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LGBTQI+ Lead Chaplain
Vacancy Reference cofe/TP/73749/7260
Number of Positions:
1
Contract Type:
Employee
Contract Details:
This is a permanent post
Salary/Stipend:
The pro rata salary for grade 5 with effect from 1 April 2024 is £6,276.80 pa (full-time equivalent £31,384 pa).
Working Hours:
Part time
Location:
Church House, St John's Terrace, North Shields
Closing Date:
18/07/2024
Vacancy Category:
Chaplaincy
Business Unit:
Diocese of Newcastle
Organizational Unit:
Diocesan Employed Posts
Introduction
Welcome to the Diocese of Newcastle and to this information pack about our LGBTQI+ Lead Chaplain vacancy.
The Diocese of Newcastle aims to be a church which is Jesus Christ centred and outward facing. We seek to align our work with the national church’s strategic priorities: to become a church of missionary disciples; to foster a mixed ecology of church, which includes establishing new worshipping communities; and to be a church that is growing younger and more diverse.
This Chaplaincy has been shaped through a period of consultation and development with LGBTQI+ colleagues and their supporters and is in response to the House of Bishops’ apology for the way the Church has treated LGBTQI+ people, both those who worship in our churches and those who do not. The Chaplaincy will offer listening, supportive and prayerful affirmation for LGBTQI+ people and enable the positive change that is needed across the Diocese of Newcastle to offer a radical welcome to all God’s children and grow a younger and more diverse church.
The Church of England has been exploring questions around human sexuality for well over a decade and the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process reached a landmark moment in January 2023 when the House of Bishops published a report and issued an apology for the ways the Church of England has treated LGBTQI+ people. It began with a Pastoral letter which included the following apology.
“We want to apologise for the ways in which the Church of England has treated LGBTQI+ people – both those who worship in our churches and those who do not. For the times we have rejected or excluded you, and those you love, we are deeply sorry. The occasions on which you have received a hostile and homophobic response in our churches are shameful and for this we repent. As we have listened, we have been told time and time again how we have failed LGBTQI+ people. We have not loved you as God loves you, and that is profoundly wrong. We affirm, publicly and unequivocally, that LGBTQI+ people are welcome and valued: we are all children of God.”
In her first address to the Newcastle Diocesan Synod, Bishop Helen-Ann said that “The LLF process has been a response to a call for justice in our diversity. What I have discerned in all of this, is that as the Church turns ever more outwards in mission and ministry, and becomes younger and more diverse, it changes (we are changed). This is surely a sign of the fullness of God’s Kingdom. We have nothing to fear, and everything to hope for.”
Main duties and responsibilities
The responsibilities and duties for the LGBTQI+ Lead Chaplain will incorporate:
- Develop and work with a team of three other chaplains to be a point of contact for LGBTQI+ people within the Diocese of Newcastle and provide safe pastoral support to individuals and to signpost to other specialist services if required.
- Organise group supervision for chaplains and twice-yearly training.
- Work within the Church of England’s Pastoral Principles toward persons regarding their sexuality, welcoming and valuing every person as equal in the eyes of God.
- Equip themselves with knowledge and information about Christian and secular resources, to which people may be referred for help and support and to make appropriate referrals to; and the Church of England’s guidelines on sexuality and emerging outcomes of the national LLF process.
- Be non-judgemental and not to seek to change those they support.
- Develop and enable safe spaces for peer support for LGBTQI+ clergy and lay leaders across the Diocese of Newcastle.
- Work with deaneries to support, advise and signpost parishes interested in developing as inclusive churches and help to ensure those churches are visible to the LGBTQI+ community.
- Establish a virtual forum for LGBTQI+ people and allies in the Diocese of Newcastle to enable the shaping of and participation in the ongoing work of the LGBTQI+ Chaplaincy.
- To learn from the insights of LGBTQI+ people about being church together and to feed back on what has been learned through the Oversight Group.
- Feed insights and observations into Bishop’s Staff, Bishop’s Council and Diocesan Synod through an Oversight Group.
- Follow up referrals and arrange to meet with individuals via video call, phone, or in-person across the Diocese.
- Be skilled at affirmation and accompaniment and will listen to the lived experience of individuals and support their spiritual life and walk with God.
For a full range of duties and responsibilities please see the job description.
Employment
The LGBTQI+ Lead Chaplain will be a practising, prayerful and committed Christian with a knowledge of the Church of England and an ability to relate across church traditions. The post is open to lay or ordained applicants.
The successful candidate will be employed by the Newcastle Diocesan Board of Finance.
The post is part-time with a working week of 7.5 hours (30 hours per month)
Accountability and key relationships
The LGBTQI+ Lead Chaplain is accountable to the Chair of the Oversight Group.
The composition of the Oversight Group will ensure linkages are made with other Diocesan resources and ensure LGBTQI+ people are properly represented in the Oversight Group. The LGBTQI+ Lead Chaplain will be an officer in attendance at meetings of the Oversight Group.
The LGBTQI+ Lead Chaplain will be licensed by the Bishop of Newcastle.
Key relationships include: Bishop of Newcastle and members of the Bishop’s Senior Team (BST); the Chair and members of the Oversight Group; Pastoral Care and Counselling Lead; Bishop’s Adviser for Spirituality and the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser.
Reporting to the LGBTQI+ Lead Chaplain
Three volunteer chaplains will report to the LGBTQI+ Lead Chaplain.
Location
This post is located at Church House, St John’s Terrace, North Shields NE29 6HS.
