The Childcare Coordinator Lead is a vital member of the staff of Foundry United Methodist Church, a large downtown Washington DC church whose diverse, ecumenical congregation and tradition of leadership in the community date to 1814. The Lead Childcare Coordinator shares Foundry’s core values, among them a belief in Christ and His teachings, the commandment to serve others and to act and speak for the powerless, a compelling desire for diversity and full inclusion of all God’s children in the life of the church, and the critical nature of curiosity and intellectual honesty as we discern God’s path for us.
The Lead Childcare Coordinator is responsible for oversight of the Childcare ministry staff so that infants and toddlers (newborn through age 3) and members of their families experience the love of God in a safe and nurturing environment. This includes acting as a liaison for childcare staff; coordinating coverage and scheduling; recruitment, scheduling and training of volunteers; facilitation and oversight of the structured activities for toddlers; ordering and upkeep of the nursery supplies; welcoming, encouraging, and nurturing communication with families who are engaged with the childcare center; willingness to organize, provide, and/or facilitate childcare for special occasions as well as education and business meetings.
Essential Functions
- Serve as the liaison between the Childcare Staff with the Director of Family Ministries
- Manage an accessible master childcare coverage calendar/schedule
- Arrives minimum 30 minutes prior to all childcare events, ensures all rooms are prepared and cleared upon conclusion of events.
- Provide steady, welcoming, and coordinating presence in the childcare center from 30 minutes before a scheduled service begins until 15 minutes after the final service ends.
- Physically present in the children’s ministry areas at all times during Sunday morning
- Recruits, schedules, and trains staff and volunteers for children’s worship services
- Oversees the delegation of responsibilities in the nursery and facilitates age appropriate activities for children
- Maintains inventory for all supplies and equipment in the childcare rooms, ordering or eliminating, as necessary
- Maintains attendance and childcare roster
- Keeps and updates childcare message board
- Schedules cleaning of toys and equipment
Core Competencies
- Certifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in early childhood development or similar field, Master’s degree preferred
- Certified in infant/child CPR training or in process of certification
- Minimum 5 years of experience with care required for infants and toddlers
- Trained in Safe Sanctuaries (UMC requirement)
- Attention to Detail:
- Consistently attends to the many small pieces which must be assembled into an organized whole;
- Resolves unanswered questions needed to address a problem
- Oversees the weekly ministry of childcare staff, keeping the larger picture in mind while tending to the smallest of details.
- Aesthetic Awareness:
- Demonstrates a natural awareness about the effective organization of space for different purposes in all childcare spaces.
- Possesses a natural orientation towards cleanliness and orderliness of childcare spaces
- Appreciates the value of and need for sacred space and how to physically tend to it
- Interpersonal Skills:
- Displays a level of maturity which will ensure that appropriate boundaries are in place and that they will adhere to principles of staff covenant with specific attention to honoring privacy, and confidentiality of both staff and congregation, and abiding by Safe Sanctuary policies as applicable and necessary.
- Exemplifies a commitment to diversity and inclusion in all areas of the workplace.
- Demonstrates a positive, engaging, and respectful attitude at all times.
- Maintains regular communication with families, children, and Foundry lay folks involved in Family Ministries.
- Mission Ownership:
- Demonstrates understanding and full support of the ministry, mission, goals and Statement of Call of Foundry United Methodist Church.
- A broad knowledge of developments in the field of children, youth and family ministries and an ability to integrate new concepts, as appropriate into Foundry’s programs.
- Organization Skills:
- Demonstrate the ability to:
- Develop and complete short-term and long-term goals and action plans that are aligned with overall goals of the church.
- Meet commitments on time
- Spiritual Maturity
- Demonstrative maturity, including acceptance of responsibility, openness to criticism, and an ability to defuse through personal example.
- Recognizes the importance of, and practices, maintaining healthy personal and professional boundaries, accepting full responsibility for one’s own work, understanding its limits, and avoiding interference in the work of others.
- Maintains a healthy work/life balance, giving appropriate attention to personal development, self-care and enjoying a sabbath day for rest and reflection.
- Attentive to personal spiritual development, discipline and growth. Models and encourages spiritual growth and discipleship in others.
Interested applicants should email cover letter and resume
to employment@foundryumc.org.
