Celina Lead Pastor

Celina Church of the Nazarene
900 Fairground Road | Celina, Ohio 45822

Objective:
Located within a Northwestern Ohio rural lakeside community, Celina Church of the Nazarene is searching for pastoral candidates feeling called to serve as a senior leader/lead pastor/missionary presence within a small/midsized, lakeside/rural community environment.  All interested candidates should email Dr. Jeff Stark (Leadership and Revitalization Catalyst for the Northwestern Ohio District Church of the Nazarene) at jeff.stark@nwoteam.church.

Understanding the Context:
Hazelnut Coffeehouse overlooks the expanse of Grand Lake. With stunning sunsets over the lake, a boardwalk filled from spring to fall with walkers, bikes, and runners, in the warm months there’s always something happening in Boardwalk Village. Just up the street, in a charming, revitalized downtown corridor you will find The Anchor (best Smashburger for miles and miles) and Speakeasy (hands down the best Ribeye you will find in Northwestern Ohio). Sound like a tourist pamphlet? Is there a better way to describe a lake front community?

Celina has the laid-back lifestyle of a lake community, the deep relational connections of a rural community, and provides several of the necessary amenities for families of all sizes. Celina is known for its community events, such as the annual Lake Festival, which celebrates the city’s connection to Grand Lake St. Mary’s. Like many of its neighbors, Friday Night lights at the Football stadium in the fall still dominate the community rhythms

Celina is the county seat of Mercer County with a population of around 10,000 (with easy access from surrounding communities of 10,000+. Largely supported by manufacturing, with prominent companies like Crown Equipment Corporation, which produces forklifts, playing a significant role, agriculture also remains a key part of the region, with the surrounding countryside dominated by farmland.

The Need:
Living and serving in the Celina area requires leaders/pastors who can embrace a close-knit, relational mindset, but in an increasingly post-Christian and formerly Catholic faith environment. Pastoring in this community means stepping in with a missionary mindset. It requires high relational capacity, generosity, hospitality, and keen capacity for contextual theology. One must be able to articulate the Gospel in a contextualized way, cognizant of cultural barriers and contextual resistance.

The Church:
Celina Church of the Nazarene is open for vibrant church renewal. With a regular attendance of 80+, they’ve been led for the last nine months by NXTStep Church Services and their Transitional Interim Pastor team to begin the process of revitalization. Throughout the last nine months, they’ve worked to build teams, align ministry and mission, and develop intentionality in reaching their neighbors. They have a unified board and a strong transition team of emerging leaders eager to reach those disconnected from the hope of Jesus and make a significant impact in their community. In recent years, they’ve launched an Alpha Course that has the support of several in the congregation.

With a great building and great location (located next door to community parks and across the street from a growing local neighborhood with many young families), they’ve cared for the facilities well. There is little to no deferred maintenance on the building. They have very little debt and a healthy financial support.

They are a hospitable congregation. Their members come predominantly from Celina and the immediate surrounding smaller communities. Many understand that this is a crucial moment in the life of the church. Only through intentional shifts toward a more missional, outward facing posture will the church forge a way into next/new season of ministry. This will require deliberate relationship building, missional creativity, and heart to revitalize a church in a community that needs its presence.

They are eager for a leader that will build on its rich history with a fresh vision for community impact and longing to reach those disconnected from Jesus. With great potential to be a catalytic church in the Northwestern side of Ohio, impacting communities up and down highway 127, the church continually confesses the need to change, adapt, be stretched, and reach young families, teens, and young adults throughout Celina.

The Call:
Celina Church of the Nazarene is seeking a pastor whose passion for the lakeside/rural 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 community home. Celina Church of the Nazarene 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.

 

• • 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 measured pace.

 

• • 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 architecting a culture of discipleship and leadership development, multiplying the number of people committed to the mission of Jesus.

 

Interested candidates should contact Dr. Jeff Stark at jeff.stark@nwoteam.church