Church Engagement Coordinator Jobs in Croydon, Greater London
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Betknowmore UK is collaborating with partner organisations to work as part of a wider team, on the delivery of the Armed Forces Gambling Harms Support Network (AFGHSN). The work will include the provision of training and gambling awareness activities, helping to raise and address the subject of harmful gambling. Working and engaging with armed forces support and personnel services, individuals harmed by gambling, their wider network, stakeholders, and other relevant groups within the veteran and active armed forces communities, the aim is to create trained personnel able to support the work of the AFGHSN.
A key aspect of the role will be working with individuals experiencing gambling harms, requiring an empathetic and compassionate approach and awareness of the complex issues being addressed. A robust management of safeguarding and safe working practices is essential.
It is essential that you are based within one hour travelling time of London, as extensive travel to London and the UK is expected.
Role Purpose
An armed forces veteran or someone closely involved with the armed forces (a family member for example), the post holder will also have a unique insight on gambling harms, and their impact on health and wellbeing specifically within the military.
The Armed Forces Peer Aid Coordinator will initially prioritise engaging with veterans and military organisations to deliver the AFGHSN training programme, along with gambling awareness activities. The purpose is to upskill key armed forces personnel and those in connected communities, enabling and enhancing their knowledge, skills and confidence to address gambling harms.
The second key responsibility is to recruit, train and support Peer Supporters to deliver safe, effective support for individuals and their networks that have been harmed by gambling. It is expected that Peer Supporters will be individuals with ‘lived experience’ of gambling harm themselves or as an ‘affected other’.
The post holder will work with the Head of Peer Support Services to support the development and maintenance of the systems and structure of the service, ensuring that governance and polices are implemented, safeguarding and safe working practices are strictly adhered to, and a clear understanding established of how the service integrates with other support and treatment networks.
The AFGHSN Peer Aid team will ensure that the support and working relationships are safe and secure, and the health and wellbeing of all participants is intact. Peer Support will be in a befriending capacity and should be provided with a considered and transparent approach. Other support activities will be developed, such as group support and weekly meet ups.
Stakeholder management is essential to the role, as is establishing and maintaining relationships within the AFGHSN, alongside confident communication skills to deliver presentations and other promotions within armed forces community, education and health centres to help grow and evolve the service.
We are especially keen to receive applications from individuals with experience of gambling addiction and recovery from within the armed service with a minimum of two years abstinence.
Please review the full Job Pack before applying with your CV and cover letter.
Previous applicants need not apply.
Please refer to the full job pack on our website before submitting your application, ensuring you detail how you meet the person specification in your cover letter.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Saint Paul’s Hammersmith – Community Pastor Job Description
Job Title Community Pastor
Responsible to Senior Pastor
Liaises with Saint Paul’s staff and congregation, external organisations, community and council bodies, Café team, and the public.
Work Location Saint Paul’s Hammersmith
Saint Paul’s is a dynamic church at the centre of our capital city, London. We have a vision to Encounter God and Awaken the City. Our desire is to become a white-hot centre of faith, where people can meet with God and learn what it means to be empowered by His Spirit in their everyday lives. We inspire our congregation to see God’s Kingdon come here on earth as it is in heaven, wherever He has called them to live, work and play their part in awakening our city with the good news of Jesus. If we have any particular emphasis after being a community who honour and seek God’s presence, it’s to empower the emerging generation as we pass on the baton of faith and raise up disciples who will lead and influence in every sphere of society.
The successful candidate will approach the role of Community Pastor with a clear passion and understanding of the theory of change that sits behind our vision. We wholeheartedly believe that as people encounter God, they will then be transformed and able to awaken the city through the power of His Spirit at work in them. Therefore, we intend for all our City Transformation work to help give people access to an encounter with God. This will happen in several ways, and most commonly we expect that the love, kindness and grace demonstrated in and through our various initiatives will provoke an interest in encountering God whatever background or context a person is coming from.
Overall Purpose of Role
In your role as Community Pastor, you will lead, innovate, and add momentum and direction to all of our local Community Outreach work at Saint Paul’s Hammersmith. You will strategically represent the church with external stakeholders, help to create key partnerships within the community, whilst building and empowering a dynamic and vibrant volunteer culture within the Saint Paul’s congregation.
You will oversee our Community Café and lead on all our community outreach programmes across Hammersmith, including our Community Hub, Café Concert and Love Christmas Project.
We are looking for someone with a proven track record in building volunteer teams, supporting key leaders and the ability to develop collaborative relationships with external organisations, charities and grant making bodies. You will enjoy the challenge and opportunity of a fast-paced environment, where teamwork is essential but where individual skills and distributed leadership are also required.
You will also be an ambassador for Love Your Neighbour (LYN) which is part of a national movement of churches collaborating in local communities, alongside people of all faiths and none to support individuals and families in need. This will involve being part of the LYN Hub Accelerator Programme, to help Saint Paul’s refine our vision and impact in this area of social transformation.
Key Responsibilities
- Effective coordination of our City Transformation ministry.
- Ensuring that our projects are meeting the needs of our community.
- Reaching out to those in crisis to help people access places of care, both inside and outside of Saint Paul’s, and helping people access programmes that address the root cause of crisis.
- Co-ordinating and implementing our vision to become a Love Your Neighbour hub that makes a long-term impact through social transformation and helping to implement our 5-year strategy for Social Transformation.
- Oversight of our Saint Paul’s Community Café and vision and strategy on scaling the café.
- Acting as an ambassador for and developing relationships with our partner charities, Spear and Crosslight to ensure that their ministries are well supported and integrated into the life of Saint Paul’s.
- With the support of our Operations Manager and using existing Love Your Neighbour impact measurement systems, collecting data and carrying out regular impact measurement to create reports for church leadership, PCC and funding partners.
- Key Lead and point person for Adult Safeguarding and sitting on the Saint Paul’s Safeguarding Team.
- Termly line-management and connection with our volunteer chaplains, chaplain to St Vincents Care Home, and chaplain to St Paul’s Primary School.
- Recruiting, training, supporting, and investing in a volunteer team to enable wide participation in our City Transformation ministry.
- Networking and building relationships with charitable organisations, churches, public sector organisations and other key stakeholders.
- Maximising opportunities for all ministry areas within the church to be involved in social transformation ministry.
- Responsibility for identifying and following through with grant applications and reporting.
You will also oversee the existing social action projects run by Saint Paul’s, namely;
Cafe Concerts
Our monthly Cafe Concerts were established in the Spring of 2023, aimed at creating a uniquely multi-generational open door for the local community to enjoy a morning of world-class music, coffee, cake, and a warm welcome. We now regularly host between 60-70 people, including local asylum seekers, residents from St Vincents care home, all alongside our growing Stay and Play community of Mums and Toddlers who join the Cafe Concert.
Community Hub
The Community Hub was created in 2023 to support those who are experiencing loneliness. There is a hot meal provided, as well as kids activities and lots of space for conversation. There have been seven Community Hubs in 2023, with over 500 guests (including many asylum seekers based in local hotels) and a 30-person volunteer team. We have supported in a variety of ways, including writing references, providing clothes and most importantly, forming friendships with people.
Love Christmas
In December 2023, we partnered with Love Christmas to pack and deliver more than 720 Bags of Kindness to our local community, with the help of 30 volunteers. The combination of donations raised from within our congregation, and match funding from Love Your Neighbour enabled us to show practical love and care to some of the most vulnerable in our local area. You will be responsible for overseeing and developing this project.
You will also helping to establish new initiatives as the need arises, in collaboration with the Senior Team. This might include a breakfast club for children at our local school, Kids Matter, and Recovery Groups/ courses that will have a missional outworking and community focus.
Essential Skills, Knowledge and Experience
You will be flexible and able to work dynamically to respond to needs as they arise whilst keeping a strategic eye on upcoming opportunities and challenges. You will use your experience in social action to review the needs of your community and offer tailor-made services in response to them, it will involve partnering with others in the community and being entrepreneurial and forward thinking in how to tackle the issue of poverty and local need.
· Active engagement in Saint Paul’s Hammersmith church life/community.
· Excellent communication skills both written and oral
· Understanding of and alignment with the Saint Paul’s vision and the associated ministries.
· The ability to develop positive and professional relationships - internally and with third parties.
· Personal maturity, wisdom, and discretion – acts with integrity and models Christ-like values.
· Flexible, adaptable, ‘can do’ attitude, offers solutions to problems.
· Customer-facing skills, dealing confidently with a diverse range of clients and visitors.
· Ability to seek clarification, adapt approach to resolve (or avoid) conflict and manage complaints and/or challenging requests.
· Strong attention to detail.
· Ability to multi-task and prioritise using excellent time-management skills.
· Intermediate skills in IT and MS Office suite, database applications, calendar management etc.
· Active listening skills and ability to understand employee needs in a sensitive manner.
Working Requirements
- Proof of right to work in the UK according to UK Legislation.
- Days of work: 35 hours per week, Sunday – Thursday, with some occasional evening and Saturday working as required (TOIL given).
- Work hours: 9:30 am – 5:30 pm with a one-hour unpaid lunch break. Flexible working on Sundays to accommodate various services.
Key church services and events
· Key church events: Annual Parochial Church Meeting, Church Weekend, and some evening events.
· Easter and Christmas services.
· Staff events: Staff retreat (typically 1 week in January)
· Attendance at Tuesday morning staff meeting
Package
· Annual salary of £28k – £32k depending on experience.
· 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays
· Employer pension contribution
· Annual staff retreat at an offsite location.
· Important note: Many roles require candidates to be DBS checked (Disclosure and Barring Service Certificate) up to the appropriate level as a condition of employment.
Applications close at 5pm on Wednesday 8th May, with Interviews being held on Wednesday 15th May
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.