Associate and Assistant Pastors
Congregational Care Pastor
Grace Covenant Church
Posted: 06/24/2025
Salary/Range:
Location
Austin, TX
Description:
About the Congregational Care Pastor
The primary focus of the Congregational Care Pastor is to serve the Lord and the body of Grace Covenant Church and to oversee all aspects of care leadership training and implementation of the GraceCares Ministries so that it fulfills our mission and reflects our core values. This role will oversee and lead all aspects of care ministry, including training leaders, developing programs like Celebrate Recovery, GriefShare, and DivorceCare, and providing short-term counseling to members. This role requires a mature believer in Jesus Christ who demonstrates a shepherding heart of compassion and care for people (I Thessalonians 5:14) that has a strong shepherding heart, solid biblical knowledge, and experience in leading and developing teams. The pastor will also teach, provide spiritual guidance, and manage administrative tasks related to care ministry.
The Congregational Care Pastor’s responsibilities include:
Ministry Development and Coordination:
- Serve as Worship Center Lobby Host greeting and connecting with members/visitors
- Ministry Leader on the T.E.A.M. (Training, Encouragement, Assimilation, Ministry) of Grace’s Celebrate Recovery
- Work with the T.E.A.M. to develop current and future leaders, Step Studies, etc.
- Complete Celebrate Recovery (C.R.) Step Studies; write and share own C.R. testimony
- Develops future leaders for GriefShare and DivorceCare
- Oversee the Benevolences for Congregational and Community Assistance
- Serve as coordinator/host for Funerals and Memorial Services
- Participate fully in various staff meetings/targeted team meetings
- Lead the Grace Care Leadership Development meeting with the Care Associate
- Delegate Pastor on Call responsibilities to Mlead: phone calls, drop in’s, lobby duty
Teaching and Programming:
- Develop teaching schedule of C.R. curriculum with C.R. teaching team
- Teach Celebrate Recovery lesson in collaboration with teaching team
- Lead Celebrate Recovery with lay leaders on Thursday nights
- Program GriefShare and DivorceCare twice a year (fall and spring)
- Teach and train new Care Ministers through a 13-week training using Paul Tripp’s “Instruments in the Redeemers Hands”
Discipleship and Integration:
- Build strong relationships with lay leaders of CM, CR, DC and GS
- Counsel/encourage members over emotional, mental and spiritual issues
- Provide short-term counseling (1-3 visits) to help members in time of need
- Assist congregants with professional counseling referrals
- Coordinate with Elders Sunday morning Elder Prayer (James 5:13-17)
- Availability to staff members for counsel/safe place to talk
Administrative Duties:
- Maintain confidential files and submit accurate monthly expense reports
What you bring
The following describes many of the characteristics of the ideal candidate for the Congregational Care Pastor:
Education and experience
- M.A. Seminary degree in Biblical Studies, Christian Leadership or Biblical Counseling
- 5 or more years of relevant experience in a church or ministry setting
Knowledge, skills, and abilities
- Spiritual Walk: Demonstrates a consistent, deep and growing walk with God, a devotion to the Word and a passion for ministry; Demonstrates the qualities of an Elder as defined in the Bible; Models the spirit-filled life at home and in public; Sees Scripture as their authority for life and ministry
- Shepherding Heart: Possesses a heart and personal vision for ministry of pastoral care of congregants and the community of Grace Covenant Church
- Servant Leadership: Communicates vision in such a way that others own and act upon it; Motivates and leads others to accomplish a goal through personal relationships, support and modeling; Models Christian leadership. Understands the implementation of congregational care to reflect Grace’s core values and ministry philosophy
- Building Teams: Develops leadership teams; helps each team work effectively toward their goals, and has personally demonstrated the ability to work within a team
- Communication: Has demonstrated an ability to communicate effectively and respectfully
- Relational Skills: Is warm, personable and relates to different groups of people well; Addresses conflict in a biblical manner using Peacemaking principles; Deals with conflict regarding job expectations and goal setting with team members
- Management and Supervisory Skills: Has demonstrated the ability to manage people effectively; Gives responsibility and authority to the appropriate person or team
- Stress Tolerance: Maintains effectiveness when faced with change, opposition or emergencies
Personal characteristics and qualifications
- Passionately loves Jesus.
- Committed to having a dedicated walk with God that prioritizes both church and family.
- Has a very strong work ethic.
- Has an authentic, genuine spirit in their faith, work, and relationships.
- Possesses a high level of emotional intelligence
- Is a lifelong learner
- Fully aligned with Grace Covenant Church’s Distinctives and Values
- A Servant leader
- Demonstrated the ability to teach and lead
- Demonstrate integrity of trust and maintain confidentiality
- Be and keep physically and emotionally fit for demands of the job
- Develop an accountability team for your own spiritual and mental well-being