Part-time Church School Director, Cambridge, MA, Harvard Memorial Church
The Memorial Church is an interdenominational Protestant Church in the center of Harvard Yard. The Church School of the Memorial Church provides a nurturing Christian environment and spiritual education for its children (ages 3–12). The Church is hiring a director to coordinate and support the growth of its Church School for the 2014-‐2015 Academic Year. This position is part-‐time and requires approximately 10 hours per week, including attendance on Sunday mornings.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Sunday School:
• Oversee Church School and its staff
• Maintain the care and safety of the Church School environment
• Recruit, train, and meet with Church School teachers
• Provide curriculum and programming ideas and topics for teachers and volunteers
• Coordinate and supervise schedule of Church School teachers
• Maintain paperwork and records connected to the running of the Church School
• Teach individual and group classes as needed
Other responsibilities:
• Attend weekly staff meetings from 1:30-‐2:30pm on Wednesdays
• Keep the staff abreast of Church School needs and schedule for the Fall and Spring Terms
• Collaborate with Senior Minister, Ministry Fellow, and Pusey Minister to create an agenda and
goals for the Church School
• Work with Senior Minister, Ministry Fellow, and Pusey Minister to plan at least two Church School family events
• All other duties as assigned
Compensation: $8,000 for the 2014-‐2015 Academic Year (Sept. 2014—May 2015)
Qualifications:
• A bachelors degree and/or equivalent experience is required with graduate studies in education, theological studies, or similar field of study preferred; and/or employment experiences that demonstrate the ability to effectively direct the Church School program.
• Experience in program coordination, teacher and volunteer recruitment, and training staff.
• Experience working in children’s ministry.
• Understanding of and commitment to Christian education.
• Commitment to working in a diverse and ecumenical church environment.
Additional Information:
The Memorial Church represents the continuity of public worship at Harvard since its foundation in
1636, testifying to the vitality of that tradition in the modern University. Our Sunday service, based upon the reformed Protestant inheritance of the University, partakes as well of the greater inheritance of worship and praise that belongs to the whole Church. A daily service of Morning Prayers, uninterrupted since the University’s founding, continues to begin our College day; a service of evening Compline closes our day one Thursday a month. Internationally distinguished preachers and religious leaders help us to open hearts and minds to God and nourish us as we carry on our holy routine of worship, study, and service.
Our congregation is diverse and composed of students from Harvard College and throughout the University; members of the faculty, administration, and staff; neighbors; alumni; and friends. In addition, there are countless thousands within the sound of radio station WHRB, which broadcasts our Sunday services at 95.3 FM, as well as through its website at www.whrb.org.
Curriculum:
The Church School differs from other programs offered by single denominational parishes. The affiliation of the Memorial Church, the church of Harvard University, is broadly Protestant and inter-‐ denominational. Church School classes emphasize biblical themes and scripture, major components of Protestant worship, and Christian responsibility and service. Our curriculum is carefully planned to meet the spiritual, emotional, social, and cognitive needs of each child. It also aims to incorporate themes and stories from the Sunday worship service into the Church School experience.
Class Structure:
Children are grouped into classes according to age to provide developmentally appropriate instruction— pre-‐k and kindergarten, 1st/2nd grade, 3rd/4th grade, and 5th/6th grade. Each Sunday begins with all children gathered for a brief time of music, worship, and/or a lesson from scripture. The children then break into their classes for small group discussion and age-‐appropriate crafts or activities that reinforce lessons from scripture. All children will come back together for refreshments and grace at the end of the small-‐group lessons.
To learn more about the Church School Director position, please contact Alanna Copenhaver, Ministry
Fellow in the Memorial Church, at alanna_copenhaver@harvard.edu or 617.496.1426.
THE MEMORIAL CHURCH
H A R V A R D U N I V E R S I T Y
CAM BRI D G E , M A 0 2 1 3 8 PH O N E: ( 617) 495 -‐ 5508 FA X: ( 617) 496 -‐ 9166