Assistant pastor of Youth and Young Adults

Assistant pastor of Youth and Young Adults

Assistant Pastor of Youth and Young Adults

Job Description

Primary Objective: The Assistant Pastor of Youth and Young Adults position oversees all youth and young adult related areas of First Church, which is under the leadership of the Session and Pastors. It is the goal of the Pastor to integrate the youth of Jr. and Sr. High ages and young adults into the congregation of First Church. The Pastor will work alongside existing ministries to help better serve the youth of our congregation.

The Pastor will work with the youth of the church to help them understand what profession of faith is and guide them in the process to becoming members of First Church.

Areas of Responsibility:

• Preach on Sunday evenings/mornings around 36 times per year.
• Attend Session meetings and moderate when needed.
• Lead Sr. High Youth Group, including teaching a Catechism Sunday School class and leading a discipleship trip each year.
• Oversee Jr. High Youth Group and Young Adults Group (ages 20-29).
• Lead Youth Task Force and build a strong team of volunteers to help serve the youth in various capacities.
• Develop deep relationships with the youth of First Church and their families.
• Participate in weekly Staff meetings.
• Mentor, shepherd, and counsel Youth, especially by actively work to transition the youth of First Church to professing members of First Church.
• Participate in all Chicago Metro Presbytery meetings and in some General Assemblies.

The man filling this position must be a mature Christian, passionate in his commitment to both Jesus Christ and to His Church. He must be qualified for ordination in the Chicago Metro Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America. This man must be energetic and connect well with youth, and he must be serious about discipleship, especially as a teacher of God’s Word. He must be well organized, have the desire to see the ministry of First Church grow and function most effectively and efficiently, and truly take delight in serving in the areas of his giftedness.

The Assistant Pastor of Youth and Young Adults must be a strong “team player”, serving as part of the church’s ministry staff and working to achieve its goals. He needs to share the Lead Pastor’s vision of the congregation and be comfortable with the Lead Pastor’s role as leader of the ministry staff and support staff. He will serve under the authority of the Session, the oversight of the Church Leadership Team, and the direct supervision of the Lead Pastor.

Our Values

• Faithful: Trusting in the Lord’s faithfulness to establish and guard us, we seek to be a faithful anchor for others by holding fast to the word of life and not being tossed to and fro by the waves of culture or the winds of shifting doctrine. (Eph. 4:14; Phil. 2:16; 2 Thess. 3:3)
• Zealous and Bold: Since we have such hope in Christ, we seek to speak God’s word with all boldness to all people, that, by all means, God might save some. (Acts 4:29; 1 Cor. 10:22; 2 Cor. 3:12)
• Compassionate: Because God has been compassionate and merciful to us, we seek to put on compassionate hearts to care for one another with genuine kindness. (Col. 3:12; 1 Cor. 12:25; Jas. 5:11)
• Servant‑Minded: As the Son of Man came to serve, so also we seek to have the mind of Christ in us, clothing ourselves in self‑sacrificial, servant‑minded humility. (Matt. 20:28; Phil. 2:5; 1 Pet. 5:5)
• Disciple‑Making: Strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, we seek to make disciple‑making disciples of our children and of those far off by delivering to others the gospel that we also received. (Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:39; 1 Cor. 15:3; 2 Tim. 2:1–2)
• Joyful: Finding our strength in the joy of the Lord, we seek to rejoice in the Lord always, especially by making a joyful noise before him in our worship. (Neh. 8:10; Ps. 98:4; Phil. 4:4)

Responses to the “Initial Questions for Assistant Pastor Candidates” (see below)

• Links to two sermon recordings (video preferable, but at least audio)

Initial Questions for Assistant Pastor Candidates

• For our next Assistant Pastor, First Church is seeking someone who can work within the larger teams in the church (e.g., staff, officers, task forces in the church), and who can lead teams who serve in various parts of the youth and young adults ministry. Describe a time when you were the leader for a team within a larger group. How did your leadership exhibit servant‑mindedness? How did you communicate with members of your own team and with those in the larger group? How did you make sure that your team was doing effective work to advance the broader goals of the larger group? How did you enjoy that work? What did you learn?
• Youth can experience deep levels of suffering and hardship. Describe a time you shepherded hurting people through a particularly difficult situation. What was the process you took them through? How did you describe and shepherd the grieving process with these people?
• Against the waves and winds of culture, a youth pastor today will necessarily deal with a wide variety of issues surrounding human sexuality. Without giving unnecessary details about the situation, describe a time when you shepherded someone(s) struggling with sexual sin. How did you speak to them with biblical truth, faithfully and boldly? How did you show compassion in the midst of the shame, guilt, and misery that sin brings? What was the result of that ministry? What did you learn?
• Where there are two or more people, conflict is likely. Describe a time you had conflict with another person (outside your marriage). Describe as best you can, without naming names, the situation. How did you engage the people involved? What was the outcome over this issue? What did you learn?
• Describe a time when you disagreed with a decision made by leaders but still had to submit to their authority. What did you do well? What didn’t go well? What did you learn?