Discipleship Pastor

Southern Baptists of Texas Convention; Highland Park (TX); On-site; USD 81,000 - 99,000; Full time

Job summary

First Baptist Church New Braunfels seeks a Discipleship Pastor to lead strategy for making and maturing disciples. You will oversee the discipleship pathway, mentor leaders, and cast a clear vision for gospel multiplication across ministries and programs.

The role involves guiding teaching ministries, training ministry leaders, and partnering with the Elder Board to ensure curriculum quality and alignment with biblical foundations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) required.
• Seminary degree desired.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a member of the Elder Body and participate in leadership decisions.
• Teach effectively in various settings and preach when called.
• Equip ministry leaders to provide pastoral care.
• Lead development and implementation of the church discipleship strategy.
• Build a leadership pipeline by identifying, mentoring, and equipping leaders.
• Oversee all church teaching ministries and ensure theological alignment.
• Develop and manage the departmental budget.

Skills

Relationship Driven

Visionary Leader

Communicator

Self-Starter

Conflict Manager

Education

Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience)

Seminary degree desirable

Job description

Our mission at First Baptist Church New Braunfels (FBCNB) is to Lead People to Jesus. We are a body of Christ followers that believe we bring glory to God through being a shining light for the Gospel in our region and around the world. The purpose of the discipleship ministry at FBCNB is to develop followers of Jesus who seek Him through Bible study and prayer, living out their faith through fellowship and service in obedience to make disciples.

OVERVIEW

The Discipleship Pastor provides leadership, vision, and oversight for the creation and implementation of FBCNB’s strategy to make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ. He ensures a shared, biblical understanding of discipleship and works to make the normative experience of every member both to being discipled and discipling others. This role champions a church-wide culture of spiritual formation, leadership development, and gospel multiplication. There are two key duties within the strategy:

• Fully engaged disciples – Defines and manages a clear discipleship pathway enabling people to move from first time guest to fully engaged disciple of Christ, serving the Lord where He has gifted and called them
• The leadership pipeline – Builds the infrastructure whereby potential leaders are identified, mentored, and equipped to shepherd others and lead FBCNB’s ministries and teams

RESPONSIBILITIES

Pastoral

• Serving member of the Elder Body (All pastors are part of the Elder Body with some on the Elder Board)
• Teach effectively in various settings (e.g. one-on-one, small groups, seminars, etc.)
• Preach (if called upon)
• Equip ministry leaders to provide pastoral care for their members

Churchwide Discipleship Strategy

• Lead development and implementation of the Elder Board church discipleship strategy
• Clearly communicate the discipleship pathway across all ministries and platforms
• Cast a compelling, congregation-wide vision for a discipleship culture such that making disciples is understood as the calling of every Believer, not merely a program of the church

Leadership Pipeline

• Design, implement, and maintain a leadership pipeline that identifies, mentors, and equips emerging leaders
• Recruit and train ministry leaders, teachers and volunteers
• Provide ongoing coaching, evaluation, and support for leaders

Teaching Ministries Oversight (Shared responsibility as an Elder and with other Elders)

• Oversee all church teaching ministries (children to senior adults), ensuring theological alignment and ministry effectiveness
• Review and approve curriculum choices, teaching ministry leader selections, and regular leader evaluations
• Routinely train, mentor, and coach ministry leaders
• Raise the overall level of teacher effectiveness. Guide ministry leaders into employing the most effective tools and styles for student retention.

General

• Develop and manage departmental budget
• Requires extended periods of sitting, standing, and lifting (up to 50 pounds)
• Typical workdays include Sunday-Thursday. Outreach and fellowship events are additive
• Expect a 45-hour work-week average (sometimes more, sometimes less)

QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) required. Seminary degree desired

Experience

• Proven success recruiting, training, and developing leaders (from guest to disciple to leader) Proven success creating, leading, and sustaining healthy groups
• Demonstrated ability to lead change with humility and clarity
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement ministry systems and processes
• Competence with digital ministry tools for communication, teaching and evangelism

Personal & Spiritual

• Spiritually mature growing Believer and follower(disciple) of Christ
• Meets the biblical qualifications of an elder (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9; 1Peter 5:1-4)
• Fully affirms and models the Baptist Faith & Message 2000
• Called by God to shepherd, equip, and multiply leaders
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills

COMPETENCIES

• Relationship Driven: Highly relational, able to connect with all generations
• Visionary Leader: Able to cast a compelling vision for family discipleship
• Communicator: Excellence in oral and written communication
• Self-Starter: Proactive in identifying needs and initiating solutions
• Conflict Manager: Able to handle, navigate, and resolve conflict with grace

STRUCTURE

Reports to the Senior Pastor

Direct Reports are the Age Graded Ministry Leaders

COMPENSATION

Salary beginning at $90,000, commensurate with skills and experience

Employee benefits include Paid Time Off (PTO), Health, Dental, Vision, and also includes Voluntary & Supplemental Insurances