Pastor of Worship Arts

Position Overview

Provide overall leadership to Cornerstone’s worship ministry by offering guidance and vision in planning, executing and evaluating all aspects of the church’s music and worship ministry, including the praise team, production team and youth worship team.

Character Qualities

• Elder qualified (1 Tim 3:1–7; Tit 1:6–9)
• Spiritually mature, demonstrating a commitment to Christ and the fruit of the Spirit
• Servant-hearted, gracious and humble
• Personable, friendly, courteous and responsive
• Teachable and flexible
• Strong and consistent work ethic
• Proactive in relational, physical, mental and spiritual health
• Trustworthy and confidential
• Team player
• Heart for the lost

Qualifications / Skill Requirements

Education and/or Experience:

• Music degree preferred; biblical/theological training a bonus
• Theologically competent according to EFCA standards; must be or willing to become licensed in the EFCA
• Prior worship leadership experience in a multi-staff church setting preferred

Shepherding

• Person of Prayer – Leads by example in cultivating a prayerful environment (1 Thess. 5:16–18)
• Pastor’s Heart – Shepherds leaders, staff, volunteers and congregation with grace and trust (1 Pet. 5:1–5)
• Peacemaker – Promotes peace and mutual edification (Heb. 12:14; Ps. 34:14)
• Team Builder – Develops and leads teams with humility and vision (Luke 14:10–11; 1 Cor. 12:12)
• Biblically Faithful – Holds a high view of Scripture and lives it out (2 Tim. 2:15)
• Accepts Responsibility – Owns outcomes and leads with integrity (Rom. 12:6–8)
• Multiplier – Disciples and develops leaders (Eph. 4:11–16; Tit. 2)
• Persistence – Leads with long-term vision and resilience (2 Cor. 11:23–30; 12:8–10)

Worship Leadership

• Strong knowledge of corporate worship and modern praise bands
• Able to implement both traditional and contemporary styles
• Skilled singer, instrumentalist and leader
• Spiritually sensitive and creative in worship planning
• Collaborates with AV teams for seamless worship experiences
• Passionate about developing musical and spiritual gifts
• Committed to multi-generational worship
• Effective public communicator

General Leadership

• Communicates openly and proactively with staff
• Resolves conflict biblically
• Submits to the leadership of the senior pastor and elders
• Balances personal preferences with church needs
• Committed to Cornerstone’s mission, vision, values and policies

Responsibilities

Worship Leadership

• Partner with the senior pastor to lead vibrant, theologically grounded worship
• Plan and lead all aspects of corporate worship
• Lead worship regularly on Sundays and special occasions
• Support youth and children’s worship development
• Oversee music and production for special events

Administrative

• Supervise worship ministry staff
• Manage worship ministry budget
• Recruit, equip and train volunteers
• Oversee AV needs across ministries
• Participate in staff meetings and events
• Lead or oversee occasional praise choir

Pastoral Care

• Shepherd and disciple worship volunteers
• Provide pastoral care, hospital visits, counseling, weddings and funerals

Flexibility
Responsibilities may shift based on ministry needs. The pastor of worship arts may be asked to lead other ministry areas depending on gifts and interests.

Work Schedule

• Full-time (45–50 hours/week)
• Office hours: Mon–Thurs, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
• Sunday mornings
• Mid-week rehearsals
• Volunteer meetings
• Occasional special events and retreats
• No more than two nights per week regularly
• Additional times as needed, coordinated with supervisor

Reports To

• Senior Pastor

Partners With

• All staff and volunteers at Cornerstone Community Church

Opportunity Profile

As an expression of our mission to be a biblical community that loves God, grows people, serves our city and reaches the world, Cornerstone seeks to facilitate vibrant and energetic worship gatherings that are theologically rich, biblically rooted, musically and programmatically excellent and culturally relevant.

Our worship services are distinguished by strong biblical teaching and highly participatory congregational involvement led by a variety of instruments, voices and visuals.

Though we acknowledge that there are many approaches to leading congregational worship, there are several values that will help our next pastor of worship arts be successful here.

Awe
He must have a genuine awe of God. The pastor of worship must lead with God’s glory as his primary goal. His own awe of God should inspire the same reverence in others (Ps 33:8).

Relationships
He must value relationships before corporate worship. Jesus taught this as a priority in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:23–24). The pastor of worship must be able to navigate the challenges of ministry that are sometimes messy in ways that build up the body of Christ and value people not just as a means to an end but as a primary ministry responsibility and goal. Discipleship of himself and others must be a high value, and he must be able to keep short accounts and teach others to do the same.

Excellence
He must create an environment of excellence, doing the best he can with what God has given him so that others can do the best they can with what God has given them. This includes equipping artists with what they need to flourish, planning ahead, preparing thoroughly for rehearsals and leading musically at a high level. Excellence honors God (Col 3:23-24) and inspires people (Ex 35–36). The pastor of worship must be excellent in his craft and leadership.

Authenticity
He must be a lead worshiper before being a worship leader. This means that not only is he engaged in worship as a lifestyle, but also that when he is leading worship, he “enters into” worship even as he invites and equips others to do the same. He appreciates that “(God) will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Ps 51:16–17). With this, he prioritizes discipling his team towards authentic worship over musical excellence, although he is passionate that both are vitally important.

Life
He understands that worship is not limited to the corporate musical experience. He is passionate about helping all people, whether or not they are musicians or artists, “to present (their) bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is (their) spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1). This means that he embraces the role of being one of the shepherds for the entire church, not just those who are involved in worship ministry. It also means that he is a champion of all expressions of loving God, including expressions of personal worship.

Worship Style
Cornerstone embraces its role within the Evangelical Free Church of America as a Bible-preaching, evangelical, theologically conservative, culturally relevant, evangelistically minded congregation in a big, small town in rural central Wisconsin. These traits have bearing on the style of worship that Cornerstone uses to lead its current congregation and those it’s trying to reach.

The following are several aspects of style that a successful pastor of worship at Cornerstone will joyfully employ as he leads the congregation.

• Modern worship songs: theologically rich and stylistically current
• Big on substance, low on hype
• Personable and warm
• Energetic and genuine
• Classic/traditional hymns in a modern context
• Occasional traditional elements
• Artistic and liturgical elements that highlight God’s glory and the gospel
• A modern praise band as the core, complemented by diverse instrumentation

Worship Planning

There are several helpful planning models for worship that churches employ. Cornerstone is not fixed on any one specific model. With this in mind, a successful pastor of worship at Cornerstone should be a proficient and creative service planner who is able to fluidly move between several models of worship planning to engage the model that best serves the need for any given service. Models might include the following:

• Theme-Based: where services are planned according to the sermon theme
• Gospel-Centered: where services are planned according to the liturgical arc of creation, fall, redemption, restoration
• Vertical: where the flow of the service has as its goal to lead people to a vertical/ascriptive response to the glory of God in authentic praise

Summary

The successful pastor of worship arts at Cornerstone will have a shepherd’s heart, willing to put the needs of the church and the people he serves above his own. He will be self-aware but not selfish. He will demonstrate healthy self-care but not without the priority of caring for the flock. He will not be afraid to make sacrifices for the ministry but he will not sacrifice either himself or his family to the ministry. He is a lifelong learner while at the same time embracing the role of teacher and exhorter.

All interested applicants should thoroughly review the job description and send a cover letter with résumé to Pastor Andy Kvernen akvernen@cornerstonemarshfield.com at their earliest convenience.