What is the congregation’s or organization’s vision for ministry? Additionally describe how this vision is lived out.
Our vision is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ through mission outreach, Christian education, worship and music for all. We seek a pastor to assist with how these areas might be used as focal points to help grow our church.
Mission outreach includes support of special offerings, our neighborhood elementary school, local agencies, food pantries, and national/international organizations. Our congregation has been active with PDA disaster relief.
We live our CE vision through VBS, youth Sunday School, and adult classes which we hope to make more of a focus. The Youth Group, grades 6-12, compliments mission through their own projects. In addition to Sunday School and monthly fellowship, the youth are encouraged to be active participants of worship and are viewed as an integral part of church life in the spirit of 1 Timothy 4:12.
A strong music program is a tradition at Heritage. There are three choirs: Adult, Children, and bell. We recently started a focus on music education ministry and our last 3 choir directors have been students at the U. of Neb. music ed program. Our student directors get valuable experience that makes them better candidates for jobs upon graduation. We get young, energetic, and passionate young professionals to lead our program.
We are aware that increasing engagement in our church will be necessary for us to continue carrying out and ultimately grow this vision. A majority of our members are ready to work alongside our pastor to explore ways to strengthen our ministry. |
How do you feel called to reach out to address the emerging needs of your community or constituency?
Historically, Heritage has been active in helping to address the needs of our community through relationships with local organizations such as Eastridge Food Pantry, St. Monica’s, and the Lincoln Public Schools backpack program to name just a few.
Food insecurity is a concern for not only Lincoln as a whole but specifically our church neighborhood. In a collaboration with Randolph Elementary, 4 blocks away, we recently graduated from the backpack program to starting a food pantry to benefit school families. Randolph is a Title One school whose students come from diverse backgrounds and their families represent a wide variety of economic realities. More than 50% of the students receive free or reduced lunch so food insecurity is a significant issue.
We also work to address community meeting space needs by having groups such as Pride4TheYouth, Scouts, Al Anon, AA, and deaf community groups utilize the building. We would like to expand our use of the church for ‘not for profit’ and ‘for profit’ activities as the facility is an underutilized resource. We would particularly like to continue/improve our relationship with groups such as Pride4TheYouth to emphasize and advertise that we are an open and progressive church.
Heritage also has a strong ministerial commitment to our environment, and we have taken steps to lead by example. In our kitchen, we have eliminated single use plastics, we recycle, and have reduced the reliance on paper bulletins through use of PowerPoint. |
How will this position help you to reach your vision and mission goals?
This position is integral to our vision to celebrate and share the good news of Jesus Christ so that all may know Him and be responsible members of God’s church.
We are seeking guidance from a pastor who will help us continue our focus on mission, Christian Education, worship/music and outreach to our community while helping us explore and discover new opportunities that make an impact on our congregation, neighborhood, and larger community.
We expect our pastor to work together with us in partnership: encouraging, inspiring, and motivating members and visitors to be involved in fulfilling our mission; willing to listen and being open to new ideas; supporting the church in achieving its vision by allowing lay leaders to make decisions; effectively communicating our vision to others outside our organization.
Demonstrative support of our eight core values (mission, bible-centered worship, music, spiritual growth, traditions, relationships, congregation participation, and all people) is essential to helping us reach our goals. Our pastor would be expected to reinforce our inclusion of all persons while embracing our deaf ministry which includes working with hearing-impaired staff members. |
Provide a description of the characteristics needed by the person who is open to being called to this congregation and or organization.
The following characteristics emerged during town hall meetings and surveys conducted as a first step to the pastor search process:
• Compassionate, comforting and welcoming towards members, the community and the world
• Willingness to serve as a counselor/advisor or resource to others in their spiritual life
• Spiritually mature and passionate about your faith, with extensive knowledge about the Bible
• A good communicator who is engaging and inspiring
• A visionary leader who sees the big picture and has the ability to delegate and motivate
• Appreciates tradition, yet welcome to change and implementing new ideas • An experienced fundraiser that can support and guide lay leaders managing fundraising activities.
• Interpersonal skills that are genuine, friendly, outgoing and relaxing in style and approach with the desire to build relationships including our deaf ministry
• Encourages decision making as to policy and programs be done by lay leaders |
What specific tasks, assignments, and program areas will this person have responsibility?
The pastor will have responsibility for planning and conducting worship and preparing sermons and children’s sermons, supervising Christian Education activities, providing pastoral care, conducting weddings and funerals, assisting in the administration of the church, supervising 2 employees (we have one staff member who is deaf and all Sunday services are translated into American Sign Language), as well as performing other tasks and duties generally expected with this type position. As a part-time pastor it will be essential to communicate effectively and delegate responsibilities to committees, members, and staff.
We feel it is important to find a pastor to assist us not only by fulfilling general responsibilities but by also lending guidance with some particular areas of need. We seek a pastor with the skills to lead us in our current church life and who can advise us as we explore ways to maintain our viability in the future. Important issues include:
• broaden membership involvement through current and reimagined Christian education opportunities
• expanding the impact of our mission projects
• better utilization of existing resources
• finances
• stewardship
• maintaining/increasing worship attendance/membership |
Optional Links
https://www.heritagepres.org
https://www.lincoln.org/visit
https://www.unl.edu/lincoln/about-lincoln
https://livability.com/ne/lincoln
https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/lincoln-lancaster-ne/
https://lps.org
https://lincoln.ne.gov
https://calvincrest.org |