Interim Pastor

Reformed Church in America (Bahrain); Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 40,000 - 60,000; Part time

Job summary

Fellowship Christian Reformed Church in Albuquerque, NM is seeking an interim pastor for 6-9 months beginning this Summer or Fall to help maintain our ministry, provide pastoral care, and guide us through the transition. We are willing to consider a flexible arrangement with preaching about 3 times per month and housing options nearby.

The church is small and aging, yet blessed with a caring community, diverse backgrounds, and strong support for a hopeful future.

Responsibilities

• Provide pastoral care and counseling to congregants as the interim shepherd.
• Preach approximately three times per month under a flexible arrangement.
• Support the church through the transition period and assist leadership in discernment.

Job description

Fellowship Christian Reformed Church in Albuquerque, NM is seeking an interim pastor for 6-9 months beginning this Summer or Fall. Our pastor of 33 years retired two and a half years ago and we have completed a time with a Specialized Transitional Minister last year. We have undergone a productive time of discernment and are actively pursuing new ministry opportunities. While we continue to seek God’s leading, we need someone to help us maintain our ministry, provide pastoral care, and support us in the process of transition.

Although we are a small and aging congregation we have been blessed with loving people and some resources. We recognize that our future may be quite different from our past, but as we discern and embark on that future, we are committed to making sure our congregation are at home and receive comfort from our ministry.

We are willing to consider an arrangement with an interim minister that would only require preaching 3 times per month and allow a week or two each month to tour our area or return home. There is quite a bit of flexibility in these arrangements.

We have comfortable and easy accommodations. There is not a parsonage, but we rent a nice 3 bedroom home that is fully furnished in a nice neighborhood with good amenities, although a few miles distant from the church.

Fellowship is a small, but diverse, group of people that worship and fellowship together. There are 20-30 that attend worship services fairly regularly. This group is ethnically diverse including Native American, Hispanic, African-American, and folks from a variety of worship backgrounds. A minority have Christian Reformed roots. There are no children and few young adults, although we do have university students occasionally. A large proportion of our congregation are seniors. It is a caring group that supports each other in need and in prayer.

We have one worship service on Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM. There are a few gatherings during the week, but they are generally quite self-sufficient, and the pastor’s participation is not required. Because our congregation includes some older and medically frail individuals there may be occasional calls at home, a medical facility, or by phone for pastoral care.

Albuquerque has a metropolitan area of about 800,000 people. It is a culturally rich and diverse city located in the heart of New Mexico providing a hub for transportation, economics, healthcare, education, and culture. At an elevation around 5500 feet, our landscape is both mountainous and high desert plains. Although we have four seasons, they are all relatively dry and mild. We are situated with ready access to many unique wonders of creation and history.