Scope of Work

The Minister of Faith Formation will use their gifts to connect all ages to God and to one another. With core competencies of leadership, adaptability, and creativity, the Minister of Faith Formation will thrive in a classroom or worship space, in a service project or teen activity, in Sunday school or a team meeting.  


Our ideal candidate will have leadership skills that will inspire collaboration with the Senior Minister and everyone in the Faith Formation Ministry. This will include working with the Senior Minister, the Co-Directors of Sunday school, the staff, the Ministry of Faith Formation, the Confirmation Leaders, lay volunteers, and other teams. 


Our ideal candidate understands how faith is nurtured in traditional educational settings such as Sunday School, and can adapt methods of nurturing faith to other avenues, such as writing liturgy, preaching, and communicating in meetings and casual conversations. 

 

We encourage all of our staff to bring creativity to their role, to transcend traditional ideas, to create meaningful new ideas and methods to engage the congregation and the community, to develop new programs, and to cultivate a volunteer base.   

Compensation and Support

Salary Basis & Housing Allowance
We intend to honor the 2023 Guidelines for the Call and Support of Ministry leadership approved by the ministry leadership team of the Illinois Conference UCC on November 22, 2022. There may be adjustments based on average worship attendance and years of experience. Housing allowance is calculated as 1% per month of mean average for the villages of Downers Grove, Woodridge, Lisle, and Darien.

Benefits

Retirement Annuity: 14% of Salary Basis

Group Life and Disability (through UCC Pension Boards): 1.5% of Salary Basis

Social Security Offset: 7.65% of Salary Basis

Insurance Offerings: Health, Dental, Vision


Other Compensations to be defined in the Call Agreement

  • Mileage Reimbursement (at Federal IRS Rate)

  • Continuing Education

  • Professional Expenses

  • Cell Phone Reimbursement

  • Moving Expenses

Our church will provide four weeks of paid personal time off per year, as well as ten paid sick days and ten paid holidays. A three-month sabbatical is offered after five years of service, with the expectation of at least one year of service following a sabbatical. We are open to negotiating the compensation package if health, dental, and vision insurance are covered by a spouse or partner.


Pastoral Relations Teams

Each of our clergy has their own Pastoral Relations Team consisting of three to five church members selected by the Minister and the Council. This Team facilitates an open relationship between the minister and the congregation and provides a framework for mutual understanding and creative conflict resolution. 


What is the expected living situation for your next minister?

We feel that a residence within a 30-minute commute will allow for active involvement with our church community. 


Describe peer and professional supports available for ministers in your association/conference:

We expect our minister to be involved in local and regional clergy groups and to seek opportunities for continuing growth which we support through reimbursement. Some resources include the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, Downers Grove Ecmenical Clergy Group, and the Fox Valley Association clergy groups, plus standard institutional support through the wider UCC.

Who is God Calling to Minister with Us?

Describe the ministry goals you envision your next minister collaborating with the congregation to achieve.

The next minister will work to increase the leadership pool for our Sunday School program and to expand the depth and breadth of our current Faith Formation programming, working with the congregation, Ministers, Co-Directors, and the Ministry of Faith Formation.

The new minister will actively work with our Senior Pastor to more fully realize this new model of clergy partnership that will replace the traditional model of senior pastor/associate pastor.

Ideally, our next minister will have experience and an interest in social media and will be able to celebrate and expand our Faith Formation Ministry using these tools.


Describe how your vision of the minister you are now seeking will assist the congregation in making an impact beyond its walls. 

We envision our Minister of Faith Formation as an active, engaged participant in community events and organizations beyond our walls such as our Community Kitchen food pantry, the Youth Outlook LGBTQ+ Youth Drop-in Center, DuPage PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter), or other opportunities listed in Appendix A. 


We believe that when our clergy meets our community where they are, as they are, the spirit of welcome and love is extended in ways that surpass words. 


Specify language requirements or culturally-specific capacities preferred in a next ministerial leader, and why those matter to the congregation’s sense of calling.

English is the first language for almost all of our congregation; we do not require other languages to be spoken. Being an Open and Affirming congregation, we embrace inclusive language. 

The Marks of Faithful & Effective Authorized Ministry

Based on what you have learned about who your church is, who your church’s neighbor is, and who God is calling the church to become, describe four areas of excellence from The Marks of Faithful & Effective Authorized Ministry that your next minister will display to further equip the congregation’s ministry in these areas.

It is our prayerful hope that our Minister of Faith Formation will enrich the members of our faith community in building transformational leadership skills by identifying their spiritual gifts, and to empower and encourage them to utilize these gifts as leaders within our community. The ideal candidate will, much as the model of Jesus, meet people where they are, loving and challenging them to deepen their walk with God. This will be accomplished within our spiritually growing congregation.


The individual God is calling to our congregation will empower our Church to respond to God’s call, recognizing that God calls different people in different ways. Our ideal candidate will encourage leadership development of self and others through continuing education and lifelong learning, while also performing necessary and appropriate administrative tasks. The candidate will be faithful to God’s calling, reflective of Christ’s mission, and will be open to the surprises of the Holy Spirit. 


Our Minister of Faith Formation will exhibit the ability to engage us in sacred stories and traditions by drawing upon their inherent knowledge of the church and its roots. The minister will help connect this past to the present in ways that challenge and relate our faith story to our daily lives. 

 

Our congregation acknowledges the stressors in the life of a minister; thus, we encourage developing and maintaining a healthy sense of self as shaped by God, community, and life experiences. We also believe this sense of self will model the kind of balance of work, play, and rest that Christ teaches us. We will not lift up a model of over-functioning that leads to burn out and often fosters resentment.

  

Our minister will exhibit strong moral character, excellent communication skills, and personal integrity while respecting the dignity of all God’s people. The understanding and the ability to minister to all stages of human development across the life span will be tantamount to their success in strengthening both inter- and intra- personal assets.  


Our Minister of Faith Formation will participate in theological praxis and will practice theological reflection and engagement as part of one’s sense of ministerial identity. We believe that as a spiritual leader to many, our ministers also need to ensure that their own spiritual life is cultivated and nurtured. We encourage our clergy to take two days off as Sabbath during the week for study and reflection along with time away for theological development recognizing that one cannot give without also being open to receive what God is still speaking to us. 


We will seek to partner with our clergy, encouraging them to continue in their own daily practice of spiritual care. In having that foundation of practice, our Minister of Faith Formation will integrate theological reflection in teaching, preaching, and ecclesial and community leadership using a variety of theological perspectives. 


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