Visit Parish Website 

The Archdiocese of Chicago, the third largest in the United States, serves more than 2.2 million Catholics in 216 parishes in Cook County and Lake County, a geographic area of 1,411 square miles. The Archdiocese, pastored by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, has more than 13,000 employees in its systems and ministries, including Catholic Charities, the region's largest nonprofit social service agency. The Archdiocese also has one of the country's largest seminaries. The Archdiocese's 150+ elementary and secondary schools comprise one of the largest U.S. private school systems. Its schools have received 96 U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Awards.

Position Summary: 

The Director of Communications and Parish Life (CPL) supports and assists the Pastor and Pastoral Staff in managing all internal and external parish communications, as well as leads efforts under Parish Life to foster engagement and a vibrant sense of community. All work in Parish Life and communications is done to support the parish’s mission, goals, and values, and is executed in compliance with parish and Archdiocesan policies and procedures. All responsibilities are to be performed in a spirit of Christian service. 

Overall Qualifications: 

• Passionate disciple of Jesus Christ who is a practicing Catholic, with an understanding, respect, and support of the Catholic Church’s teachings, mission, and values.  

• Foundational understanding of Church doctrine, theology and liturgy.  

• Strong interpersonal and team building skills. Ability to recruit, train and coordinate groups of volunteers for ministry work and events. 

• Experience organizing large-scale events 

• Effective communicator and team player with strong initiative and self-direction.  

• Ability to schedule, prioritize, and produce work in a timely manner.  

• High level of discretion and integrity.  

Overall Responsibilities: 

• With a missionary spirit, foster a climate of Christian life, teamwork, and efficiency within the Parish Office and among parishioners.  

• Participate in Parish Staff meetings and other meetings at the Vicariate or council level as necessary.  

• Support the Pastor in areas such as scheduling and other administrative tasks.  

• Perform other duties or special projects as assigned to support the pastor. 

Communication Responsibilities: 

Create and implement effective and unified messaging across all parish communication channels to foster spiritual engagement and promote a welcome sense of community. This includes communicating under the pastor’s direction: parish and local events and activities, liturgical information, parish and ministry news, announcements and information from the Archdiocese, USCCB and Vatican. 

• Is accountable to the Pastor for communication efforts that support the mission of the parish to both parish members and the wider community.  

• Plans, implements, and measures the performance of the parish communications strategy, and monitors perceptions.  

• Assembles and edits the weekly Parish Bulletin.  

• Responsible for creating, updating, scheduling, and maintaining the content and appearance of the parish website and social media channels, ensuring consistency across formats.  

• Evaluates and approves posts made to all parish media channels for appropriateness, as outlined by parish and Archdiocesan guidelines, and monitors the appropriateness of responses made by viewers/readers.  

• Designs, creates, and distributes periodic email messaging to the parish community, and maintains the parish account and parishioner lists with the selected mass email service.  

• Controls parish media platform accounts, including approved users and security.  

• Attends parish events, liturgies, and ministry activities to take photographs for sharing with the parish community, and coordinates photographers for the parish.  

• Plans the usage, content, production, and distribution of video communications to the parish and wider community.  

• Consults with the Pastor on communications-related issues.  

• Collaborates with the Director of Parish Operations to provide communication platforms and equipment, and to manage communications expenses within the parish budget.  

• Defines and oversees processes for the submission and approval of content for parish communication vehicles within the scope of the CPL.  

• Attends training provided by Archdiocesan agencies and other professional forums to grow and improve parish communications.  

• Pursues opportunities for personal, professional, and spiritual growth.  

Parish Life Responsibilities: 

Oversees activities that fall under the Parish Life Commission and community building initiatives to create a more engaged and welcoming parish community. 

• Serve as staff liaison and support the ministries in the Parish Life Commission. 

• Serves as point of contact and welcome for new parishioners and manages the new parishioner process. 

• Plans annual welcome events for new parishioners.  

• Creates, plans, and implements faith and social events to engage both the current faith community and the local community. This includes new parishioner events and Evening of Gratitude or other ministry appreciation events. 

• Responsible for helping coordinate receptions after major parish events as assigned by the pastor. 

Expectations: 

• Passionate disciple of Jesus Christ who is a practicing Catholic. 

• Excellent teamwork skills.  

• Strong attention to detail, accuracy and completeness 

• Unquestioned honesty and integrity. 

• Demonstrated ability to respect utmost confidentiality and consistently exercise discretion and good judgement. 

• Understanding, respect and support of the Catholic Church’s teaching, mission and values.   

• Excellent organizational and time management competencies while managing multiple priorities. 

• Adaptable to changing work environment and frequent interruptions. 

• Ability to work evenings and weekends as necessary for special events.   

• Will be present in the office to interact with staff members and parishioners during weekly office hours. 

Requirements and Preferences: 

Education Required: Associate’s Degree 

Education Preferred: Bachelor’s Degree, especially in Marketing or Communications  

Experience Required: 3 years of experience in Communications, Marketing, and/or social networking 

Experience Preferred: Church or non-profit experience with Communications, Marketing, and/or social networking 

Skills Required: Excellent interpersonal skills. Strong computer skills, especially Microsoft 365 Products, Canva, Constant Contact and other applicable software. Competent with editing and administration in WordPress, Social Media Platforms and YouTube. Excellent verbal, written and multi-tasking skills. Excellent problem-solving skills with emphasis on detail and accuracy. 

The Archdiocese of Chicago offers a comprehensive total rewards package to include competitive compensation and benefit programs. Information about our benefit programs is available here. 

This position has a salary range of $55,000–$70,000. An employee’s pay within the range is based on relevant education, qualifications, experience, skills, location & business needs