Position Description

High River Alliance Church (HRAC) is seeking God’s guidance to secure a full-time Lead Pastor with pastoral experience who believes he is called by God to lead in developing a Christ-centered church of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in this rural community 40 kms south of Calgary.

HRAC has celebrated 40+ years in the High River community with a growing attendance that now averages 150 people. HRAC is a friendly and welcoming congregation consisting of a broad cross section of young and middle-aged families as well as seniors. The church is known in the community for how it served High River during and after the flood of 2013. HRAC is blessed with a warm family feel enhanced by a variety of small group programs for children, youth, and adults. In recent years, the church’s worship style has been more in the theologically Reformed tradition, which has also included a liturgical element. It values strong biblical teaching that includes an emphasis on
disciple-making under the banner of making disciples together.

High River is home to more than 14,000 people. The population of the town includes individuals who are business owners, locally employed, and commuters. There are a large number of young and middle age families as well as many seniors that call High River home. Correspondingly, High River has a high student population enrolled in both public and private Christian education. Located close to the Foothills, High River is popular for its many recreational amenities and its convenient distance to Okotoks and Calgary. High River is known for its small town feel and close community support for each other. From its beginnings in farming and ranching, this remains an important part
of the spirit and foundation of this town.

Based on an assessment review of its current needs, HRAC is looking for a pastor who has a strong sense of call to ministry demonstrated, in part, by his pastoral experience. Besides being an able Bible teacher, HRAC is seeking a man whose life demonstrates strong Christian character and maturity reflecting the biblical qualifications of an elder. He should be personable—able to relate well to all ages—and if married, one whose wife and family readily engage with him in serving the church and community. He should know what it means to be filled with the Spirit and to live and serve by listening to the Spirit’s voice.

High River Alliance Church is looking for a pastor with the following specific Pastoral Skills:

Preaching / Teaching.

He should possess a deep knowledge of Scripture which he views as the inerrant Word of God. He should be well equipped to be a good preacher and teacher of the Word of God with integrity, authority, clarity, compassion and expositional skills. The vision for his role is that he should teach and preach with language clarity and relevance to real life.

Pastoral Care.

HRAC is looking for a true shepherd who can offer gracious pastoral care to people of all ages. He should be one who is personable and able to offer good biblical counselingas needed.

Evangelism and Disciple-making.

The potential candidate should have a vision for people of the community who do not yet know Jesus. Along with that vision, it would be important for him to have apologetic skills in knowing how to reach out and see people of every age come to faith in Christ. Beyond evangelism, he should be adept at knowing how to form true disciples of Christ who are baptized and become fruit-bearing members of the church.

Administration.

HRAC desires a pastor who has a vision and capacity to equip church members for ministry effectiveness for building up the church (Ephesians 4:11, 12). He will need organizational skills, investing considerable time in working with elders to identify and appoint people for ministry based on their spiritual development and giftedness. Furthermore, he should have the ability and experience to assume primary management of day-to-day operations
including staff, finances, and facilities.

Related Qualifications:

1. Bachelor or Master’s Degree from a recognized theological institution with a doctrine similar to the Alliance Canada.
2. Minimum 5 years of experience in a church pastoral role of comparable complexity and scope and with a proven understanding of North American culture.
3. Must be a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada.
4. Proficiency and fluency in English, both oral and written.
5. Licensed or able to be licensed with the Alliance Canada.

This is a full-time position reporting to the Board of Elders. Responsibilities include overseeing an Administrative Assistant planning for the weekly Sunday preaching and worship, having general oversight and management of ministry development that includes evangelism, disciple-making and congregational care.

For further information about the church, please visit the Church website. Those interested in inquiring further or considering employment with the church in this role are invited to submit their résumé with references and, video/audio sermon access information to hracsearch@highriverchurch.com. We will acknowledge receipt of your résumé and inform you if we have further interest in pursuing your application.