Associate Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Listed: 03-20-23
Employer: First Presbyterian Church 215 Locust St NE, Albuquerque, NM 87102 | 505- 764-2900
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Position: Full-time
Website: https://firstpresabq.org
Contact: Ms. Beth Busick
Description of First Presbyterian Church
What is the congregation’s or organization’s vision for ministry:
Our vision of ministry is guided by a metric not recorded in the annual statistical review: how many lives are touched by the welcome and ministry we provide. There is our traditional constituency of college-educated professionals, many with generational roots in the congregation. The Presbytery office on our campus ties us to the larger connectional church. We house a nationally accredited pre-school that has served thousands of children and their families for over half a century. We make space in our building for multiple community mission partners for the work they do to meet the many hungers in our community, such as our partnership with Lutheran Family Services to process hundreds of asylees from the border on their way to sponsor families, or The Santa Fe Opera Young Singers program that holds lessons along with other community music groups that rehearse here. We have hosted meetings of the New Mexico Conference of Churches, who also office in our building, as well as the ordination of the local Episcopal bishop. All these and more serve to fill the hunger for beauty, for justice and equity, for cooperation and connection, for love lived out with and for one another. More than anything, we know that our vision for ministry will not look like the past. So, we step forward in faith toward an unknown future looking to the One who speaks creation into being, the Word made flesh who calls it forth, and the breath of the Spirit that gives our church and all of creation life.
How will this position help you to reach your vision and mission goals:
This position will be dedicated to the spiritual education and nurture of the whole congregation- nursery, Godly Play, youth, and adults- to grow in their faith on Sundays and beyond. The person in this role will be tasked with creating and maintaining spaces where questions and wondering are welcome as the church community deepens its engagement with God’s Word and their place in the story that God is telling about us and through us. Such spaces range from the traditional, such as Sunday school, as well as bible and book studies, to cooperative youth and summer events with other churches in the Presbytery, to opportunities beyond the walls of the church that bring us into relationship with neighbors throughout the city.
Provide a description of the characteristics needed by the person who is open to being called to this congregation and or organization:
We are looking for someone with the skills of an educator and the heart of a pastor, who understands what is developmentally appropriate and engages with a wide range of learners and believers. As old forms of doing and being church fall away, we need someone who is creative and can adapt quickly to new technologies and a changing culture in order to reach beyond those who are here to those who are not; those who may be hungry for a faith community where they can learn, grow and make a difference in the world around them. This means we need someone with the resilience to try, maybe fail, and to persist nevertheless. Someone conversant in Spanish would be an asset to the work of reaching beyond the existing congregation.
What specific tasks, assignments, and program areas will this person have responsibility?
he pastor in this position will strengthen our existing Godly Play program by recruiting teachers and ensuring they are trained and feel equipped. They will look for opportunities beyond Sunday school to incorporate children and their families in the life of the church. They will lead youth programming, including a biennial confirmation class, accompanying students to youth week at Ghost Ranch, assisting in Presbytery youth events including Triennium, as well as cultivating essential pastoral relationships with youth and their families. They will preach occasionally, assist in worship and sacraments, and share pastoral care. They will take the initiative to engage the congregation as it exists, and innovate that we might grow together into what God is calling us to become.
Job listings submitted by third parties are not verified by McCormick Theological Seminary. If you have a job you would like to see listed here send the details to webmaster@mccormick.edu