Local Missions Engagement Director

Have you often felt like you wanted your work to have meaning?  Every day, Resurrection staff members are doing work that matters with people who care.  Resurrection’s purpose since its conception in 1990 is to “build a Christian community where non-religious and nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians.” Join our team and see how your contributions move the needle in transforming the world.

Resurrection has an opening for a Local Missions Engagement Director in our Ministries & Programs Division! This position is full-time, exempt and is located at our Downtown location at 1601 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108.

Job Summary

The Local Missions Engagement Director is responsible for engaging the congregation in the essential practice of serving and helping people find meaningful pathways to use their gifts in service to others. This role provides strategy, leadership, volunteer development, and implementation for the Refugee & Immigrant Ministries and Partner Schools Ministry churchwide programs and provides mission leadership for the Resurrection Downtown location. (The specific churchwide programs may change based on the needs and priorities of the church.) At Resurrection Downtown, the Local Missions Engagement Director works with the Location Pastor, staff, Mission Ambassadors, and volunteers to implement churchwide mission strategies while responding to the needs of the congregation and surrounding community. The Local Missions Engagement Director collaborates with other Local Missions Engagement Directors to create consistency and shared practices across all Resurrection locations.

Essential Responsibilities and Expectations:

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Position-Specific

• Lead an assigned churchwide local missions program, providing strategy, implementation, and evaluation.
• Serve as the primary mission engagement leader for the Resurrection Downtown location, including connection to local, global, and justice opportunities.
• Implement churchwide mission strategies within the location.
• Partner with the Location Pastor and staff to engage the congregation in serving.
• Recruit and develop Mission Ambassadors and volunteer leaders.
• Create opportunities for members to serve based on their gifts, interests, and availability.
• Build and maintain relationships with local community organizations and partners.
• Ministerial: Provide encouragement, spiritual leadership, and support to volunteers.
• Maintain a visible presence within the church and community. The Downtown building is in a diverse, eclectic community, so special care to minister with the population is critical, particularly the community’s unhoused.
• Participate in worship services, especially when serving opportunities are being promoted, and as often as possible otherwise.
• Develop clear volunteer entry points and pathways for engagement.
• Develop goals and measure participation, engagement, and impact.
• Provide resources, training, and communication to help all locations successfully implement the program.
• Manage related projects, budgets, and resources.
• Partner with the Lead Director – Missions and other Local Missions Engagement Directors to ensure consistency across locations.
• Collaborate with Location Pastors and Ministries & Programs staff.
• Share best practices, challenges, and opportunities across the Missions Team.
• Participate in regular Missions Team and location staff meetings.
• Help volunteers find meaningful next steps to get involved in the life of the church through serving, small groups, student ministry, and other areas.
• Ministerial: Provide spiritual leadership within local missions engagement, helping volunteers and staff see their work in service to the community as a meaningful expression of their faith and calling to serve others.
• Ministerial: Disciple volunteer leaders, including Mission Ambassadors, mentoring them in both operational excellence and spiritual growth, and encouraging them toward deeper commitment to Christ.
• Ministerial: Demonstrate an understanding of the theology of the United Methodist Church and direct work in alignment with this theology.
• Develop, modify, and assess the ministries and volunteers associated with Refugee & Immigrant Ministries and Programs to accomplish the vision of the Church of the Resurrection. This includes goal setting, mentoring, spiritual encouragement, support, and conflict resolution.
• Provide leadership and support for Resurrection’s Partner Schools Ministry, working with the liaison teams at each partner school to strengthen relationships, coordinate resources, and advance Resurrection’s Vision 2030 goal of closing the opportunity gap.
• Serve as a central connection point between Resurrection, school liaisons, volunteers, and school staff. Help ensure each partner school has the resources, volunteer support, and engagement needed to respond to the unique needs of its students and teachers while maintaining a churchwide strategy.
• Other duties as assigned.

Churchwide

• Follow Jesus and engage in the "five essential practices" of the Christian life: worship, study, serve, give, and share.
• Support the church’s purpose of "building a Christian community where non-religious and nominally religious people become deeply committed Christians."
• Exemplify the church’s values and support its theological direction as a United Methodist Church.

Competencies

• Activating - proactively takes on new challenges and opportunities with energy and urgency.
• Adapting – remains flexible and modifies behaviors quickly to help the church meet the dynamic needs of congregants and employees.
• Catalyzing Growth – overcomes inertia by discovering new solutions and casting a vision for innovation that will elevate the church’s effectiveness.
• Communicating – develops and delivers clear communications (verbal and written) that meet the unique needs of different audiences.
• Innovating – provides new solutions that will elevate the church’s effectiveness.
• Motivating – creates a climate where people are inspired to do their best to help the church achieve its purpose.
• Problem Solving – makes good decisions quickly, solves problems effectively to help move the church forward.
• Team Building – forms highly effective teams, whether supervised or informal, where individuals with diverse skills achieve ambitious goals.

Qualifications

• Education Preferred: Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• Minimum years of experience: Three or more years of demonstrated success in ministry or program leadership within an equivalent field.
• Proven Results in: Growing churchwide mission programs and implementing systems that engage the congregation in spiritual formation through service, with clear entry points and pathways that lead them toward deeper commitment.