The Diocese of Chester is seeking to recruit an ordained priest as Bishops’ Adviser for Diocesan Discernment of Ordained Ministry.

Working collaboratively on behalf of the bishops with a wide range of people, the person appointed will have responsibility for encouraging and enabling rigorous discernment of vocations to ordained ministry, as well as working as part of the Ministry Team in encouraging and supporting the calling and ministry of all God’s people.

Attention to growing the number and broadening the diversity of people within the diocese who are discerning and training for ordained ministry will be expected.

The postholder will be expected to work primarily from Church House in Daresbury but will also be rooted in the worshipping life and community of Chester Cathedral as a Residentiary Canon, as an expression of the relationships between the Bishops, Cathedral, and Diocese.

For informal conversation, contact Rev Simon Chesters, Director of Ministry at simon.chesters@chester.anglican.org

The job description, person specification and application form can be downloaded from the Diocesan website: https://www.chester.anglican.org/support-services/job-vacancies/other-vacancies/

An Enhanced DBS Disclosure and Safeguarding training will be required for the successful candidate.

PLEASE NOTE: Applications should be made via the Diocesan website using the diocesan application form, not through Pathways.

Completed application forms should be returned to Mrs E A Geddes, Diocesan Director of Human Resources, preferably by email to liz.geddes@chester.anglican.org or by post to Church House, 5500 Daresbury Park, Warrington, WA4 4GE.

Closing date: Sunday 25^th June 2023

Interviews: Thursday 6^th July 2023

Job Title: Bishops’ Adviser for Diocesan Discernment for Ordained Ministry (BADDOM), and Diocesan Residentiary Canon

Salary Range: Equivalent to stipend of a Residentiary Canon, currently £29,855

Hours of work: It is anticipated that the practical working of this post will be 14 hours per week for the Diocesan Residentiary Canon post and 32 hours per week for the Bishops’ Advisor for Diocesan Discernment of Ordained Ministry (BADDOM) post, to be worked over 6 days. The post holder will be expected to work such hours and times flexibly so as to fulfil the duties of the combined post and the post-holder will be required to attend meetings, training or events regionally, provincially or nationally.

Normal place of work: Church House, Daresbury

Overall Purpose of the Post:

The Bishops’ Adviser for Diocesan Discernment for Ordained Ministry will:

• Encourage and promote vocations to ordained ministry across the Diocese of Chester.
• Work with colleagues on wider promotion of vocations to all kinds of ministry, lay and ordained
• Enable an effective and rigorous process of discernment for ordained ministry that is marked by a prayerful openness to God and by clarity and care towards all those involved.
• Work with colleagues to broaden the diversity of those who engage with discernment for ordained ministry and increase the number of people entering training and formation for ordained ministry.
• Support ordinands in training during Initial Ministerial Education (IME1).

Please see the attached job description (link below) for information regarding the principal duties and responsibilities, and further general duties of the role.

ABOUT US

The work of the Chester Diocesan Board of Finance (DBF) is operated from within Church House and is located at Daresbury Park, Warrington.

The DBF is the body which oversees the central financial and administrative work of the Diocese of Chester, provides support, teaching and trained personnel to advance the mission and ministry of the parishes within the Church of England Diocese of Chester, and the mission and ministries of the bishops of the Diocese.

The DBF is part of the Church of England, the established Church of the land, which proclaims Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and aims to proclaim the Kingdom of God in an open way to all people, of all races, cultures and backgrounds.

For many posts within the Diocese those who are not members of the Church of England are welcome to apply. We respect their right to express different religious and philosophical opinions but require them, as employees of the Diocese, to respect our ethos as an Anglican Christian organisation and not to undermine it. These posts will require the post-holders to be in sympathy with the aims and objectives of the Church of England.

Some posts may include an Occupational Requirement for the post holder to be a practising Christian in accordance with the Equality Act, 2010. Where this applies the recruitment documentation will state this.

The Diocese of Chester is in the province of York in the Church of England, part of the global Anglican Communion. For more information about our life, ministry and work please visit our website www.chester.anglican.org We are linked with the Anglican Church of Melanesia in the Solomon Islands and the Dioceses of Aru and Boga in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Diocese covers an area of 1025 square miles, approximately the old Victorian County of Chester, including parts which subsequently became absorbed into Merseyside and Greater Manchester. The Rivers Mersey and Tame approximately delineate the boundary with Liverpool and Manchester. There are areas of dense urban population, mainly in the north, stretching from Birkenhead to East Manchester. There are prosperous suburban regions of West and South Wirral, Chester and south of Manchester, with a mainly rural heartland, bounded by the Derbyshire Pennines and the Welsh Border. The overall population is around 1.6 million.

The diocesan bishop is Mark Tanner. He is supported by two suffragan bishops: the Bishop of Birkenhead, Julie Conalty and the of Bishop of Stockport, Sam Corley.

The Cathedral for the Diocese is in Chester.

The Diocese is divided into two archdeaconries: Chester covering the western half and Macclesfield the eastern, each with nine deaneries. There are 273 parishes, about 100 of which can be described as rural. Compared with many dioceses, there are few teams, and few multi-parish benefices. There are approximately 231 stipendiary clergy. The ministry of Readers and Pastoral Workers is important, with over 400 licensed. The role of self-supporting ministers is increasing, with over 80 in post at present.

Roughly speaking, the Archdeaconry of Macclesfield covers that part of the diocese to the east of the M6, plus the area around Crewe and Nantwich. The Archdeaconry of Chester covers the rest of the diocese to the west of the M6. Each archdeaconry has a broad mix of urban and rural parishes. The Archdeacon of Chester lives in Chester, and the Archdeacon of Macclesfield lives in Congleton. Both now work from Church House, Daresbury.