The Diocese of Director of Vocations

Recruitment Pack

The newly relaunched Diocesan Webpage gives full details of the Vision and of the processes currently used for discerning vocations. www.blackburnanglican.org

For an informal conversation about this post, please contact the Bishop of : [email protected]

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Contents

1. Role Description ...... 2 2. Background ...... 2 3. The Context ...... 3 4. The Purpose of the Role ...... 4 5. Responsibilities ...... 4 6. Resources ...... 5 7. What we are looking for: ...... 6

1. Role Description

Responsible to: The Remuneration: £45,000 per annum or negotiated equivalent package for clergy. Hours of Work: 5 days Terms: Permanent following completion of a six-month probationary period Normal place of work: Diocesan Offices, Walker Park, Blackburn 2. Background

We have a God who provides only plenty. At the wedding at Cana, he provides gallons of wine. On the hillside there are basketfuls left over when he feeds 5,000. The kingdom is characterised by abundance. And yet when it comes to leadership, churches often complain about dearth. The issue is not that God is failing to provide, but that individuals are often slow to acknowledge God’s call and church leaders sometimes lack the confidence to discern vocation or to challenge people about what God is doing in their lives.

The Diocese of Blackburn wishes to appoint a Director of Vocations who will play a key strategic role in developing our leadership strategy especially by fostering a culture in which the discernment of gifts and call is a normative part of Christian life. They will do so above all through a deep, personal faith in the God who provides in abundance, for in Christ ‘all things are yours.’ (1 Cor 3, 21)

The Diocese serves almost the whole of the county of with a population of 1.6 million. It is divided into 14 Deaneries and two Archdeaconries (Blackburn and Lancaster). The Diocese covers an area of extraordinary variety, from the stunning countryside of the Trough of Bowland to the former mill towns of East Lancashire,

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from the University cities of Preston and Lancaster to the seaside towns of and , from elegant villages to Presence and Engagement Parishes. We have Parishes of all traditions and are strongly committed to the principle of mutual flourishing.

Vision 2026 inspires the clergy and people of the Diocese of Blackburn to grow healthy local churches which can transform the communities they serve in the name of Christ. It also recognises that high calibre leadership, both lay and ordained, is essential if this goal is to be achieved. Vision 2026 is a bold programme for outreach and growth and, amongst other things, sets us the challenge of growing 50 new congregations. It is structured under three headings:

• Making disciples of Jesus Christ • Being witnesses to Jesus Christ • Growing leaders for Jesus Christ

Full details of Vision 2026 can be found on the Diocesan Website.

3. The Context

Nationally, the Renewal and Reform Strategy is seeking to equip the church afresh for evangelism. ‘Setting God’s People Free’ encourages the Church to take active steps to ensure that all the baptised can use their gifts to the full to live out the Christian life confidently in every aspect of their lives. Also under Renewal and Reform the Church is committed to increasing by 50% the number of Ordinations to the priesthood and in order to achieve this has reformed funding for Ordination training and is reviewing the selection criteria.

Within the Diocese, we are committed to developing a new generation of lay leaders and have provided resources such as courses for occasional preachers and worship leaders and a lay discipleship course called ‘Routes of Faith.’ We are encouraging a team-based approach to lay ministry and are exploring the training of focal leaders in multi-church benefices. The Warden of Readers is engaging with the church nationally in re-imagining reader ministry.

In addition to increasing the number of priestly vocations by 50% we have set ourselves the target of increasing young vocations by 100% by 2020. The Diocese has set the target of ordaining 8 and eventually 10 stipendiary clergy a year and of retaining 80% of these into first incumbency.

Our recently approved SDF application will make an enormous difference to our capacity to form leaders from, for and in the urban Church. The Blackpool Ministry Experience scheme provides intern opportunities to up to three young adults a year and we are building an every closer partnership with the Church Army who are to

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form a Centre of Mission on the Grange Park estate in Blackpool. Most ambitiously in Blackburn we will be starting a college of urban leadership which will provide contextually appropriate leadership formation in partnership with the College of St Mellitus.

4. The Purpose of the Role

The Director of Vocations will vastly expand our capacity to identify and foster vocations to ordained and lay ministry. In particular they will:

• Foster a culture of vocation through working with local churches and church leaders • Renew and refresh our vocations and young vocations strategy and so encourage lay and ordained vocations • Identify and form priests who are excited by the challenges of ministry in the twenty-first century • Develop and shape the DDO team and the Vocations team

5. Responsibilities

The Director of Vocations will:

• Offer support and advice to local churches in fostering vocations both lay and ordained and assist with the provision of resources and support in so doing • Manage the Lay Leadership Officer who will support parishes in equipping and training lay leaders • Lead on the Diocesan vocations strategy and have oversight of the Vocations team • Fulfil the duties of DDO and lead the team of ADDOs by o Arranging initial interviews with a o Dividing candidates amongst ADDOs and monitoring progress to ensure that candidates move through the process in a timely and purposeful way o Supporting and training the team of Diocesan Examining Chaplains o Preparing candidates for BAP o Advising over training pathways and being familiar with options available to candidates o Working with DBF staff to manage funding for candidates o Having ongoing pastoral care of those in training for Ordination including regular visits to Colleges and Courses o Assisting in the allocation of Titles

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• Work closely with the Young Vocations Champion and her team, the Diocesan Youth Officer, school and HE chaplains and the Blackpool Ministry Experience Scheme to foster and promote vocations amongst the young • Work with the Warden of Readers to re-imagine Reader ministry in the Diocese • Foster BAME vocations and vocations amongst younger women through close collaboration the Dean of Women’s Ministry and with BAME communities in the Diocese • Work with deprived communities to ensure that vocations are fostered from working class and non-book communities and relate closely to the SDF funded project to foster estates leadership • Develop social media and other communications tools in fostering vocation • Work in partnership with other stakeholders, especially those with responsibility for developing discipleship • In all the above, work in close partnership with the Bishop of Burnley as Sponsoring Bishop

As a result, we hope to see:

• A culture developing within the Diocese whereby the fostering of vocations is the norm and where all the baptised are set free for mission • New cadres of lay leaders who are confident in witness and service • A younger and more diverse profile of candidates for Reader, Church Army and Ordained ministry • Targets reached for Ordinations to stipendiary and self-supporting ministry and the Diocese producing sufficient ordinands to fill vacancies

6. Resources

To fulfil the role, the Director of Vocation will have access to:

• A mutually agreed remuneration package • Office space at the Diocesan Offices • A team of colleagues and in particular o Secretarial support. The Director of Vocations will manage a part-time (4 days pw) administrator (though that person will have some other responsibilities e.g. for the administration of MDR) o Line management of the Lay Leadership officer o A team of volunteer ADDOs. (Currently there are three spread throughout the Diocese) o Oversight of the Vocations Team (led by the Revd Catherine Hale)

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7. What we are looking for:

Essential Desirable Qualifications • Degree level or equivalent

• Priest in the

Experience • A priest or permanent • Experience of developing deacon of good standing and managing new projects who takes genuine delight in their own call to service and lives it out in a way that can be a role model to others

• At least five years’ of experience in ordained ministry and a track record in fostering vocations at parochial and diocesan level

• Experience of supporting individuals through a decision making process

Knowledge • Competent IT skills and Skills • Able to develop strategy and set clear objectives

• An understanding of the processes of discerning vocations in the Church of England

• Secure in their own faith and calling

• A person of prayer who is serious and disciplined about their own formation in Christ 6

• Someone who is loyal to the inheritance of faith revealed in the Scriptures, who is excited by the Gospel and articulate in communicating the saving news of God in Jesus Christ, the vocation of the Church and the call of the baptised

• Someone who takes real delight in the breadth of the Church of England with a genuine appreciation of the Five Guiding Principles and the willingness to work in diverse cultural and theological contexts

• A team player who displays advanced relational intelligence, can discern gifts and draw the best out of others

• Significant skills in administration and the capacity to write clearly so as to be able to fulfil the duties of DDO

Other • Flexibility to work some evening and weekends

• Willing to travel both within the Diocese and beyond (driving licence/car not essential)

• Driving licence and use of car for work purposes

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There is an occupation requirement for the post-holder to be a practising Christian, and a member of the Anglican Church, in accordance with Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010.

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