Interim Pastor

Interim Pastor - Christ Church of Chicago, UCC - Chicago

Christ Church of Chicago, UCC (Tri-C) seeks a full or part-time
* temporary/bridge/interim minister to help our congregation guide and sustain ourselves spiritually, programmatically and structurally as we search for our next called pastor.

Christ Church of Chicago is a small and vibrant church with an engaged membership. We were founded by Japanese Americans who were relocated to Chicago after having been incarcerated by the US government during WWII. We honor our ethnic heritage and our Christian faith through worship, events, and celebrations. Years ago, we created an invitation to all that enter our doors or are a part of our community.

It effectively describes who we are today: “God is inviting us to be a strong spiritual center and an inclusive community, to equip everyone for ministry and put faith into action, to glorify God.” We are an open and affirming, immigrant welcoming congregation.

During our time with our intentional interim pastor, we did amazing work. We restated our mission and vision (on website), reorganized how we do the work of the church into nine ministry teams (on website) and decided to leave our church building of 25 years.

We are at a crossroads as a congregation as we find ourselves without a pastor and having just decided to sell our church building and rent space in the area. We need the care, guidance and leadership from a skilled pastor to:

• Support the ongoing life of our congregation
• Prepare us for what’s next for our congregation

Job Title: Full or part-time
* Interim Minister

Duration: Until our settled pastor is called and joins us

Reports to: Church Council

Works Primarily with: Church leadership team and ministry teams

Direct reports: None. Church staff report to the church leadership team. Provide direction to Digital Media Coordinators & Church Admin

Days: Sunday – Thursday with Friday and Saturday off. These days can be flexible when arranged with church leadership team.

Goals:

Goal One:
Supporting the ongoing life of Christ Church of Chicago

• Lead weekly Sunday worship services, including preaching, to maintain the worship life of the congregation.
• Plan weekly Sunday worship services and other special worship services with music and digital media staff, which creatively and thoughtfully include our online attendees.
• Provide attentive and proactive pastoral care to Tri-C members and communicate with the Ministry of Caring team on pastoral care needs.
• Support faith formation which may include book discussion, justice and equity, etc.
• Participate actively in church activities/events and in meetings with the Church Council, leadership team and Ministry teams as needed.
• Check-in and support our existing church staff – Sexton, Digital Media Coordinator, Digital Outreach Assistants, Church Administration Assistant, Choir Director and accompanists.

Goal Two:
Preparing for what’s next

• Help Tri-C live into our decision regarding our physical space. While a 75% majority voted to sell, no one is happy or excited about the decision and the need to sell. Care and healing for the congregation is required as we work through our next priorities which we believe are:
  • Hire a commercial realtor & real estate attorney to assist us in executing the actions required to sell our space
  • Find a new space for our community to worship that meets our needs
  • Identify belongings that we want to retain
    ; and donate/sell items we can let go
  • Live into our ministry team plans (except for optional building & equipment spend)
• Work with Church Council to lead through this time of change and uncertainty to see “the possibility.”
• Work with Pastoral Search Committee to identify the best qualities and goals for our next settled pastor.

* Note:

If the position is PT, we’ll align on priorities of the above outlined goals.

How To Apply:

Please email or call Robin Hirano, Co-Moderator and Personnel team lead, at  with questions or interest.