Job Opening: Director of Religious Education
Job Title: Director of Religious Education (DRE)
Description: The ideal candidate will coordinate a high-quality Religious Education program for children and youth (nursery through high school).
Context: As the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick, we gather to encourage spiritual growth, build beloved community, & act for peace and justice. We are a growing congregation with a membership that has increased from 177 members to 346 members over the past ten years, and we have a current enrollment of 60 children and youth in our Religious Education program.
Part-time: 25 hours/week
- Sundays
- September - May, ~8:30am - 1:30 pm
- June - August, ~9:30am - 12:30pm
- Needed in the office at least one weekday per week (typically midday on Thursdays for staff meetings)
- Regular hours to be determined, including options for flex-time and hours worked from home.
Salary: $32,750 - $38,500/year (depending on previous experience)
Benefits:
- Health insurance upon start date, pro-rated according to the percentage of full-time at shared cost. (For a full-time employee, UUCF pays 80% of health insurance premium. For 25 hours/week, UUCF pays 50% with additional option of employee purchasing group dental insurance, term life insurance, and long-term disability insurance through the group plan sponsored by the UUA.)
- Annual professional expenses (based on 10% of salary)
- Annual retirement contribution (based on 10% of salary) after the first year
Supervision: Supervised by the Minister as chief-of-staff
Responsibilities
Duties would include but not be limited to those listed below.
Sunday Religious Education (R.E.) (nursery through high school) - R.E. classes are held September-May, 10:30-11:30 a.m. (referred to as the "Middle Hour" between the two Sunday services)
- Select, adapt, and evaluate curriculum (see example).
- Recruit, train, and support teachers for each Religious Education class.
- Maintain resources, supplies, and equipment for each classroom (and/or recruit volunteers to do so).
- Welcome new children, youth, & parents to the Religious Education program, register them, and follow-up with new potential members.
Sunday Service Leadership
- Lead (and/or recruit volunteers) to present weekly Story for All Ages connected to that day's theme.
- Lead (or recruit volunteer facilitators) for "Arts & Exploration" (ages Kindergarten through 3rd Grade) during Sunday Services following the Story for All Ages.
Additional Programs
- Plan activities throughout the year (including summer) for children, youth, and/or parents and/or multigenerational events--such as spiritual growth opportunities, community-building social events, and social justice projects.
- Direct oversight (and/or delegation/supervision of volunteer leaders) for youth programming, including youth group and Coming of Age curriculum.
- Coordinate UUCF's Our Whole Lives (OWL) Lifespan Sexuality program in cooperation with the OWL Planning Team.
- Hire, train, and schedule childcare workers (and/or recruit volunteer coordinator).
Program Development & Administration
- Recruit and facilitate Religious Education Planning Team.
- Monitor and develop budget.
- Maintain accurate records of attendance and programs offered.
- Recommend and implement policies and guidelines related to Religious Education program.
Connecting to Congregation
- Collaborate with staff team.
- Maintain an awareness of the congregation's major projects and activities.
- Participate in strategic planning for the congregation's lifespan Religious Education program.
- Regularly publicize the goals, activities, and needs of the Religious Education program to the congregation through announcements, brief newsletter articles, social media, webpages, and other related tools.
Professional Development
Pursue regular collegial support and continuing education through organizations such as:
- Liberal Religious Educators Association
- Greater Washington Association Religious Education Council (GWAREC)
- Unitarian Universalist Association's R.E. Credentialing Program
Supervision
- Supervise UUCF's Circle of Life (CLC) Cooperative Preschool Teacher & CLC's Assistant Director.
- Serve as liaison to CLC's Parent Council.
Required Skill Set
Unitarian Universalism
- Knowledge of the history, philosophy, and latest methods in Unitarian Universalist pedagogy (and/or willingness to learn).
- Able to articulate Unitarian Universalist theology, ethics, and history in age-appropriate ways to children, youth, and adults.
- Ease in working with a wide-range of religious (and non-religious) worldviews and spiritual practices as represented in the Six Sources of Unitarian Universalism.
Educational Theory
- Working knowledge of the typical progressions in physical, cognitive, social, emotional, moral, and spiritual development from infancy to early twenties (and/or willingness to learn) in order to develop age-appropriate programming.
- Knowledge of childhood behavior and conflict resolution skills with all ages.
Administration and Volunteer Management
- Strong organizational skills.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Ability to recruit, train, and empower volunteers.
Interpersonal
- Professional presence and good rapport with all ages.
- Intercultural competency and a willingness to engage in ongoing development around the work of building an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, multicultural Religious Education program.
How to Apply
Submission address: Email a letter of interest and resume with three references to .
Submission deadline: Thursday, May 26, 2022 (or until position is filled)
Start date: Friday, July 15, 2022 (or as late as Monday, August 1, 2022)
(The short link to this page is frederickuu.org/DRE.)