Lead Pastor

Quest Community Church of the Nazarene
West Liberty, Ohio
Church Website Page: https://questchurchonline.com/

Lead Pastor Profile

Objective:

Located within a Northwestern Ohio community, Quest Church of the Nazarene is searching for pastoral candidates feeling called to serve as a senior leader/lead pastor/missionary presence within a large, growing church that effectively makes disciples and has the mindset to be a sending, multiplying church. 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:

West Liberty, Ohio, is a small community with a population of around 1,700 residents, although over 44,000 people live within an easy to reach 10-mile radius including the population areas of Urbana, De Graff, and Bellefontaine.

The demographics in West Liberty and the surrounding area are predominantly Caucasian, with many families having lived in the region for generations. The area’s agricultural heritage is still vibrant, with farms dotting the landscape and playing a key role in the local economy. Beyond agriculture, the region is home to small businesses and historical attractions like the Ohio Caverns, Piatt Castles, and the historic downtown of nearby Bellefontaine, the county seat. Bellefontaine, just a short drive away, adds a more urban touch to the area with its shops, restaurants, and community events. The region also benefits from outdoor recreational activities, with the nearby Mad River offering opportunities for kayaking and fishing, while the rolling hills provide scenic spots for hiking and biking. The combination of agricultural richness, historical depth, and natural beauty makes West Liberty and its surrounding area a picturesque and vibrant region in Logan County.

The Church:

This seventeen-year-old church has gone from zero to an average of over 400 under the successful leadership of the founding pastor. It has a contemporary feel, but most importantly, the focus is on making disciples and adaptable ministry to reach those who aren’t there yet. The facilities are new and/or newly renovated and the spaces are well designed to reach the demographic they find themselves among.

The church values the Next Gen Now and has a vibrant thriving Children’s ministry, a newly relaunched and growing Teen ministry, as well as newly launched MomCo program to focus on young moms and their children. The church as a church planting mindset, and it focused on reaching the communities they live in. The guiding priorities of Quest have been evangelism, reaching the next gen, and preaching the gospel/worship.

The Call:

As outlined in the Five Levels of Leadership (Maxwell), Quest is looking for a pastor/leader who is an established Level Three Leader (competent in leading themselves and others) with solid indications into Level Four Leadership (the ability to reproduce themselves in other leaders). A Level Three leader will keep Quest at the level the church is already at. Without quality leadership reproduction and without a leadership pipeline, Quest will not be able to respond to growth past 500 in weekend worship attendance.

Despite the current physical barriers to growth, the greatest structural barrier would be an inability to appropriately train and empower lay leaders. This requires a well-defined leadership development plan and a well-defined shared vision. Those two things require the skills of a Level Four leader.

Top Desired Characteristics include:

The proven ability to develop leaders who develop leaders.

Dynamic and relevant preacher. This includes the ability to preach to the pre-Christian, the new believer, and the mature Christian in the same sermons.

Relate to the unchurched and those far from God. This includes the ability to develop relationships in the external community as well as in the church environment.

Good people skills and be drawn to engage people.

Inner drive to accomplish the great commission. This means not being satisfied with the status quo when there are still many lost people in our community.

Strong in sharing vision about the future. This also means having the ability to share/communicate the vision in a way that others see it, affirm it, and own it.

Value others to the point of inviting them into action groups and leadership positions in a way that utilizes their unique gifts to accomplish the mission. This includes the ability of the Lead Pastor to recruit, train, delegate, follow-up, correct, and encourage.

Resilient and productive in conflict. Must have the ability to project peace and poise while pursuing a way forward through conflict; seeking to value everyone involved, but not paralyzed by the inability to please everyone.

We consider it to be important that candidates:

Have the experience and understanding of how to structure and manage ministry in a church that is 600-1000 in weekend attendance.

Have experience and mindset to add additional services. This means understanding the need for, and being willing to go to three services while also sending out people to launch new campuses.

Have the larger perspective of the Great Commission – an internal Kingdom drive to plant effective churches and replicate the best of Quest down the block from those that need Quest.

Have experience in hiring, structuring, evaluating, and managing staff effectively.

Mission of the Moment:

These are the key characteristics that we believe meet the demands of Quest’s next season.

As the growth trajectory continues pushing toward five hundred, Quest wants to double-down on on bringing people to Christ effectively. But they also seek to develop better pathways to mature new disciples without losing from their DNA the drive to reach those far from Christ within our neighborhoods. The consensus from the leadership team is that Quest needs three Sunday morning worship services right away, and a plan for sending 100 people to Urbana to launch a new campus or plant within the next 18 months.

Contact:

To talk more about this opportunity, please contact Andy Monnin at andy.monnin@nwoteam.church

Church Website Page: https://questchurchonline.com/