Church Planting Enabler

Diocese of Durham, Durham, England, United Kingdom

Hours: 35

Salary: Starting at £35,461, with employers’ pension contribution of 10% plus 5% to the extent that it is matched by the employee.

ACCOUNTABLE TO: Growing Churches Strategic Lead

HOURS & TERM: Full time, 35 hours per week including some evening/weekend working. Fixed term post for three years (may be extended subject to further funding).

LOCATION: Diocesan Office, Cuthbert House, Stonebridge, Durham, DH1 3RY, with travel around the Diocese.

SAFEGUARDING: The Diocese of Durham 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.

ROLE CONTEXT: Growing Churches is one of four workstreams within our Diocesan Transformation strategy, alongside Growing Mission, Growing Leadership and Growing Younger. Growing Churches aims to support each church in our Diocese to bear fruit in their context through deepening a culture of missional discipleship, increasing mission and evangelism, and building a multiplication mindset. Church Planting in Durham Diocese includes establishing New Worshipping Communities and New Congregations in our churches and in community spaces, alongside the revitalisation of our parishes.

JOB SUMMARY: The Church Planting Enabler will be part of the Growing Churches Team within the wider Mission, Discipleship and Ministry team of Durham Diocese. They will play a key role in the delivery of the Diocesan Transformation strategy through working closely with parishes and leaders, both clergy and lay, and supporting them to establish a multiplication culture in their churches. They will have a particular focus on enabling parish revitalisation and establishing new worshiping communities (NWCs), which includes supporting the development, implementation and monitoring of new projects.

TEAM ETHOS: As a team we are committed to collaboration and communication to enable a healthy culture of delivery, accountability and evaluation. We are passionate disciples, adaptable practitioners, reflective learners and self-aware team players. We work together to enable a cycle of ‘engage, equip, release’ with individuals and churches.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS:

• Growing Churches Strategic Lead
• Growing Churches Team
• Mission, Discipleship and Ministry team
• Head of Programme Delivery for Diocesan Transformation
• Archdeacon of Durham (with Diocesan responsibility for Transformation)
• Parish clergy, lay leaders and local volunteers

KEY DUTIES:

• Be an active and engaged member of the team, prioritising collaboration, good communication and prayer, and being willing to substitute for other members of the team as needed.
• Be a culture carrier within the team and throughout the wider Diocese, championing the Transformation vision and Diocesan priorities and modelling our team ethos.
• Be present and available in parishes and deaneries, listening and supporting, with an emphasis on enabling individuals and churches to grow in mission and discipleship.
• Support the Growing Churches Strategic Lead in the continued development and implementation of the Church Planting and Multiplication strategy, playing a key role in the development of a Diocesan culture of multiplication where leaders are developed, new communities established, and parishes are revitalised for mission.
• Build relationships and facilitate regular communication and consultation with individuals, parishes and deaneries through visits, learning communities, focus groups and feedback, ensuring this learning shapes the strategy and programme.
• Provide individual coaching of leaders, both clergy and lay, to support the development of healthy culture and growth-focussed structures.
• Work closely with the wider MDM team across the four workstreams to identify and develop opportunities for collaborative working that supports church planting and multiplication.
• Communicate the values and principles of the Growing Churches workstream in a variety of contexts and settings, including presenting at meetings with parishes and deaneries, public speaking in church services or events, delivering training, and facilitating workshops and learning communities.
• Work collaboratively with the Growing Churches team to deliver various programmes, workshops and events, including the 3M programme, which supports churches in developing in the areas of ‘Maturity, Mission and Multiplication’ to ensure holistic church health, taking the lead on ‘Multiplication’.
• Be the coordinator for parish revitalisation projects, ensuring alignment across all stakeholders and providing project management to ensure timely progression.
• Support projects to complete monitoring reports and work with the Growing Churches team and Data and Information Analyst to identify overarching themes and learning.
• Provide regular reports and data to report progress to programme monitoring boards (usually the Energising Growth Programme Board) and other committees.

COMMON DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Health and Safety: Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, whilst at work the post-holder must take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of any other person who may be affected by their acts or omissions. In addition, they must co-operate with the DDBF on health and safety and not interfere with or misuse anything provided for their health, safety and welfare.

Confidentiality: The post-holder must not pass on to unauthorised persons, any information obtained in the course of their duties without the permission of their line manager.

Safeguarding: If at any time the post-holder becomes aware of a safeguarding risk, they should report it immediately to the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer (DSO).

Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity: The DDBF is committed to promoting a diverse, non-discriminatory and inclusive community that gives everyone an equal chance to learn, work and live free from discrimination, bias and prejudice.

Genuine Occupational Requirement: Due to the nature of working in a specifically church leadership context, the post holder must be an active communicant member of the Church of England, or a full member of a church belonging to Churches Together in Britain and Ireland or the Evangelical Alliance. This post is exempt under paragraph 3 of Schedule 9 of the Equality Act 2010.

Closing Date: 4th September

Interview Date: 15th September.

The postholder will be required to travel widely around the diocese with some evening and weekend working expected.