Opportunity Profile
Executive Director of Ministry
Covenant United Methodist Church
Greenville, North Carolina
Church Profile
Covenant United Methodist Church is an evangelical, growing, dynamic congregation of 2,000+ located in Greenville, North Carolina, a community of 75,000. Greenville is home to East Carolina University (25K), a regional hospital and medical school and has emerged as the commercial, cultural and educational hub of eastern North Carolina.
Covenant UMC (www.connect2covenant.com) is committed to being a community of God-listeners and Jesus-followers, truth-seekers and humble mentors, hope-givers and trail-blazers. Through the leadership of Lead Pastor Branson Sheets, Covenant has become a congregation whose impact extends far beyond its four walls. The congregational life and ministry is grounded in the core values of:
- Worshipful Living
- A dedication to passionate devotion and intentional obedience
- Humble Service
- A calling to be generous towards God and others
- Authentic Relationships
- A commitment to respect and integrity
- Loving Compassion
- A command to look beyond ourselves
- Empowering People
- A process for equipping and sending God’s followers
- Ministering Together
- A strategy for accomplishing God’s plan on earth
While the recent history of growth is exciting, the future looks even brighter as the church is in the midst of a ministry plan entitled The Vision of 2010. Focused on three, 2-year stages, the vision will result in deepened ministry, growth in outreach and greatly expanded facilities on 40-acres.
The Opportunity
This context presents an exciting opportunity for Covenant’s next Executive Director of Ministry who will make three, primary contributions:
- Driving the church’s established DNA: The church has established values, beliefs, mission and vision that call the community to serve the King and His world. At the same time, the process of living into these kingdom ideals is never ending. The right leader, therefore, is one who will work as a collaborative partner alongside senior leaders, the staff team and core lay leaders to champion a kingdom message (grace) and method (equipping). In so doing, an effective Executive Director of Ministry will grasp the big picture of where the church is going and clearly communicate that vision into strategic action steps that motivate and mobilize disciples of Jesus.
- Inspiring, training and coordinating ministry staff: This is the role of “air traffic controller.” The Executive Director of Ministry will operationalize the heart of the church’s purpose, values and vision through relevant, people-development and coordinating systems. This type of organizational leadership would be evidenced through excellence in communication, advanced planning, listening-based coaching, consistent accountability, and a genuine enjoyment of working with others. Empowering equipped disciples within clear boundaries is an essential contribution for this staff leader.
- Finding innovative solutions to every day problems: The dynamic nature of a Christ community demands that leaders be flexible, spontaneous, and adaptable. The consummate leader and manager therefore is one who is energized by the daily challenges of achieving ministry excellence through humble servants. At Covenant Church, change and transition are the norm, not the exception, and managing them are necessary core competencies of all executive leaders.
Bottom line: The heart of Covenant is keeping Christ in charge!
To that end, the Executive Director of Ministry partners with the Lead Pastor in accelerating the church’s movement towards Christ-centeredness.
Qualifications
This member of the staff’s core management team must possess a proven track record of inviting, equipping and deploying kingdom servants. Successful candidates will possess a track record of thriving in a dynamic, team environment; can demonstrate 10+ years of ministry leadership; and shares the church’s evangelical, Wesleyan heart.
Essential traits include:
- A servant-leader’s heart with a calling to be a congregational executive.
- A passion for both content and process excellence.
- A proven gifting to influence, inspire and motivate others to quality work, personal integrity and accountability to stated goals.
- A demonstrated capacity for multi-tasking management responsibilities.
- A desire to grow people in ministry, not for ministry—the heart of biblical equipping.
- A godly character that exudes respect, authenticity, humility, patience and trustworthiness.
Strong candidates will have:
- A growing, energetic and authentic relationship with Jesus Christ.
- The affirmation of others as one who has been spiritually gifted to accelerate communities towards Christ-centeredness.
- Demonstrated church experience, which includes working closely with congregational leaders to initiate strategic plans and goals with both paid staff and lay servants.
- A Bachelor’s degree with related continuing education or graduate studies
- An established and working knowledge of the Scriptures.
Preferred qualifications include:
- Organizational experience within a church to include hiring staff, training paid equippers, communicating boundaries, effectively empowering others and relevant coaching.
- Experience as an organizational change agent that may include a demonstrated track record of successful communicating, organizing, inspiring, or mobilizing early adopters to achieve a common goal.
Search Process
Interested parties should forward a resume and brief answers (in Word format) to the following questions to Hildad@connect2covenant.com . No phone calls please. A position description and additional information is available online at www.connect2covenant.com.
Application Questions
- Describe your faith in Christ. How did you come to know the Lord, something about your journey with Him, your current walk and how your relationship with Him has affected your career?
- Describe and detail your church experience, including all relevant ministry roles and responsibilities.
- What is it about the Executive Director of Ministry role at Covenant Church that catches your eye? Why now?
- Briefly share with us 2-3 ministry experiences where you influenced others and why these opportunities were especially significant.
The current Executive Director, Charles Halley, will follow up with those who forward their resume and written responses.
