PENINSULA-DELAWARE CONFERENCE
OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

BishopFeltonEdwinMayResourceCenter

Job Title:Director of Strengthening the Black Church (Director STBC)

Job Description:

The Director of Strengthening the Black Church is responsible for supporting the Conference Mission of Cultivating Christ communities through our CALL—Connecting, Acting, Leading, and Loving. In particular, the Director STBC connects local ethnic churches with each other and with the Conferenceto deepen relationships, promotes advocacy programs to help churches act on social justice concerns, develops leadership training, and models and teaches loving God and our neighbor. The Director STBC coordinates with the STBC Task Force.

Accountability:To the Director of Connectional Ministries

Tasks:

Connecting:

  1. Empower congregations toconnect with their communities by discovering and meeting the needs in creative and novel ways, giving specific attention to our African-American/ ethnic congregations, and recognizing the significant diversity within our Conference.
  2. Serve as a link and network with General Church agencies so that each local church will have full access to program models, technology, and resources. Function as a staff liaison to BMCR, BUMP, and Strengthening the Black Church Task Force, without holding office within our Annual conference structure.
  3. Build partnerships among local church pastors for fellowship and support.

Acting:

  1. Embrace and utilize the diverse gifts, abilities, ministries, and cultural traditions that are inherent in our African American churches and other ethnic churches.
  2. Support development of programs and communication techniques to foster awareness of social justice issues impacting the African-American community and methods to address these concerns.
  3. Help congregations know and value our Wesleyan heritage and our African-American cultural history and help congregations to engage in inclusive ministry and education.

Leading:

  1. Provide opportunities for spiritual gifts assessment, as clergy and laity seek to discover and claim their spiritual gifts, strengths, and resources so they can engage in effective,cooperative ministry and outreach.
  2. Assist African-American/ethnic congregations in assessing their effectiveness in worship, community involvement, local missions, evangelism, and administration.
  3. Equip individuals/local churches with training and resources for visioning and goal setting.

Loving:

  1. Model and practice of daily spiritual disciplines to discern God’s will and direction for lay and clergy leaders.
  2. Develop tools to deepen the discipleship practices of local churches, emphasizing the need for disciples to make disciples.
  3. Foster partnerships between clergy and laity, recognizing the need for shared leadership for overcoming the mindset that pastors alone are in charge of ministry.

Qualifications and Skill Set:

  1. Must have the experience and spiritual maturity to effectively build, resource, develop, and grow the local church.
  2. Must have exhibited the ability to enhance a congregation spiritually and numerically.
  3. Have the ability to recruit, encourage, and nurture prospective and current African-American/ethnic clergy with the gifts or potential for developing or redeveloping local faith communities.
  4. Have the ability to develop relationships and engage people at the local church, Annual Conference, and General Church levels, specifically the Strenghtening the Black Church for the 21st Century Program, and to celebrate effectiveministry in various cultural traditions.
  5. Must be articulate and knowledgeable in both the history of the Peninsula-Delaware Conference and United Methodist history, polity, doctrine, andsupport the Conference Vision and Mission.
  6. Work well with others in the resource center to accomplish the mission and ministry of the Conference.
  7. Visioning and strategic planning skills as well as leadership development skills.

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11/30/2018