We are looking for a talented priest and experienced community leader who can weave together these four churches and the many community projects that they are involved in, into a harmonious whole. You will probably be someone who thrives on variety and challenge, enjoys working in partnership with others. If you are looking for a post where you can make a real and sustained difference in one of the most deprived areas of the country, please explore whether you may be being called to join us here.

This role is unusual in that you will be appointed as Team Rector and will almost immediately be involved in appointing your new Team Vicar colleague. You will also be quickly involved in discussions with the Everton Legacy Project, a unique opportunity.

Liverpool is a fabulous, vibrant place to live and work. It was voted the 2^nd ‘Friendliest Place to Live’ in the world in a Conde Nast survey in 2021, and boasts world-leading entertainment, dining and cultural facilities.

The Post

These four churches are in some of our most deprived communities. They are working together in a new team for this role, and for the Team Vicar role which is to be appointed once the Team Rector is in post and can take part in this process.

The area is undergoing considerable upheaval, not least with the relocation of the Everton football ground; planning for the future of St Luke’s within the Everton Legacy project will be an important element of this role. An interim minister has been in post through the Covid years and considerable work has been done on managing the transition to the new structures, but much remains to be done.

There are many opportunities for mission and ministry being explored in the parishes. The PCC and Alsop School have been jointly awarded a grant from the Growing Faith Foundation Partnerships to develop an education hub. A small team from St Mary’s are working with the local council to raise £250,000 to restore and develop the Old School House into a heritage community hub. The Rector will be ex officio on the board of several local charities and projects, giving considerable opportunities to be involved in local area regeneration and community life.

Short Listing: Tuesday 25^th April 2023

Interviews: Tuesday 16^th May 2023

For more information on this vacancy please contact the acting Archdeacon of Liverpool the Revd. Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes on: miranda.threlfall-holmes@liverpool.anglican.org.

Like everyone entering a new role in the Diocese, you will accept the priority of these areas, and will measure your ministry by effectiveness in these areas. You will be supported and expected to be accountable (through the Ministerial Development Review as well as through regular meetings with your colleagues) for how they are being implemented within your area of responsibility.

In common with all clergy in the diocese, you will work together with others to:-

1. Establish a culture of invitation in evangelism within the local church.
2. Start new worshipping communities and maintain existing healthy worshipping communities that are accessible to all.
3. Establish a culture in the local church of expecting a deepening of discipleship and putting into practice the 6 disciplines of the Rule of Life.
4. Develop prayerfully a strategy for mission and church growth and aligning it with the Diocesan strategy Fit for Mission.
5. Identify, train, release and support new Christian leaders and teams.
6. Encourage vocations by identifying the gifts of others and assisting people to seek God’s calling for their lives.
7. Develop the distinctive ministry of the local Church within the wider context of the Diocese, Deanery and local ecumenical setting by establishing and maintaining good collaborative working relationships with clergy and lay colleagues.
8. Lead your congregations both to pray for justice in the Church and the world and to recognize how, working with others, your congregations can work for more justice in the Church, your local communities, and the world.
9. Ensure that safeguarding, financial and other governance disciplines are followed.

• Establish good working relationships and effective governance in the new team
• Work with the Everton legacy project to discern a new future for St Luke’s
• Build on existing relationships with local schools and community projects to be an effective community leader and leader in mission
• Be involved with the appointment of the new Team Vicar, and work well in a team with them and with other lay and ordained colleagues.
• Work collaboratively with local charities, government and other community partners, embracing the opportunities of your ex officio membership of various trustee boards
• Ensure that financial matters are run in compliance with all relevant legislation and good practice
• Explore with the churches what opportunities there are for new worshipping communities to be established

As well as your local responsibilities, as a leader in the Diocese of Liverpool you will be expected to:

• Consistently advocate diocesan strategy
• Sign people up to the Rule of Life
• Nurture existing leaders and identify new ones

• Identify and commission teams
• Build and lead a leadership team
• Create a positive culture of accountability
• Establish connections between worshipping communities
• Attend to financial health of your worshipping communities

Our ideal candidate will have:

• Experience of working across a team, and of forging new ways of working as a newly shaped team is formed
• Excellent administrative skills and organisational ability
• Willingness to work across a range of church styles and to plant new congregations
• An established track record of ministry to young families, children, and youth
• Experience of partnership working to deliver sustained change

Being part of the Clergy Team in Liverpool Diocese.

For many years we have been working to achieve growth in our diocese. We have used different ways to express this but the aim and direction of travel has remained the same:

“We are asking God for a bigger church so we can make a bigger difference”; said another way: “We long to see more people knowing Jesus and more justice in the world.”

To achieve this vision we are rolling out a diocesan strategic transformation project called ‘Fit for Mission’ which is an ambitious, growth-orientated and locally delivered change programme to enable mission and ministry to flourish in the Diocese of Liverpool. All clergy in the Diocese are expected to align themselves fully with this vision and work to its fullest possible implementation.

We have 4 mission priorities which are foundational to this vision:

(i) introducing people to Jesus;

(ii) deepening discipleship;

(iii) developing Christian leaders, and

(iv) working for justice.

We are determined to make these priorities real in our life and ministry that includes:

• a commitment to working in teams rather than in isolation,
• a major investment in lay leadership,
• a radical re-structuring of our parishes and
• a releasing of clergy to enable them to focus much more fully on their gifts and vocational call.