Main purpose and scope of the post:

Are you passionate about helping Christians to grow as generous disciples of Christ? Working alongside the existing Stewardship Resourcing Officer, you will be part of a team working to help embed a culture of generosity across the diocese in response to the generosity and grace of God.

You will be focusing on the encouragement of planned giving, the roll out of contactless giving and the Parish Giving Scheme, supporting treasurers and contributing to materials to assist parishes in becoming generous stewards. Training will be tailored to your individual needs.

The Stewardship Resourcing Officer role is part funded by the National Church Institutions for the first 5 years, through the Giving Advisor Fund which was set up to offer financial support to enable dioceses to recruit additional Giving Advisors.

The duties and responsibilities below will be shared between the existing Stewardship Resourcing Officer and successful applicant working it out together, bearing in mind geography, workload and experience. The Archdeacon of Blackburn, as line manager for both the new and existing Stewardship Resourcing Officers, is responsible for setting the overall priorities and approving the overall division of work, to make sure that no areas are neglected and the work is fairly shared.

Teaching and encouraging stewardship and generosity

• Visiting parishes to speak, teach and (where invited) to preach about stewardship and generous giving as part of Christian discipleship, mainly to PCC but at times to other parish groups, deaneries and occasionally on Sunday. Keeping records of parishes who have been visited and, in conjunction with other colleagues, identifying additional parishes where input would be beneficial and endeavouring to meet with them. Monitoring changes in giving levels following visits to parishes.
• Ensuring that parishes understand their own financial position and giving profiles and helping them understand how they can encourage generous stewardship within their church though the use of Giving in Grace or other resources.

Digital, Online and Direct Debit Giving

• Assisting parishes in providing contactless and online giving to their churches, including helping parishes identify suitable products from those available on Parish Buying. This may also include training parishes where necessary.
• Encouraging parishes to embrace the opportunities offered by the Parish Giving Scheme. After suitable training the postholder will be involved in explaining the scheme and its benefits to PCCs, assisting them with the sign-up process and suggesting ways to promote this locally.

Resourcing parishes

• Signposting to existing local and national ‘self-help’ stewardship resources and, where necessary, creating and updating resources for parishes to use to link generosity and stewardship to discipleship and to embed a culture of generosity across the diocese.
• Ensuring the diocesan website contains up to date information about generosity and stewardship and the available resources and updating this as required.

• Providing ad hoc support to treasurers and Gift Aid Secretaries in respect of day-to-day queries and helping them identify effective methods of record keeping. Identifying training needs of treasurers and signposting to external training or, where appropriate, holding training events or organising one to one training.
• Providing appropriate articles for inclusion within the ‘Money Matters’ diocesan mailing to treasurers and incumbents and other diocesan e-bulletins and publications.

Relationship Building

• Developing productive working relationships with clergy and PCC officials and with colleagues within Diocesan offices so that parishes can be supported effectively. Offering support and guidance to Bishop’s staff on issues of Christian Stewardship and generosity and promoting stewardship and generosity principles at all levels of the diocese.
• Through attendance and involvement in the meetings of the Archdeacon of Blackburn’s Making Disciples Team, developing understanding of the other areas of discipleship identified within Vision 2026 and awareness of the resources and support available to parishes so that stewardship and generosity are seen as part of ongoing discipleship rather than as a solution to financial challenges
• Playing a full part in the life of the Northern and National Stewardship Network, fostering links with other members of the National Stewardship Network, and sharing knowledge and resources.
• Attending all relevant training and diocesan meetings or other meetings as appropriate.
• Undertaking other tasks and specific projects as may reasonably be required.

Who we are looking for

1. A committed Christian, understanding what it means to be a disciple of Christ, the concepts of generosity, discipleship and sacrifice and how being a generous steward is part of Christian discipleship. Comfortable talking about their own Christian faith and use of money.

2. Ability to use the Bible to teach principles of generous giving.

3. An understanding of the Church of England, and ability to work within its culture and mission with an understanding of the work of and challenges faced by clergy, lay leaders and volunteers at parish level.

4. Excellent written and verbal communications skills, including the ability to summarise complex information, and give clear and concise information to a range of audiences.

5. Evidence of ability to work effectively within a team.

6. Excellent ‘people’ skills; able to quickly establish credibility and respect and build strong working relationships.

7. Flexible and adaptable; able to identify opportunities and potential solutions in a variety of contexts.

8. Ability to work across the range of church traditions.

9. Confident in, and able to use all usual office IT systems and willing to learn others.

10. Excellent time management skills. Self-motivated and well-organised; able to work efficiently and effectively in meeting deadlines.

11. Commitment to continuing professional development.

12. Strong personal code of ethics, integrity, diversity and trust.

13. Willing and able to travel across the diocese.

14. Willing and able to work some evenings and occasional weekends

The Diocese of Blackburn

The Diocese of Blackburn represents the Church of England in most of Lancashire and part of Wigan Metropolitan Borough, covering an area of 878 square miles with a population of 1.3 million.

The Diocese has a clear Vision strategy, focussed on the renewal and growth of every church in the diocese so that they can bring transformation to the county of Lancashire through the good news of Jesus Christ. 'Vision 2026: Healthy Churches Transforming Communities' commits the Diocese to make disciples, be witnesses, grow leaders and inspire children and young people for Jesus Christ. The latest version of the Vision Update can be found here: Vision 2026 Implementation plan (2021 – 2024) (anglican.org)Note: You will find it helpful to read the Introduction to the Vision Update (pages 4-18) before completing your application.

Full details on the role including terms and conditions are included in the attachment

Diversity - The Board of Finance believes that diversity enables us to thrive and develop and is committed to race equality, welcoming applications from UK Minority Ethnic backgrounds

The Board of Finance is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All post holders and volunteers are expected to share this commitment

Closing date: Tuesday 30 June 2022

Interview date: Thursday 14 July 2022

All interviews will take place at Clayton House, Blackburn

For an informal conversation about this post, please contact Archdeacon Mark Ireland

mark.ireland@blackburn.anglican.org