UUCC Staff Opportunity: Director of Lifespan Faith Development

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Reports to:                 Minister, Board

Effective:                   August 1, 2024

Directly supervises: RE Coordinator, RE volunteer corps

Status:                        Full Time

FLSA:                         Exempt

Job Summary

The Director of Lifespan Faith Development provides dynamic leadership and oversight to the religious exploration ministry at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cleveland, fostering ongoing spiritual development for all ages.

Essential Functions

  • Develop, implement, and manage a plan for adult, children, youth, and multigenerational  spiritual development
  • Create and communicate vision for lifespan faith development
  • Engage and empower robust volunteer corps
  • Foster relationships of trust and care among congregants, especially our children and their families
  • Ensure opportunities to experience Coming of Age, Our Whole Lives, and other age-appropriate personal and faith development programs
  • Nurture intergenerational worship experiences to establish clear and consistent connection between faith development and congregational engagement
  • Support spiritual formation and development beyond our community programs through materials to use at home or in other places where people connect.
  • Practice clear program-related communications through diverse methods, making versatile use of technology to promote participation and connection

Other Responsibilities

  • Collaborate with other staff to co-create an environment of mutual thriving
  • Navigate inter-committee relationships to reflect connections between ongoing spiritual development and other ministries
  • Coordinate meaningfully with other youth-focused programs (currently, IMPACT and the emergent Youth Academy)
  • Connect with Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA) and other religious educators to facilitate relationships and events beyond the congregational level
  • Manage related budget lines mindfully

Minimum Qualifications

  • Support values of Unitarian Universalism and the mission and vision of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cleveland.
  • UUA Credentialed Religious Educator – Skilled Level (formerly Associate) or equivalent certification.
  • Three years of experience serving in a congregational context in a professional or volunteer capacity.
  • Demonstrated leadership in volunteer coordination and guiding developmentally-appropriate programming to children, youth, and adults.
  • Demonstrated Zoom, Google Suite, and social media proficiency.
  • Must pass a background check.
  • Some OWL Certification (or willingness to be certified within first year) preferred.

Physical Requirements

  • Able to move freely in an out of classroom settings
  • Able to speak in a public forum

Core Competencies (Some may need to be prioritized learning goals)

Open-hearted. Compassionate. Understanding of the varied pressures and commitments in the lives of members, families, and volunteers; offers meaningful and ethical pastoral care; aware of the importance of safety and relationship over and above information; listens deeply to the needs expressed by diverse populations within the community and distills those needs in various contexts; discerns when to advocate for others and when to invite others to speak for themselves.

Collaborative. Builds appropriate rapport and intentionally cultivates trust; able to identify and recruit capable people into well-defined positions of responsibility within a program; affirms and empowers others; maintains dialog in which mutual needs may be clearly and openly expressed; communicates expectations clearly and holds people compassionately accountable for their part.

Organizing. Gathers and organizes resources (people, funding, material, support) to get things done; orchestrates multiple activities at once to accomplish a well-defined goal; uses resources effectively and efficiently, empowers others toward meaningful service; breaks down work into process steps and communicates those steps effectively to others; anticipates and adjusts for challenges and obstacles.

Managing vision and purpose. Articulates and supports the vision and mission of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Cleveland; communicates a compelling and

inspired vision for ministry; talks beyond the here and now to a larger sense of purpose; creates a compelling vision of possibility and hope; helps others to take ownership of the vision.

Trust and Integrity. Seen as direct and honest; defines and gently adheres to clear and appropriate personal boundaries; maintains confidence without fostering secrecy; admits mistakes; demonstrates consistent integrity to an appropriate and effective set of core values.

Knowledgeable. Aware of Unitarian Universalist history and theology; communicates clearly the faith tradition’s breadth and diversity of belief; understands unique rituals and ceremonies that reflect Unitarian Universalism; sensitive to the line between appropriation and adopting meaningful practices into an eclectic interspiritual identity. 

Creative. Embraces exploratory and innovative approaches to program and community development; willing to learn and grow in meaningful directions when plans meet with unexpected challenges; devoted to discovering what will work best for this specific congregation at this specific point in time.

Position to be filled beginning August 1, 2024. Starting salary: $60,000/year. Benefits include generous vacation and sick leave, options for health, vision and dental insurance, and retirement contributions, in alignment with UUA guidelines.

Please send resume and cover letter with the subject line “LFD Search” to Rev. Randy Partain at randy.partain@uucleveland.org