Senior Pastor

Opportunity Profile

Overview

Center City Church is seeking an energetic Senior Pastor to direct the church in our next season of ministry. The church is looking for a leader who will inspire, as well as guide, a growing congregation with a commitment to God’s Word; one who will care for the body and reach the downtown community of Albuquerque with the Gospel. This position offers the opportunity to join a highly motivated church family that is dedicated to glorifying God and making disciples by living out the Gospel together.

The Opportunity

Center City Church is an urban church located in the heart of downtown Albuquerque. Downtown Albuquerque is one of the oldest districts in the city dating back to the 1700's. It is rich in cultural heritage and a mixture of beauty and poverty. Artists, businessmen, transients, and families live in this community. There are a lot of people who are in desperate need of understanding that there is a God Who loves them.

Center City Church is theologically conservative with very low diversity regarding its theological perspective. The Word of God is held in high esteem and people confidently uphold biblical authority. The congregation is a part of the Evangelical Free Church of America (www.efca.org). In this denomination, congregations are led locally but participate in partnership with a wider collection of likeminded churches.

Center City Church recently completed a congregational assessment that positioned the church in the Transformation Zone. This quadrant suggests that the church possesses high energy and high satisfaction and indicates that Center City Church is a healthy church; highly motivated to make an even greater Kingdom impact. It is an adaptable body, being flexible to make necessary changes to reach its goals.

Center City Church is ready to explore ways to innovate its current ministries as well as consider new opportunities to advance its mission:

Capable leaders
Welcoming membership
Diverse congregation (age/ethnicity/economics)
No Financial Debt

The church body agrees that the incoming Senior Pastor must prioritize:

More opportunities for people to form meaningful relationships within the church.
A comprehensive strategy to reach new people and incorporate them into the life of the church.
To strengthen the process by which attenders are called and equipped for ministry and leadership. People want to find ways to extend their impact into the community and those they care about. They desire training for greater service.

The Candidate

The right pastor for Center City Church is a confident, yet humble man of God, who is called to serve a local congregation in downtown Albuquerque. As someone who leads out of an overflow of his own relationship with Christ, the ideal pastor for Center City Church will value biblical authority and preach and teach biblical truths with grace and love. The incoming pastor will appreciate the faithful commitment of the church to the Scriptures as the very Word of God. The congregation has enjoyed a steady diet of biblically-anchored, expository messages that provide practical insights into the world of the Bible as well as learning to apply God’s Word into the world in which they live.

Leading at Center City Church requires someone who is a Servant Leader, and yet who is still teachable. This means he will fulfill the roles of Spiritual Shepherd, Biblical Teacher, Equipping Overseer, and Administrative Overseer with empathy, active listening, and accountability. As the Servant Leader, the incoming pastor embraces the opportunity to attend to the needs and growth of the congregation, leaders, and staff. He will focus on serving others, and he will foster a supportive and empowering church environment by inspiring others.

As a person who cares about his community, the next Senior Pastor will possess a natural inclination to extend the work of the church into downtown Albuquerque. He will embrace the idea of joyfully leading the congregation to fulfill the calling and purpose of the body of Christ within the downtown community.

The congregation desires confident, godly leadership to love, shepherd, and teach them, while painting a picture of what God could accomplish through their unity and obedience. Since change can be challenging for any congregation, the new pastor introduces new avenues for realizing our vision in a way that aligns with the congregation's existing culture and ensures congregants understand both the reasons for, and the process of, change.

The ideal pastor for Center City Church, first and foremost, will exhibit a profound love for Jesus which is evident through every aspect of his life. He will possess a humble confidence in his gifts and calling, relying wholeheartedly on prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. With unwavering integrity and a deeply ingrained godly character, this servant-leader will excel in shepherding the congregation, actively initiating and nurturing relationships. His care and influence will extend far beyond the church walls, as he actively represents Center City Church within the community, fostering cooperative relationships and drawing others into meaningful participation with the church.

Ministry Qualifications

The Senior Pastor shall be male (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6) and shall be an exemplary Christian possessing a mature faith and capable of providing spiritual leadership in accordance with the biblical qualifications of an elder (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:7-9). In addition, the Senior Pastor shall satisfy the following qualifications:

Testimony of saving faith in Jesus Christ and a life consistent with that testimony.
Advanced theological degree from an accredited seminary, or equivalent experience handling God’s Word.
Embraces the EFCA Statement of Faith as a valid expression of Christian belief.
Be ordained in the EFCA or be willing to pursue ordination with EFCA.
Demonstrate competency in handling the word of God within a preaching and teaching context.
A calling for ministry to a downtown community.
Acknowledgement of membership in Center City Church upon employment.