Pastoral Resident

Lake Forest Church; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 54,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

PTO + federal holidays

Spouse & Family counseling

Job summary

Lake Forest Church offers a two-year, full-time residency designed to develop pastors through eight thematic movements focused on personal formation and church planting. Residents receive emotional health coaching, spiritual direction, and practical supervision while preparing for lead pastoral roles or church planting within the Lake Forest network.

With a structured program that includes weekly coaching, peer cohorts, and annual retreats, residents gain hands-on ministry experience, mentorship

Qualifications

• Possess a deep love for Jesus and the local church.
• Have strong, proven leadership gifts.
• Have a track record of starting or growing ministries.
• Demonstrate a calling toward church planting or becoming a lead pastor.

Responsibilities

• Participate in a two-year residency focused on pastoral development.
• Engage in coaching, mentoring, and supervised ministry.
• Receive peer cohort support and spiritual direction.
• Pursue opportunities for pastoral placement after program.

Skills

Leadership

Church planting

Ministry development

Discernment

Education

Seminary degree or in progress

Job description

Are you finishing seminary and find yourself at a precipice? Do you feel God calling you to a new path on your vocational journey? The reality of stepping into a lead pastor role or planting a church can be daunting. You may still have questions. What kind of pastor will I become? How do I plant a church? Who will plant with me?

We’ve crafted our residency program for you—to walk alongside you and bridge the gap. Whether it’s between classroom and congregation or from one ministry vocation to another, we don’t want you to merely survive your first pastoral role, but thrive in it. This isn’t just theoretical knowledge, but practical experience, spiritual coaching, and a chance to cultivate the leadership your church community needs.

Who Are We?

MaryRobin and Aron first met in Los Angeles, California, serving together on a church plant team. At that time, MaryRobin worked on staff with Young Life, but felt called to vocational pastoring. Aron also felt called to pastoring and they quickly developed a shared vision: to start a new kind of church that would reach their peers and engage the social needs of the city. This experience ignited a lasting passion for church planting.

While completing coursework at Fuller Seminary, they were invited to launch a new young adult ministry at an established church in the area. Under their leadership, the ministry grew into a vibrant community of 500-600 young adults gathering for worship every Sunday night.

In 2013, sensing God’s call, they once again stepped out in faith. They accepted an invitation from the elders of Lake Forest Church-Huntersville, to plant a new congregation in Denver, NC. In 2014, Lake Forest Church-Westlake launched and has grown into a thriving ministry, serving the community and welcoming more than 1,200 people each Sunday.

For over a decade, MaryRobin and Aron have mentored and coached church planters—both within the Lake Forest family of churches and across other traditions. This church planting residency is the fullest expression of what they’ve been cultivating from the beginning: dedicating themselves to the flourishing and empowerment of the next generation of church leaders.

Duke Divinity (MDiv)

Fuller Theological Seminary (MDiv)

Our Community

At Lake Forest We:

• Form community that’s both deep and wide
• Dedicate ourselves to deep discipleship—practicing the way of Jesus
• Welcome skeptics, spiritual explorers, and followers of Jesus
• Embrace people who’ve given up on church, but not on God
• Love people as they live out their story
• Approximately 1,200 people gather between three services on Sunday mornings
• Weekly ministries with over 300 children and youth
• We’re a truly multigenerational church, with all ages engaging in various ministries

We’re part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church network in the Lake Forest Family of Churches.

• Kairos—prison ministries
• Room in the Inn—providing shelter and food to the unhoused (seasonally)
• Lake Forest Shares—weekly fresh food distribution
• Regular food distribution in public schools
• Appalachia service project (making homes safe and comfortable)

International Partnerships In:

• Guatemala
• India
• Spain

Givings:

• 10% of all giving is set aside as the Missio Dei budget, for outreaches, missions, trips, and support of missionaries.
• 3% of all giving goes toward planting the next church in the Lake Forest Family of Churches.

What We Offer You

The Residency: 8 Thematic Movements

Our two-year residency program walks alongside you through eight thematic movements. These movements focus on pastoral development (emotional health, spiritual formation, and vocational clarity) and the essentials of church planting (forming a coherent vision of church, mission, and making disciples). By the end of year two, we will help you develop a posture of curiosity over judgement, clarify doctrine without rigidity, and cultivate your unique gift set, so you can lead with authenticity and discernment.

Year One: Formation & Foundations

Who are you - What do you believe - How do you live on mission

Movement One: Identity, Calling & Self-Awareness

• Theme: “Who am I, before I plant?”
• Aims: To cultivate the resident’s emotional health, spiritual formation, and vocational clarity.

Movement Two: Theology of Church & Planting

• Theme: “What am I building and why?”
• Aims: To build a bible-rooted and theologically coherent vision of church, mission, and making disciples.

Movement Three: Missional Church Philosophy

• Theme: “How does the gospel take root in a place?”
• Aims: To shift residents away from a program attendance mindset to a missional reality.

Movement Four: Understanding Your Ministry Context

• Theme: “How do we exegete the place we’re sent into?”
• Aims: To equip residents to plant churches that are both faithful and fitting, by interpreting, engaging, and responding to their specific context.

Year Two: Mission, Leadership & Launch

What are you building - Who do you build with - How are you sent

• Theme: “How do we live out daily shepherding?”
• Aims: To equip residents with foundational pastoral competencies necessary from day one of planting.

Movement Six: Leadership, Systems & Organizational Health

• Theme: “How do I build for growth?”
• Aims: To develop leaders who build healthy systems without losing a relational and missional soul.

Movement Seven: Launch Team Formation & Equipping

• Theme: “You don’t plant alone.”
• Aims: To form and prepare a spiritually mature and missionally-aligned launch team.

Movement Eight: Launch Strategy Evaluation & Sending

• Theme: “Faithful launch and long obedience.”
• Aims: To transition residents from training into faithful, adaptable church planters and lead pastors.
• Coaching (weekly): You’ll receive personalized guidance from the senior mentors dedicated to sustaining your growth.
• Peer Cohort Retreats: Form spiritually mature and missionally aligned friendships that will encourage you as you navigate this journey together.
• Regular Spiritual Direction (monthly): Nurture your faith and clarify your calling through monthly meetings with a Spiritual Director.
• Supervised Ministry: You’ll take on a supervised and very real pastoral role within our church community.
• Annual Retreats: Take time away to reflect, renew, and refocus on your mission. (We have two church planter retreats: one in the late winter in Kansas and one in mid-October in Black Mountain, NC)
• Regular reading, reflection, and writing exercises: These include case studies, journaling, reading scripture, ethnographic observations, etc.
• Spouse & Family Support Pathways (where applicable)

A two-year, full-time paid residency position including:

• Opportunities to participate in diverse ministries
• One-on-one mentoring from our Lead Pastor
• Participation in a peer cohort
• Regular meetings with a Spiritual Director
• Assistance with pastoral placement after program completion

Our goal is for our residents to either step into a lead pastor role or plant a new church in the region. There’s a real opportunity for consideration as a Lake Forest Church planter if it’s mutually agreeable.

What You’ll Receive:

• Full-time salary for two years ($60k per year)
• Health benefits included for residents (optional: additional dental and vision plans as well as family/spouse plans at residents additional expense)
• 3 weeks of PTO + 9 regular federal holidays
• Spouse & Family counseling (where applicable)

Who We’re Looking For

Our Residents Are

People Who:

• Posses a deep love for Jesus and the local church
• Have strong and proven leadership gifts
• Have a track record of starting or growing ministries
• Demonstrate a tested sense of calling toward church planting or a lead pastor role
• Are open to, or have experience with, the EPC family of churches
• Have graduated seminary (or nearing completion)

Lake Forest Church is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and organizational needs. Lake Forest Church does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, or veteran status.

As a faith-based organization, Lake Forest Church reserves the right to employ individuals who share and live out our Christian faith, in accordance with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) Essentials of our Faith .

Contact Us

Are you ready to take the next step? Reach out to our Residency Director, MaryRobin deLeon-Gibson, at [e-mail] and introduce yourself.

Include your name, contact information, and tell MaryRobin why you’re interested in being considered for our residency program.