Small Groups Pastor

The right person for this position will be passionate for living out Grace Church's mission, "To lead people to experience the life Jesus gives.” They will need to be a leader of leaders with a proven track record of building small groups and ministry teams. A gifted and dynamic Bible teacher and a passion for building the Kingdom of God.

Church Mission:
To lead people to experience the life Jesus gives, by reaching the people of Sahuarita with the good news making disciples who make disciples.

Position Description:
The heartbeat of our church is small groups and discipleship. We have grown from a church plant knocking on doors and meeting in our pastor's home to over 1000 on a weekend by making Jesus the focus of everything we do, by teaching the Word of God and in turn striving to obey the word of God. At Grace Church we value discipleship growth and not just numerical growth on Sundays.

The small groups pastor will help us continue to grow a culture of discipleship throughout our adult ministries, with a special emphasis on leading, casting vision and growing the small groups ministry at Grace Church (currently more than 50 small groups).

Passion:
We seek an individual who loves God and God’s people and honors God’s word. The small groups pastor will desire to proclaim the gospel of Christ, see lives transformed and equip people for ministry and making a difference in our community and world. Our ideal candidate will possess a deep sense of call to the spiritual development and Christian discipleship of men, women and families.

Primary Gifts: Leadership and Teaching

Character:
The small groups pastor must be a person growing in the grace of God with a deepening relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ; regularly pursuing patterns to that end, such as personal Bible study, prayer, worship, accountability, biblical stewardship, etc. The small groups pastor will demonstrate character through integrity, humility, personal responsibility and hard work and will also deliberately seek to maintain wisdom and balance in life (personal health, family, finances, relationships and work).

Roles and Responsibilities:

Leadership
• Develop, implement and evaluate church-wide growth strategies, which measure small group growth as a percentage of Sunday morning worship attendance averages. These strategies would be in a cycle of continuous improvement.
• Cast vision for groups in all ministries (including kids, students and care) by developing consistent and unified experiences.
• Responsible for recruitment, training and supervision of paid staff and volunteer leaders within the small group/care ministry area.
• Manage small group/care ministries budget.
• Ensure all group information is current and accurate (Planning Center database).
Small Groups
• Responsible for executing small groups and leadership care through a team of coaches.
• Provide input on the effectiveness of ministry plans and suggestions for enhancements for future development.
• Responsible for developing and implementing strategies that promote spiritual growth, discipleship, mentoring and equipping of people for ministry and small groups.
• Create and oversee a leader development concept that helps hosts become leaders over time. This will include:

1. Communication strategies to leaders and small group participants.
2. On-site, decentralized and web-based leader development opportunities.
3. Coaching
   • Develop weekly small group content for adults to live out Grace church's core values, including message-based content.
   • Work with the leadership team and other staff to develop the church-wide strategies surrounding small groups. This will include:
4. Assimilation and connection events.
5. Care, serving, discipleship and annual church-wide campaigns.
6. Mid-size events that lead to small groups.
   • Design, implement and manage strategies that make it easy to join a group. This includes:
7. Creating consistent opportunities for new small groups to begin.
8. Strategic church-wide communication, enabling people to join a group.

Care
• Execute care ministries by equipping and empowering volunteers to provide care in their small group context.
• Participate in the general pastoral care of the congregation as directed in areas such as biblical counseling, pre-marital counseling, performing weddings, funerals, and Sunday worship.
• Oversee and coordinate benevolence requests.

Primary Abilities and Experience:

• Gifted communicator and Bible teacher/preacher; experience in teaching/preaching preferred.
• Grace oriented.
• High emotional intelligence.
• Relational; humble; thrives in a collaborative, team environment; positive/growth mindset.
• Jesus-focused, people-oriented; never stop learning.
• A strong commitment to maintaining a personal relationship with Jesus.
• Possess a “servant leader” leadership philosophy.
• Experienced in leading discipleship-focused ministries.
• Have a passion to help the body of Christ become like Jesus and share the good news.
• Able to work diligently on both independent projects and cooperatively on collaborative projects.
• 5+ years of relevant adult discipleship leadership experience preferred.
• Strong ability to multitask, organize, and handle a high volume of details.
• Skilled in problem-solving and conflict-resolution techniques.
• Demonstrates a deep love for people.
• Excellent communication skills: written, verbal, and interpersonal.
• Must meet biblical qualifications for pastoral leadership.

NON-NEGOTIABLES:

• Align completely with Grace Church's statement of faith, mission statement, core values, vision and leadership/church policy.
• Thrive in a collaborative, team environment—both willing to give and receive feedback for the betterment of our church community.
• Willing to relocate/live no further than 15 minutes from the church to be an active part of our church community.
• Positive, people-oriented.
• Humble, teachable, servant leader.