Maple Grove United Church
Maple Grove United Church is seeking a full time, ordained Lead Minister who is comfortable working in an open and collaborative environment sharing the worship experience with our ministry and music team. Candidates must be fully ordained and qualified by the United Church of Canada.
Our Congregation
Maple Grove United Church, located in Oakville, Ontario is a very active, healthy, progressive United Church. We are currently searching for a caring, open, inclusive, inspirational spiritual leader. As our spiritual leader, you will bring both traditional and new ideas to our worship experiences. You will demonstrate an ability to recognize and honour the diversity of Christian theological views within the United Church of Canada and you will mentor and lead our high performing ministry, music and support team while working in collaboration with our strong team of volunteers.
At Maple Grove, we have a motivating vision: “Where the Spirit Soars, and the Heart Finds a Home”. In all that we do we demonstrate our commitment to our core values:
- Inspiration (in worship and music)
- Welcoming Community
- Caring
- Outreach
- Spiritual Centering
We are a congregation that has a long history of strong personal bonds and financial health. We deeply care for one another, those within our community and in terms of our mission and service, the world at large.
We are an inclusive congregation, demonstrated by our support for the LGBTQ community including same sex weddings, our support for refugees by sponsoring families and our ongoing participation in our regional inter-faith council.
We value worship and music, and consistently seek to inspire and spiritually move our members through our worship services and by our rich and moving music program. We enjoy the traditional and we are open to new approaches to our worship experience.
We work to nurture our lives of faith every day of the week through a rich variety of programs led by our dedicated volunteers. We offer Bible Study and reflection groups; a Centering Prayer group; and lecture/learning events on a variety of topics (these we seek to make open to the broader community as well).
We
have a strong governance structure to support and, as needed, provide guidance
to our Minister through both our Ministry and Personnel Committee and our
Worship and Music Committee.
The Position
Worship and Preaching
We are seeking a Lead Minister who will engage our congregation through messages that are delivered with conviction, passion, and relevance in a manner that challenges people to be reflective of that message in the context of their personal lives and spiritual growth. We are looking for the development of worship messages that generally use the revised common lectionary but, also talk about how we can live God’s message in our everyday lives. We value fully integrating music into all worship services to deepen the experience and the meaning. We want a spiritual leader who will plan and implement periodically, innovative worship experiences in different formats to meet the needs of congregational members of various ages. We want worship that will support members of all ages, to understand the worship messages and encourage and promote lay involvement and leadership. We value creativity and the use of technology to support worship services. We want worship services that are inviting, acknowledging and supportive of our children and youth with a regular children’s time.
As our Lead Minister, you will deliver the sacraments of communion and baptism in a way that will ensure the moment is meaningful. You will also provide education, guidance and support to families requesting baptism and confirmation.
Leadership
Provide day-to-day guidance to our high performing staff including a Christian education leader, church administrator, Music Director, and Organist. Ensure you are providing a rewarding career and opportunity for each staff person to fully share their gifts with our congregation.
Provide inspiration and guidance to our long list of volunteers and encourage all members of our congregation to find the best place to share their personal gifts in spiritual service. Help volunteers with self-care to limit burnout.
Provide inspiration, vision and long-term strategic thinking about our church and our impact on our community and the world at large. Offer true leadership that stands out.
Participate and nurture relationships at church fundraisers, formal and informal activities/events and strive to connect with visitors and potential new members.
Network and build professional relationships within the ecumenical community and take opportunities to profile and advocate for MGUC as appropriate.
Support for Spiritual and Pastoral Care
Ensure that the needs for pastoral care are regularly and comprehensively provided through a planned, thoughtful, ongoing approach including visitation. Support and nurture the work of the Pastoral Care Caring Team and individual pastoral care volunteers. Provide spiritual guidance and support relative to weddings and funerals, as well as to personal counselling needs. Facilitate connections and/or provide referrals to community resources and services as appropriate.
Support for Outreach and Missions
Demonstrate a personal passion for outreach and mission work. Provide support to volunteers in order to promote outreach, mission and social justice opportunities within our church, our community and globally. Support lay volunteers who wish to lead and/or participate in outreach activities and projects.
Support for Christian Education
Demonstrate leadership and the promotion of Christian Education occurring in a variety of formats and venues in a multi-generational context. Collaborate, support and mentor Christian Education staff and/or volunteers.
Governance
Collaborate with the Council and its church committees to jointly develop programs to support the life and work of the church and congregation.
Follow guidelines and expectations of the United Church of Canada, Horseshoe Falls Regional Council and our church Council. Represent MGUC at United Church at Regional Council meetings and events.
Participate in and act upon recommendations from annual performance reviews in collaboration with a Ministry and Personnel Committee member assigned as your contact.
Personal and Professional Attributes
The successful candidate will demonstrate key strengths such as:
- A motivational preacher, teacher and worship leader who can help inspire us to live our faith everyday
- Relationship builder and effective team player who loves to collaborate
- Experienced leader who can help us develop an even stronger congregation by retaining and attracting a diverse congregation of all ages while respecting the elders and founding members of our church
- Open to digital and other alternative ways of keeping in touch with sufficient computer skills to support worship and digital communication
- Open and approachable – welcoming to our very social church and inclusive of all
- Empathetic to the needs of the community and demonstrates compassionate spiritual care for all God’s children
- Effective communicator who manages conflict with tact and diplomacy
- Be a leader but also encourage and nurture leadership in others
- Good time manager and handles workload effectively and efficiently to achieve a healthy work-life balance
- Be aware of and understand the impact of his/her own emotions/behaviour and recognize the emotions of others to establish and maintain positive rapport and trust
- Promote harmony and spiritual good-will
- Take initiative and exercise sound judgement
- Self-aware – able to effectively recognize his/her strengths, areas for growth and knows how to effectively deal with personal limitations
- Loves to learn and grow through professional development
- Able to effectively and openly accept, reflect and act upon constructive feedback
- Demonstrate a strong belief in and love for God, Jesus Christ and God’s people
- Inspires and supports people in their own spiritual journey
- Nurturer: demonstrates an interest in knowing the members of the congregation
Interested? email dfreeman905@gmail.com