About The Role
St Mark’s is a growing, diverse Anglican church serving Kensal Rise and Harlesden. Our parish is small, but over 1,000 children attend three primary schools and a large nursery within a mile of our church. Each Sunday, we welcome over 40 under-12s, making St. Mark’s one of the largest children’s churches in our borough. Remarkably, this ministry has been built and sustained entirely by volunteers: 30 committed team members run and grow 3 age-groups, which shows how deeply we all believe in children’s ministry.
Children’s ministry is not a side-project at St Mark’s, rather God is calling us to go deeper in our ministry among young families by becoming:
– A joyful church where children learn to follow Jesus while being known, loved, & safe
– A blessing to local schools, through partnership, presence, and pastoral care
– Good news to families in hardship, through compassionate support and outreach
If that vision excites you—and you have professional experience in children’s ministry, school work, or community outreach—we’d love to hear from you. You’ll be supported by an experienced staff team (including paid Safeguarding Officer) and over 30 volunteers. We want this role to work for you, so will shape the work to your strengths, holiday pattern, and other commitments.
We are advertising this position at two different levels: ‘Lead’, for trained and experienced minsters; ‘Worker’, for those who want to be trained towards the Lead role. Please read both job descriptions carefully and apply for the role that matches your experience. To apply, please complete i) a CV and ii) the application form (found at StMKR.org), highlighting how your experience fits the role description below, and send it to admin@stmkr.org. We are hoping to recruit for someone this summer or September 2026. For questions or an informal chat please email me directly at Dave@stmkr.org.
See more at: https://www.stmkr.org/vacancies/
The Diocese of London is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults through the use of the Safer Recruitment practice guidance. This role is subject to acceptable pre-appointment checks, including a satisfactory Enhanced DBS Check.
The following duties and responsibilities relate to the Children’s & Communities Lead grade. Those applying for the WORKER position should demonstrate that they are on the trajectory to meet these duties within three years of coaching and training that would be funded by the Church. More details can be see in the specific Children’s and Communities Worker grade role description which can be found on our website.
1. Oversee Children’s Sunday Worship
– Own the vision for discipling and teaching children who are part of St Mark’s church
– Develop curriculum for outstanding Sunday Morning kids’ groups 3 times per month during School term time (Explorers – Key stage 1; Adventurers – Key Stage 2); this should usually relate to the preaching series of the church.
– Lead and support volunteers across Sunday groups (Creche, Explorers, Adventurers), including recruitment, onboarding, training, coaching, and forming community among volunteers. This will include managing rotas and teams as well as safeguarding practice is consistently implemented [note: it is not a requirement of the role to lead one of these groups every week, but observation and coaching is encouraged]
– Meaningfully Integrate children into the wider church life and services, especially for all age services. 10 services a year are all-age services and you will be central to planning these services with a team.
– Create safe, guided opportunities for older children and youth to serve in Kid’s church to model a culture of service
– Design a clear discipleship pathway for children which reflects their progress through each stage of life and the groups, finding moments to prepare for and celebrate these milestones
– Prepare children for major milestones in faith, including baptism, receiving Holy Communion, and graduating to youth/ secondary school
– Ensure processes are suitable and consistently implemented for Sunday Children’s church and the leaders are prepared to succeed with check-in and running of the group. This includes looking after craft supplies and communicating with the team.
– Report on children’s work to PCC annually and complete the annual report
2. Oversee our kids’ outreach events
– Plan, recruit, and execute a range of regular, well-attended Kids’ events including:
– Light Party (31st October),
– Crib service (24th December),
– Family Hour at the Cross (Good Friday)
– Support of the weekly Parents and Toddlers group; this is an opportunity to befriend and connect with parents.
3. Lead Schools and Community Engagement (Initially c.4 hours per week)
In Term-time: We want to offer the services we give to our church school (Princess Frederica) to the other primary schools in the parish. To do so we need someone who can:
– Build and maintain trusted relationships with local schools including Kenmont, Furness, and College Green schools – you would be primary contact.
– Lead regular school assemblies and coordinate church-based services and visits, (including working with volunteers to support).
– Partner with schools in emerging opportunities as they arise, including RE curriculum.
We are impacted by the statistic that 40% of kids in Brent experience food poverty, and feel led to use our connections with schools and toddlers to play our part. So far we have run ‘Love Christmas’ to send Christmas Hampers to 60 families, and we have had early discussions with Make Lunch to think about holiday hunger. A key part of this role is to discern a way to connect this opportunity to the need, and pioneer something which will make a difference in Kensal Rise and Harlesden..
– Research and pioneer a project to support those in food poverty or experiencing holiday hunger..
– Coordinate volunteers, ensure safeguarding and food standards are met.
– Welcome and build relationships with vulnerable and isolated families who come and organize activities for the children.
– Actively signpost guests to relevant support and agencies for their family wellbeing
4. Contribute to the life of the St Mark’s team (2 hours per week)
– Attend weekly team-time, and regular one-to-one meetings with your line manager (once per fortnight)
– Stay up to date with mandatory Safeguarding training, and helpful training for professional development
– Submit reports to our PCC (trustees) for the annual report and once a year at a PCC meeting
Faith Requirements
– It is a genuine occupational requirement that this role be filled by someone of active Christian faith; we seek a mature and growing disciple of Jesus – committed to prayer, Scripture, and working in the power of the Holy Spirit
– Passionate about helping children and families grow in faith in Jesus
– Aligned to the vision and values of St Mark’s Church
Qualifications and Experience
Required for LEAD grade:
– Professional experience of working with children and significant experience of leading church children’s work
– Qualification in Children’s work, or qualification in teaching with excellent reflective practice in how this applies to church work
– Experience of recruiting and leading motivated teams of volunteers to the level expected in the job description
– Experience of setting a positive culture in your area of leadership and managing disputes and unforeseen issues
Required for WORKER grade:
– Recent experience of working with children (which could be in a church or non-church context) in a professional capacity or as a significant volunteer leader
– Experience of recruiting and leading motivated teams of volunteers or delivering a team project
– Experience of setting a positive culture in your area of leadership and managing disputes and unforeseen issues
Desirable:
– Experience of community projects as a volunteer or leader
– Evidence of pioneering a new group or activity which has outlived their leadership
– Professional Safeguarding experience
Skills and Personal Qualities
Required:
– A gifted communicator, especially with children and parents
– An organized, self-motivated person who can proactively manage priorities
– Comfortable with flexible working, including Sundays and special events
– Good IT skills, especially in managing rotas (we use Churchsuite), using email, and creating user-friendly documents on word, and PowerPoint
Desirable:
– Creative gifts e.g. music, drama, storytelling
– Practical familiarity with safeguarding processes and interventions
– Experience working with children with a wide variety of learning needs
Equal Opportunities
The Diocese of London is committed to creating and sustaining a diverse and inclusive workforce which represents our context and wider community. We are aware that those of Global Majority Heritage/United Kingdom Minority Ethnic (GMH/UKME) and disabled people are currently under-represented among our clergy and workforce, and we particularly encourage applications from those with the relevant skills and experience that will increase this representation.