are seeking to appoint from July 2015 a full time Associate Lay Minister with responsibility for Children, Youth and Young Adults God s vision for us: A growing, Christ-centred community, led by the Holy Spirit, worshipping God and making disciples www.stmarksob.org 1
Oulton Broad is situated to the south of Lowestoft, Suffolk. Our two churches have an open evangelical tradition. THE INCUMBENT The Revd Canon Ian Bentley (60), married with two married children. Ordained 1995 having trained at Cranmer Hall, St John s, Durham. Curate to the Mattishall Benefice, Norwich Diocese 1995-1998. Rector to the Earsham Group (6 rural churches) Norwich Diocese 1998 2006. Vicar of Oulton Broad since April 2006. I am an open evangelical/charismatic Christian, a member of the New Wine movement. I became a Christian at university, age eighteen and I worked in primary education for fifteen years. I believe in everymember ministry, the importance of proclaiming Jesus, the centrality of preaching and the need to release people into their Spirit-given gifts as we seek to extend the Kingdom of God in our parish. THE STAFF TEAM...includes a Stipendiary Curate (who will take up their position at the same time as the new Associate Minister), the Revd Marilyn Zipfel, Revd Gillie Powell, Revd Jo Fowler, Revd Maggie Barnes. You would join this team as a leader of the church. THE PARISH SETTING The parish has a population of some 16,000 and contains a very broad social mix. St Mark's is located on the North Western edge of the Parish and St Luke's is near the geographical centre. Housing reflects the diversity of the Parish including old terraces, mid-20 th century semidetached, one quite deprived area of social housing and two private housing estates. There is a range of small industries, seasonal leisure employment and shops within the Parish. There are three Primary Schools (5-11), and one Special School in the Parish, the High School being just outside. We have good bus services and two train stations which connect us with London and Norwich. Oulton Broad has become a popular centre for leisure and sports activities and for the holiday and tourist industry. The Yacht Club and Motorboat Club also bring in visitors for local, national and international racing. Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Carlton Marshes is a popular attraction along with Pet's Corner, opposite St Mark's, for school trips and younger visitors. We are now effectively a suburb of Lowestoft, Britain s most easterly town with a population of 64,000. Oulton Broad is a very beautiful place to live and the new Associate Minister would live in or near the parish. 2
THE CHURCHES We have seen significant growth over these last 8 years. Our main gathering time for worship is Sunday Morning at 10.10am (St Mark s) and 9.30am (St Luke s). At St Mark s, some 140-160 will gather for worship in two services which meet simultaneously: Mark 1: a modern Church of England service of Holy Communion or Morning Worship. Mark 2: a café style service in the Hall. Most of our younger people attend this service, which has children and youth groups attached. Twice a month these two services meet at the Peace as we gather around the Lord s Table together at 11.00am in the church. St Luke s gather at 9:30am in a community hall in the centre of the parish near a social housing estate. About 30-40 people attend and services are from Common Worship. Both churches are open evangelical in preaching and worship. We reflect a New Wine theological position. There are a variety of other services that happen across the month, ranging from quiet 8am Communions, Choral Evensong to SIX, our band led service with Worship, Word and Ministry. We encourage every-member ministry and in St Mark s there are some 18 Action Teams led by a mixture of lay and ordained people doing tasks from building management to small groups. The new minister would take leadership of the youth and children s teams. THE PERSON should be An evangelical, Spirit-filled Christian Passionate about the gospel A good biblical foundation and a regular life of prayer Able to relate to young people, children and young adults Able to give leadership, developing and leading strategic development in these areas A good team member Able to gather people into teams Sociable and able to talk to all ages Willing to commit to training Willing to work hard and commit to the whole of the life of the church Able to have ideas, run with them and see them through to completion We realise this is a long list. In all these areas we are looking for some proven expertise and also potential. As a team we always look at the gifting of our leaders and develop that. 3
THE JOB We intend to appoint a lay minister initially for a three year period, reviewable after two. We offer an annual salary of 21 000. The successful candidate will need to find their own accommodation although we would help in the process. Ideally we would like the house to be in the parish or very close to it. Conditions and Benefits of Employment Salary - 21,000 per annum. Hours of work 40hours (fulltime) there will be a regular requirement to work some evenings and weekends. When it is necessary to work additional hours TOIL will be provided. 22 days paid holiday per year plus all usual Bank and Public holidays. Contract - the post is full-time, subject to a probationary period of six months. Statutory pension, sickness and redundancy schemes apply. Car driver and car owner essential. Business insurance will be necessary. Travel expenses for mileage will be paid at the Diocese of Norwich rate 45p per mile. DBS the appointment is subject to a successful enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check. A mobile phone will be provided for business use. The post holder will be expected to comply with Church of England s guidelines on equal opportunities, health and safety, safeguarding, access and learning. These can be found on www.dioceseofnorwich.org. INITIALLY, A MONTH MIGHT LOOK LIKE. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Day off Holy Communion Supervision Attend Training Open House event youth Looking to (just attend) Cell Group start Youth U:th Ministry Meeting U:th U:th U:th Messy Church Children s Team Leaders mtg Staff Meeting Team Leaders Staff Meeting Youth team leaders mtg Supervision Cell Group Supervision Cell Group Supervision Cell Group Church School visits School visits Saturdays Church fundraising event children Youth preach SIX 4
Staff meeting Clearly there are spaces as we would expect the Minister to work a 40 hour week, 12-15 sessions over six days, one session being morning, afternoon or evening. This includes study, preparation and training. This would be guided and negotiated with the Vicar as Line Manager. As the person gets to know local schools and do assemblies, opportunity for after school clubs will grow. We would love to see a youth church taking shape over the first year. The Associate Minister would spend their Sunday mornings getting to grips with the youth and children s work at Mark 2 to begin with. THE TASK OVER THREE YEARS Eight years ago, the church had very few children, no youth and very few adults in their twenties and thirties. We have seen steady growth in these areas and now see ten to fifteen children in church on Sunday morning with a sprinkling of youth. We have a youth group (U:th!) meeting during the week with about fifteen teenagers aged 11 15. This will be ready to multiply into two groups after the summer to provide the nucleus of an older group. We run Messy Church monthly at St Luke s and have an annual Holiday Club which attracts 90 5 11 year olds. There are open doors at all the primary schools. There are two cell groups that have 20 s to 30 s as their focus. Foundations are there, together with adults prepared to work in these areas. What we now require is someone with energy, a living faith in Jesus Christ and open to the gifts of the Spirit to give strategic direction and leadership to these areas. The task will evolve and we are keen to use the gifting of the person God leads to us, but we would be looking for these things to happen over the three years: The Associate Minister would Join the Staff Team (weekly meeting), Ministry Meeting (Monthly) and Team leaders Meeting (quarterly). Have a regular supervision time with the Vicar, weekly in the first year. Head up the Children s Team with a view to developing and expanding the work, including: o Coordinating the children s work on a Sunday. o Working in local schools, taking assemblies, building relationships, stimulating new after school clubs and getting involved in existing extra mission activities such as the Holiday Club and Messy Church. Head up the Youth Team with a view to developing and expanding the work, including: 5
o o Leading and coordinating the work amongst young people on a Sunday. Leading and expanding the weekly youth work and lead, train and expand the leaders teams. Get to know our existing 20s to 30s, get involved at cell group level and stimulate growth in this area. Work to launch a youth church, young adults fresh expressions alongside the staff team. Have pastoral responsibility, with others, for the 20-30 age group. Take a full part in the wider life of the churches, attending a variety of events negotiated with the Vicar. Preach and lead at services other than strictly youth on occasion according to gifting. There would be a support group within the church who would look after the prayer and pastoral support of the Youth Minister. A contract will be drawn up with help from the Diocesan HR consultants. There would also be a clear grievance procedure. We would hope to build support networks with other Youth Ministers in the area and with the Diocese. Key Relationships in addition to the Parish Internal: Diocese CY&F Administrator Clergy and lay workers (paid and voluntary) working within Parishes throughout the Diocese Youth & Children s Task Forces Godly Play Facilitators Diocesan Schools / Diocesan School Advisors Diocesan Communication & IT departments External: Schools with church links Network Norwich / Churches Together Ecumenical colleagues This is an exciting development in the life of our churches. We have a vision to see the Kingdom of God extended dramatically over our parish and town. We have seen our numbers increase threefold and the fringe of the church expanded significantly. The time is right for rapid new growth and we look for someone with leadership skills, a passion for Jesus and His mission to come a join us at the heart of the operation. Could it be you? 6