LOVE PROCLAIM RESTORE Faith Community Church Dublin, Ohio Our mission is to make apprentices of Christ who love God and neighbor, proclaim the kingdom, and restore lives. Senior Pastor Opportunity Profile May 2018 FINAL Faith Community Church Dublin, OH Senior Pastor Opportunity Profile June 2018 1
Faith Community Church (www.fccdublin.com) in Dublin, Ohio represents an excellent opportunity for an energetic and relational pastor to join with this congregation of about 100 people as they prayerfully anticipate their next season of fruitful ministry. Following 33 years of faithful service, current Senior Pastor Nick Cannell is retiring. He and his wife have loved this church well, and are now eager to pass the baton of leadership to the next pastor as they begin a new chapter in their own lives. This transition creates an exceptional opportunity for a gifted pastor/shepherd to join with the Faith community and to build on a positive foundation for the future. Overview Faith Community church is located in northwest Columbus s growing suburb of Dublin (population 47,000). The region is known for excellent educational options, including public, private and homeschooling options for K-12. Close to several colleges and universities, including The Ohio State University, Dublin is home to thousands of acres of parklands and has a healthy mix of large companies like Honda, Cardinal Health, and the Wendy s Corporation, as well as medium and small IT and R&D businesses. Faith Community is a regional congregation that draws people from numerous areas around the city. Over the next 30 years, Central Ohio is projected to add 1 million residents, making Dublin and its surrounding communities a great place to call home. This growth will present many new ministry opportunities as well. Pastor Nick Cannell was the first pastor called to serve this congregation in 1984. Faith Community Church is one of only a handful of churches in the Columbus region affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America (www.efca.org). A warm and friendly church atmosphere abounds and God s Word is faithfully preached and held in high esteem. With a mission to make apprentices of Christ who love God and neighbor, proclaim the kingdom, and restore lives, Faith Community is a multi-generational congregation that seeks to train and equip people for personal and family discipleship, relational evangelism, and performing acts of mercy. There are no strangers at Faith. Hospitality is taken seriously and people are eager to make newcomers feel at home. In addition to the Senior Pastor, the church is blessed with a small but talented part-time staff including Loren Miller, Worship Pastor; Doug Dunsmoor, Equipping Pastor; Hope Boothe, Administrative Assistant; and a recently hired Youth Director. Worship services are held at 10 a.m. on Sunday and offer contemporary worship and biblical, text-based messages that encourage and educate. Sunday classes are held for all ages at 11:20 a.m. and multiple small groups called Faith Groups that meet approximately twice a month at the church Faith Community Church Dublin, OH Senior Pastor Opportunity Profile June 2018 2
on the second and fourth Sundays of the month, and in homes on various days of the week. These groups exist to help attenders to apply biblical principles from the weekly sermon, to learn how to engage in essential spiritual practices, and to encourage one another in obedience to Christ. The church is a congregational governed church, led by a group Elders. The Opportunity Faith Community Church is eager to welcome a caring, teaching pastor who will inspire and lead the congregation, thus facilitating their efforts in meeting the goals of the mission statement (to know Jesus and make Him known). It is a theologically conservative congregation with a unified value for relevant, Bible-centered teaching. The Word of God is central to worship and teaching, and people readily uphold biblical authority. With regard to flexibility, the congregation tends to be a bit settled, preferring established ways of doing things. This means the new Senior Pastor will need to engage the process of innovation or improvement with plenty of conversation, clear biblical rationale, time for feedback and a plan for implementation that is completed at a measured pace. The incoming Senior Pastor at Faith Community Church will find a warm, welcoming congregation that feels like family. With the retirement of its well-loved pastor, there are bound to be some comparisons, but Pastor Nick s positive legacy also provides a wake of good will for Faith s next called leader. Relationships are important here, so the next pastor will need to take time to get to know people, to listen and learn their stories, and to build trust. As with any multigenerational congregation, it is important for the pastor to relate as easily with a young child or teenager, as with a 70 year old. This congregation wants to share the warmth and love they feel for their church with others but need a plan to attract new people, especially those with children and youth, and incorporate them into the life of the church. The incoming pastor will have a unique opportunity to be a catalyst for developing a more outgoing church body. This will include working with current leaders to define the vision and create a ministry plan that can work for this church. With limited financial and human resources of a small church, it is essential that the plan be well thought out and attainable. Once a clear plan is in place, the people must be engaged to help put plans into action. Many at Faith are unassuming, so personal invitations to participation are most effective. Faith wants to make a greater difference in the community of Dublin, but wonders about how best to do so, especially since many attenders don't actually live in the immediate area. They also see opportunities to further develop some of the current ministries, such as the English Conversation Group and the Justice Ministry, and ask questions about how other ideas like Vacation Bible School, the annual community soccer clinic, or developing a community garden on the property might make a stronger impact with those who live in the areas around the church. The next pastor will bring a fresh perspective to the conversation, helping them to determine and decide what would be most effective. Ministry to the next generation is a high value and the church is eager to explore fresh ways to develop a vibrant youth ministry that is attractive and sticky. The recent hire of a new Youth Director with experience in Young Life is a great first step, but the incoming Senior Pastor will have an opportunity to mentor and support this young leader, resourcing ideas and options that empower the development of a thriving Christ-honoring student environment where youth feel valued, connected and engaged. Faith Community Church Dublin, OH Senior Pastor Opportunity Profile June 2018 3
Several outreach ministries are led by volunteers, so the incoming Senior Pastor will have an opportunity to further develop and coach the ministry leadership already serving within the congregation, and to ensure the church has a process to draw out, train and equip more people to actively engage in ministry and leadership inside and outside the walls of the church. As people are deployed into areas of service, there will be a growing opportunity to invite participation, to tell the stories of the good things that are happening, and to continually inspire and motivate the people to come together to help the plans to become more effective and extend their outreach. The people are hungry for a refreshed sense of shared purpose and clear plan for the future. They look forward to working with their new pastor to understand how they can better serve and influence their community and the world for Christ. With the right leader in place, the best days for Faith Community Church are yet to come! The Candidate Faith Community Church is eager to welcome a humble, servant-hearted pastor who loves Jesus and loves people deeply. The right fit for this church will be an energized, fun and welcoming shepherd/ leader, who enjoys linking arms with others and is willing to pitch in and help. The incoming pastor will model a life of faith by inviting people in, encouraging growth, listening to the stories, and joyfully pointing people toward Jesus in the ups and downs of daily life. As a church that highly values a text-based approach to biblical teaching, the next Senior Pastor for Faith Community will be well-grounded in God s Word, preaching with personal passion and interpretive integrity. As life in this world becomes increasingly complex, it is essential that Faith s pastor be a man of tenacious prayer, who readily turns to God as the source of help and hope, communicating biblical truth to others with grace and love. The right fit for the church is someone who is able to authentically connect Scripture with the realities and challenges of life, being appropriately transparent with his own faith journey, and illustrating the texts in ways that meaningfully connects with the congregation. Relationships are important here, so Faith Community would love to welcome a friendly and approachable pastor who is naturally outgoing and enjoys getting to know people and their stories. Whether lingering over a delicious meal at the fifth Sunday potluck, inviting people over for a BBQ, serving with others at the soccer clinic, or greeting people when out in the community, the right candidate will convey a genuine, caring presence and will take an active interest in others. It is not every pastor who is comfortable following a long-tenured leader, but that is the wonderful reality of this call. It will be important that the next pastor appreciate the positive foundation laid by Pastor Nick and honor that legacy. At the same time, he should be confident in his own gifts and strengths, courageously leaning into the potential to develop the numerous opportunities that will help the church to grow and advance. People want to participate when plans are clear and opportunities are well organized and well communicated. It will be important for the Senior Pastor at Faith Community to develop and communicate the kinds of organizational processes and systems that serve the mission of the church and help the people to engage in meaningful ways. As with any long-standing ministry, there is an opportunity for the incoming Senior Pastor to view the ministries of Faith with fresh eyes; to assess what is working and what may need to change in order to be a place that is Faith Community Church Dublin, OH Senior Pastor Opportunity Profile June 2018 4
accessible to newcomers. The people love their church so it will be important that potential tweaks or changes be communicated thoughtfully and with appreciation for all that has come before. It is also essential the incoming Pastor take time to understand the context, gather input and invite ideas from the people when thinking about how best to advance the church in the future. Once plans are in place, the Senior Pastor will be called on to invite participation and to follow them through to successful conclusion, lovingly supporting, managing and celebrating ministry volunteers and staff along the way. With this kind of leader in place, the future of Faith Community Church looks exciting and bright! Preferred Candidate Qualifications: Meets requirements of overseer in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:7-9 Master s Degree Required. Master of Divinity preferred. 5-7 years of years of pastoral experience in growing ministry Experience in a regular rhythm of preaching/teaching. Demonstrated ability to develop and oversee both paid staff and volunteer teams Spiritually mature, emotionally stable and relationally intelligent Theological alignment with the statement of faith of the Evangelical Free Church of America (www.efca.org) Willing to pursue EFCA licensure Excellent interpersonal skills Inquiry Process If after reading this description you have some interest in the Senior Pastor position at Faith Community Church and you feel you meet the qualifications for the role, you are invited to submit the following information for consideration: 1. Your resume or CV (in Word doc format only) 2. Electronic links to audio/video of your teaching/preaching (2-3 examples, please) 3. Results of any personality or strengths assessments you have taken in the past three years (StrengthsFinder, DiSC, Myers-Briggs, etc.). 4. A current headshot photo of yourself, as well as a current photo of your family, and a written family bio 5. Five references, including: One supervisor or overseer (could be a board member), two or three staff associates, with at least one from someone you have supervised, and one or two personal. NOTE: These references will be contacted later in the process and only with your prior approval. 6. Written responses to the following questions (in Word doc format only): We believe that one can learn only so much from a resume. Your responses will help us to gain a more complete picture of you and your leadership. Faith Community Church Dublin, OH Senior Pastor Opportunity Profile June 2018 5
1. Describe your faith in Jesus Christ. Tell us how you came to personal faith and something about your journey into ministry. What aspects of ministry are most personally satisfying to you? 2. What is it about the opportunity at Faith Community Church that attracts you to this position? 3. What are two or three of your core strengths? Please share two or three examples of situations that describe how you successfully engaged your core strengths to advance a ministry initiative. 4. Share a ministry experience that refined you through failure and a ministry experience that refined you through success. 5. What are the key factors that you believe should be present in your next church and ministry in order for you to be optimized? Please submit your information to: Kara Bubar Search Associate kara@nlmoore.com 865-200-7983 Or Nancy Moore Lead Consultant nancy@nlmoore.com 651-335-6527 Faith Community Church Dublin, OH Senior Pastor Opportunity Profile June 2018 6