Associate Pastor of Discipleship

Job Overview

Responsible for: Ministry Hour adult classes, membership, community groups, and children's ministry.

Purpose of the Position: To give spiritual leadership to Faith Church, in collaboration with the pastors and elders, with a special focus on strengthening the church's culture of discipleship.

Church Profile: Faith Church is a 265-member church in an eastern suburb of Cincinnati. In addition to support staff, we have a Lead Pastor, a full-time Pastoral Assistant overseeing youth, a part-time Music Associate, two part-time children's ministry staff, as well as 8 lay elders.

Job Description

Associate Pastor Profile

Faith Church is seeking an individual for the Associate Pastor position who exhibits the following:

• Experience: He has previous ministry experience in a local church, preferably as a vocational pastor. He has worked in unity with church elders and honors their spiritual leadership, counsel, and accountability.
• Character: He is holy, humble, honest, prayerful, trustworthy, mature, and faithful. His life aligns closely to the Biblical standards for elders (Titus 1:6-9; 1 Timothy 3:1-7). He displays the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and is consistently thankful to God for graciously saving him.
• Passion: He loves Christ passionately. He embraces and teaches a proper view of the sinful, grievously lost nature of natural man, and God's marvelous salvation in Christ alone. He sees God's Word as central for the godliness of church members and the effectiveness of church ministry. He teaches and encourages a healthy, biblical vision for the local church.
• Gifts and Strengths: Through the Spirit's work in his life, we desire a man who is gifted in teaching, equipping, shepherding, and compassion.
• Theology: He has formal Biblical training, preferably seminary. He is in agreement with the Faith Church's Statement of Faith (which is the same as the Evangelical Free Church of America). He embraces and teaches a high view of God, including His sovereignty, holiness, and grace.
• Philosophy of Ministry: He can articulate and lead from a Bible-shaped, Gospel-centered philosophy of ministry which embraces the local church as God's vehicle for advancing His cause on earth. He aligns closely with the Distinctives highlighted in Faith Church's ministry. He ministers according to the sufficiency of God's Word.

Ongoing responsibilities:

• Foster a disciple-making culture in the life of our church.
• Lead our Membership process. This includes a membership class, elder interviews, and managing our Membership Directory.
• Lead our Equipping Hour (Sunday School hour focused on equipping the saints). Teach and train adults in an effort to disciple them in the faith. Recruit, train, and provide leadership for growing teachers.
• Oversee our community group ministry (small groups). Develop and coach new leaders and help place new members into groups.
• Provide pastoral oversight to children's ministry. Through overseeing children's ministry staff, give direction to the church's care for our babies and children.
• Shepherd, nurture, and pray for the flock at Faith Church.
• Lead our Sunday morning service regularly.
• Preach approximately 6-8 times a year.
• Perform other pastoral duties, such as weddings, funerals, hospital visitation, and other tasks as assigned, based on experience and gifting and in partnership with the Lead Pastor.

Qualifications:

• Qualifications for an elder as found in Scripture (Titus 1:6-9; 1 Timothy 3:1-7)
• BA/BS from an accredited college or university
• MDiv or higher degree from an accredited seminary is highly desirable
• Demonstrated pastoral experience in a local church is highly desirable