As part of our strategy to provide more effective oversight across our huge Diocese, the Bishop is seeking to appoint an Archdeacon for the Archdeaconry of France.

The role is to support and nurture Anglican clergy and churches across France and Monaco. When the current Acting Archdeacon of Switzerland retires, it is intended that the territory will be extended to cover Switzerland. The role is full-time.

The work involves growing churches in start-up situations as well as established settings, recruiting and caring for our clergy, leading synods and liaising with other Christian churches. There is a particular missional requirement to create new communities in some of the major cities of France where we do not so far have a presence.

The post requires someone with a high degree of self-motivation and experience who will also work well as part of the Bishop’s Senior Staff and contribute to diocesan mission thinking and strategy. The post requires fluent communication skills in English and French (German would be an asset), excellent personal organisation and high resilience.
The person appointed will need to live in France.

Missional Leadership

• Contributing to diocesan strategy and mission thinking and implementation via membership of the Bishop’s Staff meeting and Bishop’s Council and Diocesan Synod.
• Developing fresh vision for appropriate kinds of evangelisation in collaboration with Churches in Communion and in consultation with established ecumenical partners. Evaluating possibilities for church planting and, together with diocesan officers and local congregations, facilitating bids for funding for new work, setting up and leading partnership arrangements.
• Leading the archdeaconry synod of France by ensuring that arrangements for the synod are made, presiding at the meetings of the synod, convening synod standing committees.
• Encouraging the growth of chaplaincies and congregations through personal conversations and visits, meeting (physically of online) with clergy, church officers and others.
• Developing workable options and proposals for provision of ordained ministry in startup, embryonic or financially fragile contexts.
• Working collaboratively with bishops and other archdeacons; being available to advise or assist in other parts of the diocese as responsibilities allow; sharing in the leadership, management and committee structures of the diocese.

Clergy recruitment and pastoral care

• Working with churches and diocesan officers to develop realistic and accurate specifications and advertisements for clergy posts; conducting interviews; licensing new clergy and readers on behalf of the bishop; helping make sure new clergy receive adequate induction and orientation.
• Sustaining and improving clergy wellbeing. Providing pastoral care for the clergy, including addressing pastoral problems and crisis intervention, dealing with clergy illness, general advice, teaching. This is a key element of the role as many of our clergy are in isolated situations.
• Conducting Ministerial Development Reviews.
• Reporting problems and opportunities to the bishop.
• Overseeing annual reviews of terms and conditions by local churches.
• Overseeing CME provision in the Archdeaconry and approving CME applications.
• Fulfilling the Archdeacon’s role under the Clergy Discipline Measure

Experience, knowledge, training and qualifications

Essential:

• Substantial ordained ministry experience as a priest in the Church of England or another church of the Anglican Communion (the canons of the Church of England require at least six years in holy orders).
• Experience of supervision and pastoral care of clergy.
• Competent theologically and able both to reflect and articulate effectively.
• Experience of enabling church growth in different cultural contexts.
• Firm grasp of the Anglican tradition as expressed in its liturgy and law.
• An understanding of Christian giving, and an ability to speak clearly and appropriately about the financial needs of the church.

Aptitudes and abilities

Essential:

• A high degree of self-motivation and ability to work on own initiative as well as a strong sense of collegiality and ability to work as part of team.
• Ability to use electronic communications with confidence and ease.
• Capacity for strategic thinking and analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to manage change and to manage and resolve conflict
• Administrative confidence and clarity of mind
• Excellent communication skills, in different media and registers, as well as the ability to enable others to communicate – sometimes across language barriers or where they lack confidence to articulate their views.
• Advanced operational proficiency in French language (C1 level)

Desirable:

• Knowledge of Swiss-German language or willingness to learn

Personal attributes

Essential:

• A strong, personal and living Christian faith.
• Orthodox and biblical in faith, life and teaching.
• Demonstrated personal commitment to mission and evangelism.
• Appropriate flexibility in the nurture of different forms of church community
• Whatever his or her own tradition, the ability to affirm those of other traditions and an enthusiasm for working with people of those traditions.
• Demonstrated commitment to ecumenical collaboration.
• A high level of self-awareness.
• Resilience and ability to thrive in France.

For more information about this application process, please use this link

English Churches have been established on the Continent since at least the time of the Reformation. The Diocese in Europe was set up in 1980 to care for these churches, which now attract English speakers from many ethnic, territorial and ecclesial backgrounds. The diocese currently has two bishops and seven archdeaconries. Whilst the diocese has for most of its history been administered by seven clergy with part-time archidiaconal responsibility (usually linked to other roles), it was long our strategic objective to establish freestanding archidiaconal posts as funding allows. The funding for full-time archdeacon posts was provided by a new financial plan agreed at the 2018 Diocesan Synod. This is the third of three full-time archdeacon appointments.

The post covers a large geographic territory. We have more than 80 congregations in France. Our chaplaincies range from English ex-pat communities in rural areas to international congregations in major cities. Since our diocese operates outside England, large parts of the English administrative role of Archdeacon (such as administration of faculty jurisdiction and common tenure arrangements) do not apply. Instead, the Archdeacon has the challenge of providing and framing an Anglican ministry in the administrative and legal context of France and Monaco and where local knowledge of the Anglican tradition may be patchy.

The Chief Operating Officer (Diocesan Secretary), Andrew Caspari, is happy to answer questions about the role and any practical issues. andrew.caspari@churchofengland.org

Further details contact : The Diocesan Appointments’ Secretary Barbara Omoro Rue Capitaine Crespel 47/49 1050 Brussels, Belgium Or via email at europe.appointments@churchofengland.org