We’re Hiring!

Part-Time Director of Children and Youth Ministries
Part Time, At-will, Non-exempt position, 12 months per year
Hours: Approximately 10-15 hours per week 
(Please submit your application before the end of February.)

General Job Description

The Director of Children and Youth Ministries will manage and oversee all aspects of family, children’s and youth Christian programming.  Candidate must relate easily to parents, children, and church members. In consultation with the Staff Parish Relations Committee, the Director will recruit, schedule, and supervise staff, including paid and volunteer.  Candidate will provide a caring and safe environment for children to grow in faith, and communicate Christian values of acceptance, care, and love. Resumes, cover letters, and two reference letters can be submitted by email to Charlotte Hill, our Chair of Staff and Parish Relations at charhill3030@gmail.com. Reference letters may be emailed directly to Ms. Hill from each referrer.  

Salary and Benefits

Hourly wage for this position is $25 and paid bi-weekly. Position will be staffed 12 months per-year and will accrue 20-30 hours of vacation time. Accrued sick leave based on hours worked. *Note this is a grant-funded position for 12 months and the position will be evaluated before the one year mark with the hope of making this position permanent within our congregation. 

Experience and Education

  • High School diploma or GED
  • Strong time management skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Excellent Communication Skills
  • Graduate Theological training
  • Minimum 3-years’ experience in Christian children’s and/or youth ministries

Responsibilities and Relationships

  1.  Relationships
    • Reports to Pastor and Staff Parish Relations Committee
    • Works with staff members and volunteers at church
  2. Principle Functions:
    • Supports and collaborates with Christian Education Ministry and is a pastoral presence to all young families. Christian Education responsibilities and projects include: 
      • Weekly Sunday School program, including selection/development of curriculum, teaching, supply acquisition and volunteer recruitment
      • Annual Christmas Pageant during December
      • Family Ministry events, including but not limited to an Advent Series, Family Movie Nights, Parents Night Out programs, etc.
      • Vacation Bible School, including selecting curriculum, gathering supplies, coordinating registration, and recruiting, training, and overseeing volunteers for all aspects of the event
    • Work in the community on outreach programming
    • Supervise and support the work of the childcare staff
    • Plan and implement special programming including activities beyond Sunday School (i.e. Family nights, parent/child Bible study series, etc.)
    • Participate in weekly staff meetings to coordinate with Pastor, lay leaders, and church council regarding children and youth programming
    • Attend monthly meetings of Church Council and other church committees, as appropriate.
    • Be a regular presence at worship on Sunday mornings and lead children’s time
    • Preach on occasion.
    • Provide communication to parents and prospective participants through emails, eNewsletter, website and printed media.
    • Engender support for Children and Youth Ministries from the congregation, in terms of finance and volunteerism. 
    • Gather youth on a regular basis.

Qualifications

  • Must be 25 years or older
  • Must have current driver’s license
  • Must have reliable transportation
  • Must have cell-phone with text ability
  • Must demonstrate ability to achieve desired outcome of job responsibilities
  • Must pass background check and drug screen

Physical Activities and Environmental Conditions

  • Ability to lift and carry 35 pounds
  • Ability to climb stairs
  • Ability travel for mission and ministry work
  • Ability to collaborate and coordinate with church staff on special projects

Context

Walnut United Methodist Church embraces the message of “Inspiring the world as passionate followers of Jesus Christ so all may experience God’s life-giving love.” Our specific congregation is a multiracial, multicultural, and intergenerational congregation that values inclusivity and diversity in all of its forms.

Advent and Christmas at Walnut UMC

The season of Advent are the four weeks before Christmas that help us prepare our hearts and minds for Jesus’ arrival, whose name is Emmanuel, “God With Us.” Daily though, we experience hardships and struggles. What does it mean that God is with us? What does it mean that God brings us hope, peace, love, and joy? Join us every Sunday at 10 a.m. during these Advent and Christmas seasons to lift your hearts and learn how God is among us and within us. 

Families with young children are especially encouraged to attend weekly so the kids can prepare for the Christmas pageant on Sunday, December 18th. 

Additionally, we have the following special events.

Tuesdays at noon Zoom Christmas Bible Study. Every Tuesday at noon from November 29th to December 20th, we will gather together to hear what the spirit is saying to us in regards to the Advent and Christmas scripture passages. To join, go to www.zoom.us and type in Meeting ID: 894 3160 9032 and the Passcode: 475933

Saturday, December 17, 2022 at 10 a.m. Christmas Pageant Dress Rehearsal at Church!

Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 10 a.m. Sunday Service and Children’s Christmas Pageant!

Saturday, December 24, 2022 at 7 p.m. Christmas Eve Service. This is one of the most beautiful services of the year. We’ll light candles, hear a Christmas message, and bask in the joy of God coming to be among us.

Sunday, December 25, 2022 at 10 a.m. Christmas Morning Service. Joy to the world! Christ is born! Come to church in your jammies or cozy Christmas sweaters. We’ll sing carols, reflect upon the Christmas message together, and feel the light of Christ shining in this world. 

2023 Stewardship Campaign

Sunday, October 30 marks the beginning of our 2023 Stewardship Campaign, “Healing After Loss.” We’ll spend the next four weeks reflecting on preparing our congregation for healing and growth for 2023.

And don’t worry, it’s not all about raising money for our church. The stewardship campaign series is meant to be about you too. It’s about healing and growing for you as an individual, after a couple years of feeling anxious, confused, and fragmented. It’s about how to get your zhuzh back—financially, spiritually, physically, emotionally—all of it. Let us remember that God gave us the gift of life not just so we can live it but so we can live it abundantly (John 10:10). God doesn’t want us to just survive, but to THRIVE. 

Below is the calendar for the stewardship campaign. On the final Sunday, November 20th, we’ll be invited to come forward with the enclosed pledge card, to mark our financial commitment towards our church’s continual healing and growth. Though the pledge card only marks your financial commitment, please let us know if there is an area of the church where you would like to offer your leadership and time. Our heart and service tithes are just as integral to our church’s health and growth.

Services at 10 a.m. every Sunday. A vibrant children’s program and nursery are always offered.

Sunday, October 30: Pastor Lydia preaches on God’s view of money and how it can transform how we use it, make it, and share it. All of us (both kids and grown-ups are also invited to wear our Halloween costumes to church if you’d like. After the service, as is custom at Walnut UMC, we’ll collect donations for an outreach ministry, which for this year is Pastor Krista’s nonprofit ministry, Friends of Padhar Schools. 

Sunday, November 6: Some of the youth will share their dreams for our church and what they need to grow in their faith. It is also All Saints’ Sunday so we will remember those who transitioned from this life to life eternal this past year.

Sunday, November 13: Manny Dan, our Finance Committee Chair, and Carol Coy, our Lay Leader to Annual Conference, will share a little bit about where our money goes and where we want to go as a congregation in the upcoming year. 

Thanksgiving Sunday, November 20: Louisa and Arnie Amezcua will share about how this congregation has been instrumental for their family and growth. This is also the Sunday where we will be invited to bring our pledge cards to church. We will celebrate the end of the campaign with a Thanksgiving potluck after church! 

Fall 2022 at Walnut United Methodist Church

All are welcome! Every Sunday at 10 a.m. A vibrant children’s and nursery program are always offered.

Sunday, September 11: Back to School Sunday (Kids are invited to bring their backpacks, where they’ll be blessed during the Children’s Time.)

Sunday, September 18: The Rev. Denyse Barnes, Director of Justice and Compassion Ministries of the California Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church, will be our guest preacher. 

Sunday, September 25: Fall Equinox. Let us set our intentions as we prepare for the new season of harvest and giving thanks. 

Sunday, October 2: Blessing of the Animals! Bring your animal companion to church this morning so we can bless them and celebrate their loving companionship. 

Saturday, October 8: Come out to the Walnut Family Festival, where our church will have a booth! 

Sunday, October 9: How Do We Love Where We Live? 

Sunday, October 16: Laity Sunday! Today, we remember and celebrate who really make the church—the laity. 

Sunday, October 23: Ivy Rogers, Pastor Lydia’s daughter, will be baptized. The Rev. Cathie Capp, Senior Pastor of University United Methodist Church of Irvine, will be our guest preacher and officiate the baptism.

Vacation Bible School Registration is Now Open!

Vacation Bible School is BACK! Instead of mornings, it will be an all-family program that takes place every Wednesday evening in July from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. That means both parents and kids between the ages of 3 and 12 are welcome! This will be a chance for parents to have a wonderful spiritual bonding time with their children as well as other adults.

The program theme this year is “Discovery on Adventure Island” and it includes dinner, activities, crafts, music, Bible stories, and more!

Registration is now open! Register at https://walnutumc.mycokesburyvbs.com

Steadiness Amidst Change

On this sixth Sunday of Easter, we focused on one of the pivotal moments in the life of the early church–when Simon Peter has a vision that all are included in God’s family, not just the Jews (Acts 11:1-18). How does this vision have relevance for us today when there are so many divisions, even within the United Methodist Church? Tune in to reflect and worship together with us.

The choir performed “His Name is Wonderful,” “O, Lord Hear My Prayer,” and “When the Storms of Life are Raging.”

Many thanks to Louisa Amezcua who was our liturgist, Michaela Hill who recorded the service, and Grace Amador who was the pianist.

CCLI Copyright and Streaming License: 20197516 & 20197509

To tithe to our congregation to support and strengthen our ministries: https://rb.gy/p4trbx

Love One Another

On this fifth Sunday of Easter, we had the pleasure of welcoming our District Superintendent, the Rev. Dr. Siosaia Tu’itahi as the preacher. He delivered a moving sermon about the kind of love Jesus asks of us based on John 13:31-35.

Many thanks to Carol Coy who was liturgist, Emily and Carroll Martin who led the children’s time, Austin Lei who served as acolyte, Michaela Hill who recorded the service, Grace Amador who was the pianist, and of course, the choir!

The choir performed “His Name is Wonderful,” “O, Lord Hear My Prayer,” and “Blest Are They.”

CCLI Copyright and Streaming License: 20197516 & 20197509

To tithe to our congregation to support and strengthen our ministries: https://rb.gy/p4trbx

Mother’s Day

On this Mother’s Day, the New Testament lectionary passage was about a woman who died and her community mourned her loss. Based on the passage, the only things we know about her was that she was beloved and that she made clothes for her community. Pastor Lydia explored the significance of handmade items in our lives and we had the privilege of hearing one another share stories of certain handmade gifts in our lives.

The choir performed “His Name is Wonderful,” “O, Lord Hear My Prayer,” and “Canon of Praise.”

Many thanks to Manny Don who was our liturgist, Michaela Hill who recorded the service, and Grace Amador who was the pianist.

CCLI Copyright and Streaming License: 20197516 & 20197509

To tithe to our congregation to support and strengthen our ministries: https://rb.gy/p4trbx

Being Fed to Feed

On this third Sunday of Easter, we encountered the passage where Jesus reappears to his disciples once again, this time, on the beach. His disciples have gone back to their former professions as fishermen, not knowing what to do now that their leader has died. And in their aimlessness, Jesus gives them (and us) a new call. But what if that new call sounds burdensome? Tune in to learn how to deal with that feeling.

The choir performed “His Name is Wonderful,” “O, Lord Hear My Prayer,” and “Let Us Break Bread Together.”

Many thanks to Jay Swartz who was our liturgist, Michaela Hill who recorded the service, and Grace Amador who was the pianist.

CCLI Copyright and Streaming License: 20197516 & 20197509

To tithe to our congregation to support and strengthen our ministries: https://rb.gy/p4trbx