Community Evangelist

The Role

To make friends for Jesus through strategic community engagement, working with existing ministries of the church and pioneering new initiatives. The Community Evangelist will work with the wider Mission Hub team to ensure a cohesive strategy for outreach to the whole community, leading the way in community engagement with a gospel focus. To identify the needs and assets of the local community, build relationships, share the gospel and lead them to faith.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver a dynamic community engagement strategy for Gorseinon Mission Hub Church.
• Working with the Church Senior Leadership Team, develop a 5-year strategy that places community and social justice engagement work at the heart of the Mission Hub Church’s vision and ministry.
• Monitor the strategy regularly to ensure its successful delivery, adjusting as needed and responding to new opportunities and challenges.
• Create annual plans showing how you intend to achieve your strategy, reporting against KPIs allocated to you and the team.
• Provide and develop opportunities for people on the margins of society to experience the love of God in their lives, identifying ways in which the Church can speak the truth to power in a way that delivers positive social change.
• Underpin all of the Church’s community engagement work with prayer.
• Support the Church Hub by being an active member of the team, supporting other members of the team and being fully flexible when needed.
• Ensure you are fully trained in Safeguarding and that all Safeguarding, GDPR and risk management practices underpin all our evangelistic work, keeping people safe.
• Identify, develop and support champions of community engagement work in the Mission Hub Church family.
• Identify the gifts of people within the Church family and local community who have a particular calling for community engagement work and a heart for social justice.
• Source and provide training that builds the current & future capacity and confidence for community engagement work via both staff and volunteers.
• Extend work with the local community through support and encouragement of volunteers, whilst enabling their further development.
• Employ good practices of safer recruitment.
• Build positive relationships with local groups and organisations, especially those that have operations based in the Mission Hub buildings, to share the Gospel and lead them to faith.
• Develop a communications programme for sharing the vision and work of the Mission Hub Church in serving the community.
• Create networking opportunities to meet with local community leaders, identifying areas of shared interest or concern.
• Identify ecumenical partners and opportunities to work together on issues of social justice.
• Engage positively with organisations that operate from the Church buildings, identifying opportunities to share the Gospel.
• Make the Church’s facilities known and accessible e.g. Pop-up café, pastoral support networks, opportunities to learn about Jesus and develop faith.
• Play a leading role in Mission Hub Church social outreach projects, including the Foodbank, Baby Basics and the Pop-up Café, supporting people in taking responsibility and control of their lives.
• Act as a positive advocate for the ministry and vision of the Church at local events.
• Identify local initiatives and partnerships that could help to enhance the community outreach work of the Church.
• Be alert to local events and circumstances which provide opportunities to demonstrate the love of God to all people and invite people on a journey of faith.
• Develop a fresh suite of community resources that speaks especially to people who have no previous experience of church, including online resources as appropriate.
• Organise compelling community outreach programmes and coordinate events that communicate the mission and ministry of the Mission Hub Church.
• Build relationships with local community organisations, enabling the Church to become a partner in the delivery of community initiatives and increasing their evangelistic potential.
• Plan and deliver events in the Church that engage the local community and encourage more people to visit the Church buildings and get involved in the programme of activities.
• Instil a culture of Safe Church through good safeguarding, risk management and GDPR practices.
• Ensure that the voice of the most vulnerable in the local community is always heard at Church discussions and meetings, championing faith through social justice on behalf of the last, the least and the lost.

There is a genuine occupational requirement that the holder of this post is a committed Christian. Equality Act (2010) Part 1 applies. This Job Description is not a statement of all the duties applicable to the post, variations to the duties outlined above will occur to meet the needs of the post. Any variations will be commensurate with the grade and character of the post.