Children and Families Pastor

Children and Families Pastor

St Mary’s Church, West Horsley

Committed to God · Connected with Each Other · Courageous in Faith

Committed · Connected · Courageous
www.stmaryswesthorsley.co.uk

Children and Families Pastor

Part time – Sunday morning’s, flexibility for the rest of your hours

Salary: £26,000-£30,000 pro-rata, depending upon experience

There is the possibility that, in time, this role could be made fulltime.

OUR CONTEXT

St Mary’s is a vibrant Anglican church in the village of West Horsley, Surrey, where people have
been worshipping Jesus Christ for nearly a thousand years. Rooted in that history and standing
on the shoulders of those who have been before us, we’re trying to proclaim the never-
changing good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel, to a new generation of people and believe that
Christ’s teaching remains fully relevant for all stages of life in today’s busy world.

Our vision is focused upon three strands: to be Committed to God, Connected with each other
and Courageous in living out our faith. We value the Scriptures, Spirit and Sacraments and
desire to make a difference in our community through both practical mission and active
evangelism.

Recent surveys show us that our village really values St Mary’s and our various ministries, and
that we are known for our great welcome!  We are seeing strong growth in our children’s work
with new families coming, but despite this we feel that that there is much more to do – and
especially with the youth in our village.

Our electoral role is just under 200, with around 140 adults and 20-30 children gathering week
by week.

Committed · Connected · Courageous
www.stmaryswesthorsley.co.uk

We currently run 3 groups for different ages in our Sunday morning services, and a Sunday
evening youth ministry for our 10-16s.  We attract a lot of young families who are seeking bible-
based teaching and a vibrant children’s work, and we are committed to seeing this grow and
develop, feeding into our 15-18 year-olds ministry

Additionally, we run a weekly baby and toddler group that reaches into the wider village
community of parents, grandparents and carers, and this is starting to show signs of being a
pathway into church for these families.

WHY WE THINK THIS ROLE IS GREAT

  You get to be part of small and supportive staff team

  You get to be part of a wonderfully loving church community

  You get to work with some great children, having the opportunity to really help them

flourish as they explore faith in Jesus

  You get to minister alongside a group of committed, passionate and enthusiastic lay

team members

  You get to live and work in a beautiful part of the country

  There are the resources available to help you succeed in this role

  You’re only 40 minutes from London on the train, and right in the beautiful Surrey hills.

Committed · Connected · Courageous
www.stmaryswesthorsley.co.uk

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES PASTOR: KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Working in tandem with the Youth Pastor and CYM Lead, you will be responsible for developing
and implementing the vision for our children’s work. Specifically, you will:

•  Facilitate creative and engaging teaching that helps children’s discipleship and

experience of faith

•  Build into, train and grow, the fantastic team of volunteer leaders and helpers
•  Source the right bible-based teaching material for the various Children’s groups,

ensuring that the ‘curriculum’ covers all the key aspects of our faith, with more depth as
the age increases

•  Encourage, and help equip, families to parent for faith, through the provision of courses

and ad-hoc support groups

•  Keep families up to date with clear, helpful and timely communication
•  Create, lead and facilitate attractive and compelling events at key times, including

Christmas, Easter and an alternative to Halloween

•  Build deep relationships with our local schools
•  Help us think differently about taking children’s church to the village, rather than purely

a “come to us” model

•  Be present each week at Noah’s Ark, our Baby and Toddler group, to help out where

needed and build relationships

•  Propose and manage the budget for the children’s ministry.

Committed · Connected · Courageous
www.stmaryswesthorsley.co.uk

GENERAL

  Help Team Leaders plan and distribute rotas
  Hold a team meeting for each group’s leaders at the start of each term to explain and
review the programme, discuss group dynamics and to pray for the work.  Hold a mid-
term review meeting to see how it’s going and generally discuss the group and pray for
the ministry.

  Play your part in the staff team, help where needed in all aspects of life at St Mary’s.
  Working alongside our PSO to ensure all Safeguarding policies and risk assessments are

completed and up to date.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

  Have a passion for seeing children and young people grow spiritually and in their love

for Jesus

  Ability to engage and inspire young people, building trust and respect.  Be someone they

want to be with, and a role model for them

  Self-starter
  Be a “people-person”, approachable and able to draw the congregation into the

Children’s ministry activities

  Polite, confident with good written and spoken communication skills
  Ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a small staff team
  Trustworthy when dealing with confidential matters
  Computer literate with experience of Microsoft and Google software packages

OTHER:

  DBS check at enhanced plus level is required for this role and you will be required to

undertake safeguarding training as specified by the diocese.

  You will be provided with a suitable working space within the church office but will be

able to do some work from home by negotiation.

  You will be entitled to 30 days holiday per year but this must not include more than 6

Sundays.

Committed · Connected · Courageous
www.stmaryswesthorsley.co.uk

  It is a genuine occupational requirement that all staff employees are committed

Christians and do, or are prepared to, worship at St Mary’s.

  The St Mary’s PCC have in the past adopted the Evangelical Alliance’s Statement of

Faith.

Committed · Connected · Courageous
www.stmaryswesthorsley.co.uk