Children’s Director

Riverhouseministries; Boise (ID); On-site; USD 48,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

River House Ministries is seeking a full-time Children’s Director to provide spiritual, relational, and organizational leadership for our Children’s Ministry. The role will guide a growing ministry, from Sunday programs to midweek initiatives, and develop volunteers and leaders to carry the ministry forward.

The Director will build healthy systems, ensure child safety, and collaborate with River House staff to create engaging environments where children encounter Jesus and grow as disciples.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated mature faith and alignment with River House theology and values.
• Experience leading a children’s ministry or volunteer-driven ministry.
• Ability to recruit, train, and retain volunteers and develop leaders.
• Strong communication and organizational skills with the capacity to build teams and systems.

Responsibilities

• Provide spiritual and organizational leadership for all areas of Children’s Ministry.
• Recruit, onboard, train, encourage, and retain volunteers; develop key leaders.
• Ensure Sunday classrooms are staffed, prepared, and run smoothly; manage check-in and parent communication.
• Protect children through strong safety practices, policies, and relational boundaries; build parent trust.
• Develop systems for scheduling, curriculum, budgets, and ministry data; collaborate with River House staff.

Skills

Spiritual maturity

Volunteer development

Leadership

Communication

Job description

Position: Full-Time
Reports To: Executive Pastor
Ministry: River House Ministries

Position Summary

River House Ministries is seeking a full-time Children’s Director to provide spiritual, relational, and organizational leadership for our Children’s Ministry.

River House currently serves approximately 100–120 children each week and is preparing for continued growth, including a future transition from one weekly service to multiple Sunday services and midweek ministry.

We are looking for more than someone who can run a strong Sunday program. The Children’s Director will build a healthy, sustainable ministry that helps children encounter Jesus and grow as disciples while developing volunteers and leaders who can carry the ministry forward.

This is a ministry leadership and team-building role. The Director owns the health and effectiveness of Children’s Ministry but is expected to accomplish ministry increasingly through equipped volunteers and leaders rather than personally carrying every responsibility.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the Ministry

• Provide spiritual and organizational leadership for all areas of Children’s Ministry.
• Create engaging, age-appropriate environments where children encounter Jesus, learn Scripture, worship, pray, and grow as disciples.
• Select and implement curriculum consistent with River House theology and values.
• Continually evaluate and strengthen the ministry as River House grows.

Build & Develop the Team

• Recruit, onboard, train, encourage, and retain Children’s Ministry volunteers.
• Identify and develop strong volunteer team leaders.
• Build a leadership structure that allows ministry to function effectively without depending on the Director to personally lead every area.
• Create a healthy volunteer culture with clear expectations, communication, training, and sustainable serving rhythms.

Oversee Sunday Ministry

• Ensure classrooms are appropriately staffed, prepared, supplied, and ready for children each week.
• Maintain effective systems for volunteer scheduling, curriculum preparation, check-in, classroom assignments, and parent communication.
• Provide leadership and problem-solving during ministry environments while empowering team leaders to carry meaningful responsibility.
• Prepare Children’s Ministry for future multiple-service and midweek environments.

Protect Children & Build Parent Trust

• Maintain strong child-safety practices, including volunteer screening, background checks, check-in/check-out procedures, classroom ratios, incident reporting, and appropriate escalation of concerns.
• Ensure volunteers understand and follow River House Safe Church policies and appropriate relational boundaries.
• Build trusted relationships with parents through clear communication, responsiveness, and partnership.
• Provide appropriate care to children and families while involving River House pastoral leadership when needs extend beyond the scope of Children’s Ministry.

Build Healthy Systems

• Ensure effective systems are in place for scheduling, communication, curriculum, supplies, volunteer records, ministry data, and other administrative needs.
• Steward the Children’s Ministry budget and resources responsibly.
• Lead and develop volunteers, team leaders, and any future paid ministry support.
• Collaborate closely with River House staff and ministry leaders.

The Director is accountable for these areas but is not expected to personally execute every task. A central expectation of the role is developing people and systems that create sustainable ministry capacity.

What We’re Looking For

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• A mature and growing relationship with Jesus and alignment with River House’s theology, mission, and values.
• A genuine passion for discipling children and partnering with families.
• Experience leading Children’s Ministry or a comparable volunteer-driven ministry.
• Demonstrated ability to recruit, develop, organize, and retain volunteers.
• Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills.
• Ability to build teams and systems rather than simply accomplish tasks personally.
• Understanding of child-safety practices and healthy ministry boundaries.
• Emotional maturity, humility, teachability, integrity, and the ability to receive feedback well.
• A collaborative leadership style and commitment to healthy shared leadership.

Formal ministry education is valued but not required when demonstrated ministry experience, leadership capacity, spiritual maturity, and character are evident.

What Success Looks Like

A successful Children’s Director will build a ministry where:

• Children experience safe, engaging, spiritually meaningful environments.
• Volunteers are recruited, trained, supported, and serving sustainably.
• Strong team leaders are being developed and empowered.
• Parents trust the ministry and experience clear communication and partnership.
• Sunday ministry operates consistently through healthy systems and teams.
• The ministry is becoming less dependent on any single person.
• Children’s Ministry is prepared to grow alongside River House into multiple services and future midweek ministry.

Ultimately, we are looking for a leader who loves children, develops people, builds healthy teams, and can create a Children’s Ministry capable of growing beyond the capacity of one person.