New Life Evangelical
Free Church

Watertown, South Dakota

Job Description

Revised August 12, 2008

Reports to

Senior Pastor

Purpose

To assist the Senior Pastor with the creative development and implementation of his vision and spiritual direction, so that he can continue his main responsibility of teaching and preaching God’s Word on Sunday mornings. The desired end would be to increase the Senior Pastor’s time with the Staff for the purpose of relationship, vision and ministry and decrease actual time and involvement in the implementation of the vision in ministry areas aside from Sunday mornings.

Summary

The Executive Pastor would:

Lead with a servant’s heart. Have a visible, growing personal relationship with Christ
and a concern for the welfare of the body of Christ at New Life.
Be a spark plug or “catalyst” that assists people in the process of following Christ; doing so in such a manner that ministry stays in the hands of the people.
Clarify the vision to ministry leaders so that the simple process is understood by the people and they can catch the fire. Inspire and help leaders to exceed the expectations of their roles and reach levels even they did not know they were capable of. This normally resembles counseling with accountability.
Establish sequential steps in the process that cause people to move to greater areas of commitment.
Assist in the arrangement of ministries and staff around the same simple process; establishing “synergy” and alignment between ministries whereby they do not compete with each other, but rather enhance one another’s purposes and plans.
Be courageous and creative enough to abandon ideas, programming, etc., that fall outside of the simple ministry process. This requires saying yes to the best and no to everything else and being able and willing to make changes when needed.

The position

Execute the vision of the senior pastor throughout the church leadership structure:

Meet regularly with the Senior Pastor for discipleship, prayer and planning.
Provide updates and input for the church’s progress for Elder Meetings.
Develop the leadership structure of the church and oversees its efficiency and
effectiveness.
Commit to excellence in all aspects of the ministry.
Commit to mobilizing and coaching, so that the ministry remains in the hands of the
People (Ephesians 4:12).
Lead the Equipping Staff and Support Staff:
1. Set and track specific, measurable goals to insure that the vision is being achieved;
2. Equip and assist them to lead their Ministry Team meetings.
3. While the Senior Pastor builds relationship, mentors and presents vision in the Equipping Staff meetings, the Executive Pastor creates the agenda and leads the remainder of the meeting to implement the vision. Traditional programming change recommendations need to be discussed with the Senior Pastor.
4. Oversee the budget development, budget adherence and cash flow with the
  Treasurer.
Oversee the launching of new ministries that the Lord raises up, that they are consistent
with the simple church process, values and vision.
Assist in the hiring of staff and also the formal procedure in dismissing or repositioning
of staff.
Handle personnel conflicts and troubleshoot program and ministry challenges.
Establish church policies and procedures that effectively facilitate the vision.

A Brief History of New Life Church

youth New Life Evangelical Free Church is located in eastern South Dakota, one hundred miles north of Sioux Falls on Interstate 29. It is a growing city of about 20,000 people and approximately 80,000 within an hour's drive.

The church was started in October of 1989 as a joint effort of the Northern Plains District of the EFCA and several families in Watertown. As God brought them together they met in homes for Sunday services. Early in 1990 they began to meet in rented quarters in a local school. A new building along busy Highway 20 was constructed in 1996. In 2002 a huge addition tripled their space, with offices and a new state-of-the-art auditorium which can seat over 600.

Through an exciting vision for reaching their community with the good news of Jesus Christ, they have grown to the current average Sunday attendance of about 350. Their passion for evangelism and reaching those who have given up on God and the church, has not wavered. The morning worship is contemporary and seeker sensitive, but the teaching is aimed at spiritual growth for the believers.

John Grunditz was called to be their first pastor in June 1990 and he continues to serve in this capacity. The church is led by a board of elders. It has a full time Youth Pastor and Adult Ministries/Administrative Pastor. Also there are four part time positions: Children's Ministry Coordinator, Receptionist, Communications Coordinator and Custodian/Janitorial. Their Ministries are led by lay Ministry Leaders, who together form the Ministry Council.