Part Time Youth Minister
21 hours a week. Salary £13,500 pa.
Our church family
We are an all-age, evangelical, Anglican church in the suburbs of Bolton, Greater Manchester. We work closely with Lostock Parish and the two churches share a vicar (Terry), curate (André) and Assistant Minister (Paul). Deane Church is a member church of the North West Gospel Partnership and we place a high priority on faithful and relevant Bible teaching. Have a look around our website for more information about our priorities, church life and ministries.
Our vision for young people
Our church strapline is 'Meet Jesus. Walk with Jesus. Share Jesus.' Across ALL ages, we prayerfully and pro-actively seek to encourage people to enter in to a living, saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, to grow as his disciples and to share their faith in him in word and deed. Young people are precious in God's eyes and in ours and a strong young people's work has long been at the heart of Gospel ministry at Deane.
Current children and youth activities
At Deane Church, we have two all-age Sunday morning services a month, and two services with separate Junior Church. We currently engage with 32 0-18s on Sunday mornings, of which 12 are in Years 7-13. We have a thriving Sunday evening youth group for Yrs 7-11 who meet weekly. This pulls in young people from Deane Church and Lostock Church primarily. In 2022-23 so far, in addition to lots of games, pizza eating and general fun we have made our way through a series on Christian basics and another on Mark's Gospel (paralleling the Sunday morning sermon series).
For those in years 7-11, we have in recent years: run a youth weekend at the Peak Centre in Edale; taken two groups to Yorkshire Camps; run a series of youth days in August based at Deane Rectory garden; run special events such as bonfire parties and a Christian Passover meal. In June 2023 the churches of our West Bolton Mission Community are working together to run a mini youth residential.
We have considerable engagement with local primary schools but, as yet, little involvement at the local secondary school.
Future developments and opportunities
There is a need for ongoing consolidation of existing youthwork as we reinvent it post-Covid. The Sunday evening group currently caters for a wide age range, meaning more age-appropriate youth ministries and activities will need developing.
We need to recruit and train up new volunteer leaders. Currently the youthwork is being run by the Rector, Curate and three volunteer leaders. However, we will be losing two of the volunteers later this year.
Looking ahead into 2023-24, there are emerging opportunities to work with other churches in the West Bolton Mission Partnership, sharing resources and prayerfully supporting each other.
There are many opportunities to reach out to youth locally, from a variety of backgrounds.
Job description
The Deane Church Youth Minister will be an employee of Deane Parish Church District Church Council and will report to the Rector. Key responsibilities of this position are:
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- Serve as a member of Deane Church staff team and attend the weekly staff meeting on Tuesday mornings.
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- Lead the youthwork at Deane Church with those in Yrs 6-13, and availability on Sunday mornings and evenings is required.
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- Lead and develop the youth leadership team.
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- Lead the vision for youthwork among the congregation.
It is expected that the person appointed would be an active member of Deane Church family.
This is part-time role of 21 hours a week. Contract length is two years including a three-month probationary period. Salary is £13,500 pa plus employer NI and pension contributions and work expenses. Starting date: 1st September 2023. (This date has some flexibility for the right candidate).
Person specification
A committed Christian seeking to grow in their own disciplines of Bible study, prayer and holiness both privately and publicly.
Someone who loves seeing young people's lives transformed by the Gospel.
Someone who can cherish, nurture and safeguard young people, and walk with them in their discipleship.
To be in agreement with the vision, values and beliefs of Deane Parish Church.
To be a good team player, able to build and sustain strong relationships.
Have a high level of motivation and initiative.
Be able to think and implement strategically.
Have good communication and inter-personal skills, with young people and with adults.
Be organised, punctual and disciplined in working patterns, administration and record keeping, especially in relation to Safeguarding.
Have previous experience of working with young people in a Christian context.
Be able to teach the Bible relevantly to young people.
Find out more about our team
Application process
For an informal discussion, contact:
Rev'd Terry Clark, The Rectory, 234 Wigan Road. BOLTON. BL3 5QE.
rectordeane@btinternet.com / 07942 649475