Senior Manager for Ministry Learning and Development (Lay and Ordained)

Are you someone who…

• Has a deep understanding of the mission and ministry of the Church of England and the needs of its lay and ordained leaders
• Is passionate about equipping people for learning and development in ministry leadership
• Listens carefully to a range of stakeholders and finds solutions to needs whilst managing complex inter relationships in a networked organisation
• Can negotiate with professional partners to deliver excellent programmes in financially sustainable ways
• Makes quick, warm and collaborative relationships with volunteers and staff
• Can build and lead a team able to deliver timely results while feeling supported and enlivened for the work
• Gets things done with excellent communication

This could be the perfect opportunity for you!

Role Summary

The Diocese of Liverpool’s strategy is rooted in the Church of England’s vocation to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ afresh in each generation and to be a Christian presence in every community. Our refreshed diocesan strategy is making a step change in missional ambition which, with its clear focus on growth and sustainability of worshipping communities in every context, requires and takes a ‘whole system’ approach to change and alignment.

A key part of achieving our strategy is to make a step change in how we develop leaders - both lay and ordained. Recent investment by the National Church enables us to create and implement a comprehensive strategy for developing lay and ordained ministry leaders with the skills they need to grow and sustain worshipping communities that reach and serve all communities and in particular, develop a church that is younger and more diverse. After a long period of under investment in our lay and ordained ministers we are seeking to support, nurture and equip our leaders in a new way. It is a very exciting opportunity to be part of supporting and enabling leaders in a way that has previously not been possible.

This new role is key – it will form, shape and lead a new team who will, with ministry leaders and diocesan colleagues, develop and implement a comprehensive learning and development strategy building on a limited existing curriculum and previous listening and planning for the future.

This strategy presents an opportunity to respond to the context of this diocese:

• The development will be focused on the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will help missionally focused leadership deliver the strategic aims of the diocese with accountability - delivery of a parish system revitalised for mission, with sustainable worshipping communities and ongoing growth in younger and more diverse disciples. We expect that the following type of areas are key: working with children and youth, growing disciples and evangelism, justice, leading change, project management, coaching / mentoring, communications, resolving conflict, personal resilience, skills and knowledge specific to particular ministry demands and opportunities all underpinned by prayer and theological learning and reflection.
• We want to attract younger and more diverse lay and ordained ministry leaders. We recognise that preferred learning styles within this group range between those who are comfortable with an academic approach to those who are less confident with ‘book-learning’ and need a more practical approach, or who are time poor and need more flexible routes to accessing learning opportunities.
• The majority of missional leadership will continue to be provided by unpaid lay leaders. Our model needs to shift from full time and daytime to a more accessible approach that includes hybrid models including online, webinar/recorded etc and maximises gathered in-person training to address application, problem solving and coaching.

This role will form, lead and manage a new team of specialists in learning and development, and will establish a healthy, collaborative and accountable culture, working as an extended part of the Vocations Team closely with the Diocesan Director of Vocations and liaising closely with other strategy leads within the discipleship, vocational, missional and operational domains. You will be part of appointing a further assistant learning role and a learning project support worker. A digital Resources Officer has recently been appointed to the team to support the online platform delivery of learning in conjunction with the National Learning Team and the Optra Learning Platform via Creative Stream.

The team will be responsible for leading on content, process, and implementation through a significant cultural change to the offer for development in the diocese. The role will require direct line management of a team and careful work with leads and members of other teams to ensure a streamlined and accessible approach to all learning offered across the organisation via the digital online platform. All of these areas of development will need equal care and attention given to them.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS AND PERSON SPECIFICATION PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHED RECRUITMENT PACK