Other Details

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 occupies8.72 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 life-changing Bible teaching is featured on Something Good with Dr. Ron Jones, a daily (M-F) radio broadcast heard worldwide. The broadcast airs five times daily in the Virginia Beach area as an outreach tool for the church.

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, and restaurants 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.

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

9:15 am and 11 am 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 contemporary band and for special occasions, a modern choir.

• Care (birth to 18 months)
• Discover (19 months to 5 years)
• Train (6 years to 10 years)
• Equip (6th grade to 9th grade)
• Send (10th grade to 12th grade)

The Student Pastor Position

The student pastor at Atlantic Shores is a highly relational visionary leader and a dynamic communicator of biblical truth. The ideal candidate works well with an existing team and connects well with students and their parents. The candidate makes disciples of Jesus Christ who go and make disciples while also creating a ministry environment that is fun and attractive to students. Christ-like character, an obvious passion for Jesus and students, and proven experience in reaching unchurched students are crucial.

Reporting Relationships

Student Pastor

Reports to: Family Pastor

Supervises: Student ministry interns and lay ministry teams

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

• Plan, prepare, and implement ministry that encourages students to gather (worship), grow (discipleship), give (ministry), and go (evangelism) within a grace-filled community (fellowship).
• Give overall leadership to the student ministry (middle school, high school and college-age/young adults), including student ministry staff, volunteers, parents, and students.
• Plan, prepare, and implement all student ministry events and ministries including camp, mid-week, life groups, surf days, and more.
• Spend time building relationships with students and parents in a way that encourages them to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and Christ-centered relationships with others.
• Be the primary Bible teacher in the Student Ministry.
• Recruit, train, and mobilize a ministry team of adults for the student ministry.
• Oversee the student ministry budget and calendar processes and implementation.
• Lead the continued development and expansion of student ministry life groups.
• Lead the team in the continued development and implementation of outreach and discipleship strategies (including baptism goals).
• Lead the team in the development and implementation of partnering with parents in ministry.
• Lead the team in the continued development and implementation of strategies to develop student leaders who embrace Christ and his church.
• Give leadership to all aspects of the student ministry communications via web, social media, worship guide, mailers, text, etc.
• Develop a strategy for the student ministry to maintain a presence at area middle schools and high schools.
• Give leadership, vision and encouragement to our college students and young adult and leaders.

Candidate Profile

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

Education

• The successful Student 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 student ministry 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 is 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 to the 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.
• 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.