Kennard Lead Pastor

Kennard Church of the Nazarene
Kennard, Ohio
Pastoral Leader Search

Objective:

Kennard Church of the Nazarene is located within a small, rural community of about 100 people, and is near Urbana, OH, a population center of 11,000. Over 45,000 people are within an easy 10-minute reach of the church and the people who attend Kennard come from nearby towns like West Liberty, Urbana, Marysville, Springfield, Mechanicsburg, St. Paris, Bellefontaine, and Cable.

This church is searching for pastoral candidates feeling called to serve as the full-time senior leader/lead pastor/missionary presence within this community and the surrounding areas. All interested candidates please email Andy Monnin, District Superintendent for the Northwestern Ohio District Church of the Nazarene) at andy.monnin@nwoteam.church.

Understanding the Context:

Kennard, Ohio is a small, rural community in Champaign County characterized by its quiet countryside, agricultural roots, and close-knit feel. Surrounded by farmland and open spaces, it reflects the rhythms of rural Midwestern life, where neighbors tend to know one another and local connections run deep. With no major commercial development, Kennard offers a peaceful, unhurried environment, and residents typically rely on the nearby town of Urbana for schools, shopping, and services.

There’s a simple rhythm to life here that people genuinely enjoy. It’s the kind of place where relationships matter, community shows up, and visitors are quickly made to feel at home.

Living in the mission field surrounding Kennard requires a leader/pastor who can embrace a close-knit, relational mindset, but in an increasingly post-Christian environment. Pastoring a community means stepping in with a missionary mindset and living among those people. It requires high relational capacity, generosity, hospitality, and keen capacity for contextual theology.

The Church:

Kennard Church of the Nazarene is a small congregation in the process making changes and adjustments to become more effective at reaching their community. In the several years, they have made changes to become more missional and started some needed updates. They have been led the last few years by a Lead Pastor who has helped them take significant steps forward and they now have the beginning of momentum in their mission. They are faithful prayer warriors, experienced in living a life of total dependence on the Lord. Kennard has a rich history of faithful support of the mission of the Church of the Nazarene and a lineage of generosity and global missions.

Their attendance is now about 22 attenders each week. The sanctuary seats 100 people in recently purchased chairs.  To the rear of the sanctuary are a classroom, nursery and office.  The adjoining fellowship hall can accommodate up to 150 people.  The kitchen is well-equipped and has plenty of room for teams to work side by side.

Kennard is a warm, hospitable, faithful congregation. Their members come predominantly from the area and the surrounding smaller communities. They understand that the church will grow and become missionally effective as it seeks to reach the local neighborhoods many already know surrounding the church. They are eager for a leader that will build on the previous two years of effective leadership and movement, helping them realize a significant missional impact in their community.

The Call:

Kennard Church of the Nazarene is seeking a bi-vocational pastor whose passion for a smaller community environment is matched with a passion for the least, the last, and the lost, a true missionary mindset, a willingness to lead the church into new territory, a shepherding heart, and the patience and longevity to settle in and call this Ohio area home. Kennard is looking for a leader that has capacity to help them discern their unique mission and vision for this next season of ministry and the ability to develop and deploy a fresh expression of the church to the broader community. This leader should be:

• An ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene or seeking ordination.
• Growing preacher who proclaims the Word faithfully with sound doctrine.
• Servant leader who humbly cares for people
• Demonstrated character with a life above reproach.
• Committed to support the broader mission of the Northwestern Ohio District to develop interdependent, healthy, multiplying congregations.
• Culturally humble, recognizing that ministry in rural environments requires a learner’s heart and trust is given slowly and earned over time.
• Generous, hospitable, and socially engaged with people disconnected from the hope, message, and story of Jesus.
• Thrive in interconnected, settings where culturally things move at a more measured
• Be a starter. This leader operates from an “opportunity mindset” rather than a “scarcity mindset.” They must have the capacity to see what could be.
• Faithful and diligent with financial stewardship.
• Committed to creating a culture of discipleship and leadership development, multiplying the number of people committed to the mission of Jesus.

Again, if interested, please contact Andy Monnin at andy.monnin@nwoteam.church

Church Website: https://kennardnaz.org/Home