Other Details

MinistryHub is honored to partner with Atlantic Shores Baptist Church in their search for a Discipleship & Community Life Pastor. Please direct all applications through MinistryHub and any inquiries to [email protected].

Church History

Founded in 1981 by Dr. George Sweet, Atlantic Shores Baptist Church grew from one family to a large church with an emphasis on outreach, discipleship, strong family values, and community. Today, this 34-year-old independent Baptist church occupies 8.72 acres at one of Virginia Beach’s busiest intersections. Atlantic Shores has over 1,000 people that call it their church home and has recently called only its fourth Lead Pastor in its 34-year history. Atlantic Shores has a strong vision and track record for reaching the community and the world. The church has a long-standing reputation for large scale outreach events that have impacted the community for the better. Its history and this heart to make a difference in the community continue today. In 36 short years ASBC has seen God reveal His glory; from the building of the first worship center in 1985 with multiple services, to the creation of Atlantic Shores Christian School, to the ministries and facilities in existence today. Dr. Ron Jones serves as the fourth Lead Pastor of Atlantic Shores Baptist Church. Ron’s Bible teaching for everyday life is featured on a daily (M-F) radio program called Something Good with Dr. Ron Jones.

Community

Virginia Beach is the most populous city in Virginia, as well as the 39th most populous in the United States. Located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach is included in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. This area, known as “America’s First Region”; also includes the independent cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Suffolk, as well as other smaller cities, counties, and towns of Hampton Roads.

Virginia Beach is a resort city with miles of beaches and hundreds of hotels, motels, andrestaurants along its oceanfront. Every year the city hosts the East Coast Surfing Champions as well as the North American Sand Soccer Championship. It is also home to several state parks, several long-protected beach areas, three military bases, a number of large corporations, and two universities. The city is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest pleasure beach in the world. It is located at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, the longest bridge-tunnel complex in the world.

Virginia Beach is only a three-hour drive to Washington, DC, and within a day’s drive or less from two-thirds of the U.S. population. Recently Virginia Beach was named the top overall mid-sized city in America by Di Magazine. Virginia Beach is internationally recognized as one of the best places to live, work, and do business. This strength comes not only from the city’s strategic location, but also from its diverse mix of industry attractions and people. The area is also home to three Naval bases, providing a rich population of America’s finest heroes.

Programming at Atlantic Shores Baptist Church

Atlantic Shores offers three Sunday morning worship services to fit the needs of individuals and families in the Tidewater and Hampton Roads area.

8:00am Classic Worship (Fellowship Hall) This service is the perfect place for those that enjoy traditional hymns and/or need an alternative time for worship. Message by Dr. Ron Jones.

9:15am and 11am Worship Service (Worship Center) God-centered, participative worship draws from a rich heritage of songs, hymns, and spiritual songs, including many that are new to the body of Christ. Supported by a combined band, orchestra, and modern choir. Message by Dr. Ron Jones.

• Shores Nursery (birth to 2 yrs old)
• Preschool large and small group
• Shore Kids & Kid’s Thang (k through 5 th grade large and small group)

The Community Life Pastor Position

Believing life change happens best in the context of authentic, biblical community as described in Acts 2:42-47, the Community Life Pastor at Shores oversees all aspects of discipleship as it happens through life groups and discipleship classes. Life groups are smaller gatherings of the church that organically S.E.R.V.E. together. The Community Life Pastor recruits, equips, encourages, and empowers life group leaders and coaches to fulfill the mission of the church to “glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ who go and make disciples.” The Community Life Pastor also oversees the process of assimilating people into the life of the church through our community and discipleship environments.

Reporting Relationships

Community Life Pastor

Reports to: Executive Pastor of Ministries

Supervises: Associate Pastor of Community Life

Goals and Expectations

• Be the resident “community life champion” and disciple-maker
• Multiply the number of life groups by recruiting, equipping, encouraging, and
• empowering life group leaders.
• Meet regularly with your life group leaders to encourage their personal growth and the
• growth of their life groups.
• Recruit and equip life group leaders that lead their life groups to S.E.R.V.E.
• Conduct regular life group leader training sessions.
• Lead your own life group.
• Ensure the easy migration of people in the church family into life groups.
• Oversee the implementation of the standardized curriculum taught by the life group
• leaders. Teach the weekly lesson to the life group leaders as a way of equipping them.
• Oversee and implement a detailed process from attraction to assimilation that helps
• people get connected in community and engage in discipleship at the church.
• Participate in pastoral duties, including weddings and funerals.

Candidate Profile

The following describes many of the characteristics of the ideal candidate for the Community Life Pastor position.

Education

The successful Community Life Pastor candidate will have earned, at minimum, a degree from an accredited Bible college or seminary and will be able to articulate biblical theology well. The successful person will demonstrate a passion for lifelong learning as well as personal and professional development toward a biblically informed theology of discipleship in the local church.

Experience and Skills

The successful candidate is a leader of leaders and will have a proven track record of working in a setting committed to making disciples of Jesus Christ with a high degree of creativity and passion. The candidate will possess strong inter-personal and organizational skills in order to recruit and shepherd volunteers, recruit and build teams, and develop lay leaders.

Personal Characteristics

• Strong and growing relationship with Jesus Christ, guided by a passion to follow the principles found in Scripture for living a life of service to God
• Meets the qualifications of an elder found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9
• Demonstrates a high level of integrity and guided by a biblical set of ethical principles
• A servant-leader who can embrace the unified mission at Shores to “make disciples of Jesus Christ who go and make disciples,” the vision, and the strategy in place related tothe 5Gs – Gather (worship), Grow (discipleship), Give (ministry), Go (evangelism), Grace (fellowship)
• “Can-do” spirit who works well on a team
• Chemistry with the people of Atlantic Shores that “fits”
• Capacity for leadership commensurate with a large church
• Practice the personal stewardship of your finances consistent with Scripture
• High relational skills and an infectious love for people and God’s church
• A doctrine and philosophy of ministry that matches that of Atlantic Shores
• A high loyalty to Jesus, the local church, and the community

Discipleship and Community Life Pastor AD

Atlantic Shores Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, VA, is seeking a full-time Discipleship and Community Life Pastor with proven skills in disciple-making, small group leadership development and implementation, and spiritual formation. A highly relational and theologically trained person is a must.

The qualified candidate is a leader of leaders that serves on the senior leadership team and will implement the disciple-making strategy of the church through life groups and the Shores Bible Institute. Candidates must have a proven track record in recruiting, equipping, encouraging, and empowering lay leaders that can fulfill the mission of the church to “glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ who go and make disciples.”