The Wesleyan Church of Hamburg Senior Pastor Opportunity

Senior Pastor Opportunity Profile – July 2015

The Wesleyan Church of Hamburg (wchamburg.org) in Hamburg, New York is prayerfully seeking its next Senior Pastor. After 38 years of dedicated servant-leadership and life-changing ministry, Pastor Greg McClain has announced his transition from leadership of the church. While he is unsure of what the future may hold or what ministry God may lead him to next, he believes the time is right for his succession. This creates an incredible opportunity for a new pastor to enter into this dynamic and healthy ministry and to guide it into the future. By God’s grace the church is well positioned and well prepared for a “health to health” transition of leadership. The new Senior Pastor at the Wesleyan Church of Hamburg will be given the opportunity to build on an excellent foundation and to energetically inspire a fresh, vibrant vision for this healthy, active, and loving church.

Overview

As a flagship church in the Wesleyan denomination, the Wesleyan Church of Hamburg (founded in 1957) is a thriving congregation with weekly attendance of 1800-2000 located in the charming town of Hamburg, New York, where residents enjoy the great outdoors during all four seasons of the year. Just 20 minutes south of Buffalo and nestled on the shore of beautiful Lake Erie, Hamburg is close to many cultural and scenic destinations. It is a short 45-minute drive to Niagara Falls, 2 hours to Toronto, 4 hours from the Adirondacks, 30-minutes to “ski country” and 7 hours to New York City.

The Wesleyan Church of Hamburg lives by the mission to “follow Jesus together, loving, seeking, and serving others.” Its logo (above) represents four pillars of ministry: Worship (blue), Family (orange), Growth (green), and Outreach (red). The church bases all that it does and how it lives out the message of the Gospel on these guiding core values:

Engaging Worship that presents God and His work clearly and invites a response from those near to Him and those still far away.
Transformative Teaching that calls, challenges, and equips us to be radical followers of Jesus, grounded in the Truths of God’s Word.
Shared Life that invites people into spiritual friendships that strengthens us to live and serve as followers of Jesus.
Loving Outreach that through us serves people and proclaims salvation in Christ.
Godly Homes that live out and nurture strong faith in Jesus.
Grateful Generosity that freely releases God-given resources for His purposes.
Humble Dependence that relies on God through the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit.The OpportunityThe Wesleyan Church of Hamburg (WCH) is a healthy church. Five years ago the church participated in a congregational assessment that served as a baseline to measure its health and development. Just last month it completed the same assessment again which confirmed a healthy posture as well as steady and marked growth in both spiritual and organizational characteristics. The next senior pastor has the opportunity to build on this healthy foundation while crafting a fresh vision for the church: one that will continue to advance its ministry effectiveness and Kingdom impact. The Wesleyan Church of Hamburg is not a church that needs “fixing,” rather it is poised to go to the next level and desires to call a Senior Pastor who will inspire, engage and lead the church to achieve even greater effectiveness in the future.
A key factor in the impressive level of congregational satisfaction and health is credited to the talented and dedicated staff who serve the church. There is warm camaraderie and commitment to the ministry that is evidenced by the long tenure and low turnover on the staff team. While this team is highly experienced, it is also eager to welcome a leader who will bring new ideas, who will assess current offerings with fresh eyes, and who will create an empowering team dynamic. The incoming Senior Pastor will have a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on this strong pool of talent and to engage this talent in faithfully serving God’s people at WCH and beyond.

WCH is a vibrant faith community that offers multiple worship times and experiences including a contemporary Saturday evening service, two contemporary Sunday morning services, a Sunday morning Chapel service and a contemporary Sunday service at the new South Creek campus. No matter the venue or the style of worship, WCH consistently seeks to honor Jesus and draw participants into the presence of God through excellent worship and music, engaging media, relevant biblical teaching and meaningful prayer. As the church has grown, the need to “manage” the timeline and structure of services has increased. Some congregants believe that this increased structure, while necessary, has quenched some genuinely spiritual opportunities that emerge “in the moment” of corporate worship. The next Senior Pastor at WCH will have the opportunity to work with the team to provide consistent excellence in the worship service while remaining open and attentive to the spiritual act of corporate worship.

As mentioned above, WCH launched its first multi-site ministry 10 months ago as a means to build relationships and create new inroads with the surrounding area. The South Creek campus, located in Eden, New York began with 98 people from the McKinley campus (main campus) and has quickly grown to over 300 in average attendance. South Creek offers live music and preaching as well as a full range of children’s programming. Overall strategy for the multi-site approach is still being worked out, and the incoming Senior Pastor will have the opportunity to work with the team to set priorities and clarify the right plan moving forward – an important engagement as it will likely serve as a groundwork for any future campus developments as well.

Over the years WCH has been known throughout the Greater Southtowns region for its strong commitment to youth ministry, as evidenced by the creation of The Hub (thehubsite.com), a 26,000 square-foot facility on the church’s McKinley Campus designed specifically with teenagers in mind. The ministry model of the Hub was intended to partner and network with community organizations that work specifically with middle school, high school, and college students. For years this has been a significant tool and resource for effective ministry at WCH but recently has lost some momentum. In an effort to break down a “silo” in the Hub and to encourage high school students to connect with the larger body in adult services, high school students were encouraged to join the main worship services. However, nothing in the main service was adapted to engage them so many have found it difficult to connect. Additionally there is very little ministry to college students and young adults. Students who come up through the children and student ministries of the church find it difficult to connect or reconnect after graduation from high school or college. Some have taken to attending a young adult service at a church in the Northtowns. The incoming Senior Pastor will have the opportunity to cast a unifying vision for the church and then work with staff and lay leaders to ensure the scope and sequence of ministry is effective across all age groups.

The Wesleyan Church of Hamburg has a heart and passion for local and global outreach and missions. The annual “Heart Check” campaign, conducted each May, provides significant opportunity for this congregation to personally engage in the support of missional endeavors such as community development and peace and reconciliation ministries in Africa through World Relief (worldrelief.org), sharing the Good News of Jesus in Lebanon with Near East Initiatives (neareastinitiatives.org), planting churches in India with the India Gospel League (iglworld.org), or partnering with ministries just up the road in the city of Buffalo. WCH believes that as followers of Jesus it is called to be His hands and feet, to serve those in need and to show others the love of Christ in tangible ways. While this global and regional missions focus is well developed, there is recognition that the church could do more to impact those in its own back yard. The incoming Senior Pastor will have the opportunity to take “Heart Check” to the next level and to creatively explore how WCH can make greater inroads into the local community, while continuing to build meaningful and strategic relationships with partners regionally and globally. The church is eager to make an evangelistic and missional difference in its neighborhood and around the world, and to intentionally touch the lives of people with the love, hope and grace of Jesus Christ.

Ultimately WCH is committed to the personal and spiritual growth of people. It has a vibrant Community Group ministry that provides attendees with the opportunity to get connected, study the Bible, and pray for one another. It has intentionally engaged the community by offering a variety of support and recovery programs that meet in the church throughout the week to help those going through challenging life circumstances (AA and other recovery groups, Divorce Care, Streams of Freedom ministry). The church also hosts The Alpha Course (alphausa.org) for those with questions or who are unfamiliar with or new to Christianity. While these ministries are generally good, there is some desire for a more cohesive description of the disciple-making process at the church. Many congregants come from an unchurched or Catholic Church background, so the ideas around intentional, personal spiritual growth are new to them. The next Senior Pastor at WCH will have the opportunity to work with the team to develop a clear plan for discipleship that will help the congregants to take “next steps” in their faith journey, in every stage and season of life.

Lastly, the next Senior Pastor at WCH will inherit the wonderful blessing and the resources of modern facilities with no debt. From the beautiful McKinley Campus with its state-of-the-art worship center and ample ministry spaces, to the newly renovated South Creek Campus in Eden; from the exceptional HUB youth and community facility to the homes owned around the – not to mention the acres of owned, but undeveloped land surrounding the McKinley campus – WCH is well-positioned for a meaningful and fruitful future. The incoming leader will have the opportunity to work with a talented team and a faithful, generous community of believers to envision a hopeful future, to realize potential and, by God’s grace, to be effective agents of Kingdom impact in Hamburg, Buffalo and around the world.

The Candidate

It is not every pastor who can build on the foundation of ministry that has been laid by another. The right pastor for WCH will be self-secure and confident in the unique gifts and talents God has given him/her. The church is not looking for another Greg McClain or to maintain the status quo, rather it desires to call someone who will recognize the blessing of following a faithful leader and will resonate with the general direction this healthy church is currently heading but will bring something new to the table of leadership. The church desires to call a pastor who will join with the staff and congregation; one who will cast a fresh, compelling vision for the next chapter in the story of The Wesleyan Church of Hamburg and then to lead them as the vision becomes reality.

The ideal candidate for WCH is an experienced, gifted communicator who conveys a passion for Jesus and God’s Word, and who inspires others to go deeper in their faith journey. With a preference for an expository approach to preaching, the right candidate for WCH will be genuine and transparent, communicating in a clear, practical way that connects with people of different backgrounds and varying degrees of biblical knowledge and experience striving to understand the nuances of Western New York living. This pastor will be well known as a person of integrity, who exhibits a humble confidence toward spiritual matters, who readily turns to the Scripture as the source of truth, and gracefully engages others when addressing tough questions that arise from current events or cultural realities.

This leader will possess a contagious energy that celebrates and builds on the strong foundation in the church, maximizing the potential and empowering others. As the new vision is formed and shaped, the incoming pastor will release the talents of the team, leverage strengths, identify and develop growth possibilities, and capitalize on opportunities. As a collaborative partner with the Board, Executive Pastor and Ministry Staff, the Senior Pastor will work with others to develop and execute a plan to take the church to the next level, celebrating the “wins” in ministry and affirming the unique contribution of others.

The right Senior Pastor for WCH is an emotionally mature person whom others experience as kind, transparent and compelling. The ideal candidate will be a warm, relational, servant-hearted leader who is well prepared to lead this amazing church into the future. Engaging and inviting, the ideal Senior Pastor will naturally want to invite people to engage by drawing them together to worship, pray, listen, discuss and encourage one another. Whether 7 or 70, people will find the Senior Pastor to be approachable, available and comfortable to interact within a variety of social and civic settings.

Additionally, the right candidate for the Wesleyan Church of Hamburg will be a person of
integrity who displays a consistency of character that is the same whether in the pulpit, in the office, with family, or in the community. Not afraid to show emotion—whether preaching or just chatting with people—there will be a demonstrated joy that is present in this person’s faith. The Senior Pastor will model healthy boundaries in leadership: setting aside time for personal, family, and spiritual renewal.

Above all and without compromise, this next Senior Pastor will be known as one who—through the power of the Holy Spirit—faithfully leads people to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, giving glory to God for all the good that comes through the ministry and mission of the Wesleyan Church of Hamburg.

Where Might We Find This Individual Today?

A Senior Pastor currently serving in a large church (1000 or more) and is feeling a call to a new opportunity.
A Campus Pastor with significant preaching experience that understands and has experience in the dynamics of a larger church context
An Associate or Teaching Pastor with significant preaching and leadership experience in a larger church (1000 or more) setting
Preferred Candidate Qualifications

Significant experience in quality preaching/teaching/communicating in a larger church context, with a preference for expository preaching as the predominant style.
A M.Div. or a graduate theological degree or higher is required, preferably one that includes the study of Greek and Hebrew languages and Biblical hermeneutics.
A minimum of 10 years ministry experience with multiple years of senior leadership experience. This could take the form of a senior pastor, a campus pastor, or an associate pastor on a large staff with significant autonomy and leadership responsibility.
Either an ordained minister in the Wesleyan Church or a willingness to transfer ordination to the Wesleyan Church, having a strong alignment with Wesleyan theology and a willingness to accept the membership covenants of the Wesleyan Church including abstaining from alcohol and tobacco.
A genuine passion and experience in missional outreach as well as international missions.
A proven relational team leader. Experience in a multi-staff setting including leadership of paid staff and unpaid volunteers.Inquiry ProcessIf after reading this description you have some interest in the Senior Pastor position at Wesleyan Church of Hamburg and you feel you meet the qualifications for the role, you are invited to submit the following information for consideration:

Your resume or CV (in Word format)
A current photo
A brief family bio and photo
Electronic links to at least 3 video or audio sermon messages (video preferred)
Five references (one supervisor or board leader, two staff associates, one personal, plus one of your choosing). These references will be contacted later in the process and only with your prior approval.
Written responses to the following questions (in Word format). We believe that one can learn only so much from a resume. Your responses will help us to gain a more complete picture of you and your leadership.Please attach written answers to the following questions (in Word format)

Describe your faith in Jesus Christ. Tell us how you came to personal faith and something about your journey into ministry. How do you spiritually stay refreshed in the midst of ministry demands?
What is it about the opportunity at the Wesleyan Church of Hamburg that attracts you to this position?
What are two or three of your core strengths? Please share two or three examples of situations where you utilized your core strengths to move forward the church or ministry you were leading.
Share a ministry experience that refined you through suffering and a ministry experience that refined you through success.
What are the key factors that you believe should be present in your next church and ministry in order for you to be most effective?
Please describe any books or people that have significantly influenced your Christian growth.

Please submit your information to:

Nancy Moore
NL Moore & Associates nancy@nlmoore.com 651-335-6527

Jamie Sipsma
NL Moore & Associates jamie@nlmoore.com 410-262-8313