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20663

Lake Church

Worship Pastor

Arlington,
Texas
Entry
Junior
Mid
Director
Executive
The Worship Pastor’s primary responsibility is to assist the Lead Pastor in the worship ministries of the church. This person must be skilled in the area of band leadership and have a strong desire to mentor and train young worship leaders. The Worship Pastor’s secondary role is to lead in areas that directly relate to all creative elements of the church. This person must have a heart for creativity and the ability to carry out the look and feel of the church. Creating environments (audio, visual, design, etc…) that facilitate worshipful experiences and engaging environments are part of this role. This position also helps provide leadership to all aspects of the church that lead the congregation to encounter God in a creative, relevant manner consistent with the stated purpose, vision and strategy of the church.
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Why We Love This Opportunity

I’ve lived in the DFW Metroplex for years, and if I’m honest, that’s part of why this search means something to me personally;  I’m not just recruiting for a role in a city I looked up on a map. I know Arlington. I know what it’s like to sit in DFW traffic, to raise a family here, to watch this region grow faster than almost anywhere else in the country. So when I say I think this is a great opportunity, I mean it as someone who could just as easily be sitting in the congregation on a Sunday morning as running the search for who stands up front.

What draws me to Lake Church specifically is that it doesn’t feel like a church trying to be something it’s not. “Glorify God. Pursue People.” is simple on purpose, and the “we’re an imperfect people, walking with one another” posture is refreshing in a search world where a lot of churches oversell their polish. Lake Church has real history here,  almost 90 years in Arlington, real staff longevity, and a leadership structure that’s built for health, not ego: a Lead Pastor with genuine accountability around him, deacons who function as disciple-makers rather than gatekeepers. That kind of foundation matters enormously for whoever steps into a role like Worship Pastor, because it means they’re not walking into chaos or a power vacuum, they’re walking into a healthy, established team.

And then there’s the city itself. I get to tell candidates, honestly, that Arlington isn’t a compromise,  it’s the opportunity. Sitting right between Dallas and Fort Worth, it’s one of the most diverse cities in the entire country, growing, full of career options whether it’s this candidate or their spouse building a career, and genuinely affordable compared to the rest of the Metroplex. I’ve watched friends move here for “just a job” and end up staying because the schools were better than they expected, the community was warmer than they expected, and the cost of living let them actually build a life instead of just surviving one.

So when I talk to candidates about this Worship Pastor role, I’m not just describing a job description — I’m describing a church I’d want leading worship in my own city, in a place I’d recommend to my own friends and family without hesitation. That’s not something I can say about every search that crosses my desk, and it’s exactly why this one has my full attention.

A great match for this position would be:

  • Someone who leads worship as a shepherd first and a musician second. This role calls for real musical and creative competence; someone who can lead a band, build a set list, chart music, and speak fluently across the full creative arts spectrum, from vocals and instrumentation to sound, lighting, and stage design. A degree in music or worship is a plus, but what matters more is a proven track record of leading congregational worship well and a genuine sense of call to this specific kind of ministry.
  • The right person is a builder of people, not just a builder of services. Lake Church wants someone who lights up at the thought of mentoring young and emerging worship leaders, who will pour into the youth praise team the same way they’d pour into a Sunday morning band, and who sees volunteers not as a staffing problem to solve but as people to develop. This is a role for someone who recruits, trains, and shepherds a team — and genuinely enjoys doing it.
  • Because Lake Church is staff-led with team accountability, the best fit is someone collaborative rather than territorial. This person will work hand-in-hand with the Lead Pastor, Executive Pastor, and the Production and Communications teams on everything from acoustics to stage décor;  so someone who wants to build worship in isolation, or who bristles at shared ownership of “their” creative vision, won’t thrive here. The healthiest candidate brings strong ideas and a strong ego check in the same package.
  • Personally, this candidate lives what they lead: a growing walk with the Lord marked by real Bible study and prayer, a home life in good order, a heart for evangelism, and a consistent tithing lifestyle. Someone doctrinally aligned with the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) will feel at home theologically, and someone drawn to Lake Church’s “imperfect people, walking with one another” posture will feel at home relationally.
  • Finally, this is someone ready to put down roots in the church and in Arlington itself. Lake Church’s staff longevity says this isn’t a quick stepping-stone role, and Arlington’s affordability, strong schools, and remarkable diversity make it an easy place for a family to settle in for the long haul. The ideal candidate is looking for exactly that: a healthy church to grow with and a city to call home, not just a next job.
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About This Organization

Lake Church is a Southern Baptist congregation in Arlington, Texas, one of the most diverse cities in the country, sitting in the heart of the DFW Metroplex. Founded in 1938, the church has grown into a multi-ministry campus that today draws roughly 1,000 people across two Sunday services (9:30 and 11:00 AM). Their mission is simple: Glorify God. Pursue People. They describe themselves as “an imperfect people… walking with one another,” humbled to worship a perfect God and committed to discipling one another through real, missional community rather than a spectator experience.

That mission plays out through five core values they call their “five hills”: Pray (covering every member and the city in prayer), Disciple (walking alongside kids and families for the long haul), Hospitality (becoming known as the community’s home), Transform (strengthening the city through business, jobs, and education), and Plant (investing in starting new churches). Doctrinally, Lake Church holds to the Baptist Faith and Message (2000), affirming Scripture, the Trinity, salvation through Christ, and baptism and the Lord’s Supper as their two ordinances.

Today the church is led by Lead Pastor Dr. Eric Herrstrom, continuing its focus on biblical teaching, community outreach, and global church planting while keeping a casual, family-oriented feel in the Greater Arlington area. Long-tenured staff and deep community relationships run through the culture, along with a saying you’ll hear often: “We are who we are because we were who we were” — a reminder of God’s redemptive history in and through Lake Church. Governance is staff-led with team accountability: dedicated teams shape personnel and budgeting decisions, a Pastoral Counsel cares for the Lead Pastor’s heart and provides him accountability, and deacons function as disciple-makers rather than decision-makers. A new Worship Pastor would report directly to the Lead Pastor.

Beyond Sunday mornings, Lake Church runs life-stage ministries, care ministry, life groups, and local and global missions with about 75% of the congregation plugged into a small group, and roughly 50 years of ongoing mission partnerships around the world. The church has also helped launch several community-facing partners: a counseling center (Impact Counseling, begun in 2005), a sports and recreation ministry, a learning academy, and a school for faith and the arts. It’s a church that takes both gathering and sending seriously and is looking for their next worship pastor to join in their mission.

A Church Connected to the Community

Beyond Sunday mornings, Lake Church runs life-stage ministries, care ministry, life groups, and local and global missions — and has helped launch community-facing partners like a counseling center, a sports and rec ministry, a learning academy, and a school for faith and the arts. It’s a church that takes both gathering and sending seriously — which is the environment a new worship pastor would be stepping into.

Location

Arlington sits right in the middle of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, about 20 miles west of Dallas and 15 miles east of Fort Worth, giving residents easy access to two major job markets, DFW International Airport, and everything the Metroplex has to offer, while still having its own distinct identity and community feel. With close to 400,000 residents, it’s one of the largest cities in Texas, but it carries a hometown, family-oriented atmosphere rather than a big-city one.

Diversity is one of Arlington’s defining traits. WalletHub’s 2026 study ranked Arlington the No. 3 most diverse large city in the entire country which is up from No. 4 the year before, and the highest ranking of any city in North Texas. That diversity shows up not just in race and ethnicity, but in the mix of languages, backgrounds, household types, and life stages represented across the city, making it a place where newcomers from just about anywhere can find community.

The local economy gives candidates real career runway, whether for themselves or a spouse. Arlington is home to major employers like General Motors’ Arlington Assembly plant, UT Arlington, Texas Health Resources, the Texas Rangers, GM Financial, and JPMorgan Chase, alongside a strong base of aerospace and defense (Bell, Lockheed Martin, CAE), advanced manufacturing, and medical services companies. D.R. Horton, a Fortune 500 homebuilder, is headquartered here. It’s a city in active growth mode, with ongoing development around UT Arlington and ongoing investment in new business and residential space.

Families relocating to Arlington will find strong educational options. Arlington ISD had four high schools named to U.S. News & World Report’s Best High Schools list, and its early college programs are remarkable,  more than 90% of AISD students earn both a high school diploma and an associate degree by graduation, compared to roughly 40% statewide. The district also runs 53 elementary schools, and UT Arlington adds a major university presence right in the city.

On top of strong job and school options, Arlington is an easy, affordable place to live. The median home price runs around $300,000, and the overall cost of living stays close to the national average; very competitive for a city connected to a major metro. Add in about 235 sunny days a year, the 1,300-acre River Legacy Park, Six Flags Over Texas, the Texas Rangers, and a growing Entertainment District full of restaurants and breweries, and it’s a city that offers newcomers a genuinely good quality of life alongside real opportunity.

Position Profile

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