Job Overview

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your prayerful consideration of joining our team at Wasilla Bible Church (WBC)! My prayer in this process is twofold:

• I pray the Lord would use this process to build up, encourage, and direct everyone involved for the work that He is setting before them. As part of this prayer, I am asking the Lord to clarify His direction for you and the other applicants – that He would use the process to refine His calling on your life, whatever that may be.
• I pray the Lord would raise up the right person for this need in WBC, that He would continue to grow His Church as He knits our lives together for His glory.

Let me take a few minutes to walk you through some vital aspects about our context, our church, and this position. Understanding these elements will be critical to filling this position successfully, and so I ask you to read through them deliberately as you consider whether this might be a position for which God would have you apply.

Our Local Context

Wasilla Bible Church is an established church located in Wasilla, Alaska, approximately one hour north of Anchorage, the largest and most populated city in Alaska. It sits within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough ("the Valley"), which is roughly the size of West Virginia and is home to roughly 115,000 people. 90% of these people live in the area surrounding Wasilla and Palmer, which are roughly 10 miles apart. Alaskans are a generally individualistic, independent-minded people – which comes with its own shepherding benefits and challenges. (I will happily answer any cultural, missional questions you may have regarding our specific ministry context during the application process.)

Our Church's History and Makeup

WBC has gathered and served in the Valley for almost 50 years. We truly are a "non-denominational" community church with people and leaders from a variety of denominational backgrounds – Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Assemblies of God, Pentecostal, Catholic, and Orthodox, just to name a few – as well as people who have absolutely no church background. With this said, our church teaching positions generally fall within the historical stream of Reformed theology. To make this work well, we have learned to approach our points of disagreement with grace as we stand on the truth of Scripture, which is a non-negotiable skill for anyone who serves on our staff and leadership team.

We currently gather on Sundays with a worship attendance of approximately 700 adults and 200 kids/students. As an established church, our demographics range from toddlers to seniors, with the bulk of our people being career-age adults, families, and kids. We are not a flashy or cutting-edge church, but we have a long history of faithful consistency as we endeavor to live lives of witness together as a church, in our community and in our world.

Last year we planted our first church from within our own church body. That church plant (Restoration Community Church) is located approximately 15 minutes away, in another community of the Valley. We are excited to continue partnering with them in ministry as we, together, pursue our shared vision of lives of witness, lived together as, not just a single local church, but as a growing family of inter-dependent churches.

Vision for Our Church

Our desire as a family of faith is to live lives of witness together as a church in our community and in our world. Practically speaking, in the next 20 years, I would love to see WBC have a hand in saturating the Valley with the gospel. I long to make it hard for people not to know Jesus in the Mat-Su because of how prevalent our witness is as individuals, as a family of faith, and in partnership with other local churches! What might that look like in measurable terms? My desire would be to see, on any given Sunday, at least 10% of the people in the Valley in attendance at a WBC-related church (WBC, WBC church plant, or other local churches with whom WBC intentionally partners). Ideally, half of those in attendance would be committed disciples, deliberately moving Godward as committed members of those churches. The other half would be people who are in the process of turning Godward and becoming committed to following King Jesus. The reason for this goal percentage is that it would likely result in any person in the Valley being no more than one degree of separation from a committed follower of Jesus who can share the gospel with them. And that same desire for gospel saturation ripples out around the globe! This is why we partner with local churches on every inhabited continent – to strengthen and grow them for witness in their own contexts, so that more and more people will step out of darkness and into the light of King Jesus' Unshakable Kingdom.

Vision for This Position

Given the vision for our church, the task of the Discipleship Minister can be summarized in one phrase: keep us growing as disciples. The Discipleship Minister must be skilled in both relational and organizational leadership as they refine and develop both existing and new discipleship structures and programs within the church. Practically speaking, this will require the person who successfully fills this position to be a creative coach of leaders, skilled at relationally implementing curriculum design.

• Creative coach of leaders: This position involves building relationships with a variety of volunteer leaders of small groups, Bible studies, and service teams. This person will collaboratively help those leaders develop goals and strategies to be more effective in their individual contexts and roles. In other words, this person must be able to adapt appropriately their ministry, training, and discipleship approach to various individuals and groups.
• Relational implementation of curriculum: We are currently in the process of reviewing and refining our formal educational/discipleship structure for adults. This position will be responsible for refining, coordinating, and spearheading those formal systems and programs for discipling adults – teaching them to obey all Jesus has commanded. This will need to be done in a highly relational manner, as the person successfully filling this position will need to work closely and collaboratively with WBC's Elders, staff, and volunteers.

(We will happily consider applications from either men or women for this position.)

Compensation

All salary and benefits will be administered in accordance with WBC's Personnel Handbook and Compensation Tables. What follows is a rough estimate of compensation amounts for the sake of your planning and consideration through this process. If you decide to apply and are offered a position, we will finalize the particulars as part of an official hire offer.

• Salary is determined by WBC's compensation tables which are annually assessed using the compensation reports developed by Church Law & Tax. (During our current, ongoing fiscal year, the basic range for this position would be roughly $70k-85k, depending upon experience and training.)
• Retirement currently is set at 6% of the employee's salary, paid into a self-directed 403(b) account.
• WBC provides an additional medical benefit of $9k annually.

Thank you for your prayerful consideration of this position. I look forward to walking through this process with you!

In Him,

William Ashley Brown

Senior Pastor

Job Description

Discipleship Minister

Purpose

To encourage and equip WBC members with the skills, knowledge, and structures to continue growing as disciples of Jesus who live lives of witness together as a church.

Relationships

• Supervised by and reports to the Senior Pastor.
• Trains and leads the leaders of WBC's Adult Discipleship Ministry.

General Responsibilities

Foundations

• Identify, engage, equip, and encourage leaders and volunteers for and in Adult Discipleship Ministries.
• Develop, implement, refine, and lead WBC's programs and structures to keep mature disciples growing Godward as well as to provide new and immature disciples with the foundational skills and knowledge needed to grow as disciples in church life.
  • The foundational skills and knowledge to which this responsibility refers are the end objectives of WBC's Scope & Sequence.
  • This will be primarily accomplished through developing and refining the programs and structures and then raising up the various volunteer leaders required to lead and run those systems.
• Coordinate administrative and logistical support for all Adult Discipleship Ministry efforts and service teams.
• Develop and oversee the Annual Ministry Plans, budgets, and calendar for the Adult Discipleship Ministry.
• Provide the platforms, training, and structures to help disciples engage in the expectations of WBC members outlined in our vision: small groups, works of service, and Christ-centered conversations.

Broader Adult Ministries

• Provide pastoral counseling and professional referrals for WBC members who need more assistance than volunteer leaders can provide.
• Support the Facilitated Ministries efforts of WBC members that contribute to the accomplishment of our vision – Lives of witness, lived together as a church.
• Facilitate Bible studies and engage in various teaching venues as tasked by the Senior Pastor.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Meet the biblical qualifications of Deacon/Minister in 1Ti. 3:8-13.
• Demonstrate a God-ward heart that continually seeks to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ above all else.
• Share Wasilla Bible Church Core Commitments and Statement of Faith.
• Gifted and passionate in identifying, engaging, equipping, and encouraging volunteer leaders. (Not simply a leader, but a leader of leaders.)
• Theological training and/or experience that can ensure sound theology in areas of ministry responsibility.
• Able to facilitate and lead Bible studies and teach in a variety of venues.
• Willing to run the ministry in support of WBC's vision – Lives of witness, lived together as a church.
• Ability to manage multiple administrative projects and tasks in line with WBC Annual Ministry Plans.
• Prior experience (or the ability to learn) the effective use of basic computer programs and office equipment.

Time and Term:

• This is intended to be a full-time, salaried position.
• A formal performance review will be conducted after 90 days and then annually thereafter in accordance with WBC's personnel policies.
• Pay and benefits to be determined in accordance with WBC's Compensation Tables and Personnel Handbook.