Part-Time Priest-in-Charge – Christ Church

For two hundred years, Christ Church has kept its doors open in the heart of Pottstown, a historic borough on the Schuylkill River in western Montgomery County, about 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

We are a small parish, and a busy one.

Every week we share a community meal and stock a food pantry, and several recovery groups call our building home. Our neighbors know where to find us, and we intend to keep it that way.

We hope to offer two services: a said Rite I service and a choral Rite II service with choir. Our staff includes a bookkeeper, an administrative assistant, the organist and choir director, and the sexton. Established lay leaders coordinate altar servers, altar guild, pastoral care (including Eucharistic ministers), and lay teachers for children and adult formation.

316 East High Street, Pottstown, PA 19464

Christ Church seeks a priest to serve as Part-Time Priest-in-Charge for 25 hours a week. We have discerned together what a part-time priest can faithfully hold, and we have chosen.

Our priest will be first of all a preacher, a celebrant, and a person of prayer.

The vestry and lay leaders of the parish have committed to carrying much of the administrative, pastoral, and community work that a full-time rector might otherwise hold, so that our priest's hours go where only a priest can go.

• Preach and preside at the Sunday Eucharist each week
• Plan the liturgy with the musician and altar guild
• Officiate at baptisms, weddings, and funerals
• Support lay readers and lay worship leaders

• Maintain a disciplined life of prayer, study, and spiritual direction
• Keep a weekly sabbath day, which the parish will honor

• Work with the wardens, treasurer, and administrative support on parish operations
• Oversee the parish register and canonical records
• Review communications and take part in financial conversations
• Equip, support, and oversee lay teachers of children and adults
• Offer occasional teaching as hours allow

• Provide hospital, crisis, and end-of-life pastoral care
• Support and supervise the pastoral care team and Eucharistic visitors

• Attend the monthly vestry meeting and share in its discernment
• Respond to the pastoral emergencies and unplanned needs no calendar predicts

These ministries will be carried mainly by lay leaders, with the priest's encouragement and occasional presence:

Where any of these ministries is still taking shape, we expect to build it together with our priest during the first year.

• 25 hours per week, including Sunday morning
• Office hours or regular availability, and days of presence, set by mutual agreement
• One sabbath day each week
• Monthly vestry meeting
• Participation in diocesan life, such as convention and clergy gatherings, as occasional flex time
• A shared review of hours and priorities at six and twelve months

• A priest in good standing in The Episcopal Church, or in a church in full communion, eligible for license in the Diocese of Pennsylvania
• Gifts for thoughtful, grounded preaching and careful, prayerful liturgy
• A commitment to equipping lay leaders rather than doing the work for them
• A steady pastoral presence in times of crisis and loss
• Healthy boundaries, and the ability to work faithfully within contracted hours
• Willingness to share leadership collaboratively with the vestry and wardens

$47,800

Part-time salary with half SECA and pension. Offered under a letter of agreement as Priest-in-Charge, renewable annually.

316 East High Street, Pottstown, PA 19464