Lead Pastor at Grace Community Church Rochester NH

Grace Community Church is seeking someone to become our Lead Pastor upon retirement of our current lead pastor. The Lead Pastor provides primary spiritual, visionary, and strategic leadership to Grace Community Church.

We envision that the candidate will initially fill the role of Associate Pastor during a time of acclimation and transition, with the length of time based on the candidate's level of preparation. We hope this transition will occur in a short timeframe, with the time in the position of Lead Pastor measured in (many) years.

The ideal candidate will have the following:

• Master of Divinity or comparable graduate degree from an accredited evangelical, theological seminary or its equivalent.
• Training and experience necessary to lead a vibrant, growing congregation, including knowledge of multi-generational and multi-campus ministries, as well as leadership of paid staff and unpaid volunteers in a multi-staff ministry setting.
• 5+ years of experience as an associate or senior pastor at a church with 300+ Sunday attendance.

The primary responsibilities of the position after transition to Lead Pastor include the following:

• Provide primary spiritual, visionary, and strategic leadership for the church.
• Shape and oversee a comprehensive vision of discipleship for the congregation including a variety of pathways to meet the needs of an intergenerational church.
• Primary preacher, leading our preaching team, including strategic planning of sermon series and long term development of preaching team members.
• Provide organizational leadership to employees and lay leaders as needed, with a passion for developing new leaders.
• Shepherd the congregation, providing spiritual leadership and oversight of the pastoral care team.

Initial responsibilities as Associate Pastor would be worked out based on the candidate's strengths under the direction of the Lead Pastor.

The ideal candidate is characterized by the following:

• Spiritual maturity as a growing Christ-follower, demonstrated through a vibrant personal walk with God that overflows into the lives of others, exhibiting the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
• Able to subscribe without reservation to the Apostles' Creed.
• Proven ability to cast vision and craft effective strategies to lead people and staff through change.
• Consistent and objective decision-making skills.
• Effective communication skills: able to maintain healthy communication among various groups, including the leadership team, staff, and the congregation as a whole.
• Ability to build and maintain a cohesive and effective team spirit among staff and ministry leaders, fully aligned with Grace's mission, values, and statement of faith.
• Wisdom in knowing how to appropriately delegate responsibility.
• Approachability, humility, and compassion, exhibiting emotional intelligence and humor.