We are looking for someone with vision and enthusiasm who can work with us to enable, support, and grow our existing Christian ministry with young people in the church, local schools, and within the wider community; and to explore new potential for outreach, both in person and online.

JOB CONTEXT – ABOUT STRATHENDRICK BAPTIST CHURCH (SBC)

SBC is a small and informal church in the heart of rural Stirlingshire, meeting in Balfron village hall. We have around 50 regular attendees with around 20 of those being children and teenagers, from Balfron and many of the surrounding villages. It was founded around 35 years ago, has never had a formal ‘minister’, and is led by a team of volunteer men and women who jointly take responsibility for the life of the church.

SBC is a community of believers who value loving and serving each other in day-to-day life. Our vision is to be a Spirit-filled and empowered witnessing community, based on Acts 1:8. We believe that relationships are key to developing opportunities to share the Gospel and as adults seek opportunities in daily life to do so. However, we are acutely aware that our young people need discipleship and encouragement in their own faith in order to be confident to share it with others. We also have wide open opportunities within our local school (the High School for the whole rural area is located in Balfron) and community, yet at present do not have the capacity to do the many things that we feel God is calling us to do.

JOB DESCRIPTION – ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Role Description

The Youth and Outreach Worker will be required to:

• Lead, oversee and grow an effective youth ministry at SBC that reaches into the wider community and local schools. (SBC currently hosts regular ‘Prayer Spaces in Schools’ in the local High School. There is currently no regular Christian group in the school, but SBC has been invited to host one (e.g. Scripture Union) – what an exciting opportunity!
• Develop the youth ministry such that young people can both come to faith and flourish as enthusiastic disciples. He or she will be expected to model a lively and committed faith in Jesus Christ, that impacts all areas of life, and be an active member of the worshipping community at SBC.
• Increase church capacity for all age outreach by leading and co-ordinating events such as Alpha Courses and Holiday Clubs. The village currently has no regular youth group or toddler group, so opportunities abound!
• Lead, develop, encourage, and coordinate a committed and able team of volunteers to accomplish these goals – providing an overall vision and leading a strategy to achieve this.
• Engage in post-covid society online with regular uploading of content to website and social media, making connections to local web pages and raising the profile of SBC online locally.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead: To oversee an effective and growing youth ministry. The Youth and Outreach Worker will have overall responsibility for implementing a strategy to achieve this goal, working closely with volunteers and ministry leaders, as well as the Leadership Team of SBC.
• Care: To ensure excellent pastoral care for the young people and providing support and encouragement to the ministry volunteers.
• Plan: To work with the volunteer leaders to plan and organise successful programmes of groups and events, ensuring necessary administrative tasks; record-keeping; budget-management and communication are undertaken to the necessary high standard.
• Initiate: To create and deliver new events and initiatives as appropriate that cohere with the wider vision and strategy of the SBC.
• Motivate: To encourage the volunteers that enable the ministries to function effectively. This will include recruiting new volunteers, running relevant volunteer training and managing volunteers.
• Witness: To explore the potential for new ways of outreach in the community. To develop initiatives and cooperate with others in the local area as appropriate to reach out to unchurched youth and other age groups in Balfron and surrounding villages.
• Administrate: Ensure all youth ministry activities are well organised, properly administered, and relevant legislation and SBC polices are adhered to (such as Health & Safety, Safeguarding and GDPR) and relevant Risk Assessments completed.
• Communicate: To regularly update the youth and their parents making them aware of any relevant information. To ensure good lines of communication with the volunteers, ministry leaders and other staff. The Youth and Outreach Worker will update the Leadership Team on a monthly basis and will meet fortnightly with their line manager.
• Create: To create/upload online content that helps to engage with those who do not/cannot engage with us in person both on our website (under construction) and social media. To make connections to local web pages and seek ways to raise the profile of SBC online locally.
• Cooperate: To maintain and develop links with other Churches and the local High School. Liaising and where appropriate partnering with other youth leaders and supporting networks. To undertake other tasks, commensurate with the post as required by SBC Leadership Team.

Responsible to: SBC Leadership Team (volunteer only), of which one will act as line- manager.

Due to the nature of this role, this post is subject to an occupational requirement that the applicant be a practicing Christian under Part 1 of Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010.

SBC is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The post holder will be required to take care to safeguard their own safety and that of others with whom they work and to co-operate with those designated with responsibility for health and safety.

The successful applicant will be subject to PVG checks with Disclosure Scotland.

Street Connect is a Christian organisation with a mission to offer hope and opportunity of recovery for people disadvantaged by addiction, homelessness and poor mental health.

As a Projects Worker you can contribute to profound and lasting changes in the lives of highly vulnerable individuals. In 2023/24 working with our church partners, Street Connect benefitted over 2,166 people overall with 806 people receiving support through one-to-one appointments or groupwork, with 160 of those individuals receiving formal key work support, and we supported 16 entries to residential rehabilitation. Our participants report stability and improvements not only in their recovery from drug and alcohol problems, but also in their living skills and situations, social skills and relationships, and in their physical, mental and spiritual health and wellbeing.

The focal point of the role of Projects Worker will be in supporting church partners and volunteers. Our experience has shown us that working closely with partner churches to deliver support within communities is a successful way for people to access the support that they need. We currently have Street Connect partner churches and projects in Glasgow city centre, Royston, Clydebank, Paisley central, Paisley Kilnside, Greenock, Motherwell, Dunoon and Wishaw. As we continue our vital work in each of these areas our aim is to grow into new communities and allow as many people as possible to access the support they need.

In this role you will be part of the Street Connect team seeking to develop and deliver community recovery support through a range of different routes to both male and female service participants who have a background of complex needs such as addiction, homelessness, and mental health issues, who are now at different stages in their recovery journey. This will include both those in aftercare who are living independently and free from such issues and those at an earlier stage in their recovery.

Could you be part of something different? We have an exciting opportunity for a motivated and enthusiastic individual to use their gifts, skills and experience to make a difference to the lives of the people in our parishes and communities.

Brightons Parish Church has a broad and well-established youth work in the local area and there is a great desire in the congregation to see this work developed and broadened. We are looking for an experience and enthusiastic youth worker to facilitate this and engage with a generation’s spiritual search and help young people grow a faith in Jesus. You would be supported and encouraged by the committed, capable and substantial volunteer team.

It is an essential requirement of this role that the post-holder is a committed Christian with a live Church connection which is a Genuine Occupational Requirement in terms of the Equality Act 2010.

At Scottish Bible Society we share the Bible.

Thanks to the commitment and generosity of our supporters, the Scottish Bible Society (‘SBS’) is a charity that helps individuals and communities in over 200 countries and territories around the world to receive Bibles in a language they understand and in a format they can use. We are creative in supporting churches in Scotland keep the Bible

central and encourage meaningful engagement to deepen encounters with God. The range of projects we either initiate here or support around the world is extensive.

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Database principal who enjoys working with and analysing data. Someone, with any eye for detail, who can help turn information into intelligence, helping to ensure the CRM system of the charity is accurately maintained, fit for purpose and can provide key insights to supporter preferences and

behaviours.

Although there is no Faith requirement associated with this role, there is an expectation that there will be respect for the Christian ethos of SBS.