Worship Experience Pastor

Hope-Church; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

HOPE Church seeks a Worship Experience Pastor to provide strategic, pastoral, and organizational leadership for all worship and production environments—on campus and online. You will shepherd Worship Lead Pastor and Production Lead, shape worship philosophy and service flow, anddevelop staff and volunteers to advance the church’s mission.

The role emphasizes theological depth, musical excellence, and pastoral presence, with duties spanning vision casting, cross-ministry collaboration, and

Qualifications

• Active and growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Strong alignment with HOPE’s mission, vision, values, and theological convictions.
• Minimum bachelor’s degree in worship leadership, theology, music, production, leadership, or related field preferred.
• Significant experience leading complex worship, production, or creative ministries in a large church or similarly complex environment.
• Demonstrated ability to lead worship vocally and instrumentally from the platform in a congregational setting.
• Proven experience leading and developing high-capacity leaders and teams.
• Strong strategic thinking, organizational leadership, and systems-building ability.
• Strong communication, relational, and coaching skills.
• Working knowledge of modern worship and production systems, platforms, and workflows.
• Demonstrated ability to balance pastoral sensitivity, creative vision, and operational execution.

Responsibilities

• Develop and champion a compelling vision for worship experiences across all HOPE environments.
• Partner closely with the Ministries Director and other senior ministry leaders to ensure worship environments support HOPE’s mission, vision, values, and long-term strategic direction.
• Shape systems, structures, and rhythms that enable sustainable excellence as HOPE grows.
• Ensure worship and production strategy remains scalable, proactive, and aligned with future ministry expansion.
• Provide direct supervision, coaching, support, and accountability for Worship Lead Pastor and Production Lead.
• Lead regular 1:1 meetings, goal-setting, and performance development conversations.
• Foster healthy collaboration between Worship, Production, Communications, Family Ministries, and Ministry Experience.
• Build a culture of trust, humility, excellence, ownership, and spiritual maturity.
• Create and lead intentional gatherings, development opportunities, and retreats that build community, cast vision, deepens spiritual formation, and strengthens team culture across Worship and Production.
• Support succession planning, leadership development, and staff growth across both departments.
• Oversee the spiritual, creative, and practical design of HOPE’s worship environments while helping shape and model a compelling culture of worship both on and off the platform.
• Ensure services are thoughtfully planned and executed with theological depth, musical excellence, and strong congregational engagement.
• Partner with the Worship Lead Pastor on worship philosophy, service flow, song strategy, creative planning, volunteer development.
• Help maintain consistency and alignment across all worship venues and ministry environments.
• Oversee the strategy, systems, and standards for production across all HOPE environments.
• Ensure excellence in audio, video, lighting, livestreaming, digital production.
• Partner with the Production Lead to improve workflows, systems, and technical reliability.
• Guide planning for future equipment.
• Serve as a key bridge between worship/production and other ministry departments.
• Help translate ministry vision into effective worship and production execution.
• Partner with ministry leaders to support Sundays, major events, seasonal services, and special initiatives.
• Partner closely with the Communications Director to ensure worship experiences and churchwide communications are creatively aligned, mutually reinforcing, and consistently support HOPE’s messaging and ministry priorities.
• Ensure ministry requests are prioritized and supported through clear communication and planning processes.
• Champion healthy volunteer cultures across worship and production teams.
• Ensure strong systems for volunteer recruitment, onboarding, scheduling, training, and care.
• Support leaders in creating environments where volunteers feel spiritually encouraged, equipped, and valued.
• Foster leadership pipelines that develop future worship and production leaders.
• Oversee departmental budgets related to worship and production.
• Help prioritize spending, equipment purchases, staffing needs, and capital improvements.
• Ensure wise stewardship of resources while supporting ministry effectiveness and growth.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Team leadership

Worship leadership

Communication

Coaching

Pastoral care

Education

Bachelor’s degree in worship leadership, theology, music, production, or related field

Job description

Position: Worship Experience Pastor

Job Type: Full-time (40 hrs/week)

Department: Ministries

FLSA Status: Exempt

Reports To: Ministries Director

Direct Reports: Worship Lead Pastor, Production Lead

Overview

The Worship Experience Pastor provides strategic, pastoral, and organizational leadership for all worship and production environments at HOPE Church. This role exists to ensure that every gathered worship experience—whether in person or online—helps people engage meaningfully with the Gospel in ways that are clear, compelling, distraction-free, and aligned with HOPE’s mission, vision, and values.

Through leadership of the Worship and Production teams, the Worship Experience Pastor plays a key role in advancing HOPE’s strategic priorities to Reach Families, Grow Leaders, Plant Churches, and Go Far and Wide.

While this role is primarily focused on strategic leadership, team development, and worship experience oversight, the Worship Experience Pastor must also possess the ability to lead worship from the platform with theological depth, musical competence, and pastoral presence, stepping into platform leadership as needed to support the ministry and model worship leadership for the team.

This leader helps Reach Families by cultivating worship environments that are welcoming, engaging, and spiritually impactful for both believers and those exploring faith. They help Grow Leaders by developing staff, volunteers, residents, and emerging leaders within worship and production ministries. They help Plant Churches by building scalable systems, healthy team culture, and reproducible worship models that can support future ministry expansion. They help HOPE Go Far and Wide by strengthening digital and livestream experiences that extend the reach of the Gospel beyond HOPE’s physical campuses.

The Worship Experience Pastor oversees the Worship Lead Pastor and the Production Lead, ensuring strong alignment, healthy collaboration, and a shared purpose across the two departments. This leader is responsible for cultivating a culture of spiritual depth, creative excellence, technical reliability, and servant-hearted leadership, while ensuring that every worship experience reflects the heart of Jesus and advances HOPE’s mission to offer experiences, relationships, and places where people can find life and purpose through Jesus Christ.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Vision

• Develop and champion a compelling vision for worship experiences across all HOPE environments, including worship services, special events, livestream experiences, and ministry gatherings
• Partner closely with the Ministries Director and other senior ministry leaders to ensure worship environments support HOPE’s mission, vision, values, and long-term strategic direction
• Shape systems, structures, and rhythms that enable sustainable excellence as HOPE grows
• Ensure worship and production strategy remains scalable, proactive, and aligned with future ministry expansion

Team Leadership and Development

• Provide direct supervision, coaching, support, and accountability for:
  • Worship Lead Pastor
  • Production Lead
• Lead regular 1:1 meetings, goal-setting, and performance development conversations
• Foster healthy collaboration between Worship, Production, Communications, Family Ministries, and Ministry Experience
• Build a culture of trust, humility, excellence, ownership, and spiritual maturity
• Create and lead intentional gatherings, development opportunities, and retreats that build community, cast vision, deepens spiritual formation, and strengthens team culture across Worship and Production
• Support succession planning, leadership development, and staff growth across both departments

Worship Experience Oversight

• Oversee the spiritual, creative, and practical design of HOPE’s worship environments while helping shape and model a compelling culture of worship both on and off the platform

• Ensure services are thoughtfully planned and executed with theological depth, musical excellence, and strong congregational engagement
• Partner with the Worship Lead Pastor on:
  • worship philosophy
  • service flow
  • song strategy
  • creative planning
  • volunteer development
• Help maintain consistency and alignment across all worship venues and ministry environments

Production Oversight

• Oversee the strategy, systems, and standards for production across all HOPE environments

• Ensure excellence in:
  • audio
  • video
  • lighting
  • livestreaming
  • digital production
• Partner with the Production Lead to improve workflows, systems, and technical reliability
• Guide planning for future equipment

Cross-Ministry Collaboration

• Serve as a key bridge between worship/production and other ministry departments

• Help translate ministry vision into effective worship and production execution
• Partner with ministry leaders to support Sundays, major events, seasonal services, and special initiatives
• Partner closely with the Communications Director to ensure worship experiences and churchwide communications are creatively aligned, mutually reinforcing, and consistently support HOPE’s messaging and ministry priorities
• Ensure ministry requests are prioritized and supported through clear communication and planning processes

Volunteer Development & Culture

• Champion healthy volunteer cultures across worship and production teams

• Ensure strong systems for volunteer recruitment, onboarding, scheduling, training, and care
• Support leaders in creating environments where volunteers feel spiritually encouraged, equipped, and valued
• Foster leadership pipelines that develop future worship and production leaders

Budget & Resource Stewardship

• Oversee departmental budgets related to worship and production

• Help prioritize spending, equipment purchases, staffing needs, and capital improvements
• Ensure wise stewardship of resources while supporting ministry effectiveness and growth

Other Duties as Assigned

• Participate in staff-wide initiatives, leadership gatherings, and church-wide ministry efforts

• Serve as a pastoral leader within the broader HOPE staff culture

Expectations and Qualifications

• Active and growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ
• Strong alignment with HOPE’s mission, vision, values, and theological convictions, including affirmation of EPC Essentials of Faith
• Minimum bachelor’s degree in worship leadership, theology, music, production, leadership, or related field preferred
• Significant experience leading complex worship, production, or creative ministries in a large church or similarly complex environment
• Demonstrated ability to lead worship vocally and instrumentally from the platform in a congregational setting
• Proven experience leading and developing high-capacity leaders and teams
• Strong strategic thinking, organizational leadership, and systems-building ability
• Strong communication, relational, and coaching skills
• Working knowledge of modern worship and production systems, platforms, and workflows
• Demonstrated ability to balance pastoral sensitivity, creative vision, and operational execution

Work Schedule

• Full-time, 40 hours/week
• Regular Sunday on-site presence required
• Standard weekday office hours with flexibility for rehearsals, events, and seasonal ministry demands
• Wednesday evening rehearsal presence required
• Participation in all-staff “All-In” days, including Christmas Eve and Easter Sunday.