February 27 Update

We have received two applications to date and are reviewing both. Several others have expressed interest in applying, although we have not received their applications yet.

We are also setting the standards by which we will evaluate applications, refining the questions we want to ask. We had hoped to receive more applications by now. Apparently many churches are having a hard time finding applicants for pastoral roles, and ours being part-time may help explain why applications are coming in so slowly.

Please join us in praying that God would continue to grow our children’s and student ministries, even in the absence of a Family Pastor. We are humbled by the children and students who have joined us just in the past several months, and we want to serve them the best we can.

January 16 update

We have posted the position on our website, on the job listings at five top seminaries in the country (mostly on the east coast), on our denomination’s website, and on a website called ministryjobs.com. Now we begin to see who the Lord brings us!

Frequently asked questions

What is our timeline?

• Mid-July: Form a search team (complete)

• Early November: Finalize a job description (complete)

• Mid-late November: Ratify the creation of the position by congregational vote (complete)

• Early-mid December: Post the position within various networks (complete)

• Late December and beyond: Start receiving applications, praying over them, and contacting those applicants we feel may be the right fit.

Why do we need a Family Pastor?

Unfortunately the children and students in our church family are not receiving the pastoral care and leadership they need. While none of us wants to see this, we don’t have anybody within our church family who has both the expertise and the time provide the needed leadership in our children’s and student ministries. Moreover, most parents want to nurture their children’s faith at home, but they don’t know how. A Family Pastor will:

1. Invest time in the programs, events, and relationships needed to help us make more and better followers of Jesus;

2. Train disciple-makers in our church (including parents), so that children and students have a large network of trained spiritual mentors who can nurture their faith; and

3. Provide the administrative support (scheduling volunteers, selecting curriculum, planning events, etc.) needed to accomplish these tasks.

Who is an ideal candidate?

Our first priority is to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as he leads us to the right candidate. We envision someone who:

• has at least several years of ministry experience (volunteer experience counts);

• feels called in this season to part-time, bi-vocational ministry;

• is open to this becoming a full-time position;

• will consider this as a long-term position. That is not to say the Lord could not lead them away after a period of time, but this person should not be looking at this position as a quick stepping stone on the way to something else;

• has an undergraduate degree and possibly a seminary degree and, if not already ordained, is willing to pursue ordination;

• refuses to allow children’s and student ministry programs to become “ministry silos,” but will relentlessly work to integrate children and students into the regular pulse of our church family;

• feels specifically called to pastor children, students, and their families, but who is also eager to “adopt” our entire church family as his/her flock.

What happens once the search team has found someone?

Once the search team has found a candidate they feel confident in, they will invite that candidate to spend a weekend with us. That would include a chance on Saturday for the candidate to meet with various groups with whom he/she would work (parents of children/students; Jr. Church teachers; CE board; children/students), and a chance for the entire church to meet the candidate on a Sunday morning. We may ask the candidate to preach.

The search team will find and recommend a candidate to the church, but because this is a pastoral position, the whole church will vote to extend a call to that person.

By when will we have someone in place?

We don’t know. It’s better to take our time and find the right person than rush into a decision and risk bringing on the wrong person. We will carefully assess not only this person’s qualifications, but also their fit with our church family.

How will we pay for this?

Like any investment, calling a Family Pastor will require an up-front cost, and like any investment, calling a Family Pastor means we expect long-run gain.

We plan to pay this person $25,000/year and expect them to work 20 hours/week to begin.

Meanwhile, we are pursuing about $30,000 in outside grants and gifts, including from a couple of members of our church family who have expressed an interest in helping us fund this position.

If we assume the total cost of this position to be around $30,000/year (factoring in miscellaneous expenses like workman’s comp insurance, ministry expenses, etc.), then we can allocate our outside funding this way:

The first year we, as a church, would only have to come up with 1/3 of the funding for this position. The second year we would have to come up with 2/3 of the funding; and beyond the second year we would fund the position in its entirety.

Who is on the search team?

Lucyana Chapman
Janet Hand
Doran Morford
Andrea St. Jean
Tara Wise
Chris Dunaway

The team will commit to saturate this process in prayer. We will take the first chunk of each team meeting to pray for one another, for our church family, for the candidates, and for the search process.

How can we pray?

1. Pray for unity among our search team members;

2. Pray for focus and an ability to create an effective job description;

3. Pray for the person whom we eventually call – that God would even now prepare that person (and their family, if they have a family) for us and us for them.