Associate Pastor
Other Details
Associate Pastor
NewLife is looking to hire a part-time (20 hrs/week) Associate Pastor with the potential of becoming full-time. The Associate Pastor will serve in partnership with the Senior Pastor, elders, and ministry leaders to execute the vision of NewLife.
Qualifications:
Character – Growing faith in Jesus, evangelical in theology, aligned with our statement of faith.
Competency (Education & experience) – Ordained or trained in ministry or theology, with preferably 5+ years of experience in pastoral or parachurch ministry.
Competency (Strengths) – Systems thinking, strategic thinking, accountability, achiever, leadership, long-term thinking.
Culture & Chemistry – Works well with Senior Pastor, elders, and ministry leaders, aligned with our mission, vision & values.
Role & Responsibilities:
We are looking for a man who can help our church develop healthier system so that we can more effectively and efficiently fulfill the mission of our church. This includes clearly defined processes that help our church do what it does efficiently and effectively. Examples of church systems include:
- Assimilation – How we move people from first-time guests to fully-engaged members.
- Ministry – How we mobilize and disciple people for significant ministry.
- Leadership – How we develop leaders at all levels of our church.
- Evangelism – How we attract more unchurched and mobilize our people to reach more people for Christ.
- Small groups – How we fill and reproduce small groups at our church.
- Strategy – How we constantly evaluate and improve our church.
- Stewardship – How we develop extravagant givers in our church.
- Worship planning – How we plan, implement, and evaluate our services.
(Nelson Searcy’s 8 systems of a healthy church)
Our vision is that the Associate Pastor would begin with the Assimilation system – how we move people from first-time guests to fully-engaged members. This focus would help the Associate Pastor, as a new staff member, get to know new people, get to know current ministry leaders, and observe how we currently help people to connect to our church. Focusing on assimilation would include evaluating both the pastoral care and discipleship structures and processes at NewLife, and discerning what kind of teams, classes, or structures would enhance these elements at NewLife. The Associate Pastor can observe what is working well in our current church structure, what isn’t, and where there are opportunities for growth. The Associate Pastor will likely also lead a group or class in addition to finding other ways of connecting with and assimilating new people to the groups and ministries of our church. This first step will allow us to evaluate the Associate Pastor’s ability to build a system and to see how they interact with people at all levels of our church, while also giving them a chance to learn about our church, build relationships, and evaluate where there is a need for improvement.
If things are good after this three-month evaluation period, the Associate Pastor will continue to build up other systems in the church, especially building up the ministry and leadership system, with the potential of becoming a full-time staff member.
Other responsibilities:
- Report to pastor and elders, meeting weekly with the pastor and monthly with the elders.
- Arrive early and stay late on Sundays and share the pastoral responsibilities on that day as needed.
- Get to know the lay leaders, learn about our church and how things are done before suggesting improvements or changes.
- Potential for sharing preaching, teaching, pastoral care, administration, or other ministry or outreach responsibilities based on gifting and time available.
- Other tasks as assigned by Senior Pastor.
Church & community profile
NewLife is a non-denominational, evangelical church that was planted in 1992. While the church moved from building to building in Glastonbury from 1992-2013, we moved to our current location in Wethersfield in 2013, an office building on the corner of the Silas Deane Hwy and Mill St that we have rented ever since. Our sanctuary seats about 225, and we average about 100 adults and 30 children on a Sunday. NewLife draws from Wethersfield and the many towns around Wethersfield. The senior pastor, who has served in the role since 2006, is currently the only full-time staff member, and there is a paid nursery worker on Sundays. We currently do not have a paid administrative assistant, but plan to hire one after hiring for this position and discerning what the needs are. We financially contribute to missionaries and mission organizations on a local, national, and international level.
Wethersfield is a suburban community just south of Hartford of about 28,000 residents. Median age is 44.2 years old (CT average is 40.9), and median household income is $106,507 (CT average is $88,429). Estimated median house or condo value in 2022 was $306,763 (CT average is $347,200). We have a very good relationship with other churches in town, including worshiping in a town park every Labor Day Sunday with three of our sister churches.
How To Apply
To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to [email protected].