Job Opportunity: AIF are seeking an Operations Manager and Secretary to the Trustees

Melanie Carroll • July 31, 2026

The Association of Interchurch Families (AIF) is seeking to appoint a part-time
OPERATIONS MANAGER & SECRETARY TO THE TRUSTEES

*  Part-time   *  10 hours per week   *  Home-based  *  £33,922 FTE (pro rata)  *  Closing Date: 28 August 2026, 9.00am 


We Are Recruiting an
Operations Manager and Secretary to the Trustees

 


Help support interchurch families and Christian unity


The Association of Interchurch Families (AIF) is seeking to appoint a part-time Operations Manager and Secretary to the Trustees to work with the Chair, the Finance Officer and the Trustees in delivering the Association’s charitable objectives and three-fold mission of:


·       providing an information service for interchurch families and others;

·       maintaining a pastoral support network; and

·       being a “voice in the churches”.


Read more about our mission and pastoral support work:

https://www.interchurchfamilies.org.uk/pastoral-support-for-interchurch-families

 


About the Association


We are looking for an enthusiastic, self-motivated person who would like to work with couples that in their marriage “live … the hopes and difficulties of the path to Christian Unity” (Pope John Paul II, 1982).


We keep in touch with our supporters through hybrid meetings (in-person and Zoom), online webinars and worship sessions, our website and social media outlets. These have been recently developed and extended.


The new postholder will be expected to promote and deliver the Association’s mission using these digital means while also providing the administration necessary for the Association to operate effectively as a charity.

 


We are looking for someone who is:


·       organised, efficient and outward-looking, with the skills and personal attributes necessary to support a small charity which relies heavily on volunteers;


·       experienced and comfortable in working with websites, digital platforms and databases; and


·       committed to the advancement of ecumenical relations and church unity.

 


Salary, Hours and Location


This is a part-time post for 10 hours per week, with the possibility of additional hours being worked as required and by negotiation.


The FTE salary is £33,922 (pro rata, based on a 37-hour week).


The role is home-based.


The postholder will be expected to work flexibly to suit the requirements of both the job and their personal situation.

 


Application Arrangements


The Job Description, Person Specification and Terms & Conditions and details of the application process, including deadlines, are available using the links below.


To discuss the role in more detail with the Chair of Trustees, please email your request, together with your telephone number, to:

chair@interchurchfamilies.org.uk


Please include any particular times to avoid (if appropriate). The Chair will call you as soon as she is able.

 


Key Dates


Closing date for applications: 9.00am on 28 August 2026


Interviews (via Zoom): Week commencing 1 September 2026


The interview date will be confirmed with shortlisted candidates.


There is flexibility in the scheduling of interviews and this will be discussed with candidates.

 


Genuine Occupational Requirement


There is a Genuine Occupational Requirement for the postholder to be a practising Christian.

This is essential for the credibility and performance of this role.




Job Description Person Specification Terms & Conditions How to Apply

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By Melanie Carroll • January 18, 2026
One Body, One Spirit: What Interchurch Families Reveal About Christian Unity Each January, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity offers the churches an opportunity to pause and reflect on the unity we confess and the divisions we continue to live with. In 2026, the chosen theme — “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4) — names something central to the Church’s self-understanding: unity is not an aspiration we invent, but a reality we are called to live into. For the Association of Interchurch Families, this theme is not abstract. It resonates deeply with the ongoing experience of families who belong, worship, and participate across Christian traditions. Interchurch families do not stand outside the Church’s struggle for unity; they are located squarely within it. Unity as a Given, Not a Goal Paul’s words to the Ephesians do not begin with an instruction to create unity. Instead, they speak of unity as something already given: one body, one Spirit, one hope. The task that follows is not construction but faithfulness — learning how to live in a way that honours what is already true in Christ. This distinction matters. Too often, Christian unity is framed as a future achievement, dependent on agreement, negotiation, or institutional convergence. The 2026 theme gently but firmly reframes the conversation. Unity precedes our efforts. It is grounded in God’s action, not ours. Interchurch families instinctively understand this theological ordering. Their shared Christian life does not begin with the resolution of difference, but with the recognition of a faith already held in common. Difference remains real and sometimes difficult, but it is encountered within an existing bond, not outside it. Living with Difference Inside the One Body The image of the Church as one body has often been used to affirm diversity of gifts and functions. What is less frequently explored is what it means to live with diversity that is shaped by distinct ecclesial traditions — different patterns of worship, authority, sacramental understanding, and spiritual language. Interchurch families live with these realities daily. Their experience highlights something important for the wider Church: difference does not automatically fracture unity, but it does require attentiveness, humility, and patience. These are not optional virtues. They are the practical disciplines of belonging to one body. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity regularly invites churches to pray for deeper mutual understanding. Interchurch families remind us that understanding is not achieved once and for all. It is sustained through listening, mutual respect, and a willingness to remain in relationship even when questions remain unresolved. One Spirit at Work Beyond Boundaries The 2026 theme also directs attention to the work of the Holy Spirit. If there is one Spirit animating the body of Christ, then the Spirit cannot be confined neatly within denominational boundaries. This has implications not only for ecumenical dialogue, but for how churches recognise one another’s faithfulness and fruitfulness. Interchurch families often encounter both hospitality and hesitation within church communities. Their presence can expose unspoken assumptions about belonging: who is fully included, who is seen as peripheral, and whose faith is trusted. The theme of one Spirit challenges churches to look again at how they recognise the Spirit’s work in Christians formed by different traditions. For the Association of Interchurch Families, this is not a theoretical question. It touches pastoral care, sacramental participation, and the formation of children and young people. The lived reality of interchurch families raises questions that cannot be answered solely by policy; they require discernment rooted in the shared work of the Spirit. One Hope, Held Together The final phrase of the theme — one hope of your calling — draws unity beyond the present moment. Christian unity is not sustained by agreement alone, but by a shared orientation towards God’s future. Hope allows Christians to remain connected even when full resolution feels distant. Interchurch families often hold this hope in a particularly grounded way. They live with unresolved tensions not because they minimise them, but because they trust that faithfulness does not require completeness. Their lives suggest that unity can be real, even when it is unfinished. This has something to offer the wider Church during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Rather than viewing difference as a failure to be overcome, interchurch family life points towards unity as something practised patiently, sustained by grace, and entrusted to God’s ongoing work. A Quiet Witness to the Church The Association of Interchurch Families does not claim that interchurch families provide a solution to the Church’s divisions. What they do offer is a witness — often quiet, sometimes costly — to the possibility of remaining faithful to Christ across ecclesial boundaries. The 2026 theme names a truth the Church already confesses. Interchurch families live close to that truth, not by choice or strategy, but through the ordinary realities of shared Christian life. As churches pray together this January, their experience invites a deeper reflection: not only on what unity should look like, but on where it is already being lived. Melanie Carroll - Executive Officer. If you are not already a Member of AIF we invite you to join us at our online Service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity as we come together as 'One Body and One Spirit'. Please register below and we will send you out a zoom link to join us.

An Invitation to the AIF Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Service on the 20th January 2026 at 7:30PM

By Melanie Carroll • January 13, 2026
If you are not already a Member of AIF we invite you to join us at our online Service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity as we come together as  'One Body and One Spirit'. Please register below and we will send you out a zoom link to join us.

Happy New Year! January —The Courage to Begin Again

By Melanie Carroll • January 1, 2026
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