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Vacancy for WCF Trustee
Vacancy for WCF Trustee
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June Prayer Calendar
June Prayer Calendar
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The Holy Spirit for Everyone Series
The Holy Spirit for Everyone Series
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May Prayer Calendar
May Prayer Calendar
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Vacancy for Children's Ministry Coordinator
Vacancy for Children's Ministry Coordinator

Vacancy for WCF Trustee

Thank you for your interest in joining our Board of Trustees

The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a registered charity, governed by a board of trustees. Our trustees play a vital role in making sure that the WCF achieves its core purpose. Collectively, they hold responsibility for setting the strategic direction of our churches’ ministry, ensuring that the work and goals are set in line with our vision, and oversee the overall management and administration of the churches. They work closely with the Senior Leadership Team, supporting them through their day-to-day leadership and challenging decisions if necessary.  

To find out more about this role and have an informal conversation with the Chair and/or Vice-Chair before submitting an application, please email Catherine Penn, Secretary to the Board of Trustees at catherine.penn@woodlandschurch.net. We welcome your interest and can arrange a time for this.

ABOUT THE ROLE

This role is a voluntary position. For terms of office, time commitment duties and person specification please see the WCF Trustee Role Description.

One of the benefits of volunteering is being able to access learning and development opportunities relevant to the role. We ask you to undertake the following training within the first 12 months of your role:

• Safeguarding

• GDPR (Data Protection and Confidentiality)

KEY TERMS

Our volunteer roles require a commitment to be a follower of Jesus and a worshipping member of the Woodlands Church Family.  

Vetting trustees  

All prospective trustees must be asked to provide two references: their church leader and one other person of good standing, with professional knowledge of the individual. 

All prospective trustees must be DBS checked. 

All prospective trustees must declare any conflicts of interest. 

Term of service

All trustees will be expected to serve a four-year term. At the end of four years, they may be invited to stand again on approval from the remaining members of the Board. There is no limit to the number of terms a trustee may serve. 

 A trustee may be invited to resign after one year if they or the Board recognise that the appointment has not been a success, or at any point if their actions or behaviour put the Board at reputational risk. 

How to apply

Our application process includes the offer to have an informal conversation with the Chair and/or Vice-Chair Ed Marsh before submitting an application. If you would like to take this opportunity please email Catherine Penn, Secretary to the Board of Trustees at catherine.penn@woodlandschurch.net.

To submit an application, please complete an application form and submit a CV with covering letter to the Secretary to the Board of Trustees for the attention of the Chair Ed Marsh by midnight on the 24th June.

Shortlisting and interviewing 

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview, ideally in person, but with a virtual option where applicable. Interviews will take place on the 3rd and 4th of July.

Following the interview, the successful candidate will be invited to attend a meeting of the Trustees on the 17th of July, before giving a formal acceptance of the offer. 

The Holy Spirit for Everyone Series

The Holy Spirit for Everyone Series

As a church, we want to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. As Pentecost Sunday approaches on the 8th June, we will be thinking about the gift of the Holy Spirit. But there’s more to it than that.

Living the Christian life is impossible without the help of the Spirit. Our character growth depends on the fruit of the Spirit. Our prayer life depends on the unction of the Spirit. Our ministry depends on the power of the Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost the promise of the Spirit was for everyone (Acts 2:39). This series looks at some of the aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit - for everyone.

Our talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at:

  • Everyone’s Invited – 1st June

  • Good News for Everyone – 8th June (Pentecost and Global Partners Weekend)

  • Generosity for Everyone – 15th June

  • Freedom for Everyone – 22nd June

  • Worship for Everyone – 29th June

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

Holy Spirit for Everyone:
Everyone’s Invited
1 June at 11am with Clare Thompson

Vacancy for Children's Ministry Coordinator

Join our Children’s Church Team

The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with eight sites located across the city of Bristol. Our vision is to transform Bristol through the love and power of God as we create spirit-filled, visible communities of faith in neighbourhoods across the city.

Each congregation is distinct in their style, but we all share the same vision, mission and values to be communities which are welcoming of everyone, authentic in our faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit and expectant of all that God will do in us and through us. 

As we’ve grown, so too has our team, and we an exciting opportunity for joining our team.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for a Woodlands Church Family Children’s Ministry Coordinator to join our team working 1.5 to 2 days a week. This role will work across our Children’s Ministry and closely with our Children’s Ministry Leaders.

We’re looking for candidates with extensive experience of children’s ministry with the ability to think strategically, take initiative, work well in a team and be passionate to see children grow in their faith.

Key areas of work include:

  1. Training

  2. Support

  3. Coordination

Full details are contained in the job description below:

KEY TERMS

You can find out more details about these roles and full terms by downloading the document below:

Occupational Requirement
These roles have an occupational requirement that the post holder be a follower of Jesus and to be a worshipping member of the Woodlands Church Family (if not already) to ensure protection of our strong Christian ethos and values, and our charitable objective of advancing the Christian faith. We also want to ensure all team members thrive and flourish in this environment. 

Terms

  • This is a fixed term contract (FTC) position contracted at 1.5 to 2 days a week.

  • The salary will be £30K - £32.5K pro rata, depending on experience.

  • The annual holiday entitlement is 25 days pro rata, plus 8 days bank holiday pro rata.

  • The role will be based at one of our WCF sites and travel between the different sites will be required.

We have a legal responsibility to ensure that all our employees have the legal right to live and work in the UK. Therefore, please only apply if you are eligible to work in the UK as we will have to verify this before you can start work.

Relocation
If relocating to Bristol, Woodlands Church Family will reimburse reasonable relocation expenses.

How to apply

To apply, download and complete the Woodlands Church Family application form:

Please send your completed application to our HR Lead Julia Shrimpton at hr@woodlandschurch.net.

If you have any questions about these roles, contact our HR team on hr@woodlandschurch.net.

The closing date for applications is midnight on Monday 9th June 2025. However, this vacancy will close once we have sufficient applications.

If shortlisted, interviews will take place during the two weeks following the close of the vacancy.

Our Culture Series

Our Culture Series

This May and June, all of our congregations across the Woodlands Church Family are sharing a preaching series called Our Culture where we’ll be looking at four values that shape our life together.

Our talks in this series will look at how we aim to be:

  • Welcoming

  • Authentic

  • Empowered

  • Expectant

As a church family spread out over eight sites, we're increasingly trying to call together the distinctives that help us understand the shared mission and journey that we're on. It's difficult to boil all of our culture and values down into simple, memorable phrases, but we're going to do our best in this series.

A particular distinctive about the Woodlands Church Family is the ‘both/and’ idea and concept that runs through so much of what we do in our theology and our practice. And you'll find it running through this sermon series as well.

We want to unpack some key things that you'll find and experience if you come into any of our celebrations, gatherings and communities around the city and region.

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week. We hope you find the questions useful to help you look at these values in more detail.

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

Our Culture: Welcoming
4 May at 11am with Tim Dobson

Our Culture: Authentic
11 May at 11am with Hazel Askew

Our Culture: Empowered
18 May at 11am with Rachel Riddall

Our Culture: Expectant
25 May at 6.30pm with Clare Thompson

Our Culture: Welcoming
4 May at 6.30pm with Dave Roderick

Our Culture: Authentic
11 May at 6.30pm with Nigel Savage

Our Culture: Expectant
25 May at 11am with Dave Mitchell

Our Culture: Empowered
1 June at 6.30pm with Dave Mitchell

Dinner with Jesus Series

Dinner with Jesus Series

As we lead up to Easter we are looking at Jesus in the gospels through the lens of meals he shared with people. We get to see Jesus’ heart toward others and how He used meals to minister to those around Him. Meals welcome others into our lives and help others feel invited and included.

This seven week series will help us see how we can use meals, like Jesus did, to reach out and connect to those around us. In our discussion notes below, we’ve included a handful of questions for you to discuss as a group as well as a challenge to apply the teaching in a practical way each week.

Our talks in this series will look at the following topics:

  • 16th March – Supper with Sinners

  • 23rd March – Would you like a fish sandwich?

  • 30th March – The Uninvited Guest

  • 6th April – Who’s coming to the dinner party?

  • 13th April – One Last Meal Together

  • 20th April – Easter Sunday

  • 27th April – Breakfast on the Beach 

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

Supper with Sinners
16 March at 11am: Dave Mitchell

Supper with Sinners
16 March at 6.30pm: Tim Dobson & Ella Harbord

Would you like a fish sandwich?
23 March at 11am: Rachel Riddall

The Uninvited Guest
30 March at 11am: Hazel Askew

Who’s coming to the dinner party?
6 April at 11am: Rachel Riddall

One Last Meal Together
13 April at 11am: Nigel Savage

Easter Sunday
20th April at 11am: Nigel Savage

Would you like a fish sandwich?
23 March at 6.30pm: Rachel Riddall

The Uninvited Guest
30 March at 6.30pm: Dave Mitchell

Who’s coming to the dinner party?
6 April at 6.30pm: Matt Dobson

One Last Meal Together
13 April at 6.30pm: Dave Mitchell

Easter Sunday
20th April at 6.30pm: Rachel Riddall

Prophecy Mini-Series

Prophecy Mini-Series

As a charismatic church, from time to time we press in on teaching around our values on the work of the Spirit and the kingdom of God. Last year, we focused on healing and this March we are looking at prophecy.

We are a prophetic people and we are all encouraged to pursue the gift of prophecy. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14 - “...eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy."

This mini-series over two weeks will explore the prophetic:

  • What do we mean when we talk about prophecy?

  • How do we discern and weigh prophecy?

We hope that these talks will help us find our way forward as individuals and as a community.

Talks in this mini-series are titled:

  • 2nd March: The water we swim in

  • 9th March: Test everything

Watch this 90-second video with Dave Mitchell explaining the vision for the series.

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

Clare Thompson | 2 March 2025 at 11am

Nigel Savage | 2 March 2025 at 6.30pm

Vacancy for Early Years Lead

The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with eight sites located across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more. As we’ve grown, so too has our team, and we have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our Children's team as our Early Years Lead with a focus on children aged 0-4 years at Woodlands Central. 

 As Woodlands Church Family we aim to disciple children and families to be connected, confident and equipped.

1. Connected
We aim to help children and families to connect with Jesus, with one another in friendships, in relationships with the church community and with a sense of belonging.

2.  Confident
We aim to help disciple children to be confident in their knowledge of who God is, to have a sense of their own identity in Christ and therefore confident enough to ask questions, explore faith and be curious.

3. Equipped
We aim to equip and support parents as they disciple their children with the help of the Holy Spirit. We aim to equip children with tools to help them to pray, read the bible and experience the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. We want to equip them to own their own faith in Jesus, to obey Jesus and to be empowered ministers to the world around them. 

About the Role
This position is a leadership role to oversee and grow how we disciple our early years generation at Woodlands Central. This involves leading, shaping and delivering our discipleship programme for early years. This includes overseeing our Sunday and midweek ministry programmes, as well as events and outreach initiatives throughout the year.  

The discipleship strategy will be delivered through a large team of volunteers who you will need to recruit, train and support. You will be responsible for communicating vision to the volunteer teams and wider church. You will also be involved with the wider children’s ministry, with an investment in the whole ministry to all our children.    

Candidates should be highly motivated, enthusiastic, able to take initiative, work well in a team and be passionate to see children grow in their faith.  

Requirements: This role requires a commitment to be a follower of Jesus and a member of Woodlands Central.

To find out more about this role, download the following documents:

Terms
This is a permanent position contracted at a minimum of 2.5 days per week with a requirement to work on Sunday mornings. 

The salary band for this role is £26,000 - £28,000 pro rata, depending on experience. The annual holiday entitlement is 25 days pro rata plus 8 days bank holiday pro rata.

The role will be based at Woodlands Central in Clifton, Bristol.

The post is subject to satisfactory references.

We have a legal responsibility to ensure that all our employees have the legal right to live and work in the UK. Therefore, please only apply if you are eligible to work in the UK as we will have to verify this before you can start work.

How to apply

The closing date for applications is midnight on Friday 28th March 2025. However, this vacancy will close once we have sufficient applications. 

Please contact Nigel Savage, Senior Leader at Woodlands Central at nigel.savage@woodlandschurch.net if you have any questions about the role.

If shortlisted, interviews will take place at Woodlands Church on the afternoon of Friday 4th April 2025.

For an application form please contact our HR Administrator Jenny Hanley at hr@woodlandschurch.net.

Please send your completed application to Nigel Savage at nigel.savage@woodlandschurch.net and our HR Lead Julia Shrimpton hr@woodlandschurch.net.

Vacancy for Senior Children & Families Lead

The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with six sites located across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more. As we’ve grown, so too has our team, and we have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our team as Senior Children and Families Lead at Woodlands Central.

 As Woodlands Church Family we aim to disciple children and families to be connected, confident and equipped.

1. Connected
We aim to help children and families to connect with Jesus, with one another in friendships, in relationships with the church community and with a sense of belonging.

2.  Confident
We aim to help disciple children to be confident in their knowledge of who God is, to have a sense of their own identity in Christ and therefore confident enough to ask questions, explore faith and be curious.

3. Equipped
We aim to equip and support parents as they disciple their children with the help of the Holy Spirit. We aim to equip children with tools to help them to pray, read the bible and experience the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. We want to equip them to own their own faith in Jesus, to obey Jesus and to be empowered ministers to the world around them. 

About the Role
This position is a strategic leadership role to oversee and grow the Children’s and Families ministries at Woodlands involving leading, shaping and building an expanding children's ministry for children aged 0-11.  

This includes planning ministry programmes, events and outreach initiatives throughout the year. You will lead and line manage the staffed Children’s Team and through them recruit, train and support a large team of volunteers. You will oversee the Families Ministry including daytime groups and events, equipping parents to disciple their children in the home.  

Candidates should be highly motivated, enthusiastic, able to take initiative, work well in a team and be passionate to see children grow in their faith.

Requirements: This role requires a commitment to be a follower of Jesus and a member of Woodlands Central.

To find out more about this role, download the following documents:

Terms
This is a permanent position contracted at a minimum of 3 days per week (22 hours 30 mins) with the possibility of more hours being added and the role potentially becoming a full-time position.

The salary band for this role is £29,000 - £31,000 pro rata, depending on experience. The annual holiday entitlement is 25 days pro rata plus 8 days bank holiday pro rata.

The role will be based at Woodlands Central in Clifton, Bristol.

The post is subject to satisfactory references.

We have a legal responsibility to ensure that all our employees have the legal right to live and work in the UK. Therefore, please only apply if you are eligible to work in the UK as we will have to verify this before you can start work.

How to apply

The closing date for applications is midnight on Friday 28th March 2025. However, this vacancy will close once we have sufficient applications. 

Please contact Rachel Riddall, Senior Leader at Woodlands Central at rachel.riddall@woodlandschurch.net if you have any questions about the role.

If shortlisted, interviews will take place at Woodlands Church on the afternoon of Friday 4th April 2025.

For an application form please contact our HR Administrator Jenny Hanley at hr@woodlandschurch.net.

Please send your completed application to Rachel Riddall at rachel.riddall@woodlandschurch.net and our HR Lead Julia Shrimpton hr@woodlandschurch.net.

Woodlands Church, Belgrave Road, Bristol BS8 2AA