Ministry Information Form Query

We are a warm congregation with a love for Christ and a deep heart for worship. We find that traditional and formal worship practices feed our souls, open us to the presence of the living Christ, and lead us to see ourselves, our neighbors, and the wider world with new eyes. Our desire is to share this holy experience with others and to create space, particularly for those who do not know the rhythms, mystery, and peace of such a worship style to be nurtured and encouraged in it as we have been. How to reach the community around us so that we may share such sacred moments remains a constant challenge that we willingly embrace. We hope to find a minister who is experienced in and understands formal worship attributes combined with positive energy and proven successful leadership skills in reaching out to our neighbors.

Even without a minister, we continue to celebrate corporate worship and to be active participants in community events. We continue to open our doors for community events and functions. We are able to do this because several of our members have assumed leadership duties and taken the lead in carrying forward the work of faith. Even in this time of challenge, our members are growing in their faith.

The risen Christ we meet in worship compels us to love our neighbors. As such, our congregation supports our local Christian Food Mission through food donations and members doing weekly meal deliveries.  We prepare and deliver holiday community food baskets to needy families.  For 20 years our church facility has been home to hundreds of children ages 6 weeks to 4 years in our First-Trinity Early Learning Center. We are licensed day care and we actively strive to make it affordable for every family. Our world-class Aeolian-Skinner Pipe organ is used not only on Sunday mornings, but is also used by the local Junior College for numerous organ and choir recital performances that we gladly host.  With the national attention our city now receives as the result of the HGTV Hometown television program, we have opened our facility to weekly tours for local, national and international visitors. We have further enhanced our outreach by making our worship services available on our Facebook page and on our church web site, in both live-streaming and archived forms.

As we think to the future, we first look to the past, and consider the faithfulness and vision of our ancestors at FTPC. When they lived out their faith, they did so with an eye not just on their present circumstances, but on what might be for generations to come. In that way, even though we are in a time of seemingly universal church decline in America, FTPC desires not just to survive in this moment, but to look to how we might be a family of love and a house of mission, rooted in our reformed heritage, as we strive to serve others now and tomorrow. Our hope is that a compassionate pastor with proven honest, energetic, leadership abilities will succeed in leading us in the direction of such faithfulness and growth.

FTPC requires a minister faithful to the Reformed tradition with a sincere, outgoing, energetic spirit, a love for traditional worship styles, and proven success in reaching out and ministering to current members as well as potential members in the community.  Our pastor must possess compassionate and nurturing characteristics to connect to all ages and circumstances, including homebound, young disciples, and elderly.  We are looking for a pastor that will help the church grow in faith, service and, we hope, in numbers.

• Preparation and conducting of corporate worship and the sacraments, sermons, prayer and studies in coordination with the Director of Christian Education, the Director of Music, and the worship committee;
• Lead FTPC into a momentum of sustaining growth that excites and empowers the current and future congregations into renewal and faithful discipleship to Jesus Christ;
• Communicate with the congregation, session and ad-hoc committees, Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly, as well as communication with the staff – Director of Christian Education, Director of Music, Administrative Assistant, Sexton and with the Early Learning Center Director and board of directors as an ex-officio member;
• Interact frequently with the church children and youth within and outside of the church setting;
• Provide adult Bible sudies;
• Pastoral Care, including visitation in times of sickness, crisis, or loss; hospital and homebound visitation; and administering semi-annual communion to our homebound;
• Administer, manage and evaluate faculty and staff in cooperation with appropriate committees;
• Participate in the management of the physical property with the appropriate committees;
• Attend committee meetings as appropriate;
• Meet people where they are, actively participate in the activities of the Laurel/Jones County community, and fellowship with other community pastors and leaders; and
• Share the Good News at all times and actively invite others to come share their journeys of faith with us at FTPC.