Worship EA, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois
Listed: 9-4-23
Employer:McCormick Theological Seminary, 5416 S Cornell Ave, Chicago, IL 60615 | (773)-947-6300
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Position: Part-time
Webpage: https://www.mccormick.edu
Contact: Rev. Dr.Lis Valle
Job Description: Job Description
SUMMARY OF THE POSITION: WORSHIP EA, McCORMICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Essential duties and responsibilities:
EA’s work collaboratively and cooperatively throughout the year to coordinate, create, plan, and administer gatherings of worship at McCormick. The primary work is centered on weekly community worship, but other gatherings for worship both scheduled and occasional are also within the scope of the position.
The group of EA’s work together and individually. There are tasks which all members of the team share. There are also tasks assigned according to the gifts and interests of individual EA’s.
The structure of EA work mirrors the experience of worship planning that may go on in a local church. EA’s handle administration of the services; they work to publicize and promote participation and involvement; they evaluate and strategize to bring coherence and unity to worship, and they work to make worship an opportunity for the diverse community of McCormick Theological Seminary to find connection, identity, and meaning in the opportunities for praise, prayer, confession, lament, and challenge offered up in these gatherings.
A significant aspect of the work is volunteer development and coordination. Working with the support of the EA team, one EA each week takes on the role of coordinating director for the weekly worship. This person works with the persons in charge of the proclamation and communion for the week to develop a team of volunteers who together plan and resource the worship gathering. Each weekly worship usually takes 3 to 4 weeks of preparation.
Shared Tasks:
Responsibility for the excellence, relevance, coherence, and appropriateness of the weekly worship gatherings. To this end,
1. EA’s meet once a week to share their experiences - evaluating both the gatherings themselves and the processes that go into preparation, then discerning what can be learned and what is needed for future work. These meetings also consider the broader goals of weekly worship and how the accumulated weeks of weekly gatherings meet these goals.
2. EA’s work to honor and affirm the traditions of the persons in charge of the proclamation and communion for the week as they also help them negotiate the interaction of their traditions with the customs of McCormick Theological Seminary and the diversity of the many other worship traditions in the community.
3. EA’s work to promote the worship services. Four weeks in advance of each service, the EA coordinating director, will obtain a picture, short bio, scripture reading, and sermon title from the persons in charge of the proclamation and communion for the week, use them to prepare the bulletin and/or media presentation for the service, and share with Marketing & Communications at McCormick Theological Seminary for promotion through social media and email.
4. EA’s work to engage volunteer participation each week. Four weeks in advance of each service, the EA coordinating director, with the help of the persons in charge of the proclamation and communion for the week, invites and enlists a small group of student and faculty volunteers to discuss and pray and resource the upcoming service. EA’s also work to connect teams with volunteers who might contribute with music, liturgical art, dance, writing or other gifts.
5. EA’s may administer their own planning team. They make sure that work is being accomplished, the team is clear on its responsibilities, and goals are being met. On the given worship service, the EA’s take responsibility for behind-the-scenes leadership of the gathering, making sure all is well and all is prepared. They provide the technical information to the leaders of the worship service and meet them 15 minutes before the worship service begins for tech check. EA’s also function as behind the scenes tech person, online comments moderator or analyst, or in-front-of-the-camera person/liturgist during worship services.
Individual Tasks
Individual tasks vary with the skill sets and gifts of those who take the position of EA.In the past, EA’s have taken on specific responsibilities for music or writing. Others have used graphic design skills to create promotion and the weekly bulletin/presentation. Others have handled the decoration of the worship space and the preparation of the communion table. Others have used their technology skills to manage the behind the cameras work of streaming live services.
Each new group of EA’s will use the first few months of fall semester to discern gifts and special interests and they will divide the tasks for the year at that time.
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