The Operations Manager will ensure the provision of high-quality management and administrative services in the church office to serve and enable St Mary’s mission and ministry and to support the Vicar and ministry team. Working closely with the Vicar the post-holder will play a significant role in the operational leadership of the church. This role also involves making connections between the church offices within the Avonside Mission Area (4 church offices in total), looking for opportunities to increase efficiency across ASMA with regards church administration.
The successful applicant will be someone who can work closely with our administratively-minded Vicar to streamline many of our current systems and improve efficiency. We are looking for someone who can manage employees and unpaid staff, ensuring a positive work environment within the church office. We need a person who is able to think ahead and be pro-active in noticing the things that need to be done, and can do them with an attention to detail.
The Operations Manager will be someone who is self-aware and keen to learn and develop within the culture of a supportive team. They need to feel confident both as a team leader and as a team player. We will hope they will bring wisdom and Christian maturity to the table when involved with decision-making.
It would be great to have someone who can think creatively and come up with solutions to problems as they arise. We would expect the Operations Manager to be a key member of the staff team (who meet fortnightly for worship, prayer and planning) and we will be eager to ensure that they are well supported in all aspects of their work, primarily through regular meetings and Line Management from the Vicar. If you choose to worship with us on Sundays we would be delighted, but this is not a requirement of the role if you are already settled in a church. Ultimately, we are praying that the right candidate will feel called by God to apply, and that together we will be able to discern that this role will be a good fit all round.
Hours per week
30 per week
Personal Specification
How to apply for the job
Send your CV along with a covering letter explaining your reasons for applying to vicar@stmarysb.org.uk
St Marys Stoke Bishop
St Mary’s is a medium-sized, multi-generational church in the suburbs of Bristol. We seek to operate as a family who are following Jesus and making Him known. As an active parish church, we are engaged in a wide variety of mission and ministry.
Since 2018 we have been part of the Avonside Mission Area, established by the Diocese of Bristol. This is a group of five churches in North West Bristol, covenanted together to support one another in mission. This partnership is a really positive one for all the churches involved. There is already close collaboration between the clergy and ministry teams, and we are keen to see this develop in other ways, including administratively, such as in the areas of compliance and governance.
The current staff team includes the Vicar (F/T), Associate Vicar (F/T), two Associate Ministers (P/T), two licensed Lay Ministers (P/T), an Administrator (P/T), Cleaner (P/T), Children and Families Minister (F/T) and a Youth Minister (P/T). There are also two curates (one F/T and one P/T) who serve the whole of the Mission Area and are overseen by the clergy at St Mary’s. The church has two excellent Churchwardens, and a supportive leadership team and PCC. Whilst we have seen growth since the pandemic, we do not operate as a ‘large’ church. We need an Operations Manager who can strengthen the infrastructure which sits behind all that we do. The PCC sees the Operations Manager position as key role within the life of the church.
We have a Worshipping Community of around 300 people, including 55 under 18’s. On a typical Sunday we welcome around 120 adults and 25 under 18’s across three services which embrace a variety of musical and liturgical styles. Our Sunday services are complemented by a busy week-day schedule and our buildings are much-used by our own events and by external users. The main church building was refurbished in 2011 and benefits from modern seating, lighting, heating, and AV systems. We are about to begin a major redevelopment of our hall (commencing during the summer of 2023) to equip us to meet the ongoing needs of our church, community and staff team.
We are a church that seems to have fingers in lots of pies! This is both a blessing, as we are able to take advantage of the many missional opportunities available to us, but it also adds complexity for the ministers and office team. The staff team, and in particular the office staff, help to provide a supportive ‘trellis’ which enables good ministry growth to take place. Well over half of the 250 adults who are part of our Worshipping Community are actively involved in serving the church in some way. Although we are in a fortunate position to have several employed staff, we do still rely on people serving voluntarily in a whole variety of ministry areas, including the church office.
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