New Day Church is an independent, non-denominational Christian faith community based in the Bronx. Since our founding, we have built boundary-crossing beloved community at the intersection of faith and justice. In June 2019, our founding pastor is transitioning out of his role. We are looking for the next pastor called to join us in building the movement of God. Our new pastor will start July 1, 2019 and make a five year commitment to our community.

Our Vision and Principles

We are co-creating a movement of Christian discipleship communities in the Bronx, New York City and beyond, where we are:

• Connecting with God in an authentic relationship that is transforming our lives;

• Crossing boundaries including race, class, sexual orientation, gender, and age to transform community;

• Confronting injustice with the compassion and abundance of God to transform society.

Pastoral Responsibilities

We recognize that no one person will possess all of the experience or skills listed below. Fulfilling all the responsibilities described here requires robust collective leadership, and our new pastor will need a period of integration, support, and development based on their specific skill sets. A Transition Team will meet regularly with the pastor in their first several months to support their transition.

Preaching and Worship

• Primary preacher for worship services, delivering sermons that speak to the daily lives of congregants and promote healing, connection, and transformation;

• Guides and facilitates Community of the Word (the community of learning preachers within the congregation) and invites guest preachers;

• Plans weekly worship services in conjunction with the music ministry and other leaders;

• Oversees training of volunteers in the elements and leadership of worship.

Leadership and Spiritual Development

• Provides leadership and/or facilitates community leadership of education, discipleship, and ministry programs (Living Faith, Growth Groups, Growing in Faith series, etc);

• Integrates personal spiritual practice into pastoral ministry;

• Provides direct spiritual guidance to support individual faith journeys;

• Provides individuals with the tools to deconstruct and reframe religious traditions from their past for the sake of healing “church hurt” and building authentic, liberatory faith practice;

• Implements a base building strategy that provides opportunities for new member engagement and leadership development;

• Empowers professional and volunteer leaders to work independently and collaboratively;

• Works with the Connecting Council Chair to plan and execute quarterly Connecting Council meetings that build leadership and democratic participation of congregants.

Pastoral Care and Presence

• Provides pastoral visits (e.g. in hospital, hospice, home, prison, etc.);

• Provides initial counseling and referrals that facilitate healing (e.g. grief work, trauma, addictions, sexuality concerns, hospice, chaplaincy, etc.);

• Addresses trauma in wider community through ritual, worship, and broader healing resources and networks;

Strategic Leadership and Planning

• Responsible for strategic planning and coordinating leaders in the execution of the church’s purpose;

• Supports ministry leaders in the design and implementation of all church ministries;

Ritual and Rites of Passage

• Articulates Christian theology and history relevant for life passages;

• Prepares people for rites of passage (e.g. does premarital counseling, involves participants in memorial services). Designs engaging and meaningful rites of passage (e.g. baptism, confirmation, welcoming new members, rituals to recognize and commission leaders and volunteers, weddings, funerals, memorial services).

Confronting Injustice

• Inspires a prophetic response to social justice issues from the congregation or community (e.g. social service, public witness, advocacy, organizing);

• Leads congregation to engage in faith-based organizing and activism grounded in liberationist theology and spirituality and personally engages in justice work as part of this commitment;

• Promotes communal dialogue on social justice issues across boundaries of race, class, sexual orientation, gender and age.

Supervision and Development

Serves as director to staff, leaders, and volunteers, and leads, evaluates, and mentors leaders in their respective areas of ministry by:

• Developing and managing systems for training, supervision, and evaluation;

• Maintaining efficient and effective lines of communication between staff and congregation;

• Evaluates performance of professional and lay leaders based on agreed upon work goals;

• Pastor is accountable to, managed by, and supported by the Leadership Council.

Administration and Finance

• Oversees and executes the financial and logistical administration of the church (including developing and tracking budgets);

• Focuses the institution’s resources and programs to fulfill the mission;

• Implements membership systems (e.g. welcoming, recruiting, maintaining statistics, integrating new members) to track and maintain participation, outreach, giving, etc.;

• Holds responsibility for the financial health and sustainability of the church;

• Works with the Leadership Council to make financial and administrative decisions about the day-to-day operation of the church.

Our Ideal Pastor

Leadership

• Has at least 2 years demonstrated experience leading and growing a multi-racial, cross-class, multi-gender, volunteer-driven organization;

• Spanish speaking a plus, formal theological training preferred;

• Has demonstrated experience sharing power and leadership--in particular, a capacity to set healthy boundaries, navigate conflict, give and receive feedback, and practice humility;

• Is committed to ongoing personal healing work, individually and in community.

Confronting Oppression

• Is grounded in the work of confronting both internalized and institutional oppression and the role of social movements in transforming society;

• Has demonstrated experience developing the leadership of oppressed people;

• Skillfully holds space to help us heal the spiritual wounds of oppression;

• Is skilled in conflict transformation and deeply committed to forgiveness, mercy and accountability.

Worship

• Gives powerful, moving sermons that connect interpretations of Scripture with our congregation’s real world experience;

• Can lead worship in ways that elicit and make room for the palpable movement of the Holy Spirit;

• Is committed to democratizing the pulpit and developing lay leaders’ skill and participation in sermons and liturgy

Theology

• Has an orientation to Christianity—and its role in colonization—that allows for, understands, and values multiple religious and spiritual expressions

• Is rooted in the idea that theology emerges from the daily, lived experiences of people as they grapple with their faith.

Congregational Growth & Development

• Is skilled at managing finances, fundraising, and stewardship in ways that are both sustainable and support us to grow into our mission;

• Brings young people to more fully participate in our worship and faith community;

• Is a systems thinker--we are driven by volunteer leadership and need sustainable, life-giving systems for developing leaders.

Compensation

• $45,000-$50,000 per year, including housing allowance;

• Health, dental, and vision insurance

• Retirement savings plan

We are seeking a pastor who will lead our congregation into the work of growing our numbers, impact, and resources, including the pastoral salary we are capable of providing.

In Our Congregation’s Own Words

In preparing this call for pastors, we realized that the testimonies of our congregants are the most inspired and direct ways to convey the power of our community. We asked them to tell our future pastor, in their own words, what makes New Day special.

To Apply

If you feel called to this role, please submit the following to jobs.newdaychurch@gmail.com:

• Resume

• Statement of Experience (2 pages maximum) outlining the experiences that make you a good pastor for New Day

• Statement of Theology (4 pages maximum) describing:

• Your personal theology in relation to our vision and principles (at the very top of document)

• A brief outline of your theological perspectives on sin, salvation, crucifixion, and resurrection

Please direct any further questions to jobs.newdaychurch@gmail.com. We encourage early submissions, but applications will be accepted through February 28, 2019.