Pastor of Community Formation & Care

Why Lake Forest Church?

• Do you have a passion for helping people take meaningful next steps in their relationship with Jesus?
• Are you energized by shepherding others, developing leaders, and building communities where people experience authentic care and spiritual growth?

We’re looking for a Pastor of Community Formation & Care who is called to cultivate a thriving culture of discipleship, community, and shepherding across our church. This role provides visionary leadership for adult spiritual formation, community groups and bible studies, pastoral care, and volunteer development. It also provides opportunities to mentor future pastors, contributing to future local church plants, and to preach in rotation with other teaching pastors.

If you answered YES to the questions above and if you're a relational leader who loves equipping others, teaching God's Word, caring for people through every season of life, and helping the church become a community of missional disciples, this could be a great fit.

Join our team! We value humility, teamwork, spiritual growth, and innovation. You'll have the support of experienced leaders while enjoying the freedom to shepherd and develop ministry in one of the fastest-growing communities in North Carolina.

The Pastor of Community Formation & Care role exists as a vital leader in the spiritual formation of the church, guiding people into deeper relationship with God by implementing a comprehensive adult discipleship strategy that fosters spiritual growth, deepens biblical understanding, and builds authentic community for the purpose of forming missional disciples for Jesus Christ. In addition to this focus on fostering a culture of shepherding and spiritual formation, this position is also responsible for cultivating structures to care for congregants, mentoring pastoral residents in growth as senior pastors and church planters, building and leading volunteer teams, and delivering gospel-oriented, Biblical truth in innovative and inspiring ways.

Qualifications, Experience, & Core Competencies

• 5 years or more as a pastor, teacher, and shepherd

• Undergraduate degree required along with completion of at least 75% of masters-level theological education (MDiv or MAT)

• Fundamental theological and missiological compatibility with the EPC and Lake Forest Church

• Clear sense of calling to shepherd the local embodiment of God’s Church

• Proven ability to envision creative ways to communicate and live out the teachings of Jesus

• Excellence in communication especially in the art of teaching/preaching, using language to inspire, motivate, challenge, and provide clarity

• Considered tech-savvy across a range of platforms and highly responsive to all forms of communication

• Proven acumen in providing spiritual direction and pastoral care for large communities and individuals as part of a large church environment

Personal Traits/Disposition:

• A thriving relationship with Jesus which leads by example, attracts others, and inspires people to follow

• A spiritually-aligned and compelling spirit of full participation in the mission of Lake Forest Church

• High level of relational vitality and strong desire to shepherd people toward Christlikeness

• Marked orientation toward vision and strategies along with the ability to execute the vision in ways that are accessible to a wide variety of people

• A leader of leaders who can cast vision, set direction, and enable others to lead in strategy execution

• Character and spiritual qualities of a church elder outlined in Scripture

• Humility to lead by example, serving rather than simply exercising authority or control

• Appropriate judgment to handle complex situations and personalities with gentleness, sensitivity, and deliberation, approaching relationships with a proper blend of maturity, humility, and boldness

• Strong bias towards action and an ability to “lead from the front”

• Intentionality about maintaining a healthy work/life balance

Specific Responsibilities

1. Spiritual/Shepherd Leadership:

• Leading and executing adult spiritual formation strategies and initiatives while also providing guidance and insight into formation across all ministries and life stages of the…