About The Role
This is an exciting role for a mature Christian both to develop musical worship within a diverse church, and to develop our evening service (‘The Gathering’). It would suit a versatile musician with strong team skills, emotional intelligence, ministry experience, and passionate vision for the power of good biblical teaching in a context of musical worship to ignite faith in Jesus.
You will need to attend all relevant safeguarding training and work according to our safeguarding policy. Since this post will require you to work with children and young people and possibly vulnerable adults, It will be subject to and enhanced DBS clearance.
There is a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR) that the post-holder is a practising Christian. Schedule 9 of the Equality Act 2010 applies.
There are two distinct but complementary parts to this job:
1) To lead and encourage the congregations and our other groups to worship God and encourage each other by the use of biblically rich music, played and sung to a very good standard.
At St James, we have morning and evening services. The morning has a mixture of newer songs, well-known classics and more traditional hymns, with the choir singing monthly at communion services. The Gathering, our evening service, has a wholly contemporary feel.
2) To take primary responsibility for the evening service, while being active within the other. The ordained ministers will be present and active, preaching and leading.
St James has an established pattern of evening services being more relaxed and deliberately contemporary. The service format and layout has undergone some changes, e.g. more discussion and space for Interviews but we need to continually develop our thinking. We are aware of a need to connect better with those who attend. We are thankful for a new small group Bible study that is mostly made up of people attending the evening service.
Essential Criteria:
Passion for God and his gospel
Solid understanding of the role of music in corporate worship
Experience of leading sung worship in both solo and band settings
Ability to sing and play lead instrument (either guitar or piano/keyboard) to a high standard
Ability to arrange songs for different instruments in the band setting
Strong team worker working with volunteers and staff members
Good administrative and organisation skills
Wanting to lead a congregation in an informal and creative context
A basic level of biblical training, and a desire to grow as a preacher
Experience of leading Bible studies
Proven pastoral instincts and people skills
Desirable Criteria:
Experience of leading in a larger diverse multi-generational church
Ability to play another instrument in contemporary band setting
Experience in congregational leadership and service planning
A track record showing innovation and creativity
Experience of pastoring in a Millennial context, including proactivity on social media.
Composer of new songs in worship
Experience of training and pastoring teams
Comfortable with setting up Instruments and audio equipment
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.