Senior Pastor

Hope is a place where Jesus is life; the rest are just details. For this reason, we are seeking a Senior Pastor to work with us to share the unmerited love of Christ with the community and world. Hope has experienced significant growth in recent years and is both excited and challenged by the opportunity to continue to reach more people with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Our Senior Pastor will work with a vibrant and fun-loving staff, specifically in the areas of worship, congregational care, and shared ministry. This includes an emphasis on Biblical preaching, leading liturgy, and serving the community with joy, laughter, and spiritual maturity. All of this can be done amongst the beauty of the Coachella Valley.

Key Responsibilities:

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE FIRST YEAR:

• Leadership- Offer primary leadership in a collaborative environment with the current pastoral leadership team.
• Intentionally lead staff and congregation to instill our values across all ministries and both service styles of the church
• Traditional Worship – Plan and execute (in partnership with other pastors, the Director of Music, and the Choir Director) the weekly
• Traditional Worship services. Preach and administer the sacraments during Sunday services and midweek services during the season of Lent.
• Modern Worship – Be a regular presence in the Modern Worship service. This presence could be reflected in multiple ways, such as preaching, administering communion, or making announcements. Any of these methods would be done in coordination with the pastor of the Modern service, who is responsible for the planning and executing those services.
• Equipping the congregation for ministry both inside and outside of the church. This could include methodologies such as leading bible studies, teaching classes, training events, or planning seminars with guest speakers.

What a Strong Candidate Would Look Like:

• Effective communicator and teacher
• Able to share leadership and work collaboratively as a team
• Ability to learn and innovate new and creative ways of doing ministry with an entrepreneurial spirit
• Able to connect with a diverse congregation (diverse in socio-economics, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, political viewpoints)
• Doesn’t take themselves too seriously and has a great sense of humor
• A Master’s Degree is required
• Current ELCA ordination is not required, but the new Senior Pastor will need to become rostered with the ELCA if they are not currently