Discipleship Training Jobs (NOW HIRING)

The Pastor of Family Discipleship provides leadership, organization, and vision for Immanuel's ministries that serve children, youth, and parents. The Pastor of Family Discipleship is tasked with faithfully teaching the Gospel to the next generation, cultivating discipleship opportunities, and fostering community for children, youth, families and volunteers. The role requires someone who has a heart for discipleship, a strong love of God and people, and an active, growing, and mature relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Family Pastor must have a strong inclination towards creativity, organization, and problem-solving to relate to and serve all age groups, from infants to grandparents!

QUALITIES DESIRED

• Spiritual and Emotional Maturity
• Theological Alignment
• Visionary Leadership
• Energetic Gatherer
• Heart for Discipleship
• Organization and Administration
• Adaptable and Resilient Problem-solving
• Collaborative approach and a team mentality
• Creative spirit and a passion for innovation
• Humble and willing to accept direction and feedback
• Ability to self-start (recognize a need and initiate an appropriate response)
• Professional, kind, and consistent communication
• Ability to relate to children and adults

JOB DUTIES

Vision Leadership

The Pastor of Family Discipleship provides leadership and vision for Immanuel's ministries for parents, youth and children, seeking always to serve the vision of Immanuel Anglican to "lift high the Son of God in the city of Chicago that all would be drawn to Him."

1. Cast and implement a compelling and practical vision for Immanuel's next generation ministries, including for:

• Children: Christian formation of the children at Immanuel (birth-5th grade).
• Youth: Christian discipleship for the youth of Immanuel (6th-12th grade).
  
• Parents: Support for parents in the work of discipling their children.
  
• Family Outreach: The mission of reaching unchurched families in Chicago.
  

2. Initiate and maintain relationships that promote growth in leadership capacity, spiritual vitality and professional competence:

• Consult as needed with a leadership coach.
• Seek regular counsel from a spiritual director and other pastoral care providers to promote spiritual growth and health.
• Seek out training and resources that grow understanding of current best practices in children's and youth ministry and provide opportunities for collaboration with other churches and leaders.

3. Take regular prayer retreats (6x/year).

Children and Youth Discipleship

The Pastor of Family Discipleship coordinates opportunities for children and youth - on Sundays and beyond - to encounter Jesus and be transformed by the power of the Gospel to become lifelong disciples of Christ who use their spiritual gifts in service of the Church.

1. Coordinate Sunday morning ministries:

• Schedule volunteers and coordinate Sunday service calendars
• Select curriculum for each class
• Coordinate weekly lessons and supplies
• Curate comfortable and safe environments for each age group
• Maintain a welcoming and secure registration and check-in process
• Take attendance, following up with families after extended absences
• Implement guidelines and policies for child safety and abuse prevention

2. Coordinate youth events and discipleship connections:

• Develop a discipleship ministry for youth from 6th-12th grade that helps students move from the foundations laid in children's ministry to deeper engagement with their faith
• Support youth involvement in Immanuel's confirmation process
• Coordinate events for youth to bond with one another and leaders

3. Coordinate events for families and children from Immanuel and beyond:

• Plan and execute family-friendly special events
• Develop child-friendly and youth-friendly service projects
• Coorindate child-focused or youth-focused outreach initiatives or events

4. Coordinate childcare for church gatherings:

• Recruit, hire and oversee paid nursery worker
• Coordinate childcare for special events and services

5. Bridge generational gap by connecting children's and youth ministry to the wider church body:

• Plan and execute children's and youth programming for all-church retreat
• Communicate ways for older children and youth to serve with Sunday teams
• Identify volunteers who can lead children and youth in arts and worship opportunities that serve the wider community

Family Discipleship

The Pastor of Family Discipleship supports and stays connected with parents of Immanuel in the spiritual leadership of their homes.

Support:

• Create, curate and distribute resources to help parents disciple their children at home
• Coordinate connection points for parents to fellowship with one another and, when possible, with older parents who can provide mentorship and encouragement
• Seek out and publicize "easy yoke" opportunities for parents to grow in spiritual leadership of their families

Connection:

• Keep open lines of healthy communication and positive relationships with parents
• Regularly seek out feedback on initiatives from trusted parents

Volunteer Leadership

The Pastor of Family Discipleship recruits, screens, inspires, equips, shepherds and coaches volunteers who can faithfully shepherd children and youth through their teachings and life example.

• Recruit volunteers to serve in the nursery, children's chapel and youth ministry
• Screen potential volunteers according to Immanuel's safety policies before permitting to servce
• Inspire volunteers to remain centered on the vision of Immanuel's youth and children's ministries, and the significance of their work in passing the Gospel to the nex generation
• Equip volunteers to teach and lead Sunday morning classes and to acitevely participate in safeguarding our children and youth
• Shepherd volunteers by getting to know them personally and building deeper relationships with them. Regularly pray for volunteers and look for opportunities to point them to Jesus
• Coach lay ministry leaders to lead events, ministries, and initiatives, as their passion and maturity align with ministry needs. Meet regularly with those who are leading within family ministry to reconnect to vision, plan initiatives, and pray together

Next Gen Administration

The Pastor of Family Discipleship builds processes and systems that enable Immanuel's family ministries to grow in size and effectiveness.

1. Communication with parents:

• Send regular updates to parents
• Maintain children's ministry portion of website/Immanuel Online; keeping information current and helpful to parents and visitors
• Coordinate new family handouts and oversee distribution of paper announcements

2. Online Promotion: Work with Communications Director to strategically manage Immanuel's online presence and web representation of Family Ministries to reflect vibrant community life and demonstrate warm welcome to new parents and families.

3. Volunteer Management:

• Move new volunteers efficiently through the on-boarding process
• Keep background checks up to date (renew every three years)
• Manage volunteer schedules for Sunday mornings and events
• Maintain records of leadership documents for each volunteer

4. Budget Management:

• Submit yearly budget request
• Monitor spending to keep to the budget provided
• Provide reimbursement information for volunteers making purchases

Team Collaboration

• Attend weekly staff meetings and other required staff events
• Honor the conduct and character requirements expressed in our Staff Handbook
• Collaborate with the staff of Immanuel to pray for and carry the vision of our church to life high the Son of God in the city of Chicago, that all would be drawn to HIm