Senior Pastor Position Available
Who We Are
La Center Church began in 1936 and has had a faithful presence in our community for the last 87 years. We are a multi-generational church with a growing number of younger families. Our children’s and youth ministries have seen significant growth. About half of our folks are involved in our Growth Group studies and we have developed a positive community presence and involvement.
OUR VALUEs
The elders work alongside the pastor as a team to lead and shepherd our congregation. This is evident in their involvement in our worship services, our Growth Groups, and in their service with the congregation.
Connect: People connect to Christ through worship and to the congregation through fellowship.
Worship: We have a contemporary-blended style of worship, integrating current worship songs with some of the historic hymns of the faith.
Fellowship: around six times a year we have congregational wide luncheons where the new folks interact naturally with those who have been involved for some time.
Grow: People grow in their faith through their involvement in small group Bible studies.: Our Growth Groups have been directly connected to our Sunday sermons. About half of our congregation are involved in our Growth Groups.
Serve: We encourage our people to use their God-given gifting to serve others in Christ’s name. This may take place within the church as well as in the community.
We have developed a positive reputation within our community through our community involvement. We have actively served our community during the annual city Christmas festival and the summer “Our Days” celebration. We have also developed a church-community partnership to develop and run The Loft Teen Center.
We take the passage seriously that states that “the borrower is slave to the lender” (Prov. 22:7). As we have tackled various construction and remodeling projects we have relied on the money God provides through his people.
We are associated with the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) and value this relationship. Our pastors are active with the local pastoral gatherings and our elders take part in our annual district meeting.
While it isn’t necessary for the new pastor to have a credential from the EFCA, we would expect him to be credentialed within two years.
Our Community
La Center is a growing community with a small town feel. It has an excellent school system and an active community life.
The city of La Center was begun around 1870 and was the center of a lumber based economy. Over time the logging industry was replaced by farming. Now La Center is a bedroom community for the cities of Vancouver and Portland. With four card-rooms downtown and the Ilani Casino/Resort at the I-5 junction, La Center has become known for gambling. Our population tends to be upper middle class. The price of homes within the city hover around $500k or more.
Even while the community is growing, it has maintained a small town atmosphere. The city organizes and holds an annual Christmas Festival downtown, a summer concert series in the park, movie nights in the summer in the park, and active youth sports programs.
There are over 1600 students in our local schools. Our school system has maintained a focus on the essentials in educating our children. They have also sought to keep the student-teacher ratio low.
There are a couple of convenience stores within La Center. Local grocery stores are located within seven miles. Within La Center there are a variety of choices for dining. Many, but not all, of these are connected with the Ilani Casino and our local card rooms.
The Position: Senior/Lead Pastor
Summary: The senior pastor’s primary responsibility is to lead the congregation to fulfill its mission by helping people connect with Christ through biblically based preaching and teaching, encouraging small group Bible studies, and involving people in areas of ministry within our church and community.
The Process
If you have interest in knowing more about this role and being considered we would invite you to let us know by clicking on the following link. Upon the completion of a simple form you will receive a more detailed position description and a link where you can submit a resume.
Upon receiving your resume our team will review what you have sent. The search committee may ask you to fill out a Candidate Profile through our denominational website. This will provide us more information regarding your beliefs, values and practices.
This is a multi-step process for both you and us as we get to know each other. If you would like to take the first step in this process click on the following button.
