Interim Associate Minister

Job Title: Interim Associate Minister
Job Descripton: Trinitarian Congregational Church, UCC
54 Walden Street
Concord, MA 01742
www.triconchurch.org

Profile for Interim Associate Minister

12 June 2009

Contact: Rev. Wendy E. Vander Hart
Associate Conference Minister, Massachusetts Conference, United
Church of Christ
vanderhartw@macuss.org 781-890-1444
Brief description:
We seek an Interim Associate Minister for the period September 1, 2009
to August 31, 2010. The congregation is searching for a Settled
Associate Minister to begin September 1, 2010.
Our church has a high level of interest, commitment and involvement
from our congregation. We have an outstanding Senior Minister, a strong
support staff, a high quality music program, a thriving children's
ministry and an active, energized youth program. Mission is a major
priority for our church, both in hands-on efforts and funding for a host
of outreach efforts. We are blessed with a beautiful building and
grounds providing the space and facilities for a variety of activities.

Welcome statement:
We, the members of the Trinitarian Congregational Church, are called by
God to live as one community. We strive to love, as we are loved by God,
both freely and unconditionally. We recognize, celebrate, and affirm the
full humanity of all individuals, with our God-given diversity.
Therefore, we intentionally welcome individuals of any ability, age,
class, ethnicity, gender, race, and sexual orientation into full
fellowship and participation in the life of the church.
We strive with the help of the Holy Spirit to become more like Jesus in
our love and support for one another, in order to oppose and overcome
any injustice, oppression, and prejudice that continues in our society,
our communities and ourselves.
Statement on Leadership in Ministry:
The ordained clergy and lay leadership work in partnership. We believe
that each appointed task contributes equally to the service as Christian
witnesses. We are all ministers. We look to the clergy for guidance
and they, in turn, respect and value the ideas and opinions of the
congregation. We share in the tasks of carrying out Christ's work and
exercising a positive helping role in the life of the church community
and the community at large.
From our membership of 760, over 140 serve on active committees and
over 160 serve as leaders in the Christian Education program. Countless
others volunteer their time to collate the newsletter, prepare meals,
deliver flowers, usher, sing in the choir and contribute to the life of
our community of faith in other ways.
We are deeply committed to reaching out to those less fortunate. We
earmark 20% of our pledge income for mission projects. Our hands-on
involvement includes participation in the local hunger walk, preparing
and serving monthly meals for a homeless shelter, collecting holiday
gifts for prisoners and lovingly making hand-crafted items for City
Mission Society Christmas Shops. Our young people share this emphasis
on mission by their support for UNICEF and Heifer International, the
Confirmation trip to Common Cathedral, middle school participation in
City Year, a yearly 5/6th grade service project at Seafarers' Friends
Society and our senior high mission trip.
The business of the church, outside of an Annual or special
Congregational Meeting is done by committee with the Church Committee,
an assembly of the chairs of each committee, serving as the governing
body. The Diaconate has responsibility for worship and the spiritual
life of the church. We unite ourselves with the UCC Statement of Faith
in both our worship and in our by-laws while recognizing that our
greatest strength lies in our ability to honor the individual.
Our staff includes two full-time ministers, the Senior Minister and the
Interim Associate Minister, Music Director, Church Administrator, two
part-time Administrative Assistants, Senior High Youth Leader and
part-time Christian Education staff. These individuals meet bimonthly to
share information, plan future services and activities and deal with
various matters of church business. The style is one of teamwork and
collegial brainstorming with each staff member eager to contribute to
the health and vitality of the church as a whole, rather than advancing
their own area of interest.
We would expect the Interim Associate Minister to attend these meetings
and to contribute fully to the dialogue and to respect and value the
contributions of others. We offer strong administrative support for the
Associate, assistance with mailings, lists, and other tasks.
Values:

The values the Congregation and Clergy of Trinitarian Congregational
Church are rooted in its Christian Faith and are pursued in multiple
ways ranging from individual pastoral care to action for social justice.
It's founding in 1826 marked the first significant faith based action
as it separated from the First Church in Concord. Ten years later, in
1836, the Congregation passed a resolution that no one in anyway
concerned with slavery could be a member of the church or in any way
perform any of the duties of the church.
Carrying forth the spirit of these historical actions, the values of
the Church today guide our programs, mission and worship. We allocate
twenty percent (20%) or our annual budget for mission work. A member
family of our congregation has developed a sisterhood relationship with
Kwa Mashu Church in Durban in South Africa. Our Statement of Welcome as
an Open and Affirming Church was adopted in 2004. We convene a
leadership retreat of lay volunteers annually to explore and advance our
shared values as a faith community.
Recently, we adopted the inspiration of Graham Standish's Becoming a
Blessed Church to enrich the Congregation's spirituality on all
aspects of its faith community. We have started convening all the
various volunteer committees on the same evening twice a year to share
our spirituality in our service to our church and each other. We
frequently respond to social crises with special offerings, speaker
forums and sometimes mission trips to areas of need.
We connect with social justice issues in a number of ways, the most
prominent being our Filipov Peace and Justice Forum which was
established in memory of congregation member Al Filipov who was killed
on Flight 11 on September 11, 2001. The Forum annually host public
presentations and discussions of significant social justice issues.
Past speakers have included Paul Loeb, Jim Wallis, Lung Ung. David
Smock, Jessica Stern and Jack DuVall. This past September Maj. James
Yee was the keynote speaker.
We hope that our Interim Associate Minister candidate will be able to
resonate with these values.

Program Responsibilities of the Interim Associate Minister:

● Assist the Senior Minister with planning and leading worship for
our weekly 8:30 Service of Prayer and Holy Communion and our weekly
10:00 Traditional Worship Service during the school year.
● Take primary responsibility for the Children's Message in the
service.
● Supervise the Senior High Youth Group Leader.
● Preach once a month, taking primary responsibility for the
design of that service.
● Collaborate with Youth Leader in facilitating weekly Youth
Discussion Group.
● Advise and support as needed the Youth Leader and attend as
requested the Senior High Youth Group.
● Participate in special worship services
● Offer adult education studies and classes as time allows.
● Visit home bound or hospitalized members and provide pastoral
care as needed.
● Work with the various caring ministries of the Church to
support, expand and train the network of lay volunteers.
● Officiate at funerals and weddings as requested.
● Assist the Senior Minister with planning the weekly Traditional
Worship Service in the summer months and leading these services during
the Senior Minister's summer vacation
Administrative Responsibilities of the Interim Associate Minister
● Our Church has adult volunteers who have assumed leadership
roles with our Confirmation Class and this year's Mission Trip. The
Interim Associate Minister will be expected to collaborate closely with
these individuals and provide spiritual leadership.
● Serve as clergy-in-charge in the absence of the Senior Minister
● Oversee youth programming for grades 9-12.
● Provide advice and support to the Christian Education staff.
● In Conjunction with the Senior Minister, work with selected
committees as time and interest dictates.
● Oversee Christian Education staff on program planning,
curriculum development and program staffing.
● Attend Middle School Sub-group and Christian Education and
Diaconate meetings
● Teach the middle school class 2 or 3 times yearly.
● Oversee the planning and leading of the Confirmation program,
recruiting and training of mentors, scheduling speakers and events to
the degree needed.
● Assist as needed with organizing and participating in the annual
Mission Trip.

Compensation
The financial package is commensurate with the guidelines of the
Metropolitan Boston Association, Massachusetts Conference, United Church
of
Contact Information: Rev. Wendy E. Vander Hart
Associate Conference Minister
Massachusetts Conference,
United Church of Christ
781-890-1444