Senior Pastor

POSITION TITLE: Senior Pastor
REPORTING TO: Board of Elders
CLASSIFICATION: Full-time (exempt)

POSITION SUMMARY:
The Senior Pastor serves as the primary shepherd of the church providing biblical leadership, oversight, and pastoral care of the congregation, ministries, staff, and operations of the church in coordination with and accountable to the Board of Elders.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Example-focused Life in Christ: Pursue a life that glorifies God and is growing in Christ-likeness through walking by the Spirit, spending time seeking God’s leading in prayer and the study of Scripture, and engages in worship, serving, and fellowship with the body of Christ at the church.
• Gospel-focused Biblical Teaching: Provide oversight to all the teaching ministries of the church for biblical and doctrinal soundness. Serve as the primary preaching pastor on Sunday mornings, preaching the majority of Sundays, and providing
development and direction of others who preach/teach.
• Great Commission-focused Discipleship: Lead and develop the mission and ministries of the church to disciple believers to grow and mature into becoming more like Jesus and to share the Good News of Jesus through outreach locally in our
community as well as globally through missions.
• Equipping-focused Leadership: Provide general leadership, oversight, and coaching of the staff, ministries, and operations of the church. Pursue the raising up, training, and equipping of staff and ministry leaders for the work of ministry for the building up of the body of Christ. Serve as a standing elder on the Board of Elders and the president of the corporation for the state of Arizona.
• Pastoral-focused Care of the Congregation: Be generally available and engaged in the pastoral care of the congregation including officiating weddings and funerals, counseling members, visiting and praying with members in need, etc. Assure the church maintains a focus and balance of ministries for the discipleship and fellowship of people of all ages and walks of life including children, youth, adults, seniors, singles, families, etc.

QUALIFICATIONS:
• Biblical Qualifications: Meet the qualifications of an overseer/elder in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9 and agree with the church’s Statement of Faith (attached)
• Character: Spiritually mature Christian with a servant-leader’s heart and a life that demonstrates the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control), personal integrity, honesty, humility, high social and emotional intelligence, warm and friendly demeanor and able to relate to others of all ages and walks of life
• Education: Have a relevant graduate level ministry degree from an accredited evangelical protestant seminary, preferably a Masters of Divinity or higher degree.
• Ministerial Record: A licensed and ordained Minister of the Gospel with a minimum of ten years of experience in significant pastoral roles including preaching/teaching, pastoral care (weddings, funerals, counseling, visitation, etc.), leading various ministries, supervising staff, working effectively with boards/committees/teams, and managing church operations/finances.
• Professional Abilities: Strong verbal and written communication, able to manage multiple responsibilities and priorities, work well alone and in collaboration with others, effectively supervise staff, proficient with computers and software suites
(e.g., Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, Canva, Shelby Next, etc.)

COMPOSITION AND STATEMENT OF FAITH
The head of the Church is Jesus Christ. In Him it finds guidance, unity and its source of life. VVBC is independent in structure, locally autonomous and governed by its Board of Elders.

VVBC is a non-denominational church, independent of
denominational ties. Our members come from a variety of denominational backgrounds and, while diverse, share a common heritage with all who are members of the body of Christ.

We believe that the presentation of Christian faith must be in accord with God’s Word, the Bible. We do not require that members subscribe to a formal creed yet seek unity in our understanding of the essentials of Christian faith. Unity in the body depends upon harmony within the church (Romans 12:16; I Peter 3:8) and confidence in the leadership (Hebrews 13:17). The basis for that unity is our faith in Jesus as the Christ, the living Son of God and our adherence to the Bible as the inspired text for our teaching, structure, and practice. Many issues are open to individual interpretation, however, to maintain unity in the body all who accept and hold leadership and teaching positions at VVBC shall respect and faithfully teach within the following guidelines.

1. The Bible is the inspired Word of God and final authority for all Christian faith and practice. (Psalm 119:105; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

2. We believe in one God, who eternally exists in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is Creator, Lord of all, sustainer of life, and active in human affairs. (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 44:24, 45:18; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:1-3, 5:19-23, 10:30, 14:9-17, 17:21; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 3:17; Ephesians 4:4-6; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6:15-16; 1 Peter 1:1-2)

3. Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin birth. He lived a life of perfect obedience, sinless, fully God and fully man. He died on the cross to shed his body and blood as a substitutionary atonement for our sins. He was resurrected from the grave and ascended to Heaven. There at God’s right hand, he intercedes for His followers. Jesus Christ will return, raise the dead, judge all people, and establish God’s kingdom. (Matthew 1:23, 3:16, 16:16; Luke 1:35, 24:51; John 14:28; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Ephesians 1:20-22, 2:12-14; Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 1:15-20; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 1:3)

4. The Holy Spirit is fully God, equal with the Father and Son. The Spirit permanently indwells every believer at conversion. The Spirit graciously sanctifies, lovingly leads, and empowers all who are brought to faith in Christ to powerfully carry out God’s mission. (Genesis 1:2; Mark 1:8; Luke 1:38; John 6:63; Romans 8:16; Ephesians 1:13-14)

5. We believe that man, male and female, were created in the image of God, but Adam and Eve fell through sin when tempted by Satan, resulting in all humanity being sinful by nature and choice, and spiritually dead and separated from God. The only way to reconciliation with God is by grace through faith in Jesus. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7, 3:1-24; Psalms 14:1-3; John 3:6; Romans 3:10-19, 21-26, 6:23, 8:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-9)

We believe God created marriage to be a lifelong, covenant commitment between one biological man and one biological woman as husband and wife, and that sexual relations are to be the union in one flesh of a husband and wife only within the covenant of marriage. (Genesis 1:27-28, 2:18-24; Matthew 19:4-6; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 7:2-6; Ephesians 5:21-33; Hebrews 13:4)

6. Salvation is obtained by grace through faith for those who repent and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and are reconciled with God. (Matthew 26:28; John 3:16-18; Romans 3:23-26; 5:6-17, 6:12-14, 8:1-10, 10:9; Galatians 2:20, 6:14, 15; Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 2:11-14, 3:4-7)

7. We believe in the Second Coming – The personal, physical, and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in power and glory. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved unto eternal life and the lost to eternal condemnation (Matthew 13:49, 24:29-31, 25:41-46; Acts 1:11; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12; Revelation 11:15, 19:11-16, 20:10-15, 21:1-8)

8. The church is a community of those who have faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior and is called to worship God, preach the good news of God’s grace, and encourage growth in the Christian walk. (Matthew 16:16-18, 28:18-20; Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:3-6; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 4:1-16; Colossians 3:12-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:11; 2 Timothy 4:1-2; Hebrews 10:19-25)

The two ordinances given to the church by Jesus are Water Baptism and Communion.

• Water Baptism by immersion is an act of obedience for those who have a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and is an expression of faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior symbolizing death to sin, burial of the old life, and resurrection to new life in Jesus Christ. (Matthew 3:13-17, 28:18-20; Acts 2:38-41, 8:35-38, 10:47-48, 16:31-34; 8:36-38, 18:7-8; Romans 6:3-5; Ephesians 4:4-6)
• Communion is open to all who have faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior and is celebrated regularly to remind us of the sacrifice of Jesus, God’s grace, and our redemption. The elements of bread and fruit of the vine are symbols of Christ’s broken body and shed blood. (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28)