Seeking Full-Time Women's Senior Ministry Fellow

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Start date: August 2023 or January 2024

Manna Christian Fellowship, Princeton University, NJ

Overview
MANNA CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP (Manna) is an inter-denominational student ministry on the Princeton University Campus. As a community, we share a desire to deepen our learning and live out the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are committed to the reality that the death, resurrection, and glory of Christ changes everything. We want to live authentic lives that point not to ourselves but to our Redeemer who is at work to make all things new.

Manna seeks a Full-Time Women’s Senior Ministry Fellow to manage aspects of this thriving organization of approximately 80-100 students. Reporting to Manna’s Executive Director, the Women’s Senior Ministry Fellow would work closely with Manna’s multiple (currently 3) full and part-time staff in developing a robust ministry that empowers students to appreciate the holistic implications of the gospel of Jesus Christ for all of life, including their vocations and studies.

The majority, though not all, of Manna’s constituents are from Korean- and other Asian-American backgrounds. The Women’s Senior Ministry Fellow should have familiarity and sensitivity towards the minority and/or immigrant cultural experience.

Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the Women’s Senior Ministry Fellow (SMF) fall into three categories: Spiritual Development, Campus Engagement, and Administration. It is anticipated that roughly ninety (90) percent of the SMF’s time will be spent doing spiritual development and campus engagement.

1. SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT:
Women’s Ministry – The Women’s SMF will cultivate and oversee opportunities for the women in Manna to grow spiritually, vocationally, and relationally through both women-only and gender-inclusive avenues such as Bible studies, social gatherings, theological discussions, discipleship relationships, and counseling sessions.
Large Group Leadership and Teaching – The SMFs will be responsible, along with the Executive Director and Campus Director, for Manna’s weekly Saturday night large group meetings. The SMFs will oversee the Saturday night program, including the flow of worship and ministry segments. Although the Executive Director will serve as the primary large group preacher, the SMFs should expect to assume teaching duties 2-4 times each semester. Messages should be 25-30 minutes in length. These messages should challenge the students both spiritually and intellectually in a manner contextualized to Princeton students.
Small Group Ministries – The SMFs will oversee Manna’s small groups. They will be expected to lead 1-2 groups in conjunction with student leaders, and support staff and student leaders as needed. The SMFs should ensure that the class-based curricula and topical teaching content for small groups are effective and biblically sound.
Retreats – Manna hosts 2-3 retreats and sometimes a service project throughout the year with an average attendance of 50-60 students. The SMFs will oversee the retreats/project, including budget, speaker, and logistics.
Discipleship – The SMFs will disciple appropriate members of the staff and students, as well as oversee the Manna discipleship program.
Counseling – The SMFs will also serve as a counselor to students as needs arise. The majority of Manna’s constituents are from Asian and Asian-American backgrounds. The SMF should have a familiarity and sensitivity towards the minority and/or immigrant experience.
Ministry Oversight – The SMFs will oversee additional aspects of Manna’s programming, including our interns, student leadership team, community events, and training materials.
2. CAMPUS ENGAGEMENT:
Public Lecture Series – The SMFs will, with the consultation of Manna’s advisors and staff, invite 1-3 guest speakers during the academic year to engage the campus on how Christianity intersects with current issues (previous speakers covered film, art, religion, science, social justice, academia).
Cross Fellowship Unity – The SMFs will serve as a liaison to the Office of Religious Life and to the other chaplaincies on campus seeking to promote unity of the body without compromising the purity and integrity of the gospel and Manna’s witness on campus.
3. ADMINISTRATION:
Yearly Updates – Each quarter, together with the Executive Director, the SMFs shall be responsible for delivering an update to the board, alumni and advisors on the progress of the ministry.
Fundraising – The Women’s SMF shall support the Manna Executive Director and Board in organizational development efforts as needed.
Experiences, Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree required.
Candidates would preferably hold a master’s degree in theology, counseling, or biblical studies, or be pursuing further studies in these areas.
Candidates should have some ministry experience, preferably with campus ministry or college-age students / young adults. Ministry experience can include part-time or full-time experience, internships, leading ministries in a church.
Models excellence in personal and vocational life, with experience in spiritual leadership, mentoring, and counseling.
Manna values its community orientation and the SMF should be able to foster a grace-centered community through active involvement in the lives of the students.
Fast learner, excellent written and verbal communication skills, proactive communication habits.
Passion for the university and students, able to work effectively in a pluralistic and multicultural environment, intellectual grasp of the strategic role of the university in our culture.
Spiritually mature Christian with a devotion to the Scriptures and prayer.
Compensation and Benefits
We guarantee compensation. Compensation will be competitive and commensurate with experience and training. Compensation range for full-time position is $40-$50K. Relocation benefit is available.
While we require fundraising to maintain our budget, this does not impact your compensation.
We offer benefits including healthcare coverage for you and your dependents, healthcare savings accounts for dental and eye care, and a yearly professional development stipend.
Located in Princeton, NJ.
Application and Decision Timelines
Interested applicants should submit their resume and cover letter via this form. The contact person for this role is Karen Tay ([email protected])
Application due by 30 April 2023. We will be screening and interviewing on a rolling basis so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.
Interviews in May and final decision by June.
Frequently Asked Questions
IS MANNA AFFILIATED WITH ANY DENOMINATION?
Manna is an interdenominational fellowship. We serve students from a wide variety of backgrounds and have had representatives from a number of differing denominations on our board and staff.

In an age of polarization and distrust, we believe that it is important that Christians of different persuasions find ways to leverage the strengths of differing expression of Christianity to cooperate in witnessing to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE STABILITY AND LONGEVITY OF THIS MINISTRY?
Manna has been serving students at Princeton for over 25 years. We have had a fully operating board for 20 years. We are fortunate to have a highly-engaged alumni community. Though we are a relatively smaller and newer ministry compared to CRU/Intervarsity, we are fortunate to be financially supported by a highly-engaged alumni community. 50% of our alumni donors give on a recurring basis and we have consistently outperformed our fundraising targets, including during the Covid years. We hit the gold standard for non-profits in terms of financial sustainability (i.e. have at least 2 years of operating revenue in reserves).This enables us to guarantee salary for our staff although we require fundraising in order to maintain our budget.

WHAT IS MANNA’S STANCE TOWARDS WOMEN IN MINISTRY?
Manna maintains a distinction between its identity as a parachurch organization and local churches proper. This allows us to be functionally egalitarian without demanding that all students conform to these expectations in their local church commitments. Women staff, similar to male staff, are encouraged to teach and exercise their spiritual gifts.

WHAT IS THE START DATE?
The latest start date is January 2024. Ideally, the role will start at the beginning of a semester (August 2023 or January 2024). However, we are prepared to be flexible with the ideal candidate.

WHAT IF MY EXPERIENCE IS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE CAMPUS DIRECTOR AND WOMEN’S SENIOR MINISTRY FELLOW ROLES?
We encourage you to apply and start a conversation with us even if you do not completely fit the requirements, or if your experience/qualifications fall somewhere in between the requirements of the two roles.

As a small organization, we have flexibility in finding a suitable fit between candidates’ aspirations with the role. This will depend on the candidate pool we receive.

WHY APPLY FOR THIS ROLE?
Impact. The college years provide some of the most formative faith experiences, helping young people find joy in living life in reference to God. Princeton students get transformed in relationship with Jesus, rooting them in His love, truth, and freedom rather than achievements. Manna, in particular, is a place where students of minority cultural backgrounds (largely Asian American) experience the empathy and community of Jesus.

Community. You will work with a tight knit staff team of ~5, and also have opportunities to work across other Christian Fellowships on campus. Staff and students share strong community and camaraderie.

Compensation and benefits. We guarantee salary, although we require fundraising in order to maintain our budget. In addition, we provide other benefits including healthcare coverage for you and your dependents, healthcare savings accounts for dental and eye care, and a yearly professional development stipend.

Career trajectory and support. Previous Ministry leaders, staff and fellows have gone on to lead churches, start non-profits, lead student ministries, study and practice counseling, work as lawyers, technologists, doctors and policy-makers. You will find a supportive community in us.

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