INFORMATION FOR NEW CANDIDATES

ECMI Centralised functions

ECMI has a small group of people who take care of centralised functions. They cover important management, organisational and administrative activities and some consultancy roles. This group is kept intentionally small in order to keep overhead costs to a minimum (indeed many of the people who work for “International” have their own financial support).  There is a small ECMI office in Gloucester, England but most of the team work virtually and are spread across the continent.

Church Planting Consultants

The Church Planting Consultants provide timely, wise, practical and personal resourcing for church planting projects within ECM , Europe and the World. Consultancy is offered to any ministry point either through on-site visits or virtually. The Church Planting Consultants offer church planting coaching and mentoring to individuals and they also develop a wider network of coaches and mentors.

It is important that the Church Planting Consultants remain abreast of the theory and practice of church planting across Europe and new research on the European context. They keep themselves aware of new church planting movements and training opportunities and deliver the Equip:Accelerate church planting course.

While their focus is on ECM and Europe, they also have wider influence within other agencies and outside of Europe.  They are networked people and often participate in church planting conferences and forums. For instance they represent ECM to organisations such as the Lausanne Movement and the European Leadership Forum.

Director of Finance & Administration

The Director of Finance & Administration and his team support the International Director, and the Board of Trustees of ECM International, with the organisational functioning of the mission, which includes at present:

• Compliance
• Finance
• Communications
• Technical infrastructure
• Archive and file management

The other team members are:

• Administration Assistant(s)
• Facilities Management
• Technical Support

As Company Secretary of a UK registered charity, the Director of Finance & Administration is responsible to the International Board of Trustees for compliance with current legislation, and reporting as required to UK statutory bodies such as HMRC, Charity Commission, Companies House and the Information Commissioner’s Office. This requires that systems are in place for financial data recording and reporting both internally and externally.

The Director of Finance & Administration is involved in various groups within the mission that determine and regulate policy, procedures and financial stewardship, such as Trustees, management teams, policy and finance subgroups.

Administration Team

The Administration Team are also responsible for ECM International’s bookkeeping, maintaining appropriate databases and document archives, assisting with preparation of internal communications.

Facilities Management Team

There are two Information Technology specialists with the appropriate expertise to ensure the continuous availability and support of all IT platforms for email, HR management, file management, website and social media. Also ensuring that all are compliant with GDPR standards as well as international in scope.

Human Resources Director

The Human Resources Director and his team support the International Director, the Mobilisation Leadership Team and the Field Ministries Executive Team in their activities relating to the selection, placement, development and member care of ECM members. The HR Director also has oversight of the Short-term Coordination Team. The aim of the HR function is to enhance the mission’s capacity for church planting in Europe.

The HR team members are:

• Training specialist and other co-opted trainers
• Member Care Leadership Team
• Short-term Coordination Team

Personal Development Conversation

The Human Resources Director is responsible for ensuring that all members of the mission have the opportunity and support that they need to develop and grow. The main tool for this is the Personal Development Conversation (PDC) - a formalisation of the ongoing discussion between the member and their Field Leader or Team Leader about their development and member care needs. The outcome of the PDC is a training and development action plan and appropriate member support.  

Training and Development

The HR Director, training specialist and other co-opted trainers deliver a range of core courses tailored to the needs of the mission:

In addition to these in house courses members are also encouraged to consider other learning opportunities, such as seminars, webinars and training course from other organisations, involvement in think-tanks and other consultation events, placements, structured retreats and reading. Many of our members are also completing further theological training.

Member Care

The Member Care Leadership Team, member care specialists in the Mobilisation Teams, and the Human Resources Director are responsible for the delivery of excellent member care across the mission. ECM has adopted the O’Donnel model of member care.

The emphasis is on master care (a strong and dependant relationship with God), but the concentric layers of self care, mutual care and sender care are also vital. A network of Member Care Facilitators across all of our fields promote mutual care. Sender care is provided by the Mobilisation Teams and we encourage sending churches to see member care as part of their responsibility too. When necessary, we have a range specialist member care providers that we can utilise. You can see a video about our member care here:

Short-term    

The Short-term Coordination Team helps work through the challenges we face as an organisation to manage the process of uniting field workers with volunteers who are looking for a short (1 week to 2-year) opportunity to serve in Europe. We work with Mobilisation Teams and the field to match volunteers with opportunities where they will be a benefit to the ministry, where the volunteers feel called to help, and would perhaps then prayerfully consider coming back to the host country to serve the Lord long-term. We also work to increase awareness and engagement with short term across ECM International, encouraging long term missionaries to explore new ways of using short termers.

Biennial

Every two years European Christian Mission International organises a conference for the whole mission. The Biennial is a tremendous event where the whole ECM family of missionaries, partners, families, churches, Mobilising Teams and supporters (around 450 people in total) join together for a week of inspiration, encouragement, fellowship and fun. Both the Director of Finance & Administration and the Human Resources Director are responsible for the delivery of this. You can watch a short video of the highlights of the 2018 Biennial here: