Paraklesis Charter for Churches

This page outlines the core requirements of the Charter. What is laid out under each of the requirements are examples of how this is being achieved, not to be prescriptive, but to give some ideas - either put these in place, or suggest your own.

We are happy to help your church meet the requirements of the Charter - get in touch via the contact page to start a discussion.

Seven Commitments Churches Need to Make

1. Prayer and Support.

Our children's, youth and family ministry is central to our church's vision and provision, receiving our prayerful support at all times. We have the following in place :

We pray for our children's, youth, family team on a regular basis as part of our regular cycle of prayer (using social media, church newsletter, prayer chain etc).
We publicly commission / recommission and pray for our children's, youth and family team on an annual basis in front of the whole church family. We have a day set aside (September or January) when this is done as part of our main act of worship together.
A spiritual mentor for our employed minister(s) and ensure they meet on a regular basis. We have amended the job description to include a reference to this.
We have encouraged the children's, youth, family minister to create a prayer team from within the church who will commit regularly to praying for the children's, youth, family minister and the work they are carrying out.

2. Retreat and Reflection.

Taking time to think, pray and practice theological reflection is an essential part of being a healthy and effective children's, youth, family minister. We have the following in place :

We have provided a budget for the children's, youth, families minister to engage in activities that will grow their own personal faith.
We have allocated at least 5% of our children's, youth, family ministers weekly employment to personal study and prayer (e.g. for as 40 hour week, two hours would be allocated for this). Our children's, youth and families minister will make time for this in their diary as they would for staff meetings.
We have provided a budget for resources / books for our children's, youth and families minister to help them grow as a practitioner and develop their own faith journey.
We have arranged for our children's, youth, families minister to have access to a place outside the church they can use for a day retreat once each academic term.

3. Training and Networking.

Learning the skills for ministry is an ongoing process and it is important to invest in professional and personal development. This begins with ensuring our own process and practices are setting a foundation for engagement, accountability and learning. Ministry can be lonely and isolating; for our children's, youth, families minister we recognise the need for peer support and trusted objective external supervision. We have the following in place :

We are committed to regular line management and external supervision / mentoring for our children's, youth, family minister. It is in their job description that they will meet with their line manager once a fortnight to discuss the work they are carrying out and to meet with an external supervisor / mentor (paid for by the church) every six to eight weeks.
We have set aside [X]% of our annual children's, youth and family ministry budget for continuing professional development for the employed members of staff and their team. We will pay for the employed staff and their core team of volunteers to attend at least one annual conference related to their area of ministry.
We enable our children's, youth, family minister to engage with regional / diocesan training and networking on a regular basis.
We assist our employed members of staff to create long terms ministry plans. We support them, where they have a vocational calling, to remain in children's, youth and family ministry long term. We recognise their job description will continue to develop and grow with them. As they develop, we commit to enabling them to give their time to support and encourage others with a similar vocational call.

4. A Full Day of Rest Each Week.

We believe in the biblical principle of a Sabbath day of rest each week. As those involved in ministry are often working on a Sunday, our children's, youth and family ministers will be expected to take another 24 hour period clear from work. We have the following in place :

Our employed minister(s) supervisor / line manager regularly checks that they are taking an appropriate amount of time off, including their weekly rest day.
We make allowance for rest days to be changed to accommodate special events or training.
A rota of individuals to be "on call" during the children's, youth, family ministers rest day to deal with any emergencies or pastoral issues that might come up.
Where the work requires extended hours for our children's, youth or family minister (e.g. a youth weekend away, summer camp) we make provision for time off in lieu.

5. Committing the church to the work.

We believe that we are all involved in the work of building faith with children, young people and families. We will work with the children's, youth, families minister and team to establish, maintain and extend the work. We have the following in place :

We regularly teach the whole church family their responsibilities to the children, youth, families in the congregation and the wider community.
We ensure everyone in the church family knows how to volunteer with the children's, youth and family ministry and is encouraged to do so on a regular basis (making it clear that supporting the ministry does not only involve face to face work with the children and young people, but can involve setting up, cooking, cleaning, praying, organising rotas etc).
We give the childrens, youth and family team regular opportunities to feed back to the whole church family on what they are doing in a worship service, newsletter, email list.
We ensure that childrens', youth and family ministry has representation in the leadership of the church (advocates on PCC, Diaconate, Elders or equivalent) and that decisions made for vision and direction of the church are made in consultation with children's, youth and family ministry leaders.

6. Excellence in Employment.

We believe that we should be excellent in our practice of employment. We believe in the God given value of all who work for us, whether as a paid member of staff or a volunteer in a team. We will do all we can to provide an environment where our employees and teams can flourish. We have the following in place :

A regular review of the salaries / expenses that are paid to our worker(s), ensuring they are fair and commensurate for the requirements of the role, experience of the employee and qualifications held related to the post(s).
A staff hand book (annually updated) containing all relevant procedures and policies for the work being undertaken.
A review of the worker(s) job description takes place annually to ensure that it evolves and develops with the role.
We regularly engage with the wider church (our denomination, network or stream) to ensure we are managing our worker(s) in accordance with best practice.

7. Celebration and Recognition.

We believe that it is important to recognise and celebrate the important work that is being undertaken with our children, youth and families ministry. We have the following in place :

We hold an annual children's, youth, families ministry Sunday where the work of the team is publicly acknowledged and celebrated - this includes input from children, young people and wider community.
The children's, youth, families minister(s) are involved in planning / strategy meetings and decision making that is going to have an impact on children, young people and families.
An annual social gathering for everyone involved in children's, youth and family ministry to say thank you for all their time and effort over the year.
Publicly and privately honouring our worker(s) and volunteers and ensuring a member of the church leadership team visits all the projects they are involved in at least once a term (every four months).

To see the costs and what is involved in applying for the Charter, and joining Paraklesis - visit the Church Membership page.

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