Vacancy – Seaham Communities of Hope
Are you called to this exciting new project resourced by the Diocese of Durham and the Church of England Strategic Development Fund to invest in low-income communities? Seaham Communities of Hope seeks to bring hope and transformation and Catholic church planting in this North East seaside former mining parish.
Administration Lead
£15,375 pa (£25,625 FTE)
24 hours per week, with some flexibility
This is a temporary 6-month post, with an option to extend as funding becomes available.
The post will include occasional weekend and evening work.
Project background:
The Diocese of Durham is engaged in partnership with the National Church (Strategic Development Fund) to invest in low-income communities in ways that bring hope and transformation, both spiritually and Physically.
The Church of England Benefice of Seaham and Dawdon (St John’s Seaham Harbour, All Saints Deneside and St Mary’s Seaham) hope to appoint three experienced and enthusiastic Christians. It would be desirable if the candidate were to have sympathy with Anglo-Catholic mission. This is the tradition within which the Priest and congregation frame their mission.
The post requires confident collaboration both with existing church groups (Diocesan and local) and community partners. It builds particularly on the Diocesan priorities around energising growth, challenging poverty, engaging with children and young people and caring for the environment.
Seaham Communities of Hope will establish a presence in the heart of the town by leasing a disused retail unit. The shop will form a hub for community engagement and will operate in partnership with other local groups, agencies and organisations. The hub will be a focal point of key services to fulfil practical, spiritual and social needs of the local people, irrespective of age. The hub will also become a safe place of welcome for coffee and snacks, and somewhere people can meet to talk, to find help and support, to light a candle, for prayer, to be still, to seek spiritual counsel and to explore the Christian faith. Catholic spirituality and practice, with informal Mass will be celebrated frequently. In the evening, to engage with youths and groups that gather in the town centre, then to replicate this in planting into the Deneside estates and then onto the Parkside estate.
Deneside
The aim at Deneside is to establish a new worshipping community alongside the existing one at All Saints, focusing on social engagement with families, children and young people.
Parkside, Dawdon
The team will establish and replicate a new Community of Hope on the Parkside Estate, Dawdon, which saw the closure of its church in 2007, creating a social and spiritual void.
St Mary The Virgin, Seaham
St Mary’s is a Saxon built church with a congregation that is deeply committed to established liturgy and the Book of Common Prayer. The plan is to expand the church facilities to make it more family-friendly and to establish a less formal style worship in parallel with the existing services.
The Admin Lead will have responsibility for supporting: the project startup activities; the Steering Committee meetings; the recruitment of the project team; preparation of project policies and procedures; and project reporting, in collaboration with Revd Canon Paul Kennedy SSC.
Please contact: Revd Canon Paul Kennedy SSC on 07758 697167 for an informal discussion about this role.
Email Applications to be sent to: rev.pkennedy@sky.com
Seaham Admin Lead Application Form.docx
Post Applications to be sent to:
The Revd. Canon Paul Kennedy SSC
Benefice of Seaham & Dawdon.
The New Vicarage Maureen Ter
Seaham
SR7 7SN
Closing Date for Applications: 31st May 2021
Interviews will be held: 18th June 2021
We are an equal opportunities employer with a commitment to inclusion.
There is a genuine occupational requirement that the post holders are practising Christians.
