Director of Youth Ministries

Director of Youth Ministries (Part-Time, 10 hrs/week)

Life on the Vine Church – Long Grove, IL area

Life on the Vine (LOV) is seeking a part-time Director of Youth Ministries to help nurture a small but growing community of middle and high school students (currently ~8–10 students, ages 12–18) as they grow into a faith that is thoughtful, rooted, and truly their own.

We are looking for someone who loves Jesus, enjoys walking alongside young people, and is energized by creating spaces where youth can explore faith with honesty, curiosity, and belonging.

This is a 10-hour/week position at $25/hour, with flexibility in scheduling. We prefer that regular youth gatherings take place on Sunday afternoons, but exact rhythms can be shaped collaboratively with youth and families.

About Life on the Vine

Life on the Vine is a community shaped by shared leadership, contemplative spirituality, and a commitment to justice and mercy. We seek to be an intergenerational church where people are formed in Christ not through pressure or performance, but through relational discipleship and participation in God’s work in the world.

Some of our distinctive postures include:

• Shared and collaborative leadership
• Women and men ministering together in full partnership
• Full inclusion of LGBTQ+ Christians in the life and leadership of the church and spacious inclusion of people who hold different theological convictions on gender and sexuality. More details available on our website.
• A commitment to communal discernment and non-coercive love
• A justice-oriented faith that seeks the good of our neighbors, especially the marginalized
• Contemplative prayer and spiritual practices as central to formation

We are not a large program-driven church; we are a relational, formation-oriented community.

Role Overview

The Director of Youth Ministries will:

• Regular attendance in worship at Life on the Vine
• Cultivate a welcoming, spiritually grounded space for youth (ages ~12–18)
• Facilitate youth gatherings (ages ~12–18) approximately 2×/month
• The summer months often have a different rhythm which can be shaped collaboratively with the youth volunteers, youth, parents, and Director of YM
• Help youth develop rhythms of prayer, scripture engagement, and spiritual practices
• Create space for honest questions, doubt, and exploration
• Encourage a faith that is lived outwardly through love of neighbor and justice
• Coordinate with a small volunteer team so leadership is shared
• Oversee the monthly All-Age Worship service (first Sundays) in collaboration with the pastors of the church, helping involve youth in leadership and shaping intergenerational worship elements that engage all ages
• Begin to develop relationships with Junior Vines (5th-8th graders) by planning and leading social gatherings for this age group
• 3 Summer Gatherings
• Every other month gatherings during the school year

Who We’re Looking For

A good candidate would have:

• Some biblical or theological training (college-level is sufficient)
• Experience in youth ministry or a desire to be mentored while practicing youth ministry
• Alignment with LOV’s theological posture and inclusive commitments
• Comfort facilitating conversation rather than lecturing
• A warm, grounded, non-anxious presence with youth
• Creativity in shaping meaningful gatherings with a small group

To Apply

Please send a short introduction and resume to:

apply@lifeonthevine.org

We are happy to talk with candidates who are exploring a call to ministry, in the process of receiving ministerial training at a Christian institution, and/or want a supportive, mentoring environment.

Have you ever stepped into a greenhouse on a cold, winter day and sensed the warmth and humidity of air that brings life to the plants inside? We think of God's presence like that life-giving warmth and water. It nurtures, sustains, and grows life - even in unexpected seasons and places!

At Life on the Vine, our ultimate hope is to live connected to the presence of the Triune God, because God's presence is life itself. All that we do as a church family is centered on our longing to be with the God who Jesus Christ makes known to us. Because when we encounter God, our lives are reordered in His presence. We experience healing. And we learn to live in ways that are just, true, and beautiful.

More than this: we believe Jesus is growing gardens of new life all over the earth! The life that he is growing in our community is just a piece of the whole.