Congregational Care Pastor

Bible Church

Meet Gateway Church

Grace Covenant Church is a Bible church located in north Austin. Upward to 3,000 people call Grace their church. We are an equipping church and want our people to be transformed by God’s grace, connected through relationships, and engaged in ministry. 

Grace Covenant Church was birthed from a vision and idea of a local bible study back in 1968 and has since grown in size and influence in the greater Austin area, but also around the world as Grace Covenant has partnered with over 80 missionaries and organizations to see changed lives for the Kingdom. 

The church functions under the capable leadership of Senior Pastor Dr. Matt Casssidy, who has helped maximize its capacity to almost 1,100 in average attendance each Sunday, with two dynamic services and a majority of the congregation engaged in various discipleship ministries on Sunday or during the week. The 50-plus-year-old church has sustained a strong reputation in the area over the years and continues to passionately drive forth its purpose through its defined vision, mission, strategy, measures, and values. 

About the Congregational Care Pastor

The primary focus of the Congregational Care Pastor is to serve the Lord and the body of Grace Covenant Church and to oversee all aspects of care leadership training and implementation of the GraceCares Ministries so that it fulfills our mission and reflects our core values. This role will oversee and lead all aspects of care ministry, including training leaders, developing programs like Celebrate Recovery, GriefShare, and DivorceCare, and providing short-term counseling to members. This role requires a mature believer in Jesus Christ who demonstrates a shepherding heart of compassion and care for people (I Thessalonians 5:14) that has a strong shepherding heart, solid biblical knowledge, and experience in leading and developing teams. The pastor will also teach, provide spiritual guidance, and manage administrative tasks related to care ministry. 

The Congregational Care Pastor’s responsibilities include:

What you bring

The following describes many of the characteristics of the ideal candidate for the Congregational Care Pastor:

Education and experience

• M.A. Seminary degree in Biblical Studies, Christian Leadership or Biblical Counseling
• 5 or more years of relevant experience in a church or ministry setting   

Knowledge, skills, and abilities

• Spiritual Walk:  Demonstrates a consistent, deep and growing walk with God, a devotion to the Word and a passion for ministry; Demonstrates the qualities of an Elder as defined in the Bible; Models the spirit-filled life at home and in public; Sees Scripture as their authority for life and ministry
• Shepherding Heart:  Possesses a heart and personal vision for ministry of pastoral care of congregants and the community of Grace Covenant Church
• Servant Leadership: Communicates vision in such a way that others own and act upon it; Motivates and leads others to accomplish a goal through personal relationships, support and modeling; Models Christian leadership. Understands the implementation of congregational care to reflect Grace’s core values and ministry philosophy
• Building Teams: Develops leadership teams; helps each team work effectively toward their goals, and has personally demonstrated the ability to work within a team 
• Communication: Has demonstrated an ability to communicate effectively and respectfully
• Relational Skills: Is warm, personable and relates to different groups of people well; Addresses conflict in a biblical manner using Peacemaking principles; Deals with conflict regarding job expectations and goal setting with team members
• Management and Supervisory Skills: Has demonstrated the ability to manage people effectively; Gives responsibility and authority to the appropriate person or team
• Stress Tolerance: Maintains effectiveness when faced with change, opposition or emergencies

Personal characteristics and qualifications

• Passionately loves Jesus.
• Committed to having a dedicated walk with God that prioritizes both church and family.
• Has a very strong work ethic.
• Has an authentic, genuine spirit in their faith, work, and relationships.
• Possesses a high level of emotional intelligence
• Is a lifelong learner 
• Fully aligned with Grace Covenant Church’s Distinctives and Values
• A Servant leader 
• Demonstrated the ability to teach and lead
• Demonstrate integrity of trust and maintain confidentiality 
• Be and keep physically and emotionally fit for demands of the job
• Develop an accountability team for your own spiritual and mental well-being

What it’s like to live in Austin, TX

Austin is the state capital of Texas, an inland city bordering the Hill Country region. Home to the University of Texas flagship campus, Austin is a beautiful city known for its eclectic live-music scene centered around country, blues, and rock. Its many parks and lakes are popular for hiking, biking, swimming, and boating.

Residents of Austin are known as Austinites. They include a diverse mix of government employees, college students, musicians, high-tech workers, digital marketers, and blue-collar workers. Tex-Mex is not just a food category but a reflection of the influence of both a rich Hispanic culture and a pioneer spirit.  The city’s official slogan promotes Austin as “The Live Music Capital of the World,” a reference to the city’s many musicians and live music venues, as well as the long-running PBS TV concert series Austin City Limits. The city also adopted “Silicon Hills” as a nickname in the 1990s due to a rapid influx of technology and development companies. Austin is a unique city: it is very liberal politically, highly educated, and very unchurched, you’ll find a millionaire eating next to an old hippie. People who stay learn to love it.  

Emerging from a strong economic focus on government and education, since the 1990s, Austin has become a center for technology and business. A number of Fortune 500 companies have headquarters or regional offices in Austin, including 3M, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intel, NXP semiconductors, Oracle, Tesla, Texas Instruments, and Whole Foods Market. Dell’s worldwide headquarters is located in the nearby suburb of Round Rock. With regard to education, Austin is the home of the University of Texas at Austin, which is one of the largest universities in the U.S. and is attended by over 50,000 students.