Lead Pastor

Job Description

The Lead Pastor serves as the primary spiritual leader, preacher, and shepherd of the congregation. He is responsible for faithfully proclaiming the Word of God, providing doctrinal leadership consistent with the church’s statement of faith and distinctives, equipping the saints for ministry, and overseeing the overall direction and health of the church.

The Lead Pastor submits to the church’s governing body (Trustee board) and provides leadership to pastoral staff, ministry leaders, and the congregation.

Doctrinal Alignment:

The Lead Pastor must wholeheartedly affirm, teach, and defend the church’s doctrinal convictions, including but not limited to the Statement of Faith and doctrinal distinctives regarding inerrancy, creation, spiritual gifts, soteriology, church leadership, and eschatology.

Key Areas of Pastoral Leadership

The following areas describe the general scope of the Lead Pastor’s leadership responsibilities. These categories are intended to provide clarity regarding the role but are not intended to limit the Lead Pastor’s leadership or ministry initiatives as he guides the church in fulfilling its mission to passionately help people find and follow God.

• Preaching and Teaching: Provide faithful, Christ-centered biblical preaching and doctrinal leadership that equips the church in God’s Word and guards the theological integrity of the church’s teaching ministries. • Spiritual Leadership and Shepherding: Provide pastoral leadership that cultivates spiritual growth, discipleship, unity, and care within the congregation while modeling Christlike character and devotion to God. • Leadership and Organizational Direction: Collaboratively discern, develop, and steward the vision and strategic direction of the church in partnership with the Board of Trustees to advance Coastal’s mission to passionately help people find and follow God, while leading and developing the church’s staff and ministry leaders. • Outreach and Mission Engagement: Lead the church in engaging the community and fulfilling the Great Commission locally and globally through evangelism, outreach, and strategic ministry partnerships.

LEAD PASTOR

MINISTERIAL STAFF | FULL-TIME

SALARY | EXEMPT

Lead Pastor Job Products (Key Results)

The Lead Pastor directs the day-to-day ministry and operational leadership of Coastal Community Baptist Church. The trustees will not give instruction to, or evaluate the performance of, individuals who report directly or indirectly to the Lead Pastor. As the trustees’ single official link to the staff and internal operations of the church, the Lead Pastor’s performance will be considered synonymous with organizational performance. To that end, the following Job Products (Key Results) define the primary outcomes for which the Lead Pastor is accountable.

Biblical Preaching and Worship Leadership

• Consistent preparation and delivery of biblically faithful and spiritually impactful preaching. • Worship services that are thoughtfully planned and executed with theological integrity and ministry excellence.

Mission Execution and Vision Alignment A clearly defined ministry strategy that advances Coastal’s mission to passionately help people find and follow God.

Financial Stewardship and Strategic Budget

• Development and oversight of an annual strategic budget aligned with ministry priorities. • Faithful stewardship of church financial resources in collaboration with the Executive Pastor, Treasurer, and

Accounting Manager.

• Completion of annual financial review or audit processes. • Maintenance of an Accounting Procedures Manual.

Staff Leadership and Organizational Health

• A healthy, unified, and mission-aligned staff team. • Clearly defined job products for each staff member. • Effective staff communication and coordination. • Annual performance reviews for staff. • Healthy conflict resolution when necessary. • A Personnel Manual that is maintained and followed.

Congregational Shepherding

• Faithful pastoral oversight of the spiritual health of: • The congregation • The church staff • The trustees

Communication Effectiveness

• Clear communication with trustees, staff, congregation, and the community. • Periodic ministry metrics or reports that provide insight into church health and ministry effectiveness.

Governance and Policy Compliance

• Full compliance with the church’s governance structure and Limitations Policy.

Leadership Continuity

• Development and maintenance of a Lead Pastor succession readiness plan to ensure long-term leadership health and continuity. • Lead Pastor Succession Plan directives completed

Qualifications

Spiritual & Personal Qualifications

• Meets the biblical qualifications for a pastor/elder (1 Timothy 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9) • A man of proven character, humility, and spiritual maturity • Demonstrates godly and biblical leadership balanced with a shepherd’s heart • Committed to personal spiritual disciplines and family faithfulness

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree and an appropriate seminary master’s degree; Master of Divinity (M.Div.) or higher strongly encouraged. Formal theological education from an institution consistent with conservative Baptist doctrine is preferred • Minimum of 5–10 years of pastoral ministry experience in a church of like-faith (or similar Baptist Church) and theological alignment, including preaching, discipleship, and leadership.

Team

• Board of Trustee • Directional Leadership Team • Staff

Compensation & Support

• Competitive compensation package commensurate with location, experience, education, and church size • Benefits may include housing allowance, health insurance, vision and dental, retirement contributions, ministry expenses, and continued theological education and pastoral development