Development pastor sought
Do you enjoy seeing people grow? Do you create networks easily? Are you missionary at your core and keen for a challenge?
Opawa Baptist is a middle sized church in a working class area of Christchurch. After a number of rocky years, the church has made significant changes and is looking to a new future. Our vision is to enable people to walk and grow with Jesus, reflecting his love in our communities and beyond.
We are looking for another person (0.75 of full/time) to join a staff team of four. All our current staff work part-time, and we want to continue this ethos, as a way of respecting the workplace ministry of church people.
Our three year focus includes
a) training another generation of leaders
b) communicating into the wider community
c) developing wholistic lifestyle teaching as part of our mission to the community
We want to employ a Development pastor as part of meeting these objectives.
You will need to:
1. Share communication load in evening service.
2. Network with church community ministries, to increase mission impact
3. Develop leadership
4. Create structures for spiritual development
5. Enhance the sense of community and connection within church
Plus there is some slush time to suit the passion of the person.
You will be:
a) able to work with existing staff team
b) committed to Opawa’s journey of mission and change
c) a realist and a people lover, who can work with what is and who is.
d) ready to laugh
For more information:
Steve Taylor, +64 3 337-3831
A note from Lynne:
As a Pastor's wife, I have just been sent a survey form from a University student about how clergy partners cope with role conflicts when their spouse is called into ministry as a Baptist pastor.
Reading through the questions I realised again the sense of freedom that I have at Opawa Baptist Church. The form asked me to quantify the number hours per week I thought I, my church, and the Baptist Union would like me to spend in various tasks, such as care of my family, working, and doing a variety of church tasks (eg administration, teaching, visiting, evangelism etc). I put some numbers in the section under "Me" and left the "My Church" and "Baptist Union" blank.
I wrote on the form, "I don't consider my church has any prescribed opinion on how I should spend my time. (They would consider caring for my family (including myself) of primary importance.) I feel a huge degree of freedom to be myself and use my gifts as seems appropriate."
I am grateful for the way you are allowing me to find my place and for the way that you have communicated appreciation for the things that I do. Thanks for the freedom to be me.
God you did not just create the world,
but you sustain it,
and so we thankyou for those who sustain our world,
who keep records and handle paper and prepare accounts and answer queries,
all part of work, all part of your ongoing work in the world.
God we think of Joseph in the Bible,
made governor,
who kept records of grain,
brought and sold, did the paperwork
Today we pray for office workers who like Joseph who keep records and work with paper,
Thank you for the things they enjoy about their work,
chance to put learned skills into practise
enjoyment of work satisfaction and work colleagues
opportunity to learn and develop
to work with people and to be able to help people
of being able to help people
There are all part of the way you made us, so we thank you for jobs that help us reach our God-given potential.
There are times when office work is frustrating,
when the job is boring and lacks challenge
when accounts don’t balance and computer hiccup and printers don’t print,
when the instructions are unclear.
There are the challenge of uncompleted tasks,
of language and culture difficulties,
of needing to think outside the square,
of coping the interruptions and having the discipline to try and nut things out for oneself
In these challenges and frustrations, we pray, God the sustainer,
that you would enable office workers
to act like Joseph,
to keep integrity and honesty, to set a good example
to remain motivated in the tedious tasks
to treat people with tolerance, understanding and patience
May God the sustainer, be honoured through the life and witness of our office workers we pray,
Amen