Position Summary
The Children's Minister is a spiritual nurturer and community creator serving children and their families at First Presbyterian Church of Dallas (FPC Dallas). Modeling an authentic love for God, self and others, the Childrens Minister will lead staff and volunteers in inviting children and their families to faith formation experiences that welcome wonder and inspire service.
Essential Functions
- Offer loving pastoral care to children and their families during both difficult experiences and joyful life moments.
- Curate curricular resources to contextualize spiritual formation engagements for children that are consistent with Reformed theology and the mission of FPC Dallas.
- Design and implement opportunities for nurturing spiritual belonging within the church family
(e.g.: church-wide picnics and retreats, service projects, themed Sundays, Vacation Bible School, summer camps, celebrations through the liturgical calendar).
- Communicate regularly with families and their children to build connection through a variety of ways (in-person and creative communication tools).
- Invite and empower volunteers to serve as adult leaders for bible study and intergenerational faith formation events.
- Direct the childcare ministry and supervise staff.
- Collaborate with staff colleagues across the FPC Dallas campus to implement ministry programs, including FPC Day School leaders, Faith Formation team, Communications team, and Stewpot Childrens team.
- Integrate children of all ages and create opportunities for their participation in the life of the church, including worship leadership and recognizing milestones including births, baptisms, receiving a Bible, graduating from Preschool, and transitioning to Middle School.
- Collaborate with volunteers to maintain and expand the Childrens Library collection to provide quality resources for childrens spiritual and cultural enrichment.
- Oversee FPC Day School chapels; offer pastoral care to the Day School community.
- Monitor the implementation of the Child Protection Policy of FPC Dallas for all adults volunteering with childrens ministries.
- Work with the Associate Pastor to plan and manage the budget.
- Perform other duties as assigned by the Associate Pastor.
Core Competencies
Compassion and Care: Exudes a natural sense of care for the well-being of others; responds with empathy to the life circumstances of others; demonstrates appropriate and boundaried expressions of care for children and their families.
Creativity and Innovation: Generates new ideas; makes new connections among existing ideas to create fresh approaches; takes acceptable risks in pursuit of innovation; learns from mistakes; thrives in collaborative ideation processes; has good judgment about which creative ideas and suggestions will work.
Hospitality/Accessibility: Communicates a sense of warmth, openness, and approachability; extends genuine welcome to new families and visitors.
Teaching: Facilitates learning experiences in both small and large group settings to help children connect with scripture, learn spiritual practices, and grow in faith; designs teaching topics that are relevant and connected to the mission of FPC Dallas; uses a variety of teaching/learning media.
Volunteer Management: Provides direction, gains commitment, and achieves results through a creative and responsible deployment of volunteers; engages people in their areas of giftedness; provides the information and materials people need to do their jobs well.
Administrative Organization: Conducts program operations with self-directed, highly organized and detail oriented administrative leadership; displays comfort in delegating tasks while maintaining confidence in guiding day-to-day program support needs and managing long range planning.
Bachelors degree in a related field (Christian education, Bible, child development, etc.)
- Proven effectiveness working with children in a ministry or educational setting, with at least 3 years of experience
- Ability to work collaboratively with teams and with people from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures
- Committed to embodying the mission and values of FPC Dallas
- Agility to navigate and learn new technology tools and communication platforms
