Website Shepherd Church of the Nazarene
People helping people take their next step with Jesus.
ABOUT COLUMBUS SHEPHERD:
Shepherd Church of the Nazarene is a church with a rich history and a bright future. The church began in 1927 with 18 members. Since that time the church has grown and has relocated 4 times to provide opportunities for growth and expanded ministry opportunities. Today 600 people attend regularly on the weekends and many more call Shepherd their home. We also have a campus in Johnstown, about 30 minutes from Gahanna. As a ministry to our community Shepherd is also home to Shepherd Christian School with an enrollment of 375 students. Shepherd Christian School has been a K-8 school but this coming school year we will be starting a high school beginning with grades 9-10 and have approximately 25 enrolled for the first year. Shepherd is a church committed to world missions. In fact, the World Mission “Work & Witness” ministry of the Nazarene church began 40 years ago with a man that was a member at Shepherd.
Today Shepherd is a strong multi-generational church committed to reaching all generations. WE have just spent a year working through a process to re-define our vision frame and are about to roll that out as we begin our 100th year as a church. As part of this process, we have identified some unique factors that make us poised for an exciting future. We are strategically located as a gateway to Gahanna from Columbus and literally the world with the Port Columbus International Airport as a neighbor. We possess great facilities with state of the art technology and lots of undeveloped land to use for possible future ministry. Our people possess a willingness to risk and follow visionary leadership. The church is a highly resourced congregation educationally and financially and loaded with skills and talents. Because we are a generationally diverse congregation we have great balance and strength as a church. It is with compassionate hearts and a Kingdom mind-set that we will continue to engage the people of our community and help establish the Kingdom in new and fresh ways!
ABOUT THE STUDENT PASTOR POSITION:
The primary purpose of the Student Pastor is to provide leadership and support for all Student Ministry activities, events and programming at Shepherd Nazarene. We are looking for someone that will not just come in to maintain, but will creatively cast vision, develop strategies, inspire, recruit and equip volunteers and volunteer teams (including students in ministry), and build a sustainable system to make Shepherd Student Ministry an exciting, effective and excellent ministry. There is an excellent and committed volunteer team in place and they are ready to work with a motivated and visionary leader. We want to disciple the students that are already coming to Shepherd but we do not want to focus on that alone. We are looking for a candidate who has a heart for outreach. There is a high school with nearly 3,000 students across the street from Shepherd, and we want them in the Kingdom! We believe God strategically placed Shepherd right where we are and we want to take advantage of that!
We hope to find someone who has a balanced combination of being innovative, a self-starter and a team player. In addition, he/she must be creative, enthusiastic, and personable. The ideal candidate is a risk-taker, yet is teachable and is biblically grounded. This person should love spending time with students and be relational, but also recognize their important role in the life of parents and other adults. We value a team/family culture among the staff at Shepherd and are looking for candidates that value that as well.
The Student Pastor will be empowered to lead and oversee ministry for student’s grades 6-12. The Student Pastor will work with the other age level pastors and ministries to create smooth transitions and hand-offs between ministry departments.
While education is not a predetermining factor in the selection of a new Student Pastor, the successful candidate must be one who has demonstrated some level of success and faithfulness in the area of Student Ministry in the past, including the ability to lead with administrative oversight in full-time Student Ministry. The candidate will have had experience working as an effective leader of adult and student ministry teams, with the responsibility of providing vision and leadership for small and large-scale Student Ministry activities, events and programming.
ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY:
Columbus is the capital and largest city in the state of Ohio. Columbus resides in Franklin County where nearly 1.5 million people live. Gahanna is a suburb of Columbus and while it has a rich traditional heritage it is also becoming a fast-growing city in transition with great ministry opportunities. Recently, Gahanna was named as one of America’s Top 100 places to live. The residents of Gahanna benefit from the close proximity of Columbus which is an incredibly diverse city, exploding with new businesses, one-of-a-kind art galleries, major new sports facilities, award-winning eateries, and family attractions like the world-renowned Columbus Zoo. It is home to the Minor League Baseball’s Columbus, Clippers, The NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets and Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew, and The Columbus Fury women’s professional volleyball team. Its bustling downtown district and diverse suburban neighborhoods has made Columbus a huge attraction to young families. Also home to The Ohio State University, Columbus now has the highest population of college students in the nation. Along with a lively arts and entertainment scene, Columbus is also home to several large, rural, mixed-income, and poverty-stricken communities. This ministry setting provides Shepherd Church with an amazing, divine opportunity to make an eternal difference for the Kingdom of God.
CONTACT INFO:
Rob Paugh, Lead Pastor
614-205-8023
rpaugh@shepnaz.org
shepnaz.org