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PASTORAL JOB DESCRIPTION

Welcome to the Spring Lake CRC!  Our church has a rich history that comes from being founded almost 140 years ago and we are proud of our heritage and longevity.  With this as a backdrop, today we’re just as excited about being located in a growing populace of younger families and a continued strong economic base, coupled with our location near Lake Michigan in what is a very popular – and beautiful - recreational area.  When we recently polled our membership to hear their voices, we realized we have enjoyed and been blessed with a number of positive qualities, such as being authentically welcoming, financially stable, and confident in our ability to attract and retain top leadership.  You will see in our profile that despite the challenges of COVID, our congregation not only held virtual services and meetings, but we forged ahead undaunted with our plans to totally renovate our exterior and interior of our church building, with the result being a much more modern, inviting, and functional space that accommodates multiple uses beyond our Sunday worship.  It is with this spirit that we seek a best-fit pastor with the vision and the courage to lead us toward an even brighter tomorrow!

PASTORAL JOB DESCRIPTION

Welcome to the Spring Lake CRC!  Our church has a rich history that comes from being founded nearly 140 years ago and we are proud of our heritage and longevity.  With this as a backdrop, today we’re just as excited about being located in a growing populace of younger families and a continued strong economic base, coupled with our location near Lake Michigan in what is a very popular – and beautiful - recreational area.  When we recently polled our membership to hear their voices, we realized we have enjoyed and been blessed with a number of positive qualities, such as being authentically welcoming, financially stable, and confident in our ability to attract and retain top leadership.  You will see in our profile that despite the challenges of COVID, our congregation not only held virtual services and meetings, but we forged ahead undaunted with our plans to totally renovate our exterior and interior of our church building, with the result being a much more modern, inviting, and functional space that accommodates multiple uses beyond our Sunday worship.  It is with this spirit that we seek a best-fit pastor with the vision and the courage to lead us toward an even brighter tomorrow!

PASTOR’S GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

The Pastor is to serve God and the church by:

  • Providing biblical, spiritual, pastoral and visionary leadership within the framework of the church’s overall vision, mission and purpose.

  • Promoting the spiritual health, growth and well-being of the congregation through preaching, teaching, prayer and administration of the sacraments.

  • Supporting the Pastoral care needs of the congregations thru building relationships with members and visitors.

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Be a committed Christian, speaking freely about a personal relationship with the Lord.

  • Be a person of prayer, a student of the Bible, and be committed to personal spiritual growth.

  • Be convinced of the doctrines of the Reformed faith.

  • Be gifted in building relationships and fostering the building of relationships among others.

  • Demonstrate a personal lifestyle which serves as a model for the congregation, balancing commitments to church, self and family, while maintaining a sense of humor.

  • Have a love for the Christian Reformed Church, submitting to accountability, acknowledging the authority of the Body of Christ.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Possess excellent communications skills with a love for communicating God’s Word through preaching and teaching.

  • Have a strong conviction, combined with training, to help the church reach the lost for Christ.

  • Possess strong pastoral care skills, trained in the art of listening and spiritual counsel.   

  • Possess management skills in cooperative leadership, combined with an ability to multi-task.

  • Possess the education and academic training required of Christian Reformed ministers in order to serve in the denomination – engaging in on-going professional education.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

WORSHIP:

  • Proclaim the Word of God from the pulpit from biblical perspective.

  • Plan and lead worship services in conjunction with the worship planning committee.

  • Administer the sacraments as scheduled from the church calendar.

  • Lead Sunday worship services, plus special services as coordinated with the council such as Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, etc.

  • Attend worship planning committee meetings.

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OUTREACH & GROWTH:

  • Encourage all members to make guests and visitors feel welcomed in worship and ministry programs.

  • Support the development of materials and resources to be distributed to newcomers.  

  • Demonstrate involvement in church and local outreach programs in the community.

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WELCOMING AND ENFOLDING OF NEW MEMBERS:

  • Visit, or arrange for a visit, to new families or individuals who have been attending regularly.  Provide information about our church and answer any questions that they may have.

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LEADERSHIP:  

The pastor provides leadership in the church’s ministry by:

  • Working in partnership with the administration of the church office, and in partnership with consistory in overseeing the work of various committees and staff.

  • Supporting and assisting the worship planners and Elder teams in their responsibilities.

  • Supporting and encouraging all ministry committees.

  • Encouraging members with leadership potential to use their gifts in church ministry.

  • Engaging in visioning: Providing direction and new ideas for all church ministries, encourage new outreach ministries, promote faithful stewardship and financial giving, and participate in council retreats.

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PASTORAL CARE:

  • Is the first contact for primary responsible pastoral care.

  • Delegates and shares pastoral care work with the district elder and deacon.

  • Makes routine hospital visits (especially in emergencies and crisis situations).

  • Makes periodic visits to seniors and the shut-ins.

  • Makes baptism, profession of faith and pre marriage counseling when needed.

  • Makes pastoral visits as requested by the elders.

  • Notifies the congregation of pastoral needs through church call/email links and church bulletin.

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EDUCATION:

  • Provide spiritual/biblical instruction to high school students and above, leading to public profession of faith.

  • Provide the support for a Heidelberg catechism class.

  • Support the church’s commitment to Christian day school education.

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WORKING CONDITIONS:

  • The position requires considerable flexibility in hours available for work including evenings and weekends. The church will provide an office, and equipment, with secretarial assistance.

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OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Regularly attend Executive, Elder and Council meetings, and at least one Deacon meeting per year.

  • Provide leadership for weddings and funerals, when requested, for church members. Requests for such services from non-CRC members should be first cleared with Consistory Executive.

  • Secure marriage preparation sessions for engaged couples.

  • Attend continuing education courses, workshops, seminars, retreats etc,

  • Attend Classis meetings as requested by Council as well as Synod meetings of the CRC.

  • Establish a Pastor Relations Committee as a personal support for self and family.

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 ACCOUNTABILITY:

  • Serves under the supervision of Council for administrative matters and under the supervision of Consistory for spiritual and pastoral care matters.

  • Presents oral and written reports of all visits and meetings at each Consistory meeting.

  • This job description may be reviewed at the request of the Pastor, Consistory or Council.

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