Director of Discipleship

Auburn UMC seeks to hire a full-time Director of Discipleship. The purpose of this position is to facilitate the whole-life discipleship-building process for children, youth, and adults. The director oversees, develops, organizes, and maintains a well-structured discipleship process to inform; to form; and to transform individuals and families for Christs transformation of the world. This process involves providing opportunities to support a person through the journey from believer, to follower, and ultimately to becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. Moreover, the position helps families and individuals to come to know Christ from a Wesleyan perspective. The Director is responsible for choosing and developing a team of dedicated lay members who will develop, organize, empower, train, and support discipleship teams.

Key Responsibilities :
- Develop, organize, implement, manage, monitor, and provide resources for the discipleship process for children, youth, and adults. Provide direction, programs, resources, and fellowship specifically for adult ministries with assistance from clergy and laity.
- Supervises the programming and activities implemented and coordinated for age level ministries. Supervises the Coordinator of Childrens Ministry and the Coordinator of Youth Ministry.
- Works in partnership with the whole-life discipleship team to develop a practical discipleship model in conjunction with clergy and laity team(s), to emphasize an intergenerational community approach moving away from the academic model (curriculum approach) to more of a combination of in-person and online programming (network approach).
- Plan, prepare, and oversee the budgets for the age level ministries, and report outcomes in a timely manner. Must be able to operate within budgetary constraints.
- Recruits, trains and equips lay leadership for teaching / leading various adult groups, classes, and projects. Teaches Follow me classes (26 week discipleship class) each year. Familiarity with Christian resources, United Methodist programming, and age-related curriculums, and resources desired.
- Organize and develop small groups onsite and offsite, and train them in how to engage people in a deeper relationship with Jesus. Maintaining up-to-date data of these groups orientations and progress, and also involve / form more groups, when required. Monitor and report key metrics on an annual basis.
- Identify, structure, and add resources to existing website in support of discipleship curriculums and programs to include blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. Evaluate future website / online engagement options to grow the overall discipleship program.
- Manage compliance with Safe Sanctuary protocols for both childrens and youth ministries.
- Participate in and support New Member Orientation and Confirmation activities.

Reports to Assigned Clergy / SPRC Liaison

Supervision:
Supervises the work of others, including planning, assigning, and scheduling work, reviewing work, ensuring quality standards, training staff and overseeing their productivity. May offer recommendations for hiring, disciplinary, termination, and pay adjustments, but does not have authority for making these decisions.

Physical Demands of Position:
Standing ~ 50%
Sitting ~50%
Lifting less than 25 lbs.

Qualifications:
- BA or MA in Christian-education, or a degree with related experience.
- Practicing United Methodist. A deep understanding of the UMC faith; UMC church calendar; and UMC events and rituals. Evidence of active and growing individual discipleship.
- At least two years of leadership experience preferred in programming; teaching; activities management; and supervision with children, youth, and / or adult ministries. Experience supervising full-time; part-time; intern; and / or volunteer workers. Experience with online programming and resources preferred.
- Knowledge of childrens, youth, and / or adult faith development to include developing UMC educational materials; organizing activities and events to support educational efforts; and church programming related to both populations. Experience with theme-based programming, and offsite event management preferred. Experience developing faith-based curriculum to include a progressive plan for discipleship preferred.
- Demonstrated experience communicating with, and effectively addressing the concerns of parents, and seeking to involve families in ministry activities.
- Engaging personality that includes demonstrated experience effectively working in a team environment.
- Strong written and oral communication skills to include supervisory; planning; teaching; and meeting environments.
- Computer skills: Microsoft Office, Outlook, Zoom, Internet; ability to operate standard office equipment copier, scanner, printer, etc.; TV / DVD / laptop connectivity. Social media experience is helpful. Willingness to learn new computer / technology skills.
- Successful completion of a drug screening and criminal background check. Current drivers license.
- Compliance with the policies and procedures found in the AUMC Employee Handbook.
- Other duties as assigned.
Organization: Auburn United Methodist Church
Address:137 South Gay Street Auburn AL 36830
Passionate spiritual leaders living the story of Jesus
for the transformation of the world.

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