Job Description

Who we are
Grace Episcopal Church is a new congregation with 200 years of history! Our congregation began as two legacy churches (St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church of St. James on the Parkway, both in Minneapolis) that consolidated in 2020. In 2024 we took on a new name: Grace. 

A unique opportunity for ministry
Grace is growing spiritually and numerically. Most weeks we welcome multiple new visitors to our Sunday worship and our bubbly, brunch-like coffee hour. There are so many children in our in-sanctuary “Pray Ground” that we opened a second area within the sanctuary. A creative and committed congregation is excited for new opportunities for worship, service and fellowship (Intergenerational Lego Builds!), while remaining rooted to ongoing commitments like our 15+ year partnership with an Episcopal school in Haiti. 

We seek an Associate Rector who loves Jesus, loves people and can help us navigate this season of growth, creating trellises so that our endeavors can be directed up and towards God, instead of becoming a tangle of vines on the ground. Your work will help us build our confidence as apprentices of the way of Jesus, so that our congregation can embrace the challenges of growth with a fierce determination to join the Holy Spirit’s work of healing in our city and in the world. 



Position Overview: 
The Associate for Parish Life is a new role and will be a core staff member. This Associate should feel comfortable toggling between taking direction from the Rector (to ensure coverage of parish needs), working closely alongside the Rector (as a thought partner and collaborator) and operating with autonomy (in position-specific areas).

You will help create ways of belonging, discipleship and care. 

• Belonging: What it means to belong to a community in 2026 is rapidly changing. In a world awash with loneliness and isolation, communities like Grace hold the potential for individuals and families to grow closer to God, neighbor and self. You will help us increase our collective congregational capacity to be a place where folks can belong. You are adept with one-to-one’s; you have deep practice with multiple small group models and facilitation tools. Instead of asking “How can newcomers plug into Grace?” you ask “How can Grace plug into the gifts of our newcomers?”
  
  
• Discipleship: The next chapter of life at Grace will be structured, collaborative, courageous and grounded in faith. We know our next steps must be team-based and lay-led – instead of individual-driven and staff-led. You will help us get there by helping us assess, create and enact the teams and groups we need, grounded in spiritual practice. As the Holy Spirit sends new opportunities our way, you will help us create and practice a discernment structure so that Grace can respond with a clear “Yes!” or “No.” In the first year of this position: You will help us build this approach in our ministry with children, youth and families.
  
  
• Care: You will join with the Rector and the community to create systems and structures that allow for us to care for one another. You will participate in Sunday worship at the altar, in the congregation, at Coffee Hour and by supporting, leading, and participating in faith formation opportunities. 

• 10+ Years Experience: A community organizing/community development practice that includes recruiting, convening, launching, supporting, and celebrating volunteer teams.  3+ years of this experience should be within a faith/ministry setting 
• World-Class Social Skills: You are unusually good at both one-on-one conversations and larger group engagement – both as facilitator and participant. You are comfortable talking with 3 year olds and 93 year olds. You have unusually good skills at developing and sustaining relationships that are multi-racial, cross-class and that incorporate all abilities and disabilities. You are skilled at helping newcomers discover pathways to connection and belonging. 
• Significant theological training and teaching/formation experience within a worshipping community -- including contemporary Episcopal theology. You are comfortable assessing current formation offerings and helping us raise the bar.
• New Project Starts/Church Planting You have participated in at least one new project start/church plant that would be analogous to the work of starting a new service. You are a seasoned hand at design thinking and facilitation.
• Tech fluency: Comfortable using and adapting to changes in technology: Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets, online member database, etc.

• Able to safely move items related to worship and ministry setups such as chairs and folding tables.

• Respect: Communicate with care and respect for members, neighbors, and all who come to Grace Church  
• Collaboration: Share teamwork, problem-solving, and leadership with other staff and leaders
• Clarity: Plan ahead and communicate availability for tasks and projects
• Integrity: Take responsibility for your work, own mistakes, and ask for help when needed