Pastor of Discipleship & Multiplication Atonement

Ministrylist; Silver Spring (MD); On-site; USD 50,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Ministrylist in Silver Spring, Maryland, is seeking a Pastor of Discipleship & Multiplication to lead the church in developing a culture of discipleship. This full-time position requires a passion for preaching, training new leaders, and integrating various ministries around a common vision. The ideal candidate will have a Master of Divinity and a commitment to the ARP doctrinal standards. This role involves regular preaching, establishing next steps in faith, and nurturing a vibrant church community rooted in grace.

Qualifications

• Clear gift and love for preaching with a desire for regular pulpit ministry.
• Proven gifting for making disciples of Jesus and training others.
• Demonstrated ability to align ministries and build a healthy ministry culture.

Responsibilities

• Ingrain a disciple-making culture at Atonement.
• Oversee Discipleship Ministries & Leaders.
• Preach passionately in corporate worship sessions.

Skills

Preaching

Discipleship training

Leadership

Team building

Mentorship

Integrity

Education

M.Div. or equivalent

Job description

Position: Pastor of Discipleship & Multiplication (Associate; Full-Time)

As a gospel‑driven church, we’re convinced that Grace Changes Everything. We’re not only forgiven — but redeemed, transformed, united, and empowered to bring the message of God’s grace through the gospel of Jesus to the DC area and the world. As we pursue this, we’re seeking a pastor to serve as our Pastor of Discipleship & Multiplication. This influential role will work closely with our Lead Pastor to align our church around a clear discipleship vision and help us cultivate a culture of making disciples among our leaders and members for the years ahead, as we seek to grow God’s church locally, nationally, and around the world.

Our Discipleship Vision

We believe true growth happens as we Worship, Connect, and Serve. Through praise, Scripture, prayer, sacrament, and repentance, the Holy Spirit transforms us — growing us up in Christ, growing us together, and sending us out to disciple others. Spiritual growth is not a metric, but a work of God’s grace. The Fruit of the Spirit and the character shaped in Titus 1–2 show us what God’s grace looks like in a growing disciple. We believe the 5 E’s — Engage, Evangelize, Establish, Equip, Empower — offer clarity and a practical path for disciples discerning where they are and where God is taking them. Our vision is nothing less than a gospel movement: new disciples, new leaders, new churches — the kingdom expanding as God’s people are sent.

Role Summary

This pastor will lead our church and staff as disciples, through frequent preaching and teaching, strengthening our disciple‑making efforts so we minister as a unified body — not a collection of ministries — helping people take meaningful next steps in worship, formation, community, and mission, while advancing Atonement’s long‑term multiplication vision: developing leaders, planting churches, and sending missionaries, pastors, and church workers. The goal is a church where people aren’t just attending — they’re being formed by the Spirit and the Word into worshippers, friends, servants, witnesses, and leaders who live and lead by grace. We anticipate strong candidates from the ARP, PCA, and denominations closely aligned in theology and ministry instincts.

Primary Responsibilities

• Ingrain a Disciple‑Making Culture at Atonement
• Nurture a discipleship culture that prioritizes simple, meaningful, relational environments where the gospel can take root, grow, and bear fruit
• Clarify and champion Atonement’s discipleship vision
• Define and develop ministry‑specific next steps and milestones that lead disciples of all ages deeper in faith and cultivate a vibrant spiritual life at Atonement
• Oversee Discipleship Ministries & Leaders
• Prayerfully discern real barriers to spiritual growth and lead gospel‑shaped solutions that help people continue growing
• Align Atonement’s discipleship ministries (Christian Ed, newcomer integration, small groups, college outreach, men’s, women’s, youth, children, marriage, grandparents) around clear discipleship pathways
• Pastor ministry leaders from the gospel outward — caring for their own souls first, then recruiting, training, coaching, and walking alongside them with clarity and warmth
• Help leaders build rhythms rooted in grace, sustainable in practice, and reproducible in others — good systems rooted in the Word and dependent on the Spirit
• Multiply Disciple‑Makers & Raise Up Leaders
• Equip leaders to make disciples who make disciples — fostering a culture of mentorship, coaching, and reproducible ministry that multiplies the impact of grace in our lives
• Develop, with the Lead Pastor, pipelines for emerging leaders: lay leaders, interns, pastoral residents, and future pastors, planters, and missionaries
• Strengthen Atonement’s identity as a sending church — preparing people and planning for future church plants and new ministry works
• Preach & Teach Regularly
• Preach passionately as a regular voice in corporate worship, bringing Scripture with gospel clarity, reformed conviction, and pastoral warmth
• Teach in key discipleship environments — Sunday courses, leader training, teams, membership and new believer settings — with gospel‑centered application that moves people from information to transformation
• Assist the Lead Pastor with pastoral care that disciples, and be willing to lead and serve as needed

The Man We’re Praying For

We’re praying for a man whose character has been shaped by the grace he preaches. He’ll be devoted to personal worship in the Word and prayer and repentance, leading from a life that is being daily renewed by Christ. He will exhibit the biblical qualities of a godly elder and shepherd (1 Tim. 3; 1 Pet. 5; Acts 20) and bring gospel‑centered leadership marked by humility, integrity, and wisdom. He will pastor people with steadfast love, grace and patience, cultivating unity while empowering others to lead. Motivated by love for Christ and the Church, he carries a hopeful, outward‑looking vision for what God can do through a church anchored in truth, empowered by grace, and sent on mission.

Essential Gifts & Desired Experience

• Clear gift and love for preaching; desire for regular pulpit ministry (12‑20x’s per year)
• Proven gifting for making disciples of Jesus and training others to the same
• Demonstrated ability to lead/oversee teams, align ministries, and build healthy ministry culture
• A heart for multiplication—raising up leaders and launching new ministry works
• Able to affirm the ARP doctrinal standards
• M.Div. or equivalent; Ordained or Ordainable in ARP
• Experience leading discipleship ministries in a local church
• Campus ministry background (or similar disciple‑making experience)
• Experience building leadership pipelines (coaching systems, fellows programs, pastoral residencies, etc.)

Theological & Cultural Fit

• Joyfully reformed, missionally‑mindful, and collaborative
• Eager to shepherd in a diverse DC metropolitan church context, with wisdom and warmth