Filled

Executive Pastor
Opportunity Profile

Christ Church

Plano, Texas

 

Introduction

Christ Church is a young church in the north Dallas area committed to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ in our local church and community and in the mission field. Founded by our current rector in 1985, we have grown to be a large, multi-staff, multi-format congregation. Our mission has been the same for the past 22 years: Go, make disciples and teach them to obey the commands of Christ.

Our web address is: www.ChristChurchPlano.org.

Plano is a suburb of Dallas but has its own array of businesses and corporate entities. Christ Church is located just down the street from world headquarters for a number of international companies. Frisco, just to our north, is one of the fastest growing cities in America.

The North Dallas area is filled with mission opportunities to reach young families, leaders in business and technology, singles and starting couples, and a growing number of retirees and minorities. It is the home of large churches such as Prestonwood Baptist Church, Stonebriar Community Church and Fellowship Church. Some of the largest Methodist congregations in the country are located in North Dallas. Christ Church is the most-attended church among Anglican congregations in North America and has a bright and full future, God willing.

 

Chapter One: A Brief History and Our Core Values

Christ Church was founded 22 years ago in a living room as a small group. The church grew rapidly in homes during the first summer of 1985 and had its first public worship service in August of that same year. Christ Church used a school cafeteria for three and a half years before purchasing a seven acre piece of land on the growing edge of Plano. In 1989 Christ Church moved to its current location, built more buildings and acquired adjacent parcels of land. Currently we own 15 acres of land and have built over 120,000 sq. ft of space for worship, education, fellowship, youth and children, and offices. We are currently engaged in a building project to complete a 10,000 square foot office/pastoral building on the east side of our campus.

Christ Church has expanded so rapidly because of its commitment to mission and ministry. As with most growing churches, the buildings are only the tools to accomplish the mission. They have allowed us to implement ministry connected to each of our five core values. These core values were established in the early stages of Christ Church and remain true and constant to this day.

1. Worship: We draw from the rich storehouse of the Anglican tradition. We worship in six different church services every week. In each service we blend the elements of our modern era with the ancient traditions of the past. Four of our services are from the Book of Common Prayer and the music style is a blend of traditional hymns of the church and more contemporary praise choruses. Communion is offered at all services.
   
   Christ Church is a pulpit-driven congregation. The rector and preaching staff use the pulpit to preach biblically based messages with clear relevance and personal application. We view the Scriptures according to the evangelical heritage in our tradition: It is the inspired Word of God. It is authoritative for our life and ministry.
   
   
2. Discipleship: Christ Church began as a small group bible study in 1985. Since then, the Small Group approach has dominated all of our adult ministries. We currently have 80+ small groups that meet through out the surrounding cities on almost every night of the week and in varying degrees of frequency. Most small groups are autonomous and not easily directed through the staff. However, on occasions, the small groups will join in a congregation-wide effort for a specific period of time and for a specific focus during Lent or some other season of study.
   
   Discipleship of adults takes place in many other ways. We have very large teaching ministries for men and for women, a Sunday morning emphasis in Adult Bible Fellowship (concurrent with worship), and special emphasis from time to time.
   
   Our children and youth ministries carry out their own discipleship programs as well. We have two fully graded children’s ministry offerings on Sunday morning, a youth Sunday school, youth Sunday evening worship and teaching, and a mid-week offering for the middle school. In addition, the sixth grade is in Confirmation preparation all year as their discipleship-training program.
   
   
3. Evangelism: Christ Church has a clear understanding of the message of the Gospel and seeks ways to make the love of God in Christ known in many different areas. Our efforts in evangelism have been primarily in “secondary evangelism”…that is, encouraging members to invite their friends to worship or an education program or a small group where “primary evangelism” can take place. This is typical of mainline denominational strategies and it has been somewhat effective. Most on staff would like to see more personal ownership of the task of evangelism.
   
   We have a number of avenues where our members can be involved in mission around the world and outreach to the people and needs of our local community. We send scores of people on the mission field every year and deploy hundreds of our members to serve in local areas of need.
   
   Our primary means of “outside advertising” has been our location. Each day over 35,000 vehicles drive by our property.
   
   
4. Generosity: Christ Church has had an active teaching program in stewardship over the past 15 years. We have a high average contribution per family (about $6,000/yr) and we have had back-to-back capital campaigns for the past 18 years. In that time, we have raised millions of dollars for not only our programs and ministries, buildings and facilities, but for outreach, missions, disaster relief and other special or seasonal projects.
   
   
5. National: Christ Church has seen itself as a church with a national ministry to members of the Anglican Communion. First in the Episcopal Church as an agent of renewal and reform, and now in the Anglican Mission in the Americas, a missionary “order” from the Anglican Province of Rwanda.
   
   Our emphasis as a national congregation has placed us on the radar screen of many other Episcopal and Anglican congregations in North America. We are well-known for innovative ministry, excellence in worship ministries, small groups, and clear biblical teaching.

Over the first two decades, Christ Church enjoyed continued growth and expansion. We planted two other congregations, supported large missionary efforts in the Diocese of Peru, placed a dozen or so missionaries in the mission field, raised millions of dollars for mission and ministry, built our buildings, called our staff, and refined our leadership structures. We have baptized, married, buried, confirmed, and converted many souls over the first twenty years. We average over 2,000 in worship on any given Sunday. We have no conflict or division within the congregation. The founding pastor continues to serve as Sr. Pastor/Rector and enjoys the full support of the congregation, the staff and the Vestry.

It is a healthy church. There is great joy. People are committed to the witness of Christ Church and hundreds and hundreds of people are engaged in the work of its ministry.

 

Chapter Two

In the summer of 2005 Christ Church celebrated its 20th anniversary. The Rector announced its long-range goals for the next phase of its life. They involved five major areas of expansion and development.

 

1. The development of a single space for the congregation to have as fellowship, teaching, and future worship space. This concept has changed over the past few years, but by spring of 2008, we will have a newly renovated fellowship hall, additional and updated nursery space, adult education space, pastoral and administrative offices, a new and expanded bookstore, and a significant reduction of our capital debt. (Christ Church raised $9.1 million dollars in its sixth capital campaign, the largest amount ever. The giving period began in November 2006 and will continue for three years.
   
   
2. A doubling of our attendance during weekend worship. This will be a stretch and difficult to accomplish, given our space and parking limitations. But it was felt that we needed to see a “stretch goal” in this area so that we could move beyond a mom-and-pop style of ministry and programming to a more decentralized and multi-level, fully integrated worship life.
   
   Indeed, this has not been easy. With the level of contention in our old denomination, we elected to leave the Episcopal Church (USA). This did impact our attendance and our level of energy when the decision was finally made and executed. We lost only a few of our leadership core, but we lost about 10% of our attendance base. It has been a year of transition and recovery from the exit process, but we all sense a new day and new opportunities ahead for Christ Church to continue its growth and expansion.
   
   In order to fulfill this goal of doubling our attendance, we have instituted a “Parish Ministry” plan. We have divided up our community into six regions and have assigned our staff clergy to be “pastor” to a specific geographical area. These clergy have visitation responsibilities, pastoral care duties, and overall ministry responsibilities for the 400-500 members in their charge. Each pastor is engaged in ministries and activities that are designed to make their region grow. As all six regions grow, the whole church will grow.
   
   This reorganization effort is having its impact, but we do not have a full handle on the wider impact of this effort from a programming and/or financial perspective. We do expect that it will lead to increased attendance, commitment and fulfillment of our mission.
   
   
3. A tripling of our leadership was called for in our Chapter Two vision. We have a sense that we are using the same leadership core to do all the work of Christ Church. We have yet to institute specific plans to call, train and support additional leaders at Christ Church. As part of our effort in the Parish Ministry program, new leaders are needed to start new small groups.
   
   
4. We called for an international and local outreach and mission effort. Chapter Two was about doing something beyond ourselves, too. Since then we have been very involved in the mission efforts in New Orleans by sending members on a regular basis and raising funds for specific outreach and ministry programs there. In addition, we are opening up mission relationships with Anglicans in Rwanda and Belize. Additionally, we raised $500,000 to purchase a seminary/leadership facility in Peru. The money has been given and we are ready to execute the transaction, God willing.
   
   
5. The fifth and last element of Chapter Two was in having a national impact in the development of a new Anglican order in North America. We could not have known the prophetic quality of this statement, but within the following 18 months, Christ Church had separated from the Episcopal Church (USA) and joined the Anglican Mission in the Americas. We are part of a church planting movement who, along with others, hope to redefine and renew Anglicanism in North America.

This is the essence of Chapter Two. It is the framework for the work and ministry that lie ahead. But more definition is needed at this point. We must not only outline the general broad areas of our vision (as in space and size and depth and outreach, etc.), but we must also define the clear aspects of what we do next, at a staff and leadership level.

 

Strategic Priorities

The core values of Christ Church are clear enough…and they will not change. We are a mission-driven church with a clear agenda: to make disciples and teach them to obey the commands of Christ. We have clear core values: Worship, Discipleship, Evangelism, Generosity and National leadership. And we have a clear shape of the next phase of our life as a community: increases in space and size, decreases in debt, expansion of leadership, outreach, and participation in a new affiliation.

But what are our strategic priorities? There are nine areas for focus and effort. With the Rector and other Sr. Leadership, the Executive Pastor will give shape and form to the mission of Christ Church and our core values. The areas of emphasis and focus are the next steps in our Chapter Two years.

1. We want our members and visitors to be committed to the worship life of our Anglican church. This is the essential aspect of what it means to be an Anglican. This means that every member of our church should be counted in worship, missed if they are not here, contacted if they are absent for a long time, ministered to and supported if they are not able to be in worship, and specifically prayed for if they are working in other areas of the ministry on Sunday morning.
   
   Our worship will be of the highest caliber in preparation and offerings. We will explore and present offerings of worship and music that inspire and bring hope, comfort and spiritual depth into people’s lives. Our preaching will be always biblical and always relevant to the life of a seeker or a disciple living in today’s world.
   
   A worship-centered church will also find ways of introducing the elements of worship to all groups as they meet in Sunday School (worship in class or as a rally point), Youth Ministry, Men’s and Women’s Ministry, Small Group life, and family life and personal devotions.
   
   
2. We want our teaching ministries at Christ Church to be of the highest quality and caliber, emphasizing a biblical faith with our teaching coming from the evangelical reformed tradition of the Anglican Communion. That is to say it is to be centered on these six elements:
1. The supremacy of Holy Scripture in the matters of faith and doctrine.
2. The majesty of Jesus Christ as the one who died for our sins.
3. The lordship of the Holy Spirit who empowers our ministries.
4. The necessity of personal conversion as a direct response to an encounter with God.
5. The priority of evangelism and a witness and expression of our faith.
6. The importance of fellowship as the church being a living community of believers.
   
   
3. We want our Small Groups to be shepherded and developed by the Parish Ministers. Each of the area pastors should see their job as the development and spiritual oversight of the small group leaders, the small group members, and the development of small groups. We want the Parish Ministers to visit in the Small Groups twice year and be in monthly contact with each Small Group leader by phone or face-to-face.
   

4. The quality of our programming must be excellent at every level: preparation of the leader, the space, creating a welcome environment for new members, name-tags on all leaders, warm welcomes, and personal follow-up. We have a wide variety of programming now and it needs to be coordinated together in the broad fulfillment of our mission. We need to add programming for singles and college students at least, and possibly in other areas as the needs and opportunities present themselves.
   

5. We want our pastoral care ministry, which we call Life Care, to be “over the top”. When a person is sick, hurting, suffering, alone, grieving, recovering, or in any stage of crisis, our pastoral care team should provide excellent and respectful care, encouragement, prayer and counsel. We need to be patient and tolerant with most people, directive with some, and compassionate with all.
   
   To this end, we must always provide the sacramental care that people need and want in their lives. This will mean excellent preparation for marriage, baptism, confirmation, healing, care for sickness, and the provision of the Eucharist to people in dire straights.
   

6. We want our congregation to practice Christian stewardship as a way of life. We have always been a generous church, but we think this requires constant preaching, teaching, writing, programming, and witnessing. Our whole staff should get behind a stewardship program on an annual basis.
   
   
7. We want our church to see missions and outreach as a way of life. We want the mission and outreach ministries of our church to be part of the core experience of every member at most any age or stage in life. We want the people of our church to know how to present their faith in words and actions in the local environment and in foreign lands.
   
   
8. We want our church to have a fresh and appealing communications strategy that fully utilizes all modern technology and broadcast media. The look and feel of our brand within Christ Church and outside of Christ Church should be simple, clean, controlled and accurate. It should highlight our unique offerings of worship, personal ministry, excellent programming, and significant service and outreach to the community.
   
   
9. We want our church to have administrative and operational processes that are fully professional. Our buildings and grounds, financial management, personnel policies, corporate stewardship, and budget controls should elicit pride and confidence in our members and attract significant donors and future resources.

 

Opportunity for Executive Pastor at Christ Church

The executive pastor will be responsible to the rector for the implementation of the vision as outlined above. The EP will report directly to the Rector and will work with a Sr. Management team to implement this vision and the strategic plan above.

More specifically, the EP will:

1. Work with the Rector and Management Team to clarify goals, objectives, strategies and implementation procedures for all ministries.
2. Directly supervise all “Ministry Program” staff (Men’s, Women’s, Children, Youth, and other similar programming).
3. Provide organizational leadership for staff meetings: set schedules, develop agenda and moderate/lead meetings.
4. Initiate and supervise the effective development of new ministries, providing resources to the leadership involved.
5. Accept additional responsibilities as needs indicate, with primary reporting relationship to the Rector.
6. Assist ordained and program staff in developing both individual and corporate goals and objectives for their ministries, creating processes for evaluation and procedures for accountability.
7. Oversee and assist the administrative and support staff in developing individual and corporate objectives for their work.
8. Oversee all corporate policies and procedures including legal representation, insurance coverage and compliance with all local/federal safety regulations
9. Oversee human resources including job descriptions, performance evaluations, compensation standards, benefit packages for both lay and ordained leadership/staff, 403b sponsorship, and all related employment policies.
10. Oversee all operations of church facilities and IT/technology.
11. Execute the vision of Christ Church according to the vision stated above with an organizational chart roughly outlined below:

Our Executive Pastor will need to have the following characteristics:

1. A heartbeat for Christ Church and a personal vision for ministry that is in synch with the stated vision and focus of the Rector and Vestry.
2. A demonstrated experience in the pastoral/program ministry and administrative staff of a church; a knowledge and experience in calling, mentoring, guiding and evaluating professional staff.
3. A demonstrated ability to raise funds and direct stewardship and capital campaigns.
4. A strong Christian faith and theological training consistent with the overall faith perspective of Christ Church.

 

How to Apply

Position Filled