Pastor of Assimilation and Groups
Pastor of Assimilation and Groups
Our vision at Stone Ridge Community Church in Decorah, Iowa is to create a place where everyone is known and loved. Our desire is for everyone who walks through our doors on a Sunday morning to make connections in a meaningful way (i.e. a handshake, hug, engaging conversation).
Our mission is to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. What does someone who is in a growing relationship with Jesus do? We believe they do the following: pursue intimacy with God, community with insiders, and influence with outsiders. We want to help people read their bibles, connect in small groups, and invite their friends in the community to church.
Our values are the following: the word of God, hungry and available, a spirit of humility, a willingness to serve, and a desire to follow. We can work with anyone who has these values.
We operate as a conservative non-denominational bible church. I would describe our church culture as very laid back. There isn't a lot of red tape and bureaucracy. We have a lot of young families who have 3 to 4 kids with limited availability. Typically, both parents work full time jobs, and have full schedules throughout the week.
Luther college is in our town and both the basketball coach, and the baseball coach are on our leadership team. Consequently, we have a lot of college students who attend on Sunday morning. They provide a lot of energy for our service with their presence and participation.
I would describe the culture of our county (approximately 20,000) as very liberal. Most if not all the churches in our community are Catholic or Lutheran. Nevertheless, God continues to bless us every Sunday with new visitors. We currently run about 300 on Sunday morning and this past Easter we had 560.
Position Overview
The Pastor of Assimilation and Groups is primarily responsible for assisting new members in developing a sense of belonging and to help current members maintain that sense of belonging. The person in this position has the responsibility of developing processes to integrate each member into the overall church structure and get them connected and involved for personal spiritual development and service to others.
Responsibilities
Develop and implement an assimilation process for new members. Connect new and existing members into their areas of interest. This person will encourage the new people to attend our next steps class and membership class. They will plan events and retreats throughout the year for our people to connect with one another. This will require good administration, planning, and organization skills. This person will meet with new and existing families to identify potential leaders and then train them to lead and launch a small group of their own.
Basically, this person will be like a social butterfly who just loves to meet and connect with people and find ways to plug them into the body of Christ. Rick Warren always says, “If you give people a job and a relationship they will stick and stay at your church.” So, we’re looking for someone who can help us do that!
Qualifications
Meet biblical qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9. Associate or Bachelor’s degree preferred from an accredited institution and/or equivalent experience in church leadership and administration.
We are looking for the right fit based on character, competence, and chemistry. This person will be a leader of leaders. Someone who is great at building relationships and connecting much like a recruiter.
If you feel you might be a good fit for our church then please send the following: a cover letter briefly explaining why you believe you would be a good fit, along with your faith journey/story/testimony. If you’d like to send this information on a brief video link that would be great; otherwise, in a word document is fine. You can send it to pastor Ed Krawczyk at edmsu1@yahoo.com
Salary is dependent upon experience.