a parish St Thomas’ has a population of 6,500 and is predominantly residential with a large number of terrace houses and council properties with people renting and a few home owners. Transience is a major problem with people regularly needing to move due to inadequate property maintenance and rental issues. Adjacent to the church are Farmfoods, Lidl, Costa and KFC. Diagonally across from the church is Devonshire Primary Academy with 500 pupils, 2 form entry. Though not a church school Revd Dave O’Brien is the chair of governors. So there are key points such as Christmas and Easter where we have opportunities to take assemblies and the occasional class lesson. We have many young families in the area. Approximately 1 mile back from the Promenade, the parish ranks the 10th poorest in the Church of England out of 12,178 parishes in England. However, it is important to know that we unashamedly preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a desire to show His love through compassion and care. We believe Jesus is the best news ever! Despite the poverty, you find an openness with people to talk about the Christian faith. This openness is typical of Blackpool people making an exciting place to be. St Thomas’ also works in partnership with other churches across the town who share this desire to share the Good News of Jesus. So we are dedicated to praying for the growth of the church, for God’s Kingdom to come and seeking to make disciples who reach Christ centred maturity.

Lay Pioneer Community Evangelist Role

This part of the Lay Pioneer role seeks to compliment already existing initiatives at the church by being intentionally focused on evangelism. The time commitment for this role is 7 hours. The community evangelist will dovetail into our already existing desire to reach the people of this parish and wider Blackpool area with the Good News of Jesus.

Responsibilities include –

Identify and encourage lay leaders in the church.

Support people to aspire as evangelists and nurture their spiritual gifts.

Build relationships developed through CAP clients and signpost them to existing church groups.

Christians Against Poverty | Jubilee House, 1 Filey Street, Bradford, BD1 5LQ 01274 760720 | info@capuk.org | capuk.org Registered Charity No. 1097217 (England and Wales), SC038776 (Scotland) CAP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

● Network across the community with stakeholders, church leaders and church lay leaders.

Occasional speaking at special outreach events and during Sunday worship to promote and inspire engagement with CAP.

Develop and lead a discipleship seekers group such as Alpha, Start Course, Bible Course or other.

We hope the successful applicant for this high bred Lay Pioneer role will dovetail the responsibilities of Debt Centre Manager with Community Evangelist displaying a heart for Jesus, a care for others and a passion to share God at work in our church and community.

Accountabilities

To positively promote the Christian faith in line with the objectives of the charity

To take part in all initial and ongoing training to offer the best service possible

To publicise the CAP Debt Centre in a way that makes it available to the widest possible section of society – this will also involve developing links with relevant referral agencies

To promote the work within your church, encouraging volunteers to become involved in the many aspects of the work (Support team, Prayer team, financial support etc)

To visit clients in their homes and to explain the CAP service in a way that is understood and encourages clients to agree to work with CAP (mobility is essential to enable home visits, so having a car and full license is a requirement in most cases)

To go above and beyond in supporting our clients. This may include accompanying clients to court for issues relating to their debt situation, accompanying on medical appointments or helping with shopping

To be part of a team that delivers the debt advice to the client – this will involve a Fact Find of their current financial situation, communication of the prepared budget and financial plan, and encouragement to stick to the plan

● To accompany clients to court to provide support as they secure affordable repayments and other legal agreements

To manage all elements of the Debt Centre including volunteers, caseload and all central operational tasks, such as monthly reports, reviews etc

To promote the work of CAP to friends, family and contacts to increase support and awareness of the charity – this includes encouraging support through the CAP Life Changer programme

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

Evidence of passion for the poor and evangelism, and outworking of this

Christians Against Poverty | Jubilee House, 1 Filey Street, Bradford, BD1 5LQ 01274 760720 | info@capuk.org | capuk.org Registered Charity No. 1097217 (England and Wales), SC038776 (Scotland) CAP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

● Have a deepening prayer life and a passion for the Gospel

Desirable

● Experience of successfully leading or motivating a team of volunteers

● Administration experience

Experience of working with poor and needy people in vulnerable sections of society

Skills / Abilities

Comfortable working with numbers, and able to effectively work with and understand a household budget

● The ability and desire to explain the gospel in a clear, relevant and natural way

● Ability to motivate and inspire people to sign up for our service

● Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Ability to head up PR and publicity for the centre and to persuade third parties to refer clients

● Ability to remain emotionally strong through stressful situations

● Logical, articulate approach to work

Confident in public speaking and preaching

● An evangelistic heart

At our core, we’re:

Passionate and compassionate: We do what we do because we care deeply about seeing people released from debt, poverty and their causes

● Excellent and generous: We go above and beyond for our clients

● Courageous: Who wants to settle for the same old when we can push for bigger and better?

● Fun and united: We’re one big CAP family!

Christ-centred: We know none of this would be possible without Jesus

Christian commitment

There is an occupational requirement for the Debt Centre Manager to be a Christian and is exempt under schedule 9 of the Equality Act 2010.

Must be able to give both verbal assent to and practical demonstration of Christians Against Poverty’s Statement of Faith and Core Values

Must be able to actively take part in prayer and worship, whether individual, in a small group or corporately, as an expression of own personal faith and in line with CAP’s Statement of Faith

St Thomas’ embraces the same Statement of Faith as CAP and the Evangelical Alliance and is committed to the same values of being Christ-centred, Collaborative, Compassionate, Joyful, Bold.

Terms and Conditions

Employer: The PCC of St Thomas’s, Blackpool

Line Manager: Rev’d David O’Brien

Contract type: Permanent

Salary: £15,288 per annum

Hours: 21 per week (part time)

Location: St Thomas’ Church, Blackpool, FY1 3NJ

Pension: 5% employee contribution, 3% employer contribution

Probationary Period: Six months

Notice Period: One month

Annual Leave: 25 days per annum plus statutory bank holidays (pro rata for part time employees)

DBS: This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check

Right to work: The post-holder must have the right to reside and work in the UK.

Safeguarding: The Diocese of Blackburn is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All post holders and volunteers are expected to share this commitment.

Diversity: The Diocese of Blackburn believes that diversity enables us to thrive and develop and is committed to race equality, welcoming applications from UK Minority Ethnic/ Global Majority Heritage backgrounds

How to Apply

To apply for this post, please send a completed application form to Revd Dave O’Brien at: davidobrienvicar@gmail.com

Closing Date: Friday 12th June 2026 12pm

Interview Date: Monday ${ 2 9 ^ { \mathrm { t h } } }$ June 2026