Is anyone employed as a church childrens/families worker?

[Smithagain]

There is a slim possibility that my church might create a paid part time post, for someone to develop our work with children and families. We have a new connection with the local primary school that needs fostering and there are various other initiatives that might take off if someone has time to do them. Apart from that, we're a rather mainstream, liberalish congregation, with a few families but not as many as we'd like.

It seems moderately likely that I will be invited to apply. Or indeed that the job might be planned around continuation of work I'm doing on a voluntary basis at the moment (running holiday club, toddler group, all-age worship).

Am just interested in making contact with one or two people who might be able to help me understand what might I be letting myself in for, if this actually comes off!!!!

I was a youth worker before having children, but was supported by an inter-denominational network of churches rather than one individual church.

I loved it - I was meant to be part time at first, but it doesn't ever work out like that - lots of evenings, weekends and early morning starts for assemblies etc. I ran a lot of after school clubs too.

If you're only dealing with one primary school then it'll be much more manageable. They will want you to be CRB checked/disclosed through them even if your church has already done so.

Building a good relationship with firstly the head and then the secretary are key. I found that signing in and out (sounds insignificant) was actually a vital part of keeping the doors open.

You could offer a lunchtime club, assemblies, after school club and open invites to whatever childrens events are happening at your church. Some schools may ask that children attending clubs, even if they're voluntary, must get a permission slip from their parents. This may be a long and drawn out process, but it's more important to be accommodating to how the school does things. Being honest, transparent and up front about what you're in the school for is also vital.

Otherwise there'll be the inevitable accusations of indoctrination etc.

Keep the stuff in school low key and if children/parents want to respond further, then that's where your link with the church comes in.

You'll be there to sow seeds and not much else

You will also need a handful of people in your church to act as a steering group of some sort - to support you, pray for you in your work and do practical things. You may need to apply for funding/insurance etc etc - you're the worker at the coalface so to speak and this is not your responsibility.

I'm sure I'll think of other stuff, but hope some of that helps?

And get a subscription to Youthwork magazine if you don't already!

Childrens Ministry also have a lot of helpful resources worth tapping into.

Get a discount for resources at your local Christian bookshop - tell them you'll be bringing in more business

Thanks Bobsmum, that's really useful. Will definitely get a subscription to Youthwork - should have thought of that! I also have to fathom out the logistics of exactly when the work would all get done if this comes off!

We've have a Children's/Families's worker at church, and she has been in post or about 3 years, doing 15 hours per week. Her remit is quite broad - to run assemblies at primary schools, run a parenting course, run a toddler service, organise the holiday club, and do the nativity service etc. Also, her job is to oversee children's Sunday groups, up to age 11.

We have about 300 young people (up to age 18) on our books, and also have a youth worker and student worker.

Thanks ScienceTeacher. Interesting to hear how much can be covered in 15 hours per week (but maybe it's not really just 15 hours ....!)

Those sound like the sorts of things that would be involved - possibly also some other things to attract parents. There is such a missing generation of adults in their 20s and 30s in our church. And not only in ours, I know.

I'm not saying she achieves all this, but that is the scope of the job. Also, it's not meant to be done without a lot of volunteer support.

The other thing that a CFW could do is run a parent and toddler group. Ours was already well established before the CFW appointment, so it was not included, although I suspect she does have some oversight responsibility.

Running whole groups, such as a parent & toddler group would really eat into the 15 hours, as would preparations for and the running of Sunday groups. How you get paid for things you are doing already (and the kind of jobs that most volunteers are doing and will continue to do) needs to be carefully though-out.

The other activities that we have to support parents in the community are regular coffee mornings in houses, bible studies and Alpha courses with creche, a babysitting circle etc. We basically do the same types of social things the NCT does, and typical church activities but with the provision of a creche (or have children welcome).

Yeah - I did wonder how you treat things that you are already doing. I am already spending half a day per week running a toddler craft group, for example. Plus goodness knows how many days running the holiday club!

I guess it's the management of volunteers, contact-making and schools work that will be "new" work. Although I wouldn't be averse to some of the above things becoming part of a paid job They are much more interesting than the paid job I already have and may have to wave bye bye to!

It's a bit much to run a holiday club as a volunteer. Obviously you need a huge army of volunteers to help, but there are so many admin tasks to do, as well as research and decision-making.

I would say that if you are working 15 hours a week, it would be reasonable to allocate 4-5 hours a week or fortnight in the six months leading up to it, more as you get closer to the time. (our holiday club is for around 120 children btw.)

Not such a worker myself but in unpaid church leadership position. Two points I would make:

a) you say that your church hasn't got that many families at present. I think that you need to give though to what exactly the remit and purpose of your job would be, and what does "success" look like. Is it program based, or is it church growth based for example. Have a look at why you have few families at present. Is it because St Aidan's down the road does the family thing better (in which case do you want to "compete", or have a different flavour/niche) Does your congregation inf act want more families. Families are noisy and messy and, with some exceptions, can be a net drain on church resources. Have a think about the make-up of the congregation and whether they are genuinely welcoming/wanting more families.

b) Any church worked has to be very clear about the limits of their job, what they are and what they are not responsible for. I have never yet seen a church worked complain that their job was too narrow, but I have seen many burnt out through expectations being piled on. The idea of working with a local school sounds exciting. There is always a risk with this sort of project though that the church doesn't see the output, so you could spend say 10 hours a week preparing and delivering assemblies, lessons etc but the church still would expect a full 15 hours devoted to them.

Interesting comments ScienceTeacher. I've been doing the Holiday Club for six years (when I set it up to give myself "a little project" while I was on maternity leave ) I do have a very strong and supportive team, thankfully, but it's still quite intense, given that I'm fitting them in around the rest of my life. And yes, it has now grown to about 120 children ...!

At the moment, I'm happy to do it as a volunteer, despite my comment above. But a lot of other things have had to go, so I can concentrate on it. And I am beginning to feel that there really is scope for a paid post, to build on the contacts that have been made there, and in the school.

And yes, LadyMuck, I think the church really does want to draw in families and is quite ripe for doing so. When families do get involved with us, they tend to like what they find.

The need for a tight job description is a key point, I think. Possibly dividing whatever hours are available between school-based and church-based work. Food for thought - I now have a meeting in my diary to discuss drawing up a job description Still don't know whether it will come off, but it's looking like a more serious proposition. Of course I might help them draw up a really good job description and then someone much more experienced than me will get the job

I do know what you mean about not being "visible". We do have one and a half paid youth workers who have some brilliant things going on, but people still moan that there "aren't very many young people". Just because the youth activities don't tend to be on a Sunday morning.

Are you Anglican, SA. If so, there may be help from the Diocese about the job spec.

I think a spec is a hard thing to pin down, and so much depends on the character of the person doing the job.

You are probably already thinking this, given that you started this thread, but it may be an idea to write your own spec and then present it to PCC when they invite you to apply. I doubt that very much will be cast in stone at this point.

Your church should be able to draw on the resources of similar churches in your area.