Community Formation Manager

L’Arche Chicago is seeking an energetic, creative, relational, and collaborative Community Formation Manager with exceptional judgment, interpersonal skills, and a desire to walk alongside the Assistants (our direct care employees) through their journey in our intentional community of faith. This is a full-time, exempt role with benefits.

The ideal candidate will be a confident leader with demonstrated experience supporting the relational and spiritual growth of others, identifying opportunities for organizational improvement, proposing creative and pragmatic solutions, and leading group personal and spiritual formation in an interfaith and inclusive context.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Articulate and advance the mission and values of L’Arche Chicago in everyday interactions with Assistants and other stakeholders, paying special attention to translate and connect the core values of L’Arche to all members of L’Arche (live-in Assistants, international Assistants, live-out Assistants, part time Assistants, volunteers, and friends).


• Nurture the spirituality of L’Arche throughout our intentional community, drawing on L’Arche’s Christian heritage while welcoming and making genuine space for other beliefs and religious traditions in a spirit of inclusivity.


• Enable Assistants to deepen in their understanding of their spiritual journey, their gifts and interests, their belonging to a community, and their sense of call to people/place/mission/work.


• Prioritize relationship building and community engagement, giving special attention to spending time with core members and assistants in our homes each day. This includes sharing meals as a key L'Arche community practice.


• Design and lead weekly formations (hour long group reflection to help Assistants find meaning and insight in community life) and the on-going formation of Assistants in community growth, team dynamics and related issues, drawing on times of engagement within our homes.


• Lead monthly celebration and soup nights (L’Arche community evening traditions), coordinate or lead annual all-community retreat, and coordinate or lead other occasional L’Arche Chicago events (including quarterly Town Hall meetings and twice annual outward facing L’Arche Presents events).


• Develop strategies to engage Assistant alumni successfully and efficiently as part of the broader L’Arche community.


• Coordinate core members’ and assistants’ community accompanier relationships (community friends who are assigned to an individual as an intentional friend). This includes providing an orientation to new community accompaniers and an annual retreat.


• Connect with founding members of L’Arche Chicago, community friends and neighbors, affirming their importance as valued community members.


• Support L'Arche throughout the federation. Maintain working knowledge of initiatives at the regional, national, and international levels and share this knowledge with the homes. Participate in federation projects as relevant and appropriate, including coordinating federation retreat participation for core members and Assistants.


• Seek out opportunities for personal growth. Model life sharing and the values of L’Arche for others.

TRAITS

• Depth of spirit, unhurried presence.


• Values the primacy of being over doing, abundance over scarcity, and calm over anxiety.


• Demonstrated leadership qualities, including an ability to work collaboratively and develop the skills of othe


• Strong interpersonal, oral and written communication skills.


• Objectivity and the ability to listen to the verbal and nonverbal communication of others.


• Maturity and commitment to one’s own personal and spiritual grow


• Good boundaries, self-awareness and stress manage


• Experience or familiarity with stages of faith and human development.


• Experience with people with developmental disabilities strongly preferre