Reports to: Director of Evangelization (Fr. Matthew Hoelscher)
Direct Reports: None; Collaborates closely with the FOCUS Team Director
The Director of Campus Outreach & Engagement provides dynamic leadership of St. John's Catholic Newman Center's (SJCNC) efforts to cultivate a growing, compelling, and engaged community of Catholic Illini on campus.
This key ministry role helps fulfill the SJCNC mission of equipping students for lifelong relationship with Christ and His Church by:
- seeking Catholic Illini students on campus,
- inviting them into a vibrant, welcoming community,
- and fostering opportunities for them to engage in faith and fellowship, principally through small group Bible studies.
The Director of Campus Outreach & Engagement creates the strategic link between pre-evangelization efforts and ministry programs by cultivating a strong culture of hospitality within the Catholic Illini community, and by raising up and forming intentional disciples who are equipped for effective evangelization. The Director of Campus Outreach proposes and implements initiatives that support the strategic vision of the organization in these areas, and collaborates to refine, extend, and improve future strategy.
Principle duties include:
1. Pre-Evangelization
a. Catholic Illini Welcome Week
i. Develops and implements vision for Welcome Week activities to introduce 8,000+ new incoming students to the Catholic Illini community
ii. Galvanizes staff and student leaders across ministries for active engagement in Welcome Week events
b. Campus Registered Student Organization (RSO)
i. Offers strategic support to student leaders of the Catholic Illini Association RSO.
ii. Provides mentorship and formation to RSO leaders to enable them for effective pre-evangelization work in alignment with overall SJCNC goals
iii. Develops regular cross-campus events and activities that unite and engage the entire Catholic Illini community.
iv. Trains student leaders to engage the greater UIUC student body and encounter students outside of the Catholic Illini community.
c. Chapel Ambassadors
i. Creates and grows a student-staffed Chapel Ambassador program for the purpose of cultivating a warm and welcoming environment for visitors and students alike.
ii. Develops and coordinates regular social events (e.g., after Masses) in order to expose less-engaged Catholic Illini to our vibrant community for the purpose of building trust and fostering curiosity about developing their faith.
iii. Trains and organizes Chapel Ambassadors to welcome visitors during key weekends (e.g., Homecoming; Moms/Dads Weekends; IlliniFest, Admitted Student, and Orange & Blue Visit Days)
d. Proposes and implements other pre-evangelization initiatives as time allows
2. Evangelization
a. Acts as "Point Person" and liaison for SJCNC's partnership with The Evangelical Catholic (EC) receiving support from them as needed and desired.
b. Attracts, trains, and forms a growing team of EC small group leaders, equipped to invite and engage a growing group of EC small group participants
i. Provides structured training of small group leaders twice a year
ii. Communicates regularly with EC small group leaders to identify successes and obstacles
iii. Tracks EC small group attendance and engagement
c. Provides direct discipleship to approximately six students.
d. Under the direction of the Director of Evangelization:
i. works collaboratively with FOCUS missionary team to coordinate and unify overall small group discipleship efforts,
ii. works collaboratively with Coordinator of Retreats to connect students to the next step in their spiritual journey.
e. Galvanizes staff efforts in discipleship and evangelization, offering support, encouragement, and accountability when needed.
3. Other
a. Maintains a visible presence on campus and among our student community.
b. Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
1. Commitment to and passion for the mission of St. John's Catholic Newman Center.
2. Fully initiated Catholic who is an active disciple of Jesus Christ passionate to help others initiate or grow in relationship with Jesus.
3. Cultivates a rich sacramental and personal prayer life.
4. Demonstrated history of rallying, inspiring, and organizing others to take action.
5. Demonstrated history of pushing projects or tasks to completion and achieving results.
6. An ability to work flexibly around the schedules and seasonal breaks of college students, including willingness to work on some evenings and weekends, particularly Sundays (taking Fridays and Saturdays (or other days) off as needed)
7. Experience offering discipleship to students.
8. At least two years of post-college work experience is desired. About the Employer St. John's Catholic Newman Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign exists to equip college students for sustaining a lifelong connection to Christ and His Church, through the sacraments and a vibrant, inviting community. As one of the largest and most active Newman Centers in the nation, St. John's Catholic Newman Center is comprised of St. John's Chapel and Newman Hall, a 586-bed private certified student housing facility.