Childcare Team Lead

Employer Overview: 

Advent United Methodist Church is an active faith community serving Greenville, SC and the surrounding areas. Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The Children’s Ministry serves children from birth to fifth grade on a weekly basis, generally on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. The Children’s Ministry staff consists of a director(s) who works alongside a Childcare Team Lead and a team of volunteers. The church and childcare is open for special holidays such as Christmas Eve and Easter as well as special events scheduled throughout the year. Additional child care may be provided at varying times as requested by church life groups with ample notice and as possible with the childcare staff in order to support church families during on-campus meeting times.

Role Overview: 

The Childcare Team Lead reports every Sunday morning to care for nursery children, six weeks to three years old. The Childcare Team Lead also reports Wednesday evenings to provide childcare for life groups or special events. Additionally, the Childcare Team Lead will be requested to work during other special events (such as a one week evening vacation Bible school during the summer) and certain holidays.  The Childcare Team Lead reports to the Director of  Children’s Ministry. Our vision is that the childcare team is a part of the Advent family, even if the team is not a member of Advent UMC. 

Defining Characteristics:

  • The Childcare Team Lead should be professionally able to care for children aged six weeks to three years old in order to maintain safety and supervision.
  • The Childcare Team Lead should have a personality that is professional, safety oriented, self-starting, welcoming, caring, and works well with others.
  • The Childcare Team Lead should have strong communication skills with staff, parents and volunteers to support connection, trust and the overall vision of the church.
  • The Childcare Team Lead should be invested in Advent UMC as a place of work, even if it is not their place of worship.

 Job responsibilities:

  • Professionally caring for children six weeks to three years old, generally for one-to-four hour increments. 
  • Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the children by maintaining a clean and organized environment.
  • Supporting an environment where parents feel confident and comfortable dropping their children off at the nursery while establishing relationships with parents to ensure trust.
  • Working with the Children’s Ministry staff and nursery volunteers to create a safe and fun environment for children that encourages age appropriate faith formation.
  • Take a leadership role in managing duties of other childcare staff and volunteers at each childcare gathering.
  • Working in line with the United Methodist Church Safe Sanctuary Policies (provided upon hire). 

Job requirements:

  • Two years minimum of professional experience in childcare. 
  • First Aid, CPR, and AED certification up to date.
  • Background check conducted by Advent UMC upon application.

 

For consideration, please send your resume to Michele Francis



Mommy and Me

Mommy and Me is for moms and their children preschool aged or younger to support each other through the joys and trials of motherhood while the kids play and get to know one another too.

Meeting Time: Fridays at 10:00 am, 1st & 3rd Friday
Location: Gym/PlayGround
Who: Mothers with Children

Congregational Vote

Dear Advent Family,

Most of you know that our congregation held a church-wide vote earlier this afternoon concerning our connection to the United Methodist Church. The vote came after we held two informational meetings for our congregation in January, numerous Lifegroup meetings, and after we had been providing materials through the eNews since September 2023. After much prayer, discussion, and discernment, our congregation voted 410 (49.8%) in favor of separating, and 414 (50.2%) against separating from the United Methodist Church. Since this was less than the 2/3 majority that was required under the conference process, the motion to separate was not approved.

Clearly there were members of Advent who held different opinions about this issue. And while those who voted to remain in the conference are surely pleased with the decision, we recognize that there are those who are deeply disappointed. Whether you voted for Advent to stay in the United Methodist Church or leave, our prayer is that you will stay at Advent and be a part of its future. It is the people of Advent, each seeking to make disciples, that has made Advent the wonderful church that it has been and is.

Advent will now remain a United Methodist congregation. Pastor Tim and Pastor Rachel will remain as pastors until the end of June. The cabinet will be projecting new appointments for clergy the last week of February. They will decide on a new senior pastor for Advent and will decide if Pastor Rachel will be re-appointed to Advent for another year.

It has felt like a long process. But the universal desire has been to keep Advent, Advent. That is our desire today. It is our intention to remain the church that we have been. There will be no major changes in our worship services, Lifegroups, mission effort, or our committee structure. Our mission will continue to be fishin’. We will still strive to be a church where disciples Gather for Worship, Grow in Groups, and Go to Serve and to Share. Please join us in our continued ministry.

Pastor Tim and Pastor Rachel

Stephen Ministry

Stephen Ministry is the one-to-one lay caring ministry. Stephen Ministry congregations equip and empower lay caregivers – called Stephen Ministers – to provide high-quality, confidential, Christ-centered care to people who are hurting.

Stephen Ministers are laypeople who have trained 50 hours to provide one-to-one care to people experiencing a difficult time in life. The identity of those receiving care and what takes place in each caring relationship remains private.

Meeting Time: Varies Monthly
Location: Zoom
Who: Men and Women, All Ages

Me and My Parkinson’s

You are not alone. Me and My Parkinson’s is a support group for those diagnosed with Parkinson’s and their spouses to share their experiences with one another. Join us at Advent from 6:30-7:30pm on the first Thursday of each month. For more information, click here to email the group.

Meeting Time: 6:30pm, First Thursday of the month
Location: Education Building, E112
Who: Those with Parkinson’s and caregivers of those with Parkinson’s

Scuffletown Book Club

This book study group meets each Sunday at 6:00 pm in with Alan and Mary Russell

Meeting Time: Sundays at 6:00 pm
Location: Off Campus
Who: Men & Women, all ages

Scuffletown Couples

This group meets each Sunday at Noon with Heather and Will Jones.

Meeting Time: Sundays at Noon
Location: Off Campus

Grateful Initiative

“You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us.” – 2 Corinthians 9:11 (NRSV)

The primary goal of the GRATEFUL Initiative is to help all of us in our growth as disciples by reminding us of all that we have to be GRATEFUL for in Christ’s atoning sacrifice for us and the faithful response that that requires of us. Our hope is that everyone will take their next faith step in financial giving by placing trust in God through extravagant generosity. Sharing God’s gifts enables our great church to expand ministry impact and realize all we have to be GRATEFUL for.

Click the Grateful Image above to view the booklet for the Grateful Initiative!

FAQ’s

Your financial gifts allow Advent to share the good news of Jesus Christ as we set out to accomplish our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Your financial gift will fortify plans for fostering personal spiritual growth and expanding our ability as a congregation to make a kingdom impact in our community, region and all the world. The GRATEFUL Initiative is asking all of us to pledge our giving to our missional and ministry initiatives, multi-campus expansion, capital improvements as well as the general operating budget of Advent. This new GRATEFUL Initiative combines the needs of the annual ministry operating budget and the over-and-above giving opportunity of our congregation into one simple, straightforward twenty-four month financial commitment.

Our church family’s generosity is the reason Advent is able to carry out or mission and all that accompanies every discipleship effort. The founders of Advent made a commitment to dedicate at least 10% of our annual operating budget to missions. To provide a few examples, your generosity provides houses for those transitioning out of homelessness (Homes of Hope/United Ministries), meals for children who would otherwise not eat over the weekends (Backpack Blessings), provisions for our partners at Harvest Hope Food Bank, home repairs through Salkehatchie, international ministry funding with partners like Compassion International, Full Dimension Ministry, and so much more!

Your generosity also helps transformation in the lives of those in our congregation. Throughout each week discipleship happens as the Lord ministers to the hearts and minds of our children, students and adults in community with each other. You also enable events like Advent Community Christmas, VBS, Christmas Under The Stars, Student Messy Night, EggVenture, etc., all of
which bring guests onto our campus and provide an entry point for them to make Advent their church home.

Commitment Sunday for GRATEFUL will be November 19, 2023 and your commitment begins in January 2024. This is a two-year ministry plan for 2024 and 2025 that will assist with budgeting, allocating financial resources in a manner that advances our mission. Our hope is that the initiative will also become part of a life-long commitment to discipleship and growth, particularly in relation to financial generosity. We also believe that prayerfully making a commitment to the GRATEFUL Initiative represents a step in faith that the Lord will use in mighty ways.

Advent’s goal is that everyone takes the next step in their financial generosity. fI you don’t currently give, we hope you will begin giving intentionally, whatever the amount or percentage of your income you bless Advent with. If you already give an amount under 10%, we hope you will take a step closer to 10% of your income. Once you have made your decision, you can see all the ways to commit to GRATEFUL in the Ways to Pledge section of this page.

Ways to Pledge

  1. If you are currently attending Advent or are a member of Advent, you can make your online commitment to the GRATEFUL Initiative through your Realm account. You can make your pledge in Realm here. If you have not joined Realm yet and would like to request an invite, please click here.
  2. If you are new to Advent or do not have a Realm account, you can make your commitment online by clicking here.
  3. If you have a printed commitment card, you can turn in your commitment card on Commitment Sunday, November 19, 2023 at Five Forks for either worship service (9 am or 10:30 am) or at our Scuffletown campus at 10 am, you can mail it to Advent United Methodist Church, 2258 Woodruff Road, Simpsonville, SC 29681, or you can bring it by the church office.
  4. If you do not have a printed commitment card but would like to make your commitment in person, please join us on Sunday, November 19th at Five Forks for either worship service (9 am or 10:30 am) or at our Scuffletown campus at 10 am for Commitment Sunday. Printed Commitment Cards will be available at both campuses.

Questions?

For questions about the GRATEFUL Initiative, you can contact the church office at (864) 288-8217, email us at youbelong@advent-umc.org, or use our online contact form!

Tangents

A group of couples who enjoy meeting together to share their life struggles and victories. We also enjoy getting together for cookouts and times when we can connect and just enjoy each other’s company.

Meeting Time: Sundays at 10:30 am
Location: Christian Life Center, C208
Who: 30’s to 50’s, Couples with Children