Pastor, International Church Plant

Job Overview

Support-raised pastor position for a new, confessionally-presbyterian English-speaking church plant in Northern Thailand

Job Description

Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand Website: covenantchiangmai.com

About the Church

Covenant Reformed Church is a new, English-speaking church plant in Chiang Mai, Thailand, formed by a core group of several confessionally-Presbyterian expat families working in overseas ministry. We are already meeting weekly for worship and celebrating the Lord's Supper monthly, administered by an ordained pastor in the PCA. Chiang Mai is a beautiful city surrounded by mountains, and a major hub for Christian workers in Asia. We expect our congregation to include a significant number of global Christian workers. We are committed to Reformed theology and piety as outlined in the Westminster standards, reverent and Word-centered worship, congregational singing, and local church membership under the oversight of a plurality of elders. We are actively pursuing formal denominational and presbytery affiliation at the same time as our search for a full-time pastor.

The Call

Because the founding families of this church plant have full-time ministry responsibilities outside the church, we are unable to provide the focused, long-term attention required for regular sermon preparation and other pastoral duties. The church is already functioning at a basic level, so we consider this to be a pastoral call, not a "building things from scratch" church-planter position.

Responsibilities will include:

• Preaching and teaching as the primary minister

• Pastoral care and discipleship of members and likely also regular attenders

• Administration of the sacraments

• Leadership of the Session as it develops (this is still pending)

• Participation in presbytery meetings and events, as possible (may be limited by distance)

• Other ministry-related activities, which may not be directly connected to the church, may be necessary for obtaining a visa; this is still to be determined.

Qualifications

• Ordained Teaching Elder in a confessionally Reformed/Presbyterian denomination (such as NAPARC-affiliated or equivalent)

• Commitment to Scripture and the subordinate standards (Westminster Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms)

• Heart for expatriate and global Christian worker communities

• Experience in or genuine openness to international ministry (along with careful consideration of family suitability for living overseas, including careful assessment of education options)

• Ability to raise personal and family ministry support

Practical Details

The pastor will need to raise personal and family support on an ongoing basis, consistent with the model of the global workers who will be part of the church. However, general church operating expenses are not part of the support requirement and currently the church overhead is quite low. Visa arrangements for Thailand are being explored in coordination with our denominational affiliation process and local ministry partnerships. Chiang Mai has a fairly large International Christian school for MKs, homeschool co-ops, good hospitals, and an international airport. Thailand's population is just over 1% Christian, though Chiang Mai has a higher percentage of Christians, around 5-6%.