Job Title: Team Minister with Mission Focus
Employed by: Queens Road Baptist Church
Hours: Fulltime
Salary: Stipend, Housing allowance and associated costs (as agreed at appointment)
Overview:
Queens Road Baptist Church is a church that is growing and thriving with its focus on being the family of God at the heart of our community. Having rebuilt our church in 2011 to meet our vision for being a church at the heart of our community, we are now in the position where 1000 people a week come through our doors.
Our ministry team leader retires later this year and he blessed us as a church by giving us plenty of notice. We have sought to use this time wisely and first undertook a review process across all aspects of church life. Given how our church has expanded over the last 10 years we wanted to know what was working well and where we might need to reorganise or refocus, before starting to think about seeking another minster. Following this we have developed a new ministerial structure, so that each minister will focus on specific aspects of church life:
Our current second minister will take on the role of Team Minister with a Teaching and Discipleship Focus and we are looking for a Team Minister with Mission Focus. We would like to recruit an experienced minister with a passion to see people come into God’s kingdom. Our building will be your primary mission field as we seek to reach people, not just with friendship and meeting their practical needs but by also sharing the Good News. As a church we host The Gap Project, which is our church charity, that aims to bridge the gap between the church and our community. They lead on projects that reach people across our community every week.
We would want you to come in and get to know our whole community before developing a plan for evangelism and weekday ministry, in consultation with the GAP and our leadership team. This is a unique opportunity to come into a setting that is buzzing with life, where each day is different, and you will need to love interacting with people of all ages and all walks of life as in one day you could be with the parents and babies, those who attend the groups for older adults, followed by the homeless drop-in (see their website: www.thegapproject.co.uk). There is also an excitement about faith and we want to start offering more opportunities for people to explore this in a structured and intentional way.
Through the relationships already established, people (particularly those with young children) are coming into our Sunday services, and we long to see the numbers grow. We also recognise that many people in our community will never attend Sunday worship activities. According to our constitution, the role of a minister has an emphasis on leading worship and prayer, the teaching of the Christian faith and the pastoral care of individuals, all of which are part of this role.
Our ministers have always sought to work with a team ministry model, which suits the ethos of our church, and we would like this to continue. The two ministerial roles are inextricably linked and will support and encourage each other. Your role would primarily focus on developing the weekday ministry of the church, and we have designed the role to ensure you have time to focus on this. The Team Minister for Teaching and Discipleship, who has been part of the ministry of the church since 2004, will focus on developing the teaching, discipleship, and pastoral care teams, including overseeing the Sunday services. While we want you to be part of the preaching team, we are also keen to ensure that this is not your primary responsibility, ensuring you have the time to dedicate to developing the weekday ministry.
The minister we believe we need:
We believe we need a minister who has experience of ministry and mission. We are looking for a minister who can encourage, empower and support our church members who work and volunteer with the GAP project to develop their missional focus and firmly anchor QRBC and the GAP project to each other.
You need to approach ministry with teamwork at the forefront. For the ministry of our church to be effective, you will be working closely with the Team Minister for Teaching and Discipleship. Your roles are woven together, and neither can work effectively without the other.
We have always had a relational approach to evangelism, and this is important to the ethos of QRBC and GAP. We need a minister who will embrace, and be embraced, by our whole community, from babies to older adults to the homeless, and all those who access the building during the week. We will be looking to you to be able to work with our teams and church volunteers to support them to share the gospel and identify ways to develop this weekday ministry.
As you can see from the above, we are looking for you to be an enabler, not just a doer, to serve our membership and to encourage them in their service to our community.
At QRBC you can expect to be embraced by our membership, which includes both formal and informal members, those who attend on Sundays and those who are active during the week.
As the building will be your primary place of mission, you will also have the oversight of this. It is an amazing asset that God has blessed us with that enables us to host such a wide range of activities and generate an income. Your role will enable you to ensure that we continue to use it effectively.
Role and Responsibilities:
Working with the Team Minster for Teaching and Discipleship and other members of the QRBC and GAP Leadership teams to enable us to fulfil our vision.
Work closely with the leaders of the GAP Project:
- Encouraging, supporting and developing their missional focus.
- To bring church and GAP closer together.
- You will be an Ex Officio Trustee of the GAP Project.
Develop the weekday ministry:
- To develop a strategic plan for this in collaboration with the Team Minister for Teaching and Discipleship and the Diaconate.
- This may include: weekday services, bible study for staff and volunteers, prayer, evangelism courses etc.
Strategic oversight of the building:
- Oversee the Team within the building.
- Oversee how we balance mission and rental income.
- Manage the administrative staff for the building which includes an administrator and fulltime caretaker etc.
- Encourage and develop the volunteers in their roles as ambassadors for Christ.
- Help members to find their place in our mission.
Lead on safeguarding:
- You will be the Designated Safeguarding Lead for our church and GAP and head up the team supported by other trained members of staff.
- Due to the number of weekday activities, this role needs to be carried out by a leader who is present in the building for a significant part of the week.
About our church
Queens Road Baptist Church has been at the heart of Broadstairs since 1899, growing as a community of faith, and seeking to reach our community. Broadstairs is a characterful seaside town with great beaches, cafes, and lots going on, particularly through the summer. It is a busy place and the Church is in the centre of the town, with the main bus stop outside the door, a 30 second walk to the high street and 5 minute stroll to the beach!
Over the last 30 years we have put our focus on building relationships and meeting the needs of our community, as although Broadstairs has some very affluent areas, there are also pockets of significant deprivation and poverty. This was the impetus for setting up The Gap Project, and eventually redeveloping our building, to meet the needs of everyone, from children and families to our homeless drop in. We have a broad membership with people of all ages joining us on Sundays, at our 9am and 10:30am services, and for our midweek activities.
Our formal membership stands at around 240. We have some who have been in membership for over 60 years and people who joined in the last few months. This does not include those who are not in formal membership but are part of our church family, contributing significantly to the life of our church. It is a welcoming church with a thriving children and youth programme with both Sunday and week-day programmes. We have women’s and men’s social groups, meeting monthly, as well as a variety of home groups. We also have a programme of annual events, including a camping weekend. Please look at our Church website to see more: qrbc.net
Practical Matters:
- We intend making this appointment in line with the BU Recommended Terms of Appointment and will be offering a stipend. We will offer a pension through the Baptist Union Pension Scheme, or private pension as appropriate.
- You do not need to be an accredited minister with the BU – we are willing to consider someone with alternative ministerial training. However, our church constitution requires the following:
- That you accept the Beliefs of the Baptist Union’s Declaration of Principle.
- You will be supportive of the Church’s relationships with other Baptist Churches, the Association and the Baptist Union.
- Notwithstanding any legal status afforded to a Minister by statute, the Church recognises that the Minister and the Church are in a Covenant relationship based on Christian love and trust and mutual accountability. You shall therefore be in a relationship of mutual accountability with the other Charity Trustees and also with the Church Members.
- While we are very committed to Team Ministry, we also understand that there are rare occasions when there may be disagreements. By virtue of being already in place and his knowledge of our church family, our existing minister would be in the position to make an ultimate decision.
- Our Team Minister for Teaching and Discipleship lives in the Church’s manse. We will offer housing support and can discuss the best way to do this in line with the needs of our new minister.
- We will support you to engage in a programme of Ministerial Development.
Application Process:
If you are considering applying we would warmly encourage you to make an appointment to visit our church and The Gap Project. Please email samuelhearle@qrbc.net, Team Minister, to make arrangements for this.
To apply for this role please contact Marianne Hooper, Church Secretary, at mariannehooper7@gmail.com to obtain an application form. You can also contact her for any further details.
An applicant must be a Christian who is able to commit to the mission and vision of our church. This post is subject to an Occupational Requirement that the post holder is a committed Christian under Part 1 of Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010.
This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check with barred list check. We operate a safer recruitment policy.
The closing date for applications is 17th February 2023 5.00pm.