National Greenhouse Lead

The Church of England; London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000; Full time

Job summary

The Church of England is seeking a leader for the Greenhouse programme within the Lay Ministries Team. This role involves strategic leadership to support the growth of new worshipping communities across England. As part of a collaborative team, you will work to ensure that churches can thrive and fulfill the mission of the church. Applicants must demonstrate a commitment to Christian faith and possess strong leadership skills.

Benefits

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Age-related pension contributions

Flexible working arrangements

Access to various health services and support

Qualifications

• Must have a strong commitment to leading the Greenhouse programme.
• Experience in ministry development preferred.
• Ability to engage with diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead national strategic initiatives for Greenhouse.
• Develop training and resources for new worshipping communities.
• Manage budget and project delivery for Greenhouse.

Skills

Leadership

Theological vision

Strategic planning

Education

Christian faith

Job description

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Greenhouse is a national Church of England programme that supports churches to grow new disciples by starting new worshipping communities. The programme works with and through dioceses to support small teams from parishes and other contexts to grow their church.

Greenhouse is moving into the Lay Ministries Team for the next three years, and we are looking for someone to lead this programme within the team. Through Greenhouse we aim to continue to support parishes to grow new worshipping communities through local teams that include confident lay leaders. This role requires someone who can lead this work at a strategic level as well as holding responsibility for the national implementation of Greenhouse as it moves into a new season.

This work supports the aim of the Church of England’s Vision & Strategy, of becoming a Church where mixed ecology is the norm, where every person in England has access to an enriching and compelling community of faith.

About the Department/Role

Sitting within the Ministry Development Team, the national Lay Ministries Team champions and supports the wide range of lay ministries across the Church of England, including ministry with children, young people and their families.

We work with dioceses and other partners to identify and share best practice, grow new vocations and ensure lay ministers are equipped to flourish and thrive.

It’s an exciting time for the Lay Ministries Team as our work expands and develops, building on existing success and piloting work in new areas.

What you'll be doing

National strategic leadership of Greenhouse

• Championing and being an ambassador for Greenhouse at a national level
• Sharing a clear theological vision for, and personal commitment to, this work
• Initiating a new iteration of Greenhouse as it moves into the Lay Ministries Team
• Ensuring inspiring communications about Greenhouse influence a range of audiences
• Ensuring safeguarding best practice is embedded throughout Greenhouse
• Liaising with internal and external stakeholders involved in supporting New Worshipping Communities and Fresh Expressions of Church, ensuring Greenhouse is well understood and integrated
• Overseeing and reporting on the Greenhouse budget and project delivery
• Developing and implementing a monitoring, evaluation and learning framework for Greenhouse, working with the Lay Ministries Project Officer
• Developing a strategy for this work beyond the next three years

Leading on the effective delivery of Greenhouse

• Holding responsibility for supporting the development of maturing and sustainable new worshipping communities through:
  • The provision of training, resourcing and ongoing support for diocesan facilitators
  • Through facilitators, providing support for diocesan gatherings which build strong local teams and enable them to develop new worshipping communities
  • Ensuring an appropriate coaching offer is available for participants
  • Ensuring pathways are available for participants to explore a wider vocation
• Commissioning, contracting and managing appropriate partners to deliver this work
• Ensuring Greenhouse is rooted in prayer and theological reflection

Key role requirements

• This is a fixed term role for 3 years.
• This post has attached to it an occupational requirement under the 2010 Equality Act, Part 1, Schedule 9. Therefore the person appointed will need to be of Christian faith.
• This role is suitable for hybrid working. It will require some travel to events and meetings including with the lay ministries team in London.

About You

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country. Therefore, while of course we welcome all applications from interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minoritised Ethnicities (UKME)/Global Majority Heritage (GMH) and other under-represented groups. As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to recruiting disabled people. We offer interviews to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the role.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information about the role and person specification.

Interviews are expected to be held on 16/17 July 2025.

What we offer

• A salary of £59,248 per annum, plus age-related pension contributions between 8-15% of salary. We will also match any pension contributions you make up to an additional 3% of your salary.
• 25 days annual leave (increasing to 30 days within 5 years) plus eight bank holidays and three additional days (pro-rated if working part-time).
• We welcome all flexible working arrangement requests. This is looked at in a case-by-case scenario and if this fits within the department’s needs. We try to be as flexible as we can in your work pattern to support you with other commitments, and to give a good work-life balance.
• We offer many services and initiatives under our Family Friendly Programme, some of these include enhanced Maternity Leave initiative, Adoption leave, Paternity Leave, & Shared Parental Leave. Structured induction programme and access to a range of development opportunities including apprenticeships.

Automatic enrolment and access to Medicash (one of the UK’s leading health cash plan providers), providing you with many services including reimbursements of routine dental treatment, optical, specialist consultations, and therapy treatments. Unlimited access to virtual GP & Private prescription service and health & Stress related helplines.

• Access to Occupational Health, and an Employee Assistance Programme
• Access to the Department of Education Restaurant and Westminster Abbey with a plus-one guest.
• Opportunity to join the Civil Service Sports & Social Club, and get involved in a range of staff networks, groups and societies.

We try to be as flexible as we can in your work pattern to support you with other commitments, and to give a good work-life balance.

ABOUT NATIONAL CHURCH INSTITUTIONS

The National Church Institutions comprises a wide variety of teams, professions and functions that support the mission and ministries of the Church of England in its vision to be a church, centred on Jesus Christ, for the whole nation - a church that is simpler, humbler, bolder.

We Include. You Belong.

Our Belonging and Inclusion Strategy aims for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

Living out our values in all that we do, we:

• Strive for Excellence
• Show Compassion
• Respect others
• Act with Integrity

We believe our commitment to belonging and inclusion fuels our progress and drives us forward. The NCIs are a safe, inclusive workplace for people of all backgrounds and walks of life. We welcome applications from people of all faiths and of no faith. We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people who share our values. Even if you have never thought about working for us before, if you have the skills and experience we’re looking for then we would like to hear from you.

Please note: You must have the right to work in the UK to be considered for the role.