JOB DESCRIPTION Senior Pastor, Calvary Presbyterian Church (PCA) Glendale, California
1. PROFILE OF CALVARY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND ITS MINISTRY We are a traditional confessing Reformed church with a heritage of Christ-centered traditional worship, preaching, and fellowship. We formed in 1937 as a separation from the larger Presbyterian denomination to be a witness to orthodoxy. The church was part of the Bible Presbyterian denomination until the early 1970’s, withdrew to independency, and joined the PCA in the late 1970’s. The church facility is strategically located in Glendale, Northern Los Angeles, a metropolitan area, ideally located off the Ventura 134 Freeway. While the heritage, facilities, ministry of the church has been tremendous over the past 65 years, the last decade has seen a decline in membership for various reasons. The most immediate concern for the church is to quickly grow its membership, at a rate and manner that would be expected of a church plant. Currently we have 76 total members, and 61 communing members. To give a more realistic picture of our membership, we have 36 active communing members, and 6 active communing regular attendees who are not officially members. We have about 8 regularly-attending non-communicants. Our morning worship attendance is typically 59. Annual offerings are about $2500 per active communing member/attendee. Annual net rental income is about the equivalent of another $2500 per active communing member/attendee. Currently we have one Deacon, and three Ruling Elders, all with a Christian upbringing. Our Deacon is a peace officer with a heart to help our members and great skill in plant maintenance. Our three Ruling Elders, all professional men in their 30’s or 40’s, display a remarkable degree of unanimity in their commitment to the orthodox Reformed faith, their vision for Calvary to be a mainstream PCA church, and their insistence that professional and financial high standards and accountability be maintained. 2. OUR VISION FOR THE CHURCH’S FUTURE Calvary Presbyterian Church has a tremendous heritage. Some of the greatest preachers of the Reformed tradition have ministered here, and we are determined that this witness in the Northern Los Angeles area will continue, thrive, and prosper, and be a beacon for the many PCA church plants that are burgeoning close by. Strategy We take the heritage of our church seriously. We do not believe the only or best way to grow a church is to make the worship and preaching as broad and as amenable to the public as possible. While we want to be user friendly, our main strategy is to preach the
gospel, the redemptive-historical message, worship God properly, and administer the sacraments. Preaching Preaching must be Christ-centered, Redemptive-historical, gospel preaching-expository, with application and illustration. Communicating the gospel to a large metropolitan audience will be the specialized task. Preaching will have to be somewhat exceptional and well above average. We believe the formula for growing the church will be to have a preacher that will attract visitors and members. We are keenly aware of the difference between a Christ-centered sermon and a theological lecture. Although the latter has its place (e.g. in Sunday School), we require the former in our worship services. Worship We follow the regulative principle. We worship God as he instructs us, not the way seekers may wish to. We use the 1990 Trinity hymnal with occasional inserts of Metrical Psalms and contemporary songs. Congregational singing is accompanied by organ and piano. Occasionally handbells and other instruments are used in the offertory. Evangelism/Missions Evangelism will be a key skill our pastor will need to have. We believe that many of the empty seats in our church are meant for those who do not know Christ, who Christ will call to his salvation. Foreign and home missions support has always been an important of our ministry, and we devote a significant percentage of our budget to missions. We seek to continue this tradition, thanking God for the resources He has granted us to enable us to do so. Strategic Planning The challenge of reversing the negative trends our church has faced will require a person who has significant management skills….managing ministry, managing people, budgets, etc. The pressure for success for the church, and the pastor, can be so pressure filled, that the next pastor must learn to manage himself, set goals, objectives, manage frustration, and reverse negative trends. He will not only require a magnetic enthusiasm that comes from the Holy Spirit, but he will have to convey that to the current membership and to the new souls God will bring to the church.. While you will hear talk of church growth a great deal, make no mistake, that we are very cautious of modern church growth techniques which put marketing at the center. We believe there are practical things like advertising that we may have to do, but we believe that the preaching of God’s word and the Holy Spirit will draw souls to the body. Target Area The target area of our church is greater metropolitan area of Los Angeles County, especially Angeles Basin-immediate city of Glendale, as well as surrounding Burbank, Hollywood, San Fernando Valley, Eagle Rock, affluent La Canada Flintridge, influential Pasadena, etc. Located immediately adjacent to a major freeway, we are within a 20minute drive of perhaps 3 million people.
The profile of this target area is metropolitan and suburban multi-professional, multiethnic community (one of most multi-ethnic communities), multi-cultural, pluralistic. Immediate city of Glendale has a large ethnic Armenian population. Greater LA’s larger ethnic groups include Hispanics, blacks, Koreans, Chinese, and Armenian.. Should demonstrate ability to work with such diversity. The demographic trend in Los Angeles County is toward the relative decline of the ‘anglo’ population relative to Hispanic, Asian, and other groups. For example, the city of Glendale once was predominantly conservative ‘anglo’, which historically has been a natural constituency of a conservative Presbyterian church. Today, Glendale is about 30% Armenian, 25% Latino, 25% non-Middle Eastern white and 16% Asian, according to census and city data. In some schools, Armenians and Latinos make up about threefourths of the student body. Many of the non-Anglos are recent immigrants who tend to prefer their own homogeneous churches. The dominant industry is film with major studios providing a great deal of employment. There is also a youthful community of independent writers, producers, and actors. While there are some large churches like Jack Hayford’s and Hollywood Presbyterian, the area is considered generally unchurched and post-Christian. Pastor reaching these areas must be able to communicate gospel to different and challenging worldviews. Considering recent events, Islam is the fastest growing religion in America, and the LA basin has one of the largest Islamic communities. Further west and south are affluent and very unchurched Beverly Hills/Westwood/ Bel Aire. Population is largely Jewish and Persian. Towards beach communities is a hedonistic, and sometimes affluent or broke youthful population representing wealth and hedonism. West LA also has sizable business community representing film industry, as well as financial and legal. To south of Glendale in downtown Los Angeles is also large business community. Other significant churches in the area: Glendale Presbyterian Church is a large sized (1000+) PCUSA church 1 mile from Calvary. In Northern Glendale and affluent La Canada Flintridge is a growing suburban residential community (La Canada Presbyterian, PCUSA is also a good sized church). In Pasadena to the east is the largest most significant city. Lake Avenue Congregational Church is the largest church in area (5000 members). It has been a fast growing area for new generic seeker churches. Towards the San Fernando Valley to the west and on to coast, Calvary Chapels, Vineyards, and Four Square Churches (including Jack Hayford’s) abound. Hollywood Presbyterian (PCUSA) is a large and influential church. Centers of Learning: Immediate Glendale contains Occidental College (private college), Glendale Community College. Pasadena contains Cal Tech (world class science school), Fuller Seminary, and Pasadena City College. South of Glendale in downtown is famous USC, and west in Westwood is UCLA, both which contain large undergraduate and graduate programs and students from all over the country and all over the world.
3. REQUIREMENTS FOR CANDIDATE, AND APPLICATION QUESTIONS Education Minimum: Master of Divinity Preferred: PhD, or in process, or at minimum strong academic acumen or goals. Experience Preferred Experience: Successful and proven term as senior pastor in which ministry effectiveness can be demonstrated in several areas including membership growth. General Professional Characteristics The candidate must demonstrate the leadership, drive, energy, vision, and persistence of a church planter, as well as the experience, knowledge, teaching ability, of a seasoned and learned Reformed pastor/teacher. To the secure and successful senior pastor we hope the challenge and the blessing of this mission would be appealing enough. If prospects who are senior pastors and accustomed to a level of security are concerned about the usual instability and lack of resources of a church plant… he should realize that, because we have a giving yet small flock, and because we have facilities which we have rented effectively, this should not be such a concern. For the less qualified who might take comfort or assurance at such financial stability, be warned…as you will come to read, the expectations accountability of this position are very high and will require an exceptional candidate. The expected results will be monitored very early. A tremendous amount of screening will take place. Because of previous instability our church has had, we intend to be very selective in who will fill the pulpit next, and will be careful in our selection. Our church deserves nothing less. This document should serve, and is intended to serve, as an initial fence to jump over for candidates who are contenders. We believe our selectivity is justified for even more important reasons. We believe because of our location and history, the ministry opportunities offered by a church in such a central location is a tremendous opportunity for a qualified individual. The church like a flagship church will require a flagship leader. Such leaders are usually already successfully employed, and it is to such candidates we appeal, not just graduates looking for a job, or pastors out of call, looking for employment or a call. We are looking for a visionary, not someone to warm a seat. We are aware of the excesses of the modern church growth movement, which places too much emphasis at times on numbers. Preachers with growing churches and those with declining churches both claim their situation is due to their preaching the word of God. We believe that preaching the word is the key, and that Christ’s church is meant to grow as we see in Acts. We also believe that some of the reasons why churches grow or decline are complicated, and as stewards we are called to diligently understand the many reasons why churches grow and do not grow.
Specific Required Traits and Qualifications 1. A man with a true call from God, who will depend on God, gifted by the Holy Spirit to serve the church. 2. A man of prayer, humility and with a spirit of dependence on the Lord. 3. A man full of Christ’s love and commitment for his sheep and for the lost. 4. A man especially gifted in preaching God’s word. Pastors with growing churches and declining churches both cite preaching God’s word as explanation for what is going on in their church. We believe that it will be Christ-centered and relevant preaching that will be critical in attracting and growing membership and winning the lost. 5. Calvary’s pastor must have tremendous leadership skill and a strong sense of vision. Because of the great need for growth, the pastor will have to not only convey, but inspire enthusiasm and zeal for the Lord’s work. 6. Leadership skills will require having a very strong sense of vision and conveying this to the congregation. 7. Leadership and vision will also translate into specific strategic planning, mobilizing resources, training leaders, setting goals, and monitoring results. 8. The pastor will have to be a good Presbyterian submitting to his brethren and working well with others (session and congregation). 9. Calvary’s pastor will have to do the work of an evangelist in reaching the lost, and inspiring and equipping the church to do the same. 10. Calvary’s pastor will have to be a teacher, training the church and leaders. 11. Calvary’s pastor will have to be an apologist, defending the gospel in a hostile environment. 12. Calvary’s pastor will have to be comfortable reaching out to the most ethnically diverse metropolitan place in the world. 13. Calvary’s pastor will have to be a community builder, strengthening and deepening the ties of fellowship in the church, with a personality and God-given spirit that creates a warm and friendly atmosphere conducive to retaining visitors and members. A personality and temperament that is buoyant and appealing yet stable and sober. 14. Calvary’s pastor will have to be a visionary and someone who can inspire members with the vision with enthusiasm. He with the leadership and membership have to discern the church’s specific purpose, and coordinate our vision and planning to obtain that purpose God has for us. 15. He will have to train the leadership required to implement this vision. Training assumes one who is already well trained- certainly in biblical knowledge and theology. Someone training others must have a command and mastery of the multiple core competencies of a successful pastor and teacher. His command must be so thorough as to inspire those seeking to be trained. We believe that it is these core competencies that attract membership and involvement to a church that is consciously confessionally Reformed and orthodox. A PhD. is an obvious and visible sign of competency or the ability to gain recognized competency (though a PhD does not guarantee this and there are also very learned and competent men
who do not have a formal PhD). Having a PhD or a degree is insufficient if a pastor cannot preach and teach the living word and inspire others. 16. Calvary’s pastor will have to be a competent strategic planner, with short term, intermediate, and long term goals. He will have to be able to have the leadership skills to mobilize the resources of the church to achieve these goals. Resourcefulness and expertise to develop, implement, and monitor programs, strategies for outreach, evangelism, advertising, training, public events, conferences will be key mobilizing church’s resources. 17. Very critical will be the pastor’s role in bringing new membership into the church and achieving the aggressive growth goals required to make it a viable work. 18. Foundational to item 17 above will be a strong foundation of orthodox, inspiring, informed, and authoritative preaching and teaching ministry. Ability to exegete the scriptures in the original languages will be a must (there is a hunger for authoritative preaching). Regarding speaking skills we believe that for Calvary, this area will have to be extraordinary, since we are not looking for keeping the status quo, but in radically transforming our church (not transforming what it does, but where it is headed…to becoming a healthy, thriving, and growing church.) This is probably easier for someone who has done this before. For such a person, we will make it well worth his consideration. 19. Candidate should have a level of competence in leadership that is inspiring, that will reverse membership lapse trends (he should be able to identify the cause of such trends, and restructure procedures to reverse them). What is needed is organic growth. Growth of the body in Christ, in spiritual maturity, growth in community, and numerically, that numbers are added to the church. Regular monitoring of this process (quality control, so to speak) will be required. Sometimes lack of quantity is the result of some lack of quality. To the extent that is true in Calvary, excellent diagnostic and remedial skills will be required. All this, as mentioned above, is to be matched with servant leadership, a humble and cooperative spirit, submitting to the brethren, working well with others (session and congregation). It is a gift of orchestrating many gifts. 20. As a Reformed witness in a large major metropolitan area, candidate’s competence should be well developed not only in preaching and teaching, and apologetics, but in dealing with the realities of Los Angeles, the most multicultural center of the world. Candidate should be warm and welcoming and comfortable in such a setting, but also able to communicate to a variety of people groups, as well as religions in outreach. Los Angeles being a center for many other thriving church traditions, the candidate must be conversant with the distinctives of the Reformed tradition, and well informed on a variety of topics and controversial issues in the contemporary American church. 21. The essence of our church, a conservative confessing Reformed church with Christ Centered preaching, theology of the Westminster confession, worship following the regulative principle, is something that we will not compromise on. We are not looking for a cheerleader, or CEO…we are looking for a shepherd, a pastor who will have a heart for the work at Calvary, willing to spend time on his knees, face adversity and frustration in the eye, and persist in the labors God has
called him to. We want someone who God has called to us and someone who will pray regarding this. Task descriptions The tasks expected of our next pastor are listed below. Please comment on each of these and your ability to perform in these areas: 1. Sermon preparation for Sunday service. Sermons must be biblical, orthodox, instructive, well informed, relevant, and delivered with a natural dynamism that is necessary to grow a church. 2. Christian education: Sunday schools and other services. 3. Outreach: Large scale and one on one. Design programs (initiate and work with session) to reach larger community 4. Leadership training: Future of church will depend on strong leaders. 5. Visitation: visit and minister to current members, a good number who are old and faithful saints (will include a good deal of hospital visits). 6. Participate to some extent in managing property and tenants during the week. Application and Questionnaire 1. What strengths do you believe that you would bring to our church? 2. Please assess your skills or abilities as they would pertain to a church planting situation? 3. Describe your general strategy for church growth, and then using the description above, describe/ or provide your (initial) specific strategy to obtain the aggressive growth needs that Calvary has, and what your would be in this. 4. Describe your ministry experience, and how God has used your gifts to bring church growth at your current or past ministry or church. 5. Provide specific comment to your gifts and experience in regards to the candidate description we have provided above. 6. Describe your views and methods for preaching. Do you use the original languages for exegesis (can you)? 7. What are your views on worship and how would you like to see it implemented? 8. How would you or others rate your people skills: general personality, friendliness, ability to counsel or resolve conflict? What has been your experience with this? 9. Would you consider yourself someone who would thrive in a large metropolitan multi-cultural post-Christian area? Tell us on what basis. 10. Please state any exceptions you might have with the Westminster Confession, if any. Rate Yourself in the Following Areas 4 = Very Strong 3 = Strong 2= Average 1 = Weak 1. Preaching ____ 2. Teaching _____ 3. Evangelism _____ 4. Disciplieship _____
5. Worship Leadership _____ 6. Church Administration ____ 7. Team Work ____ 8. Counselling _____ 9. Leadership Training _____ 10. Christian Education _____ 11. Pastoral Visitation _____ 12. Stewardship Ministry ______ 13. Diaconal Ministry ______ 14. Youth Work ______ 15. College & Career Ministry ______ 16. Ministry to Senior Citizens _____ 17. Singles Ministry _____ 18. Recreational Activities _____ 19. Presbytery/GA Involvement ______ 20. Community Service _____ 21. Apologetics ______ 22. Outreach to urban environment ____ 23. Outreach to different cultures _____ 24. Congregational Visitation ______ 25. Strategic Management ______ 26. Church Growth Strategies _____ 27. Personal and Church Management _____ 28. Congregational Fellowship _____ 29. Hospitality and Serving ______ 30. Organizing Conferences _____ 31. Public Involvement ______ 32. Mentoring ______ 33. Academic Acumen _____ All applicants should realize the enormity and the urgency of the task that lies before him. It will demand a level of leadership which is by no means average. Candidates must demonstrate this very early. For those with lower qualifications (and even for those with considerable), we intend to be highly selective. We intend to screen out a large number of applicants. We want to examine your ability to answer the questions attached and articulate your ability to perform the tasks required by the next pastor. The ministry needs of the church and the challenge are extra-ordinary. It will take a candidate with some extraordinary gifts to meet the demands that this ministry will require. Candidates merely looking for a pulpit to fill, and to engage in a run-of-the-mill pastoral ministry, are not who we are looking for. We are looking for someone with vision, leadership, and unrelenting drive.
Application procedure All candidates should please provide the following in your package to us: 1. Resume (account for all years and gaps of employment) including your current position 2. Answers to the lists of questions above. 3. References: (at least 3 session members, 3 ministers, 4 congregants, 3 layman outside of your church) 4. A video tape of your preaching (with a few of your sermons) (should be actual presentations) 5. Audio tapes with samples of your preaching (from actual presentation) 6. Sermon outlines, essays you have written, etc. 7. Topics you have taught at Sunday School with outlines if available. 8. A list of your favorite books, and a few of your most recently read books. 9. A list of your hobbies, or favorite recreational events or interests. Mail applications directly to church: Calvary Presbyterian Church 610 North Glendale Avenue Glendale, CA 91206-2781