Lead Pastor

Lead Pastor Position Description & Invitation to Serve Breiel Church is a Church of God congregation located in Middletown, Ohio; a city with deep working-class roots, a growing diverse population, and a need for the gospel to be lived out in our city. We are a church of approximately 250 regular attendees with active small groups, a thriving children's ministry, and a youth program that is passionate about knowing and following Jesus. The sense of community within our church is strong, our lay leaders are committed and capable, and our people are hungry for direction, for vision, and to be deployed. Our congregation treats one another as spiritual family, following in Paul's words to Timothy in 1 Tim 5:1-2. Our love for one another is one of the most compelling strengths we have to offer both a new pastor and anyone seeking a church to call home. Our church body does not lack heart! What we pray for is structure and leadership to channel what God has already placed and ignited here. Our revised mission statement developed by our elders and search team is "Rooted in Christ, walking in hope, loving our city." We pray these attributes are seen in our church today, and exceedingly more in the years to come. Our search team feels confident that Breiel Church is in a moment of deep potential. Our assessment process has revealed a congregation with strong relational bonds, remarkable lay volunteers, and a real longing to be organized and led toward a shared mission. What we found lacking in this assessment was systemic structures to bring these passions to practical fruition. We have people ready to serve. We have teams that are functioning; they simply need to be coordinated and pointed in a common direction. The pastor who comes here will be inheriting raw material, and the opportunity to shape a passionate people towards real change in our community. We believe God is already preparing the right person for this, and we prayerfully trust Him to guide that person to us. Middletown sits between Dayton and Cincinnati; it carries the weight from years of economic transition alongside a community spirit that refuses to give up, and is now slowly rebuilding and growing from a foundation of resilience and determination. Many of our neighbors have been left behind by the shifting economy, and are looking for something to provide stability. We believe God has placed Breiel Church here on purpose. We are a congregation with significant resources—financial, human, and spiritual—in a city that needs the church to show up. We are looking for a pastor and leader who sees what we see: a mission field, a community worth loving, and a church positioned to make a real difference. After prayerful discernment and honest reflection on our church's needs, our search team has identified the following characteristics as essential for our next lead pastor. 1. Authentic Love for God Above credentials, above experience, and above communication gifts, we want someone who genuinely loves Jesus and whose spiritual life shows it. We want a pastor whose prayer life is real, whose pursuit of God is personal, and whose love for the Lord comes through not just in sermons but in the foyer, at the hospital bedside, and over coffee with a new believer. 2. A Clear Gospel Communicator Every week in the pulpit is an opportunity. We are looking for someone who weaves the invitation to know Christ into every message, who preaches in a way that challenges the 50-year believer and opens the door for the first-time visitor in equal measure. 3. A Decisive, Structural Leader As a need for our church has been systemic, we are looking for a leader who moves with clarity. Our congregation needs someone to help set expectations, establish teams, and build the organizational infrastructure that allows ministries to flourish. We are looking for a shepherd who also knows how to build. 4. A Leader Who Develops Leaders A mark of good leadership we care deeply about is not just in how much the leader does, but how many others they train for delegated leadership. We want someone with a deep commitment to mentoring, discipling, and multiplying leadership throughout the congregation. We want someone whose greatest joy is watching others discover their gifts and step into them. 5. A Community Heart We are looking for a leader who can see beyond the four walls of the building and call this congregation into the city around it. Our next pastor should be able to articulate a compelling vision for what a local church can be, and have the courage and energy to pursue it. We want someone who asks: "If this church closed its doors, would the community notice?" — and who cares deeply about the answer. 6. Leadership with Humility Breiel has been blessed with strong, capable lay leaders and dedicated staff who have faithfully served and held things together through a season of transition. Our hope is to find someone to come alongside what God has already built, and work with existing leadership to map a vision for the church together. Our next pastor will be the key leader who brings overall direction and vision, and this leadership will fully support and champion the Lead Pastor in carrying out that shared mission together. 7. Feels a Genuine Calling to Breiel We are not looking for someone building a platform or using Breiel as a launch pad to something bigger. We are looking for someone to whom this church and this city feel like home, or could become home. We understand that God's call ultimately determines how long anyone stays anywhere, and we gladly hold that with open hands. That in mind, we are asking for someone who comes in with the posture of a builder, not a visitor. What We Offer

• An elder board that is prayerfully engaged and walks alongside pastoral staff — not from a distance.
• A congregation that is ready to be led and eager to grow.
• Capable, committed lay leaders and volunteers across multiple ministries.
• A dedicated and gifted staff team that is passionate about ministry and ready to partner with a new Lead Pastor.
• Small groups that are genuinely caring and deeply relational.
• A city that needs the church, with a congregation positioned to meet that need.
• Freedom to lead, build, and cast vision with the full support of church leadership.
• A pastoral search team and consultant committed to a healthy, prayerful, unhurried process.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ordained or willing to pursue ordination through the Church of God Anderson (openness to candidates from theologically aligned traditions, including Wesleyan, Nazarene, and Methodist friends).
• Strong preaching and communication gifts.
• Demonstrated experience in pastoral leadership at a local church level.
• A track record of leadership development and team-building.
• A history of community engagement and outward-focused ministry.
• Emotional and spiritual health, knowing how to care for themselves so they can care for others.
• Willingness to relocate to or near Middletown, Ohio.

If you sense God may be stirring your heart toward Breiel Church, we want to hear from you. Please reach out! We would welcome the opportunity to talk. How to Express Interest To express interest or submit a resume for consideration, please contact the Breiel Church Pastoral Search Team: Church - Breiel Church (Breiel Blvd Church of God) Location - Middletown, Ohio Website - BreielChurch.org Contact Email - View email address on click.appcast.io All inquiries are treated with full confidentiality. We will acknowledge receipt of your inquiry within 2–3 business days and will follow up with next steps after completing our initial review process. ChurchStaffing