A re-imagined and exciting post of Mission Enabler and Team Vicar has been created in our large parish (pop. 18,000), with a particular desire to see new worshipping communities planted in North Harrogate.

We are looking for a minister who will:

• Prioritise their inner life of discipleship and prayer and encourage others to do the same
• Play a leading role in developing and implementing our new mission strategy, with its focus on establishing & multiplying new worshipping communities/FXC
• Be a pioneering team player
• Possess excellent entrepreneurial and relational skills, able to connect across generations and cultures
• Contribute fully to the existing mission & ministry of the parish with its two worship centres & strong community links

For a conversation about the post, please contact Rev. Simon Dowson, Rector, St John’s & St Luke’s 07786 282214 simon.dowson@leeds.anglican.org

Closing date - Sunday 27th March

Shortlisting meeting - Wednesday 6th April

Interviews will be held on Thursday 28th April

ROLE PURPOSE

General

• To advance the Kingdom of God in the parish through prayer, effective leadership, collaboration, a missional mindset and reliance on the Holy Spirit.
• To share with the Bishop and Team Rector both in the cure of souls and in responsibility, under God, for transforming lives, congregations and communities in this parish with reference to any current priorities established by the bishop
• To be the team vicar in the parish of Bilton, having regard to the calling and responsibilities of the clergy as described in the Canons, the Ordinal, the Code of Professional Conduct for the Clergy and other relevant legislation.
• To be rooted in and reach out in mission to the local community and give people pastoral support and service (including baptisms, weddings and funerals).
• To enable confident Christians to live and tell the good news of Jesus Christ across and where appropriate beyond the parish.
• Have regard to the calling and responsibilities of the clergy as described in the Canons, Ordinal, Guidelines for Professional Conduct of Clergy, and other relevant legislation and guidance

Specific

The team vicar and mission enabler will:

• As mission enabler, devote 50% of their time to this role and operate within a creative but rigorous framework with measurable goals.
• Contribute fully to the ongoing discernment and implementation of our parish vision, not least our strategy for outreach but also discipling/training of the laity.
• The postholder’s approach will be strategic, contemporary, creative and contextual, not least in relation to church planting/Fresh Expressions of Church, and he/she will take the lead in such church planting as appropriate
• Help us to discern how we might become a resource benefice for mission
• Be able to communicate the gospel in a variety of ways that respond to different contexts, occasions, ages and levels of knowledge.
• Help facilitate appropriate engagement with the people of the parish, especially in those areas where fewer people are connected with the church
• Help us develop our vision for mutually supportive and flourishing congregations at St Luke’s and St John’s.
• Encourage people to identify and use their Spirit-given ministries and gifts
• Work closely with the team rector, curate, young people’s worker and church wardens, not least to further develop lay leadership in our existing congregations and potential future congregations
• Play an active role in our ministry in schools
• Help us develop our connections with other churches in the Deanery, the Harrogate Hub and Bilton Churches Together
• Share in the conduct of the occasional offices in the parish
• Ensure excellence in safeguarding and care for all God’s people, and full compliance with Diocesan and national Safeguarding guidelines, policies and procedures.

As mission enabler, the successful candidate should be able to demonstrate experience and proven competency in the following areas

• Involvement in and hopefully leadership of establishing and growing fresh expressions of church/new missional communities
• Entrepreneurial skills, including responsible risk-taking.
• Energising and enabling others in forming vision and in strategic planning
• The ability to operate and thrive within the tension of creativity and flexibility on the one hand, and appropriate accountability and working within agreed structures on the other
• Leading, managing and consolidating change.
• Discerning, nurturing and developing the innate and Spirit-given gifts and ministries of others.

As team vicar, the successful candidate should be able to demonstrate proven competency and experience in the following areas:

• Leadership within/beyond the church
• Building and facilitating teams.
• Working collaboratively, exercising accountability and delegation.
• Building community through relationships of trust.
• Discipling others, following the principle of ‘investing in the few for the sake of the many’
• Holding the big picture.
• Encouraging trust in God.
• Enabling others in reflection, review and developing the mission and ministry of the church.
• Effective conflict management.
• Working with different generations and inter-generationally.
• Working with different theological perspectives, church traditions, cultures and life experiences.
• Knowledge, understanding and experience of diocesan and church structures, policies, and practices including Safeguarding, finance and governance.

Initiating and enabling working relationships between church, deanery and diocese.

The Diocese of Leeds

The Diocese of Leeds was formed at Easter 2014. It is one of the largest dioceses in the country covering an area of around 2,425 square miles, and a growing population of around 2,642,400 people. The diocese comprises five Episcopal areas, each served by a suffragan (area) bishop. Each Episcopal Area is coterminous with an Archdeaconry.

The Diocesan Vision, informed by the values of ‘loving, living, learning’ is: ‘confident Christians, growing churches, transforming communities and so helping share the Good News of Jesus Christ across our Diocese’. This Vision is embedded into the Diocesan Strategy and Goals and expressed in meaningful ways across the episcopal areas.

The Diocese is a blend of urban and rural in all their diversity. This includes the major cities of Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; the large industrial and post-industrial towns of Halifax, Huddersfield and Dewsbury; the market towns of Harrogate, Skipton, Ripon (classed as a small city), Richmond and Wetherby; and the deeply rural area of the Yorkshire Dales. It covers several civic and parliamentary boundaries.

The Diocese is unique in having three cathedrals; Bradford, Ripon and Wakefield. The Deans of the Cathedrals work together and continue to look to fresh ways of sharing ideas and engaging in projects of mutual interest.