Lead Pastor

Lead Pastor Profile

Long Hill Chapel Chatham, New Jersey

Long Hill Chapel enters this next season with a healthy and stable foundation and a sense of hope about the future. The church benefits from meaningful worship, biblical teaching, strong relationships, committed leaders and volunteers, and people who desire to follow Jesus and serve others. These are important strengths to recognize and steward as the church prayerfully considers what God may be calling us to next. The next Lead Pastor will have the opportunity to build upon that foundation while helping the congregation take meaningful next steps. We recognize that health does not mean the absence of challenges. Every season of ministry requires discernment, adaptability, spiritual courage, and a willingness to respond faithfully to changing circumstances. The church seeks a pastor who will listen carefully, lead wisely, build trust, and help the congregation discern together where God is leading.

One of the most important opportunities ahead is cultivating a deeper and more intentional culture of discipleship. This will require more than strengthening programs or increasing participation. It will mean helping people understand more fully what it means to follow Jesus and creating relationships and environments where people are known, prayed for, challenged, spiritually formed, equipped, and prepared to disciple others. The next pastor will need to articulate a compelling biblical vision for discipleship, develop and equip leaders, and invite the congregation to follow Jesus into deeper faith, greater maturity, meaningful community, and active participation in His mission.

There are also opportunities to bring greater clarity to the church’s direction, strengthen alignment among ministries, develop emerging leaders, and build upon the congregation’s desire to reach and serve its community. This work will require both patient relationship-building and intentional leadership. Our church approaches this transition with gratitude for its foundation, realism about the work ahead, and hope for what God may yet accomplish. The next Lead Pastor will have the opportunity to steward existing strengths while challenging, equipping, and encouraging the congregation toward greater spiritual depth, clarity, participation, and Kingdom impact.

The Opportunity A Healthy & Stable Church Ready for Its Next Season Long Hill Chapel seeks a Christ-centered, spiritually mature Lead Pastor who will faithfully preach and teach God’s Word, shepherd people with wisdom and compassion, and lead a healthy congregation into its next season of discipleship, mission, and Kingdom impact. This is a future-building role: the next pastor will honor what God has already established while helping the church become increasingly clear about its direction, more deeply connected in spiritual community, intentional about multiplying leaders, and visible in community mission.

Why Join Our Ministry Team Unique Opportunity: Lead a family-oriented, healthy and stable church committed to helping people grow in their walk with Jesus, developing future leaders, and continuing the work God has already begun. Ministry Context: Serve a relational community where families are valued and people are seeking meaningful connections, biblical truth, and opportunities to live out their faith together. Church Life: Build on strong worship, meaningful ministry participation, loving relationships, discipleship, youth and family ministries, and missional efforts. Supportive Community: Join a congregation, Elder Board, staff, and ministry team that values partnership, prayer, collaboration, trust, and the equipping of others. Growth Potential: Strengthen relational discipleship, clarify shared vision, multiply leaders, invest in young families, and translate existing missional instincts into coordinated community impact. Ministry/Life Balance: Serve in a welcoming community with strong schools and family-focused neighborhoods while practicing healthy rhythms of Sabbath, vacation, continuing education, and sustainable ministry. Position Details -Lead Pastor

Church - Long Hill Chapel

Location - 525 Shunpike Road, Chatham, NJ 07928

Denomination - Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA)

Church Size - Approximately 200-230 attendees

Position Type - Full-time / salaried

Compensation - Total package, including base salary, housing allowance and benefits: $135,000 to $160,000, depending on qualifications and experience.

Benefits - Four weeks vacation and two weeks study leave annually, continuing education reimbursement allowance, paid sabbatical leave (every seven years in lieu of study leave), family health coverage, matching retirement contribution and SECA reimbursement.

Pastoral Search Implications The Leader Long Hill Chapel Needs Next Recently, Long Hill Chapel completed a comprehensive health assessment. The assessment supports a search for a future-building pastor rather than a caretaker or turnaround specialist. Long Hill Chapel needs a leader who can protect healthy strengths, listen before changing, and help leverage existing health to create greater future impact. Strong Preacher & Communicator Worship is a defining strength. The next pastor should be a biblical, engaging, applicable communicator who faithfully proclaims the finished work and Lordship of Jesus and helps people follow Him in everyday life. Leader & Vision Caster The church is well organized, but greater clarity is needed around church-wide goals and how ministries connect. The next pastor should create shared direction without diminishing healthy systems or unnecessarily disrupting what is working. Disciple-Maker The clearest leverage point is deeper relational discipleship. The next pastor should help move people from attendance and activity into communities where they are known, prayed for, spiritually formed, cared for through real-life challenges, and developed as disciples. Leader-Developer Gift-based ministry and teamwork are strong. The next pastor should equip and release people rather than becoming the center of ministry activity, asking consistently: 'Who are we developing next?' Missional Catalyst The congregation already demonstrates relational concern for people who do not yet know Christ. The next pastor should help translate that instinct into visible, coordinated mission and community engagement. Collaborative, Stable & Humble The healthiest next leader will honor what God has already built, work well with Elders and staff, cultivate trust, listen carefully, and lead confidently without implying that a healthy congregation needs to be reinvented.

Qualifications & Requirements Calling, Formation & Experience Spiritual Maturity: A clear calling to pastoral ministry and a growing relationship with Jesus Christ demonstrated through humility, integrity, prayer, dependence on the Holy Spirit, and commitment to God’s Word. Holiness & Integrity: The Lead Pastor will demonstrate a life of biblical integrity, personal holiness, and accountability, recognizing that pastoral leadership carries responsibility both in public ministry and private life. The pastor will seek to live consistently with the moral and ethical standards of Scripture in personal relationships, marriage and sexual conduct, financial stewardship, communication and social media, and all other personal and public dealings. This includes a willingness to live transparently and remain accountable to the Elder Board and the established standards and expectations of Long Hill Chapel and the Christian and Missionary Alliance. While recognizing that every follower of Jesus lives by grace and is continually being formed into Christlikeness, the Lead Pastor should model the character, wisdom, self-control, humility, and faithfulness expected of those entrusted with spiritual leadership.

* Theological Alignment: Agreement with the doctrine, values, mission, and Great Commission emphasis of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. * Experience: Demonstrated pastoral ministry experience including preaching, discipleship, leadership development, staff or ministry-team leadership, and shepherding a congregation of this size or larger. * Education & Ongoing Development: The ideal candidate will have achieved a bachelor’s degree in a ministry-compatible field and will demonstrate a strong commitment to lifelong learning and ongoing ministry development through active pursuit of continuing education, theological enrichment, leadership training, and other opportunities that strengthen pastoral and leadership effectiveness. In particular, training leading to a ministry-related master’s degree is preferred. While formal education is valued, a demonstrated pattern of growth, teachability, and continued development is also essential. * Denominational Licensing: Commitment to maintaining or actively pursuing C&MA licensing and credentialing requirements. The successful candidate must be ordained or on a path to ordination through a process acceptable to the C&MA within a year of hiring. * Leadership Approach: A commitment to developing and empowering people of all ages and backgrounds to use their God-given gifts in ministry and service to advance God’s Kingdom. Character & Leadership Style A servant-focused leader who equips others, develops leaders, and encourages meaningful ministry involvement. A faithful biblical teacher with a passion for helping people grow as disciples of Jesus. A relational pastor who connects with individuals and families across generations and helps cultivate loving, spiritually meaningful community. A collaborative leader who works alongside the Elder Board as a first among equals and provides guidance of staff and ministry leaders accordingly, rather than as the center of all ministry. A calm, stable presence who can preserve congregational confidence during transition and lead change with discernment, patience, and clarity. A leader who communicates the ‘why’ behind ministry as clearly as the ‘what,’ helping people understand shared goals and how ministry areas work together. A pastor who values prayer, spiritual formation, healthy rhythms, and personalized care while developing systems that allow the whole body to minister.

Key Responsibilities Preach, Shepherd, Equip & Lead We understand that no pastor is gifted in every area and joyfully embrace the biblical call to equip, empower, and develop others. The Lead Pastor is not called to carry the ministry alone, but to build teams, release people into their God-given gifts, and cultivate a culture where the whole church works together to advance the Kingdom of God. Provide Christ-centered spiritual leadership and faithfully preach and teach God’s Word, helping the congregation know Jesus more deeply and grow as fully devoted disciples. Protect and build upon the church’s strength in worship and preaching through biblical, relevant, Christ-