Opportunity Profile Example

Our mission is to develop students with sharp minds, tender hearts, and moldable wills to impact the world with the truth and love of Jesus Christ. SonWorshipers: “Preparing students for life after graduation.”

Grace Covenant Church is looking for a gifted communicator to be Pastor of Youth Ministries. This person will be the primary teacher and strategic overseer of the large and growing Youth Ministry that is vital to the health of the congregation. By equipping and leading paid staff and ministers (at Grace, every believer is a minister), this person will impact every adult and youth at the church.

Austin and the Flavor of Grace Covenant Church

Grace Covenant Church (www.grace360.com) is a dynamic and rapidly growing conservative evangelical church in the northwest section of Austin, the sixteenth largest city in the United States. The city of Austin has a population of 700,000 and a metropolitan population of over 1,400,000.

The character of Austin is reflected in Grace Covenant Church:

• Austin is home of one of America’s largest universities—The University of Texas at Austin has over 50,000 students. At Grace, these attributes are reflected in penetrating biblical sermons that reach the mind, will and intellect. Members are trained in a strong Protestant tradition—to read and understand the Bible for themselves. A very large number of adults have collegiate and graduate degrees. Relating to families, Grace has a large number of private and home schooled children.
• The city government of Austin calls itself “the live music capital of the world.” At Grace, the two “contemporary” and one “classic” worship services contain teams of outstanding musicians, many of whom have professional music careers outside of church.
• Austin is the seat of the government for the state of Texas—with a feeling of influence beyond the city borders. At Grace, local and international missions are important, having a ministry to those beyond our church grounds.
• Austin has a motto to support city business and culture, “Keep Austin Weird: collaborative fission of coordinated individualism.” Grace has what few churches have, an openness to diversity—accepting people for who they are and how God is drawing them to Himself. Much of Austin’s businesses are “high tech,” spawning many affluent and upscale residents. Many businesses are “start-ups,” giving the city a flavor of entrepreneurial risk-takers.

A church is called to model its ministry and ministers after Christ (at Grace each believer is a minister). A church is also called to be relevant to its society, “to seek and save the lost.” Grace tenaciously holds to its biblical beliefs and core values.

Vision of Grace Covenant Church

Every church needs to have a vision statement that answers the question—“Why do we exist?” Grace filters every program, budget request and idea through its vision statement. If whatever is planned doesn’t help meet the vision, then it isn’t done.

Grace Covenant Church exists to glorify God by leading people to Christ and presenting each believer mature in Christ. Grace desires to be “a courageous church, where every believer is a minister, equipped and united, to impact people for Christ, for the glory of God.”

Our lives and ministries are to be Christ-centered, reflecting the following values in balance:

• The Bible: We desire to hold and teach biblical truth unequivocally (Matt. 5:18; John 10:35; 2 Tim. 4:2; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; Rev. 22:18-19).
• Prayer and Worship: We desire to have a deep personal and congregational relationship with God through meaningful prayer, praise and worship (Phil. 4:6-7; Matt. 22:37; Psa. 63:1-6; John 15:7).
• Community: We desire to relate biblically and with love toward one another using our Covenant of Fellowship as our basis (Eph. 4:1-6; John 1:3; Heb. 10:24-25).
• Evangelism and Global Outreach: We desire to share the Gospel boldly by life and by word (John 17:24; 1 Pet. 3:15; Acts 1:8; Matt. 4:19; Rom. 1:16; Matt. 28:19-20).

Grace Covenant uses a “Three Cog” motif for explaining how members learn in different sized groups. The first cog is “Worship,” where every member can participate in corporate worship—which can be continued in private and family worship. The worship services are designed for believers in Christ to worship the triune God. Seekers and “de-churched” people are welcome to see how Christians worship in Word and Truth. The second cog is “Learning.” The medium-sized Sunday Adult Learning Communities are vital to the growth of members, prayer and fellowship. The third cog is “Connection.” These small groups emphasize study of the sermon, relationships and doing ministry together.

The Organization

The church emerged from a home Bible study in 1968. The first study was on the biblical covenants,
culminating with the “grace covenant” and so the name of this independent Bible church. In 2005, the ministry celebrated its 36th year. Early pastors were Dick Flaten and Max Anders, followed by Jim Rose. Matt Cassidy became the fourth Senior Pastor in 2002, having served on the staff for thirteen years in other positions.

Today, the community of Grace Covenant includes over 2,000 adults. The three worship services—a “classic” service at 8:00 a.m. and “contemporary” services at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. draw more than 1,100 people each week: the new worship center will seat 1,400 on the bottom floor and another 600 on the balcony. There are over 360 in Children’s Education and 250 in the Attic (7th-12th grades). Midweek AWANA attracts over 200 kids. There are over 35 home study groups, called Impact Groups that continue the study from the Sunday sermon. Fourteen Adult Learning Communities and ten Introductory/Equipping Classes allow people to gather on Sunday morning in medium-sized groups for study, prayer and fellowship. Local and International Missions is also important at the church, with a significant amount of people and funds being invested each year.

Strategic Priorities

Grace Covenant is a church on the move—literally. After two years of careful study, in 2004 the leadership set forth a plan to rebuild almost every building on the church campus. The goal was to accomplish this Herculean feat with the minimal use of long-term debt. Over eight million dollars were pledged for the first phase of the project: a new office building for staff, renovation of the old office building for Children’s Ministry and a new 2,100 seat worship center.

• In the spring of 2005, the congregation pledged $8,000,000 for the new building. In order to build the new building, the existing Christian School was moved and it subsequently closed. An adjacent office building was purchased for staff offices and renamed the Grace360 building.
• In the summer of 2005, the staff moved from the Cornerstone building into the new Grace360 building.
• In the winter/spring of 2005-06, two floors of the Cornerstone building will be renovated into Early Childhood facilities.
• In the spring of 2006, the old Children’s Education building will be demolished.
• In the summer/fall of 2006, the new worship center will break ground.Grace is a church that is planning for the future—including the staff needed as the church grows. The Pastor of Youth Ministries is a vital part of the staffing needs at the church. Future positions include a Pastor of Contemporary Worship and positions reporting to the Youth Pastor.

Dedicated to Giving

Few churches have a history of such dedicated giving. The leaders of the church have made a commitment to give ten percent of their income to Grace Covenant. The percentage of donations by members/attendees is among the top one percent in the United States.

Reporting Relationships

The Pastor of Youth Ministries will report to one of the Executive Pastors. Grace has a three person executive team, consisting of the Senior Pastor and two Executive Pastors.

Pastor

The theology of Grace Covenant Church allows only for men to be pastors, able to teach and shepherd at the congregational level (this view will shortly be examined and may or may not be changed).

Primary Function

The Pastor will respond to a genuine call from God to:

• Strategically lead the Youth Ministry. Help shape and implement a shared vision and strategy to grow and strengthen the Youth Ministry in alignment with the mission of the church. Servant leaders at Grace are inspirational, relational and collaborative. This includes a strong teaching component that either continues or takes to the next level the teaching curricula of the Youth Ministry.

Our mission is to develop students with sharp minds, tender hearts, and moldable wills to impact the world with the truth and love of Jesus Christ.

SonWorshipers: “Preparing students for life after graduation”