Title: Director of Family Faith

Reports to: Nicholas Tangen, Assistant to the Bishop for Faith and Neighboring

Salary: $50,000 – $60,000 based on experience

Position Details: Full-time, in-person with some hybrid options. Occasional travel required for synod events, Lilly Endowment Annual Gatherings, meetings, and staff outings

Status: Exempt

Minneapolis Area Synod
The Minneapolis Area Synod (MAS) is one of 65 synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). MAS includes 137 communities of faith in the greater Minneapolis metropolitan area. The synod staff supports the member congregations, as well as the lay and rostered leaders of the synod. We are church together: accompanying one another and our neighbors, witnessing to the transforming love and grace of Jesus Christ, organizing for service and justice close to home and around the world, resourcing our congregations for ministry, and celebrating the Holy Spirit’s presence and activity in all of this. “The Minneapolis Area Synod works together so that all experience gracious invitation into life-giving Christian community and live in just and healthy neighborhoods.”

Position Summary
Thanks to a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment, the Director of Family Faith will convene parents, caretakers, and families from the Minneapolis Area Synod’s new start, strategic, ethnic-specific, and multicultural congregations to learn and develop practices for faith formation in the home and coordinate the development of culturally relevant faith formation resources and curriculum.

Essential Functions

  1. Convene and Coordinate Opportunities for Shared Learning
    Convene and facilitate cohort meetings, peer meetings, retreats, and learning summits for parents and caretakers from participating churches; gather and share tools and resources for spiritual growth and “faith-at-home” practices; support and develop new and emerging leaders from participating churches
  2. Network with Community Stakeholders and Partners
    Coordinate with institutional partners such as Total Inclusion!, 1517 Media, and others to organize faith formation opportunities and develop faith formation resources; work closely with clergy and leaders to recruit participants for the learning community; build a network of spiritual directors, congregational leaders, and faith-formation specialists
  3. Program Evaluation
    Coordinate a team of resource people and/or consultants who will evaluate the program’s outcomes
  4. Strategic Management of the Christian Parenting and Caretaking Grant
    Manage spending and oversight of the grant funds and provide regular reports to the Lilly Endowment; write and develop content telling the story of the Family Faith initiative; work with the Assistant to the Bishop for Faith and Neighboring to create a development plan for the Family Faith work to continue after the Christian Parenting and Caretaking grant is completed
  5. Participate as a Team member on the Synod Staff
    Attend weekly staff meetings and participate in synod-wide events (Bishops Theological Conference, Synod Assembly, Ministerium, etc.)

Abilities/Skills/Qualifications:

  1. Education
    1. A bachelor’s degree is encouraged but not required
  2. Experience
    1. Experience working in intercultural settings and communicating across cultures
    2. Experience working in faith formation and/or education settings
  3. Skills & Abilities
    1. Passion for the Church: Demonstrates a genuine love for the church and its mission
    2. Detail-Oriented: Excels at focusing on minute details while advancing the big-picture goals of the Family Faith grant
    3. Organizational and Communication Skills: Demonstrates excellent organizational, proofreading, written, and oral communication skills. An ability to speak Spanish, Oromo, or Swahili is strongly desired
    4. Empathy and Communication: Possesses a sense of empathy, with the ability to communicate compassionately and gracefully
    5. Time Management: Demonstrates an ability to manage workload efficiently and honor necessary deadlines
    6. Adaptability and Creativity: Willing to creatively adapt as processes and systems change and an ability to think outside the box
    7. Team Orientation: Values teamwork, collaborates well within a team environment

Submit your resume, cover letter, and three references to Nicholas Tangen, n.tangen@mpls-synod.org, by February 10, 2025.

The Minneapolis Area Synod is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from people who represent the many diverse voices in our synod and state: people of color, persons with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and women.