I have a great opportunity to share with you today. Ottawa First Church of the Nazarene in Illinois is looking for an executive pastor. After transitioning from a traditional environment to a more contemporary one, the church has grown exponentially–about 30% up from the past year. On an average Sunday, 850 worshippers attend. Many of these attendees are previously unchurched, but Ottawa First has a missional, outreach-focused congregation that is drawing in new believers.

Because of the growth they’ve experienced, the church is in the process of opening it’s first satellite site.  The Executive Pastor position has been created to respond to the rapid growth and strategize for their anticipated growth. This is a great position for someone who wants to help the church continue to effectively reach unbelievers outside Chicago.  If you think you may be the right person to play a major part in the exciting things happening at this church, send your resume here.

You may be interested in knowing that I personally visited Ottawa First a few weeks ago. I sat down with Brian Wangler, the senior pastor. He’s the real deal. Lots of vision. Solid leader. Most important, he’s a quality individual. Someone is going to find themselves a super boss.

By the way, I partner with The Vanderbloemen Search Group, a retained executive search firm, to help churches find their key staff. I’m frequently helping large, fast-growing churches with a focus on reaching the unchurched. If your church needs assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact me.

I’m really excited to share this opportunity with you today. I’ve been working with the this team over the last couple of months, and this is going to be a great position for the right person.

LifePoint Church in Tampa, FL is looking for someone to fill the role of Executive Pastor. LifePoint was established ten years ago by Senior Pastor Brad White. Currently, LifePoint is running about 2,300 in weekly attendance, and they are anticipating huge growth in the next ten years.

LifePoint’s mission is to reach the unchurched population in Tampa. Due to their rapid growth, they are considering moving to a larger venue or going multi-site.  The executive pastor will be the point person for continuing to implement the vision of reaching the unchurched. If you’re interested, send your resume here.

By the way, I partner with The Vanderbloemen Search Group, a retained executive search firm, to help churches find their key staff. I’m frequently helping large, fast-growing churches with a focus on reaching the unchurched. If your church needs assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact me.

I wanted to give you a quick update on a few different job openings. There are currently two great opportunities here at West Ridge:

• Worship Leader at the current campus
• Media Director on our creative arts team

For both those positions, email me your resume, a cover letter and a link to your online home so we can check out samples of you leading worship or the medias you’ve produced.

Additionally, the Vanderbloemen Search Group just announced a new Executive Pastor position today. This is going to be a great opportunity to serve at a fast-growing church on the east coast. Submit your resume if you’re interested in that role.

I’m really excited about what’s happening at West Ridge. Here are a handful of updates:

• almost 700 people have accepted Christ in the last 8 months
• attendance is up by almost 10% from last year
• we’ve seen 5 times as many baptisms this year
• group connections are up nearly 20%
• we’re starting the Launch Network this year to equip church planters
• we’re getting ready to launch a new campus this fall

With all this happening, we’re finding the need to expand our worship team. Specifically, we’re looking for someone who will lead worship primarily at our current campus and periodically at the new campus.

I offered to take the role, but, besides not being able to sing, they said I didn’t meet these expectations of the role. We need a…

Maybe leading worship isn’t in my future, but I’m still holding out hope for the launch of an interpretative dance team.

In the mean time, if you think you or someone you know is qualified to lead a very talented worship team of musicians and vocalists, email me a resume and cover letter. If possible, please include a link to some samples of you leading worship.

In the mean time, I’m going to continue practicing my pirouettes.

We are pleased to announce that the Vanderbloemen Search Group has been retained to help find the next Senior Pastor of Renaissance Church.

Located in Summit, New Jersey, Renaissance is a church that reaches some of the top influencers in the New York City financial community. Leaders from major global corporations live in Summit, which is a 35-minute train ride from the heart of Manhattan.

In its nine-year history, Renaissance has become known as a unique offering to people who might not otherwise attend a church. Average attendance exceeds 550, with over 50% of all attenders coming from completely unchurched backgrounds. Renaissance leases the historic Opera House of Summit, giving them a unique and very cool enviornment for welcoming and pleasantly surprising visitors who have never seen a church quite like this one. The children’s space recently underwent a major facelift with the help of Plain Joe Studios, and Visioneering architects has been retained for consultation on long-range plans for expansion.

If this position interests you or you would like to let our firm know of candidates we should contact, feel free to contact us or submit your resume. All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

I’m really excited to announce two leadership openings at a church here in the Atlanta region. Mountain Lake Church in Cumming, Georgia is hiring both an executive pastor and a children’s pastor. Mountain Lake was planted by its lead pastor, Shawn Lovejoy. The church is about ten years old. It meets in a brand new facility and currently runs about 2,500 people in attendance.

If you are interested in either role, please email William Vanderbloemen, my teammate at FaithSearch Partners, with questions or to submit your resume. All correspondence is kept in strict confidence. If you want to chat with me about either role and see Mountain Lake Church, then attend the ChurchPlanters.com conference, Velocity, in two weeks.

On another note, we have been able to secure ten free tickets to the Velocity Conference. We have decided to give those away to the first ten children’s pastors who contact us. Just send William your email address and a contact phone number. He and I will announce the winners in a couple of days. See you at Velocity!

I’m really excited about my new strategic partnership with FaithSearch. We’re working to fill several leadership openings at some great churches across the country. Some of those positions are still top secret, but here are a couple of openings that may grab your attention.

• Campus Pastor for Willow Creek Community Church – We’re looking for the leader of the campus that’s meeting in the Auditorium Theatre in downtown Chicago. (Yes, you would report directly to Bill Hybels.)
• Senior Pastor of Revolution Church – We’re helping the Revolution team find their next senior pastor. The church is running 1,200 people and meets in a brand new conference center in Canton, Georgia just north of Atlanta. (You and I could be neighbors!)

If you’re interested in learning about one or both of these opportunities, email William for more information. More details about both positions will be available in the next couple of weeks.

Stay tuned for updates about the other “secret” positions. And, you know how to reach me if you’d like our help filling your key leadership roles.

Last week I mentioned my new partnership with FaithSearch Partners. They assist churches with executive recruiting to fill staff positions. From time to time, I’ll be highlighting some key openings that I’m assisting them to fill.

The first opening I’d like to highlight is an Executive Director/COO of a large Methodist church of over 7,000 members in Texas. The church is well known both regionally and nationally within the Methodist denomination and is led by a visionary, mission-oriented senior pastor.

The COO role is newly created and will serve as right hand to the Senior Pastor in completing and implementing a strategic vision for the  church.  In addition, the position will directly oversee outreach and communication ministries, including a television ministry.

A more detailed document describing the opportunity is available. If you are aware of interested and qualified prospects for this position, please contact FaithSearch Partners. Candidates may submit a current resume or request a more detailed position profile.

Also, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have a position in your ministry that you’d like us to help you fill.

It’s been a while since I last updated you on what’s happening in my life. Though my family and I are still at NewSpring Church, I left the staff team about 10 weeks ago. Since then, Emily and I have been praying and talking a lot about our next steps. Here’s where we think we’re heading in this next season:

Connected to a Local Church – I can’t imagine not being connected to a local church. We need a place for our family to call home. I’m considering opportunities where I can serve on a ministry team in a part-time leadership capacity. At this point in my life, it would be difficult to write, teach and coach about leadership and ministry strategy in the Church without actually being engaged in ministry.

Coaching & Consulting – At the same time, I have a calling to encourage, equip and challenge church leaders. With that, I’ve taken steps in recent months to get more focused about coaching and consulting opportunities. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve had a chance to connect with churches of all shapes and sizes throughout the country. Let me know if you’re interested in future coaching networks or consulting engagements.

Strategic Partnerships – As I’m connecting with growing churches, I’m also noticing some opportunities where I can help identify strategic next steps but I either don’t have the expertise or the time to fulfill specific needs. Because of that, I’ve developed partnerships with some great organizations to assist churches with areas like creative design, brand strategy, technology, executive recruiting, stewardship and facility design and construction.

Specifically, one of the areas that I frequently get requests for assistance is with recruiting and selecting staff leaders. I love helping churches define strategy and structure for health and growth, but I don’t have the time and expertise to handle all aspects of executive recruiting. That’s why I’ve developed a strategic partnership with William Vanderbloemen and the team at FaithSearch Partners. They’ve worked with churches from a variety of denominations and many sizes of congregations, ranging from 1,000 to 15,000 in attendance.

I love helping churches define their strategy and structure and then make sure they have the right people on the right seat on the bus. If that’s your church, I’d welcome the opportunity to talk more. Feel free to email me and let’s talk about how we can bring a team together to help you take your next steps.

Are you looking for a job at a church? Then you’ve come to the right place. We have several new job listings on the job board to choose from. Check out these roles:

• arts administrator
• business director
• video producer
• kids director
• worship pastor
• campus pastor

Or, if you’re a church looking for gifted people, check out these resumes.

Have you either found a job or found a new employee using the job board? If so, I’d love to hear your story.

btw… You can add your position to the job board for only $49 for 30 days.