Job Description

Job Title: Associate Pastor of Family Ministry

Reports To: Lead Pastor, elders

Position Status: Full‐Time, Salaried 


Purpose:

The role of the Associate Pastor of Families is to work in harmony with the Lead Pastor and elders to minister to and provide spiritual leadership for children, students, and families with children in the home so that they become disciples who make disciples. 



Primary Responsibilities: 

  •      Oversee the regular planning and operation of children and youth ministry programming.
  •     Oversee recruitment, training, and scheduling of necessary volunteers for children’s and youth ministry programming.
  •       Serve as the primary vision-caster for volunteers of youth and children’s ministry, helping them utilize their giftings and skills as an act of worship. 
  •    Minister to parents of children and youth by communicating well with them about the spiritual needs and cultural challenges of their children, and work with the Lead pastor and elders to help equip parents to make disciples of their children.
  •       Serve as the primary teacher of youth in at least one regularly scheduled weekly youth ministry setting. 
  •       Lead the youth in developing a heart for others through missions by planning and facilitating mission and service opportunities for youth during extended school calendar breaks.
  •       Play a significant role in the planning and execution of VBS each summer.

Other Duties: 

  •       Assist in the management of social media outlets and overall web presence of WOBC.
  •       Serve as a primary person on stage for welcome, offering, communication and closing comments on Sunday mornings. 
  •       Assist the Lead Pastor in emergency and ministry care of the members of the church. He should be in regular touch with the families of youth and children to know their needs.
  •       Annually prepare ministry budgets for ongoing and seasonal children’s and youth ministry plans. This includes maintaining good records of expenses and plans, exhibiting integrity and accountability.
  •       Prepare family ministries report to present (in print and verbally) at quarterly members meetings.
  •       Keep regular, scheduled office hours (to be determined in consultation with the Lead Pastor).



Job Skills and Requirements:


  •       Be a born-again, baptized believer in Jesus Christ, having a clearly expressible testimony of repentance and faith.
  •       Be spiritually mature, personally committed to Bible study, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines.
  •       Exhibit the characteristics found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 5-9.
  •       If married, he should exhibit a growing Christlike relationship with his wife.
  •       A personal expression of faith that aligns with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
  •       A love for the local church as the primary expression of Christ’s kingdom. 
  •       A clear understanding of the Gospel and be comfortable communicating it in a conversational setting with people of all ages.
  •       High social and emotional intelligence and the ability to relate well to people of all ages.
  •       A clear call to ministry and be either ordained or qualified for ordination.
  •       At minimum a bachelor’s degree in a ministry related discipline from an accredited college or university or have a seminary degree from an accredited seminary in progress. 
  •       Proven experience organizing and leading adult volunteers in ministry activities.
  •       Experience teaching the Bible in small and larger group settings.
  •       Experience working well with others on a staff or ministry team.
  •       A commitment to cooperative involvement in larger Baptist life (state, association, national).


Evaluation and Compensation:


The Associate Pastor of Families will file monthly reports to the Lead Pastor and, when requested, to the Elders, on ministry accomplishments and activities. With the Lead Pastor’s participation, the elders will conduct annually a performance evaluation and review of a compensation package. 

How To apply

To apply for this position, email a resume and cover letter to staffing@westernoaks.org. In the cover letter, please include a brief personal introduction and a brief testimony and call to ministry. Resumes will be received through September 4, 2023.

Western Oaks Baptist Church Profile

Western Oaks Baptist Church (WOBC) of Springfield, IL is a church family that values biblical preaching, genuine worship and Great Commission engagement. At 34 years old, we are one of the youngest Baptist churches in the area. We came through COVID in a strong position and we are, currently experiencing a season of gradual growth. 


In her 34 year history, the church has endured several leadership crises which led to drastic declines in attendance. We experienced a hard reset with the arrival of our current senior pastor in 2016. At that time, we averaged below 60 in worship attendance and less than 20 in groups. Over the last seven years, we have seen a gradual increase in attendance so that today we average a 110 in worship and 50 in small groups. The morale of the church family has never been better as God has granted us desperately needed stability. 


Today, the age ranges of WOBC members reflect a better balance of multiple generations. Our largest age group is 50-70 followed by 35-50 and we have seen an increase in families with young children in recent years. There are many unchurched young families in the community, and we desire to be the church that reaches them with the gospel of Jesus Christ, assimilates them into the life of the church, and helps them mature and multiply as disciples. While our church is predominately white, as is our immediate geographical community, we have several international families including Hispanic and African.


For 2022 our annual budget was set at $342,990 and undesignated receipts totaled $352,775. We recently paid off our mortgage and are debt free for the first time in decades. We recently renovated our children’s area and are in the process of renovating a space to use for student ministry. 


Overall, WOBC is a warm and welcoming church family who are serious about reaching the next generations in our community. 

Springfield Community profile

The city of Springfield, IL is home to 114,394 people. Factoring in the several bedroom communities nearby communities brings the county population to 196,343. 37% of households are married couples with children. There is, however, a significant population (59%) of single parent households in the county. The ethnic demographics are about normal for our county: 68% Anglo, 20% African American, 3% Hispanic, 3% Asian and 6% other. The median age of our community members corresponds to the state average of 39 years old. 


As the capital of Illinois, Springfield’s population and economy remains stable. There has only been a .5% decrease in population from 2010 to 2020. The major employers in Springfield include state government, a large healthcare industry including two major hospitals, SIU School of Medicine, and several clinical networks across the county. 


Current members of our church are spread across several area independent school districts. These include Springfield 186, Pleasant Plains, and Chatham. Candidates would need to be familiar with at least these three districts. The University of Illinois Springfield and Lincoln Land Community College have a combined enrollment of around 10,000 students.


Springfield hosts several sporting opportunities through the schools and colleges including professional collegiate baseball and hockey teams along with several running events and a top notch bike path. Henson Robinson Zoo, New Salem Park and Knights Action Park are among several fun activities for the entire family. The region also boasts many Abraham Lincoln museums and historical sites. Springfield is small enough to navigate easily but big enough to offer a plethora of recreational and educational activities.  We are also a short drive from both the St. Louis and Chicago metropolitan areas.