You have discerned that your congregation needs to hire a Christian educator. Or perhaps your focus is on youth ministry and you want to search for someone who is trained in ministering with youth groups. Or you may be realizing that a traditional education and formation staff person may not be what your congregation needs right now. In all of these situations, there are multiple decisions to be made and no one-size-fits-all solution. So what do you do?

Fortunately, your Massachusetts Conference has three newly updated resources that you can use to find the best person or persons to guide you in forming the faith of your children, youth, and adults. Two of these resources have been available previously, but now they have been re-worked and re-resourced into three “handbooks” that are easier to navigate and use.

The “Seeking a Christian Educator or Youth Ministry Leader” handbook offers guidelines, information, resources, and worksheets to help a congregation determine what type of Christian educator and/or youth ministry leader will be a good fit. Included within its pages are:

• guidelines for creating the job description
• sample job descriptions
• a position profile worksheet
• compensation guides
• where to advertise
• an interview process
• and more

This handbook also provides a section on supporting your new faith formation staff person after he/she is hired that includes:

• a service of covenanting template
• a periodic review process
• recommendations for ongoing nurture and support

The “Christian Educator’s Guide” assists the local church Christian educator in a self assessment to help him/her create a resume, prepare for interviews, and network for the job search. Also included are:

• faith formation committee guidelines
• recognizing stress and burnout
• fostering collegial support
• links to current training programs, continuing education, and resources

The Youth Ministry Leader’s Handbook is now in its 4th edition, having been updated with the most recent resources while maintaining the best practices from the “glory days” of youth ministry. It contains:

• a link to current youth ministry books, websites, blogs, and curriculum resources
• youth ministry committee guidelines
• job description template
• compensation guidelines
• form templates (medical release, trip permission, incident report)
• recommendations for self-care

We hope that these updated handbooks will be of service to you and your congregation as you determine the most effective ways to pass on the faith to the next generations. For more assistance, please contact me, your MACUCC Consultant for Christian Education & Youth Ministry.

Blessings on your faith forming ministries!