Candidate Profile
Part-time Assistant Pastor for Congregational Care
Grace Community Church
Surprise, AZ
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We design the profile to define who would be a good fit for this position based on seven broad criteria.
The profile assumes the qualifications for a pastor found in 1 Timothy and Titus.
We know, as does the search committee, that there might not be a pastor out there who could check all of the following boxes. If this call intrigues you and you feel that you are lacking in a few areas, then we strongly encourage you to have a conversation with David Zook. He is leading the search.
CHARACTER
- The candidate is patient, reliable, and an involved member of the community as a whole.
- The candidate is marked with humility.
- The candidate lets people see him as he is.
- The candidate exhibits compassion and mercy to the congregation and community.
- The candidate carries himself with confidence in his capabilities.
KNOWLEDGE
- The candidate possesses the experience and insight of being a shepherd for those in need of pastoral care.
- The candidate embraces the importance of helping people in their 11th hour of life to understand the gospel and eternal life.
- The candidate understands how to warmly and winesomely deliver comfort and the truth in the time of need.
- The candidate knows how to work in a church that is spiritually, numerically, and financially growing.
- The candidates firmly grasps how to support the Senior Pastor in such a growing environment.
- The ideal candidate understands the rhythms of a church serving an elderly congregation.
SKILL
- The candidate possesses the skill to actively listen without the need to fix it.
- The candidate demonstrates the skill to be a calm, reassuring, and hopeful presence.
- The candidate knows how to gently assess and discern a person’s struggles, sense of meaning, and relationship with God.
- The candidate knows how to lead with appropriate prayer, Scripture, and worship.
- The candidate comfortably connects with people so that he can be a companion through grief, loss, suffering, and end-of-life transitions.
- The candidate has the skill to navigate diverse family backgrounds in highly emotional situations.
- The candidate is proficient in adaptive communication and situational sensitivity.
- The candidate has a track record of follow-up, coordinating, and mobilizing resources.
- The candidate has the ability to mobilize and train others to extend the care ministry.
- The candidate has the ability to teach and preach when needed.
GIFT MIX
The candidate will possess the gift mix of mercy, exhortation, shepherding, wisdom and discernment.
We would like to emphasize that this is a mix that works together. They are not separated by silos. Some seasons of the life of the church might require shepherding to be emphasized, but you still need to lead and exhort the congregation.
Discernment
The Spirit-empowered ability to perceive, evaluate, and judge rightly between truth and error, good and evil, authentic and counterfeit, divine and demonic influences in people, teachings, situations, and spiritual atmospheres. It grows through maturity, constant practice, deep engagement with Scripture, and prayerful sensitivity, enabling wise protection, correction, and direction for the body.
People with this gift love discerning, evaluating, perceiving, distinguishing, and protecting.
Key Scriptures: 1 Cor 12:10; Heb 5:14; Phil 1:9-10; 1 Thess 5:21-22; 1 John 4:1; Matt 7:15-20; Prov 14:15; 1 Kings 3:9
Exhortation
The gift of motivating, comforting, challenging, and urging believers toward faithfulness, perseverance, and godly action. It strengthens the weak, restores the fallen, and spurs the body forward in love and good works through timely words, presence, and relational investment. It flows from God’s desire to be with us and for us in our daily lives.
People with this gift love encouraging, motivating, comforting, challenging, and urging.
Key Scriptures: Rom 12:8; Heb 3:13; 10:24-25; 1 Thess 5:11; Acts 15:32; 2 Cor 1:3-4
Mercy
A deep, Spirit-given sensitivity to those who are hurting, suffering, marginalized, or in distress, expressed through empathetic care, comfort, and practical help. It reflects God’s tender mercy and brings healing presence and dignity to the broken.
People with this gift love caring, comforting, helping, showing, and serving.
Key Scriptures: Rom 12:8; Matt 5:7; 9:36; Luke 10:33-37; Jude 1:22-23; Mic 6:8
Shepherding
The gift of caring for, protecting, guiding, feeding, and nurturing the spiritual health and growth of individuals or groups like a shepherd cares for sheep. It involves relational investment, oversight, correction, and helping people become more like Jesus over time. It reflects the long road of obedience that God wants us to walk.
People with this gift love guiding, protecting, nurturing, correcting, and feeding the flock.
Key Scriptures: Eph 4:11; 1 Pet 5:1-4; John 10:11-16; Acts 20:28-31; Ps 23; Ezek 34
Wisdom
Supernatural insight or skillful application of biblical truth and God’s perspective to complex situations, decisions, or problems. It provides divine strategy, clarity, and direction where human wisdom falls short, often bringing resolution and peace. It reflects God being all-wise and knowing for our benefit.
People with this gift love applying, discerning, strategizing, resolving, and clarifying.
Key Scriptures: 1 Cor 12:8; James 1:5; 3:13-18; Prov 2:6; 1 Kings 3:9-12; Col 2:3
PERSONALITY
The candidate is warm, caring, and excels in building relationships.
- He is driven by relational warmth, generosity, and hope.
- He is sensitive to social cues and empathetic.
- He is patient, loyal, and dependable.
- He is encouraging and sees the potential in others when they can’t see it in themselves.
- He is at peace with himself so he can be at peace with others.
- He reads people and is able to discern their mental and spiritual condition.
- He is enthusiastic and optimistic.
- He enjoys meeting people and building close relationships.
PASSION
- The candidate has a heart for the community and a care for loved ones.
- The candidate focuses on the importance of sharing God’s love and truth to people facing a crisis, a question they can’t answer, a problem they can’t solve, or seeking a comfort they can’t find.
- The candidate loves God and others with zeal.
- The candidate has a passion for building the Kingdom through the local church.
STORY
The candidate’s life will be marked by relationships and the impact he has on people. He will have several years of experience, with a track record of helping others become their best as they grow in relationship with God. His merciful nature has been a comfort to those hurting and his optimistic nature has been inspiring to all. He encourages people in healthy ways as he points them towards the grace and truth of the cross.