Lead Pastor of NextGen

Job Description

Job Description

Pinelake Church is a thriving multisite church serving communities across Mississippi through five campuses and a unified One Church strategy. Since its beginnings in 1971, Pinelake has grown steadily under faithful leadership and a deep conviction that the local church is God’s primary vehicle for life transformation. Today, more than 15,000 people gather weekly to worship, study Scripture, and live out the mission of helping people Learn from Christ, Live in Christ, and Lead others to Christ.

With a strong commitment to biblical teaching, discipleship, and community outreach, Pinelake is known for creating environments where people encounter the truth of God’s Word and experience life change. Their vision — to see Mississippi changed one Life Change Story at a time — drives every ministry area, including a robust NextGen ecosystem that invests deeply in kids, students, and families. Across all campuses, the One Church Team provides unified leadership, strategy, and resourcing that enables Pinelake to move collaboratively and consistently toward its mission.

The One Church NextGen Pastor provides strategic, spiritual, and cultural leadership for all NextGen ministries at Pinelake. This includes Kids, Students, Young Adults, and the School of Ministry across all five campuses. This leader champions a unified philosophy of NextGen discipleship, builds systems that scale, coaches campus leaders, and ensures every environment from babies to young adults helps people learn from Christ, live in Christ, and lead others to Christ. They serve as a key voice on the One Church Team, helping Pinelake move in a unified direction while honoring unique campus contexts. Above all, they model the emotional, spiritual, and relational health that is now central to the culture of Pinelake.

This is one of the most exciting NextGen opportunities in the country. Pinelake is spiritually hungry, emotionally healthy, organizationally rebuilding, and positioned for growth. The team is collaborative, humble, and deeply aligned around a shared mission to make disciples across Mississippi. The right leader will get to architect systems, shape culture, build teams, and influence thousands of kids, students, and families for decades to come.

• A spiritually attuned, emotionally healthy leader who embodies Pinelake’s “7 H’s”: humility, hunger, honesty, harmony, health, honor, and Holy Spirit-dependence.
• A strategist who can see the big picture, build systems, and coach campus staff toward unified execution.
• A collaborative leader who loves influencing through relationship rather than authority.
• A developer who invests deeply in staff, volunteers, and families.
• A steady presence who leads from authenticity, integrity, and a healthy home life.
• Someone who thrives in a fast-moving, relational, highly team-oriented culture.

Mission, Vision and Values

Pinelake exists to help people Learn from Christ, Live in Christ, and Lead others to Christ. Our vision is to see Mississippi changed one Life Change Story at a time . Everything we do in NextGen reflects this heartbeat — from teaching Scripture to empowering volunteers to creating consistent environments where kids and students encounter Jesus.

Staff Values

Pinelake staff culture is shaped by the “7 H’s”:

• Honesty
• Honor
• Humility
• Hunger
• Holy Spirit Dependence
• Harmony
• Health

Staff Culture

Pinelake has undergone a multi-year transformation toward emotional health, spiritual depth, relational honesty, and healthy family rhythms. Leaders are expected to live congruently — not with a polished front stage and a hidden backstage, but with authenticity, integrity, and openness.

The staff thrives through:

• Collaborative decision-making
• Honest feedback (“last 10%” conversations)
• Emotional and spiritual maturity
• Healthy boundaries and Sabbath rhythms
• A deep dependence on the Holy Spirit, not just strategy
• A culture where laughter and joy are essential

Key Responsibilities

• Provide central leadership and vision for Kids, Students, and Family Ministries across all campuses.
• Directly supervise the One Church Kids, Students, Young Adults, and School of Ministry leaders.
• Champion a unified NextGen philosophy of discipleship that aligns with Pinelake’s mission, vision, and values.
• Coach and develop NextGen staff (Kids Directors, Student Pastors, Preschool teams, etc.) across five campuses.
• Build systems, processes, and ministry playbooks that scale sustainably while allowing contextual expression.
• Lead One Church collaboration efforts — strategy, calendar, curriculum, events (e.g., camps, retreats).
• Ensure theological alignment, cultural embodiment, and healthy ministry leadership across teams.
• Partner closely with Worship, Communications, Groups, Operations, and Campus Pastors.
• Model emotional and spiritual health as a non-negotiable for ministry leadership.

Key Qualifications

• 10+ years leading in Student, Kids, NextGen, or Family Ministry in large-church or multisite environments.
• Proven ability to lead through influence, not just authority.
• Strong strategist with experience building scalable ministry systems.
• Demonstrated history of developing staff and volunteers.
• Theological alignment with Pinelake’s doctrinal positions (non-cessationist, soft complementarian, non-militant Reformed, Spirit-empowered ministry).
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s preferred.