The building is a 10/15 walk from Newbury Park tube station (Central Line), which is a 30 minute journey from the city centre.

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1 The trustees at Cranley Road Christian Church, Ilford, are looking for a Church Planter who will plant a new Church of Christ in an existing church building in Ilford, East London. OVERVIEW - Church and catchment area. The Ilford Church of Christ was founded in It has been based on the existing Cranley Road site since at least the 1930s. The Church of Christ folded a couple of years ago. The building is managed by three Churches of Christ Trustees with support from the Fellowship of Churches of Christ (FCC) staff in Birmingham, and is currently rented out to an Elim Pentecostal Church, a Tamil-speaking Church, a Montessori Nursery School, and ForMission College. The Cranley Road building is located on the outskirts of Greater London, in Newbury ward in the London Borough of Redbridge, which is within the Ilford South constituency. The building is a 10/15 walk from Newbury Park tube station (Central Line), which is a 30 minute journey from the city centre. The following profile for Newbury ward is based on the 2011 Census returns: The population was 16,760 of whom 25.4% were under 16 and 11.2% of retirement age. There were 658 unemployed people. 60% of the population identified as Asian or Asian British and 22.7% as White. 29.4% of the people selfidentified as Muslim and 26.9% as Christian. THEOLOGY AND VISION The church planter would be required to be in sympathy with FCC values and practices outlined below: Local Leadership: Every expression of church has local believers who offer leadership according to their calling and gifts. Many are these are called elders, deacons, and ministers. They are part of the leadership gifts of God to a local community of believers. Page 1 of 6

2 Every Member Ministry: While trained ministers can often be found in leadership, the focus of this leadership ministry is on empowering the local church to be an effective expression of the body of Christ. All gifts and expressions are encouraged in the life of the Christian community. Local Autonomy in National Partnership: Every local church is self-governed but enjoys cooperative friendships and networking to assist in fulfilling their ministry. This is additionally being expressed and explored in a rediscovery of the five-fold ministry found in Ephesians chapter 4. Christian Unity in Diversity: A passion for Christian unity that leads to mission has been one of the clarion calls of Churches of Christ since the early beginnings in the early 19th century. This is not uniformity, but open creativity to practice and express life locally while embracing shared core values. Weekly Celebration of Communion: A sacramental view of life encourages the interface of heaven and earth, which is regularly expressed in worship by participating in sharing bread and wine. Believer s Baptism: Encountering God personally by faith also includes water baptism as a beginning experience of the Christian journey. The Whole Church as the People of God: We have always sought to encourage and participate in the catholicity of the church, recognising that we are only one small part of a wonderful expression of God s people. While there will always be differences in belief and practices, we would uphold the value of the church as a missional community and seek to work with each expression to fulfill the great commission of Jesus. Mission in Friendship: As God calls us into partnership with Himself, so we seek to express this value in our working together. Page 2 of 6

3 RESPONSIBILITIES The responsibilities of the Church Planter will include: 1. Research, in consultation with the FCC office staff, in particular the Church Planting Co-ordinator. This will include researching best practice in Church Planting in the UK today by reading, attending key Conferences, interviews with Church Planters, visiting Church Plants; it will also involve researching Ilford: its people, its neighbourhoods, the opportunities it presents for proclaiming the gospel effectively 2. Team choice and team building: all good ministry is team based, so the expectation will be for the building up and ongoing development of a team-approach to planting and ongoing ministry. A high degree of commitment will be asked for and encouraged: in time, in prayer, in courageous evangelism, in sacrificial giving and perhaps in moving house. 3. Communicating and partnering. It will be important to regularly communicate with all the other churches in Ilford, and to participate when possible in any key gatherings to build partnerships. 4. Planning and launching. The process of planting and forming a new missional community will eventually lead to an official launch. 5. Leading. The Church Planter will provide team leadership of the new plant in consultation with the trustees. 6. Line Management. The Church planter will be accountable to the Church Trustees. FINANCE This will initially be an unsalaried post, but will receive a Housing allowance. Page 3 of 6

4 The Church Plant will have its own bank account, which the church planter will assist in overseeing. The intention is that the Church Plant should eventually be fully self-supporting financially. PERSON PROFILE Active membership of an evangelical Trinitarian Christian Church. Completion of formal training at a Christian college, seminary or other recognised Higher Education training institution. Willingness to attend the FCC ordination and recognition course with a view to seeking recognition as a minister within FCC. An undertaking to continue with post-ordination training as agreed in consultation with the FCC. A commitment to participate in informal leadership mentoring/ peer support group as agreed with the FCC. Completion of a personal profile of formal and informal biblical and theological studies completed, conferences/seminars attended, and ministry experience. SKILLS REQUIRED previous experience of church planting, preferably in a multicultural urban community. a natural leader, with the ability to envision, motivate and cooperate with others a team builder, who is good at drawing the best out in others and learning from them as well as leading and training them a good communicator in a range of settings Page 4 of 6

5 a person with experience of leadership in a local church setting a person who is sensitive and warm in personal relations, not only with their team but also with other churches a person whose heart is strongly missional and who knows how to train others in mission START DATE and LENGTH OF CONTRACT The post will be available from January There will be a six month probationary period. A further contract may be offered at the end of the 6 year period. ACCOMMODATION There is no accommodation on offer, however a housing allowance will be provided. HOURS OF EMPLOYMENT This is a part-time post which requires considerable personal flexibility. It will be demanding of time and energy. It has a FTE of 0.4. DAYS OFF AND HOLIDAYS The Church Planter will have one day off a week and an annual FTE holiday entitlement of 44 days, including Bank Holidays. APPLICATION PROCEDURE Those wishing to apply are asked to provide: a curriculum vitae, including their experience in church leadership and Christian service an account of their spiritual pilgrimage, i.e. the spiritual influences that have shaped them an account of their initial vision for the proposed Church Plant explaining any previous relevant experience and responding to this Job Description Page 5 of 6

6 the name, address and of two referees, of whom at least one should be a leader in your current or most recent church. For further information contact the Chair of Trustees: Rev Cliff Allen: or contact the FCC office on or fccadmin@btinternet.com. For further information about the Fellowship of Churches of Christ visit: Page 6 of 6