Pastor With Us

1st Street Church has deep roots — our origins reach back to 1921 — but we are, in a real sense, a young church. We began a replant initiative in 2022, and since 2024 we have been fully locally led. That combination shapes who we are: a congregation with a long history and a fresh start, carrying the stability of a century-old story and the energy of something newly begun.

The replant has taken hold. We’re a growing church in a growing town, and we’re grateful for it — but we want to be clear about how we think about that. Our aim is not growth for its own sake. Our aim is to be the healthiest church we can be, and we trust that growth follows healthy, faithful ministry as a natural result. If you join us, you’ll be helping build the discipleship infrastructure that keeps a growing church healthy as it grows.

1st Street Church is seeking a full-time Associate Pastor to serve alongside our Lead Pastor in shepherding our congregation. The person we’re looking for brings three things together: a heart for partnership, a love for people, and a gift for building. All three matter for this role.

It starts with partnership. This is a role for a partner in ministry — someone who works as part of a team under the Lead Pastor’s leadership toward a shared vision for the church. Within that partnership, you would carry real responsibility to lead the ministries entrusted to you, with the Lead Pastor’s collaboration, support, and accountability. It’s a role for someone who thrives on that kind of trusted teamwork.

It also calls for a genuine love of people. Relational, day-to-day pastoral care is central to how we pastor at 1st Street Church — sitting down one-on-one with congregants, following up with guests, and responding to those who reach out to the church. You would share fully in that work alongside the Lead Pastor. We’re looking for someone who is genuinely energized by it and does it with warmth and care. We also believe a healthy church tends to the health of those who lead it. Just as we ask you to care well for our congregation, we’re committed to your own spiritual growth, rest, and sustainability in ministry — because we don’t believe faithful pastoring and a well-tended soul are at odds.

And it takes a builder. Several of the discipleship responsibilities below ask you to help create programs, not just run ones that already exist — shaping structure that a young, growing church still needs. If you’re called to pastor and eager to be part of what God is doing in the next chapter of a thriving replanted church, we’d love to hear from you.

Discipleship

One of our central goals right now is offering robust discipleship programming — real pathways for people to grow as followers of Jesus. This hire exists in large part so that someone can pioneer that programming and then manage it well. You would be building, leading, and maintaining the church’s discipleship infrastructure:

• Small groups: recruit, train, and coach small group leaders, supporting them through regular meetings and one-on-one conversations
• Statement of Faith class: serve as the primary teacher for our introductory course to Bible study at 1SC — a class that walks through our Statement of Faith (historically orthodox Christianity) to teach the basics of the faith, all grounded in the fundamentals of how to read the Bible well. You would recruit and develop volunteers to assist (this class needs to be built, not just taught)
• Deep-dive Bible study: lead periodic advanced Bible study for participants who’ve completed prerequisites, with content shaped to their needs (program development required)
• 1st Street Orientation: help launch and then oversee our program welcoming new attendees into the values and community of the church (content already exists; we need someone to implement it)

Sunday Services

We exist to worship Jesus — it’s the first half of our mission statement. Gathering on Sunday to worship together is at the heart of who we are, and contributing to those gatherings is a meaningful part of this role:

• Identify and connect with guests each Sunday, following up with them in the days after
• Be available for pastoral conversations with anyone seeking a pastor
• Help plan the preaching schedule and preach on a regular rotation
• Perform baptisms as opportunities arise
• Serve as a worship host when needed — leading the welcome, announcements, communion, and closing benediction (a role often filled by congregation volunteers, but one the Associate Pastor steps into at times)
  
  • Provide emergency coverage as host or preacher when scheduled staff or volunteers are unavailable
• Lead volunteer devotionals.

Pastoral Care

The second half of our mission is bringing hope to our community — and pastoral care is one of the most direct ways we do it. When someone is grieving, in crisis, preparing for marriage, or simply looking for guidance, a pastor who shows up with wisdom and compassion is hope made tangible. Much of the relational, day-to-day shepherding described above lives here:

• Meet with individuals seeking pastoral support — prospective members, those seeking guidance, hospital visits, conflict resolution, and general spiritual care
• Provide premarital, couples, grief, and crisis counseling within a short-term model (no more than 5–6 sessions), referring those who need more extensive care to licensed clinical counselors
• Help connect individuals facing hardship with benevolence and crisis assistance
• Officiate weddings, funerals, and child dedications

Spiritual Leadership

At 1st Street Church, we believe spiritual leadership begins with the leader’s own walk with Christ. The most important thing a pastor can do is to be the best Christian they can be first — because a pastor can only lead a church toward health they are pursuing themselves. We’re looking for someone whose own life with Jesus overflows into how they shepherd, model, and strengthen the spiritual health of the whole congregation.

• Pursue your own spiritual formation — a growing life of prayer, Scripture, and walking with Christ — as the foundation you lead from, tending your own walk and the spiritual life of your household
• Model spiritual maturity for the congregation, staff, and volunteers, setting a tone others can follow
• Help cultivate and safeguard a healthy, Christ-centered church culture in partnership with the Lead Pastor
• Collaborate with the Lead Pastor on conflict resolution and crisis response
• Attend Church Council meetings when invited, to offer pastoral perspective on significant matters

Administration & Operations

At 1SC, our leaders serve with a lot of independence — and that independence runs on communication. Administration here is ultimately about keeping the team and the people we serve well-informed, so that accountability and support can flow without micromanagement.

• Participate in Sunday service planning and ongoing improvements
• Take part in weekly staff and monthly all-staff meetings, sharing in their coordination
• Support volunteer management, community outreach events, and facilities or event logistics as needed
• Help administer the church’s membership process and maintain trustworthy records for the ordinances and pastoral acts you carry out — baptisms, child dedications, weddings, funerals, and membership
• Contribute to the church’s communications systems, and provide input on the budget for the ministry areas you lead
• Learn and maintain proficiency in the platforms the church runs on, including church management, communications, and operations tools

This is a full-time position. A few commitments are fixed each week: Sunday services (roughly 3–4 hours), a weekly staff meeting, and a monthly all-staff meeting. Beyond those, you would have real freedom to shape your own schedule, trusted to steward your time and shepherd your responsibilities faithfully.

We’re not looking to check boxes — we’re looking for a person marked by a genuine call to ministry, Christlike character, sound theological understanding and teaching ability, pastoral wisdom, and a life of ongoing spiritual growth. We hold these as a whole portrait, not a scorecard.

Practically, that tends to look like:

• Demonstrated experience designing and launching ministry programs from the ground up
• Building curricula, structures, and volunteer teams, not only maintaining what already exists
• Comfort operating within a short-term, refer-out model of pastoral counseling
• A track record of flourishing as part of a ministry team, contributing real leadership without needing to set the church’s overall direction
• Theological convictions centered on Christ and the Kingdom, consistent with a life of whole-life discipleship rather than a transactional view of faith

Required - A bachelor’s degree in Christian studies, biblical studies, theology, or a related field - A solid grounding in biblical studies and the ability to teach the Bible to adults clearly and faithfully - Training and hands-on experience in pastoral care

Preferred - A Master of Divinity (M.Div) or comparable graduate theological training - Prior experience serving on a church staff or pastoral team

• Annual Compensation: $55,000
• Retirement: Church contribution to a retirement account administered by the Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board (MMBB)
• Housing Allowance: Eligible for ministerial housing allowance designation per IRS guidelines, established by Church Council resolution
• Additional Benefits: Generous paid time off

As a Christian church, we ask all staff to affirm 1st Street Church’s Statement of Faith and to conduct themselves consistently with our mission and values as a condition of employment. This is a full-time pastoral role and includes 1st Street Church’s ministry licensing process as a required part of candidacy.